The Deli Çay () is a river in southern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

near today's

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

—

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

border. It was formerly identified with the

Pinarus River The Pinarus River () is a small stream in southern Anatolia near today's Turkey—Syria border. It was famous in antiquity as the site of the First Battle of Issus, where Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia. Ancient sources des ...

, where

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

defeated

Darius III of Persia Darius III ( ; ; – 330 BC) was the thirteenth and last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. D ...

in the

First Battle of Issus The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on 5 November 333 BC between the League of Corinth, Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III of Persia, Darius III. It was the second g ...

. But the distances measured by Alexander's

bematist Bematist (), plural bematists or bematistae (), meaning 'step measurer' (from βῆμα ''bema'', meaning 'step, pace'), were specialists in ancient Greece and ancient Egypt who measured distances by pacing. Measurements of Alexander's bemat ...

s and observations of the local topography indicate that the Pinarus is actually the

Payas River The Payas River, in southern Anatolia near today's Turkey—Syria border, is believed to be the Pinarus River of antiquity, where Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia in the First Battle of Issus, and the likely site of the second ...

. Nicholas G. L. Hammond, "Alexander's Charge at the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C.", ''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'' 41:4:395-406 (1992)

Notes

Rivers of Turkey {{MEast-hist-stub