CHALA(Χάλα, Isid. Char. p. 5), a town in the eastern part of ancient Assyria, probably the capital of the district called CHALONITIS a name which is preserved in that of the river of Holwan(Χαλωνῖτις, Strab. xi. pp. 529, 736; Dionys. Perieg. 1015; Plin. Nat. 6.26. s. 30; Καλωνῖτις, Plb. 5.54). Chala is within a short distance of the M. Zagros. Diodorus (Diod. 17.110) relates that Xerxes, on his return from Greece, placed a colony of Boeotians in this neighbourhood, which was called from their native town CELONAE(Κέλωναι). They were most likely placed along the banks of the Holwanriver. Chala has been sometimes connected with Colacene, but its position does not answer to this identification. Pliny erred in placing the district Chalonitis on the Tigris, as it was clearly to the E. close to the mountains.
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