Wiktionary
n. A river, formerly an important feature of ancient Lydia and said to contain gold; now rising and emptying in modern Turkey.
Wikipedia
Pactolus is a river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. The river rises from Mount Tmolus, flows through the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, and empties into the Gediz River, the ancient Hermus. The Pactolus once contained electrum that was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of Lydia. According to legend, King Midas divested himself of the golden touch by washing himself in the river.
Usage examples of "pactolus".
Now this doubloon was of purest, virgin gold, raked somewhere out of the heart of gorgeous hills, whence, east and west, over golden sands, the head-waters of many a Pactolus flows.
He had saturated his intellect with the Pactolus of old--and the grains of gold came down from the classic Tmolus with every tide.