ASBYSTAE(Ἀσβύσται, Hdt. 4.170, 171; Lycophr. Alex. 895; Ἀσβῦται, Ptol. 4.4.10), a Libyan tribe, in the inland parts of Cyrenaica, S. of Cyrene, and W. of the Giligammae; distinguished above the other Libyan tribes for their skill in the use of four-horsed chariots. (Herod. l. c.) Dionysius Periegetes (211) names them next to the Nasamones, inland (μεσήπειροι). Pliny also places them next to the Nasamones, but apparently to the W. of them (5.5). Ptolemy's position for them, E. of the mountains overhanging the Gardens of the Hesperides, agrees well enough with that of Herodotus. Stephanus Byzantinus mentions a city of Libya, named Asbysta (Ἀσβύστα, Eth. Ἀσβύστης), and quotes the following line from Callimachus:
οἵη τε Τρίτωνος ἐφ' ὕδασιν Ἀσβύσταο :—
where the mention of the Triton is not at all inconsistent with the position of the Asbystae, as deter-mined by the other writers ; for the Triton is frequently placed near the Gardens of the Hesperides, on the W. coast of Cyrenaica. [TRITON]
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