 Most sources agree Seleucus named it after the city of Arethusa in Greek Macedonia, but others claim it was named after a spring in Sicily with the same name.Arethusa in native Syriac was called Arastan, also mentioned in the Christian First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.To a lesser extent, the name "Arastan" continued to be used by the indigenous inhabitants, alongside "Arethusa".