In the 4th century BCE, Priene was a deep-water port with two harbours overlooking the Bay of Miletus and, somewhat further east, the marshes of the Maeander Delta. Between the ocean and steep Mycale, agricultural resources were limited. Priene's territory likely included a part of the Maeander Valley, needed to support the city. Claiming much of Mycale, it had borders on the north with Ephesus and Thebes, a small state on Mycale.