Orontes, the ancient name of a river in Syria, now called Nahr-el-Asi. It rises in the highest part of Cœle-Syria, near Baalbek, flows northward between the mountains of Libanus and Anti-Libanus, as far as the city of Antioch, and then westward to the Mediterranean Sea, through a total course of 147 miles. Its lower course is remarkably beautiful; its rocky banks are 300 feet high, and the windings of the river show them off to the greatest advantage. Myrtles, laurels, figs, wild vines, arbutus, dwarf-oaks, and sycamores grow up the cliffs in picturesque irregularity. The country through which the river flows is in many parts richly cultivated.
a, standard of the corolla.