AMATHUS, a very ancient town in the south of Cyprus (Strabo, Ptolemy): so called from Amathus the founder; or, according to others, from Amath, a Phœnician town sacred to Venus, with a very ancient temple of Adonis and Venus: and hence Venus is denominated Amathusia (Tacitus). According to Ovid, it was a place rich in copper ore, and where the inhabitants became Cerastes, or horned. Now called Limisso.