HALYS, in Ancient Geography, the noblest river of the Hither Asia, through which it had a long course, was the boundary of Crœsus's kingdom to the east. Running down from the foot of Mount Taurus, through Cataonia, and Cappadocia, it divided almost the whole of the Lower Asia, from the sea of Cyprus down to the Euxine, according to Herodotus; who seems to extend its course too far. According to Strabo, himself a Cappadocian, it had its springs in the Great Cappadocia. It separated Paphlagonia from Cappadocia; and received its name απὸ τὸν ἄλς, from salt, because its waters were of a salt and bitter taste, from the nature of the soil over which they flowed. It is famous for the defeat of Crœsus king of Lydia, who was misled by the ambiguous word of this oracle:
Χρῆστος ἄλλῳ διαβῆς μεγάλης ἀξίας διαλυσί.
If Crœsus passes over the Halys, he shall destroy a great empire.
That empire was his own. See CROESUS and LYDIA.