Colophon (city)

Colophon (city)

Colophon (/ˈkɒləfɒn/; Ancient Greek: Κολοφών) was a city in the region of Lydia in antiquity dating from about the turn of the first millennium-BC. It was likely one the oldest of the twelve Ionian League cities, between Lebedos (120 stadia to the west) and Ephesus (to its south) and its ruins are in the eponymously named modern region of Ionia.

The city's name comes from the word κολοφών, 'summit', which is also the origin of the bibliographic term 'colophon', in the metaphorical sense of a 'crowning touch', as it was sited along a ridgeline. The term "colophony" for rosin comes from the term colophonia resina, that is, resin from the pine trees of Colophon, which was highly valued for the strings of musical instruments.

The ruins of the city are at the Castro of Ghiaour-Keui, a minor village in İzmir, Menderes.