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108-593: Cilicia ( / s ɪ ˈ l ɪ ʃ ə / ) is a geographical region in southern Anatolia , extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea . Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain ( Turkish : Çukurova ). The region includes the provinces of Mersin , Adana , Osmaniye , Kilis and Hatay . The name of Cilicia ([Κιλικία] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |translit= ( help ) )

216-554: A Greek point of view) eastern regions in general. The Greek word refers to the direction where the sun rises, coming from ἀνατέλλω anatello '(Ι) rise up', comparable to terms in other languages such as " levant " from Latin levo 'to rise', " orient " from Latin orior 'to arise, to originate', Hebrew מִזְרָח mizraḥ 'east' from זָרַח zaraḥ 'to rise, to shine', Aramaic מִדְנָח midnaḥ from דְּנַח denaḥ 'to rise, to shine'. The use of Anatolian designations has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to

324-852: A Greek victory in 449 BCE, and the Ionian cities regained their independence. By the Peace of Antalcidas (387 BCE), which ended the Corinthian War , Persia regained control over Ionia. In 334 BCE, the Macedonian Greek king Alexander the Great conquered the Anatolian peninsula from the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Alexander's conquest opened up the interior of Asia Minor to Greek settlement and influence. Following

432-470: A bitter series of civil wars followed by a combined attack by Medes , Persians , Scythians and their own Babylonian relations. The last Assyrian city to fall was Harran in southeast Anatolia. This city was the birthplace of the last king of Babylon , the Assyrian Nabonidus and his son and regent Belshazzar . Much of the region then fell to the short-lived Iran-based Median Empire , with

540-565: A campaign against Egypt. Alexander forded the Halys River in the summer of 333 BC, ending up on the border of southeastern Phrygia and Cilicia. He knew well the writings of Xenophon , and how the Cilician Gates had been "impassable if obstructed by the enemy". Alexander reasoned that by force alone he could frighten the defenders and break through, and he gathered his men to do so. In the cover of night, they attacked, startling

648-538: A metropolitan diocese at Anazarbus and suffragan dioceses for Mopsuestia, Aegae , Epiphania , Irenopolis , Flavias , Castabala , Alexandria , Citidiopolis and Rhosus . Bishops from the various dioceses of Cilicia were well represented at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and at the later ecumenical councils. After the division of the Roman Empire, Cilicia became part of the eastern Roman Empire,

756-523: A vassal of the Achaemenid empire as from c.  542 BC , and the Cilician rulers became part of the Achaemenid administration. Under early Achaemenid rule, Cilicia maintained a significant degree of autonomy and the native rulers acted as satraps (governors) for the Achaemenid administration, with their authority extending until as far west as Aspendus . Cilicia during the Achaemenid period

864-902: Is a rugged mountain district formed by the spurs of Taurus, which often terminate in rocky headlands with small sheltered harbours, features which, in classical times, made the coast a string of havens for pirates and, in the Middle Ages, outposts for Genoese and Venetian traders. The district is watered by the Calycadnus and was covered in ancient times by forests that supplied timber to Phoenicia and Egypt . Cilicia lacked large cities. Plain Cilicia ( Ancient Greek : Κιλικια Πεδιας , romanized :  Kilikia Pedias ; Latin : Cilicia Campestris ; Neo-Assyrian Akkadian : 𒆳𒋡𒀀𒌑𒂊 , romanized:  Que ; Neo-Babylonian Akkadian : 𒆳𒄷𒈨𒂊 , romanized:  Ḫuwê ), to

972-403: Is a waterfall on the river, which is a popular picnic area for Tarsus residents. There are four dams on Berdan. These are used both for controlling floods and for producing electricity. But the lower reaches of the river flow in an agricultural area, and because of the pollution caused by fertilisers the dams in the lower reaches are not used for drinking water. The Berdan River flows in one of

1080-846: Is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands , and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia . To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria and the Mesopotamian plain. Following the Armenian genocide , Western Armenia was renamed the Eastern Anatolia Region by the newly established Turkish government. In 1941, with

1188-581: Is not well understood how the Osmanlı, or Ottoman Turks , came to dominate their neighbours, as the history of medieval Anatolia is still little known. The Ottomans completed the conquest of the peninsula in 1517 with the taking of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum ) from the Knights of Saint John . With the acceleration of the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century, and as a result of

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1296-681: Is probably a Medieval Latin innovation. The modern Turkish form Anadolu derives directly from the Greek name Aνατολή ( Anatolḗ ). The Russian male name Anatoly , the French Anatole and plain Anatol , all stemming from saints Anatolius of Laodicea (d. 283) and Anatolius of Constantinople (d. 458; the first Patriarch of Constantinople ), share the same linguistic origin. The oldest known name for any region within Anatolia

1404-471: Is related to its central area, known as the "Land of Hatti " – a designation that was initially used for the land of ancient Hattians , but later became the most common name for the entire territory under the rule of ancient Hittites . The first recorded name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula, though not particularly popular at the time, was Ἀσία ( Asía ), perhaps from an Akkadian expression for

1512-683: Is unknown. The earliest known ruler, and possibly the founder, of the kingdom of Cilicia was Syennesis I, who, according to the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus, mediated in 585 BC the peace treaty which followed the end of the conflict which had opposed the Lydian and Median empires. Herodotus of Halicarnassus also claimed that the Cilicians and the Lycians were the only peoples of Anatolia who had not been conquered by

1620-592: Is watered by the three great rivers, the Cydnus (Tarsus Çay Berdan River ), the Sarus ( Seyhan ), and the Pyramus ( Ceyhan River ), each of which brings down much silt from the deforested interior and which fed extensive wetlands. The Sarus now enters the sea almost due south of Tarsus, but there are clear indications that at one period it joined the Pyramus, and that the united rivers ran to the sea west of Kara-tash. Through

1728-764: The Aeolian , Ionian and Dorian colonies situated along the eastern coasts of the Aegean Sea , but also encompassing eastern regions in general. Such use of Anatolian designations was employed during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian ( r.  284–305 ), who created the Diocese of the East , known in Greek as the Eastern Diocese, but completely unrelated to the regions of Asia Minor. In their widest territorial scope, Anatolian designations were employed during

1836-661: The Anatolian languages , the earliest attested branch of Indo-European, have been spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BCE. The earliest historical data related to Anatolia appear during the Bronze Age and continue throughout the Iron Age . The most ancient period in the history of Anatolia spans from the emergence of ancient Hattians , up to the conquest of Anatolia by the Achaemenid Empire in

1944-973: The Arab invasion of the Levant (634–638). In the 10 years following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia migrated over large areas of Anatolia, with particular concentrations around the northwestern rim. The Turkish language and the Islamic religion were gradually introduced as a result of the Seljuk conquest, and this period marks the start of Anatolia's slow transition from predominantly Christian and Greek-speaking, to predominantly Muslim and Turkish-speaking (although ethnic groups such as Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians remained numerous and retained Christianity and their native languages). In

2052-635: The Balkans . The Phrygian expansion into southeast Anatolia was eventually halted by the Assyrians, who controlled that region. Another Indo-European people, the Luwians , rose to prominence in central and western Anatolia c.  2000 BCE. Their language belonged to the same linguistic branch as Hittite . The general consensus amongst scholars is that Luwian was spoken across a large area of western Anatolia, including (possibly) Wilusa ( Troy ),

2160-603: The Byzantine Empire . In the 7th century Cilicia was invaded by the Muslim Arabs. The area was for some time an embattled no-man's land. The Arabs succeeded in conquering the area in the early 8th century. Under the Abbasid Caliphate , Cilicia was resettled and transformed into a fortified frontier zone ( thughur ). Tarsus, re-built in 787/788, quickly became the largest settlement in the region and

2268-745: The Büyük Menderes River as well as some interior high plains in Anatolia, mainly around Lake Tuz (Salt Lake) and the Konya Basin ( Konya Ovasi ). There are two mountain ranges in southern Anatolia: the Taurus and the Zagros mountains. Berdan River The main headwaters are in the Toros Mountains . There are two main tributaries: Kadıncık and Pamukluk (its upper reaches are called Cehennem Deresi ). Total length of

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2376-602: The First Geography Congress which divided Turkey into seven geographical regions based on differences in climate and landscape, the eastern provinces of Turkey were placed into the Eastern Anatolia Region , which largely corresponds to the historical region of Western Armenia (named as such after the division of Greater Armenia between the Roman / Byzantine Empire (Western Armenia) and Sassanid Persia ( Eastern Armenia ) in 387 AD). Vazken Davidian terms

2484-768: The Greek and Roman eras. During the 6th century BCE, all of Anatolia was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire , the Persians having usurped the Medes as the dominant dynasty of Persia . In 499 BCE, the Ionian city-states on the west coast of Anatolia rebelled against Persian rule. The Ionian Revolt , as it became known, though quelled, initiated the Greco-Persian Wars , which ended in

2592-615: The Greek language , which came to further dominate the region during the Hellenistic period and the Roman period . The Byzantine period saw the decline of Greek influence throughout the peninsula as the Byzantine–Seljuk wars enabled the incoming Seljuk Turks to establish a foothold in the region. Thus, the process of Anatolia's Turkification began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century and continued under

2700-665: The Hellenic world . He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus. Further annexations by Rome, in particular of the Kingdom of Pontus by Pompey , brought all of Anatolia under Roman control , except for the southeastern frontier with the Parthian Empire , which remained unstable for centuries, causing a series of military conflicts that culminated in the Roman–Parthian Wars (54 BCE – 217 CE). After

2808-585: The Hellenistic era, numerous cities were established in Cilicia, which minted coins showing the badges (gods, animals, and objects) associated with each polis. Cilicia Trachea became the haunt of pirates , who were subdued by Pompey in 67 BC following a Battle of Korakesion (modern Alanya ), and Tarsus was made the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. Cilicia Pedias became Roman territory in 103 BC first conquered by Marcus Antonius Orator in his campaign against pirates, with Sulla acting as its first governor, foiling an invasion of Mithridates , and

2916-659: The Later Roman Empire . Anatolia's wealth grew during the 4th and 5th centuries thanks, in part, to the Pilgrim's Road that ran through the peninsula. Literary evidence about the rural landscape stems from the Christian hagiographies of the 6th-century Nicholas of Sion and 7th-century Theodore of Sykeon . Large and prosperous urban centers of Byzantine Anatolia included Assos , Ephesus , Miletus , Nicaea , Pergamum , Priene , Sardis , and Aphrodisias . From

3024-665: The Limonlu River ) and Cilicia Pedias ( Latin : Cilicia Campestris , east of the Limonlu). Salamis , the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in the Roman province of Cilicia from 58 BC until 27 BC. Cilicia consisted of two main contrasting regions: Rough Cilicia ( Ancient Greek : Κιλικια Τραχεια , romanized :  Kilikia Trakheia ; Latin : Cilicia Aspera ; Neo-Assyrian Akkadian : 𒆳𒄭𒋃𒆪 , romanized:  Ḫilakku ; Neo-Babylonian Akkadian : 𒆳𒉿𒊑𒅔𒁺 , romanized:  Pirindu )

3132-597: The Mediterranean coast east from Pamphylia to the Nur Mountains , which separate it from Syria . North and east of Cilicia stand the rugged Taurus Mountains , which separate it from the high central plateau of Anatolia , and which are pierced by a narrow gorge called in antiquity the Cilician Gates . Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachea ( Latin : Cilicia Aspera , west of

3240-675: The Neolithic , Anatolia was an early centre for the development of farming after it originated in the adjacent Fertile Crescent . Beginning around 9,000 years ago, there was a major migration of Anatolian Neolithic Farmers into Europe , with their descendants coming to dominate the continent as far west as the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles . The earliest recorded inhabitants of Anatolia , who were neither Indo-European nor Semitic , were gradually absorbed by

3348-654: The North Caucasian languages , Laz , Georgian , and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to an indefinite line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea , coterminous with the Anatolian Plateau . This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary . Under this definition, Anatolia

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3456-659: The Ottoman Empire until the early 20th century, when the Ottoman dynasty collapsed in the aftermath of World War I . Between 1894 and 1924, millions of non- Turkic peoples and Christians were suppressed and removed by the Ottoman Turkish authorities from the bulk of the area of modern-day Turkey. Nonetheless, a variety of non- Turkic languages continue to be spoken by ethnic minorities in Anatolia today, including Arabic , Kurdish , Neo-Aramaic , Armenian ,

3564-403: The Paleolithic . Neolithic settlements include Çatalhöyük , Çayönü , Nevali Cori , Aşıklı Höyük , Boncuklu Höyük , Hacilar , Göbekli Tepe , Norşuntepe , Köşk Höyük , and Yumuktepe . Çatalhöyük (7.000 BCE) is considered the most advanced of these. Recent advances in archaeogenetics have confirmed that the spread of agriculture from the Middle East to Europe was strongly correlated with

3672-540: The Roman Republic ; western and central Anatolia came under Roman control , but Hellenistic culture remained predominant. Mithridates VI Eupator , ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia, waged war against the Roman Republic in the year 88 BCE in order to halt the advance of Roman hegemony in the Aegean Sea region. Mithridates VI sought to dominate Asia Minor and the Black Sea region, waging several hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful wars (the Mithridatic Wars ) to break Roman dominion over Asia and

3780-436: The Vallahades from Greek Macedonia ), were resettled in various parts of Anatolia, mostly in formerly Christian villages throughout Anatolia. A continuous reverse migration occurred since the early 19th century, when Greeks from Anatolia, Constantinople and Pontus area migrated toward the newly independent Kingdom of Greece , and also towards the United States , the southern part of the Russian Empire , Latin America, and

3888-437: The first division of the Roman Empire , Anatolia became part of the Eastern Roman Empire , otherwise known as the Byzantine Empire or Byzantium . In the 1st century CE, Anatolia became one of the first places where Christianity spread , so that by the 4th century CE, western and central Anatolia were overwhelmingly Christian and Greek-speaking. Byzantine Anatolia was one of the wealthiest and most densely populated places in

3996-430: The migration of early farmers from Anatolia about 9,000 years ago, and was not just a cultural exchange. Anatolian Neolithic farmers derived most of their ancestry from local Anatolian hunter-gatherers , suggesting that agriculture was adopted in site by these hunter-gatherers and not spread by demic diffusion into the region. Anatolian derived Neolithic Farmers would subsequently spread across Europe, as far west as

4104-419: The pretorian prefecture also called Oriens ('the East', also including the dioceses of Asiana and Pontica , both in Anatolia, and Thraciae in the Balkans), the rich bulk of the eastern Roman Empire . After the division of the Roman Empire, Cilicia became part of the eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire . Cilicia was one of the most important regions of the classical world and can be considered as

4212-462: The "sunrise" or possibly echoing the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. The Romans used it as the name of their province , comprising the west of the peninsula plus the nearby Aegean Islands . As the name "Asia" broadened its scope to apply to the vaster region east of the Mediterranean, some Greeks in Late Antiquity came to use the name Asia Minor (Μικρὰ Ἀσία, Mikrà Asía ), meaning "Lesser Asia" to refer to present-day Anatolia, whereas

4320-447: The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey . Of the remainder, most have left Turkey since then, leaving fewer than 5,000 Greeks in Anatolia today. According to Morris and Ze'evi, 4 million christians were ethnically cleansed from Asia minor by the Turks from 1894 to 1924. Anatolia's terrain is structurally complex. A central massif composed of uplifted blocks and downfolded troughs , covered by recent deposits and giving

4428-462: The 6th century BCE. The earliest historically attested populations of Anatolia were the Hattians in central Anatolia, and Hurrians further to the east. The Hattians were an indigenous people, whose main center was the city of Hattush . Affiliation of Hattian language remains unclear, while Hurrian language belongs to a distinctive family of Hurro-Urartian languages . All of those languages are extinct; relationships with indigenous languages of

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4536-418: The Achaemenid Empire. The Greek designation of Kilikia extended the use of the name of the state of Ḫilakku to the territory of both Ḫilakku and its neighbour Ḫiyawa. It is however uncertain how this naming convention arose, and whether it was the result of political expansion by Ḫilakku or of Greeks first coming into contact with Ḫilakku and using its name for all the Luwian populations of eastern Anatolia

4644-434: The Aegean Sea during 396 to 395 BC, and against Cyprus in the 380s BC. During the 390s BC, Camisares was appointed as satrap of Cilicia. Camisares was himself succeeded by his son, Datames , who eventually became the satrap of both Cilicia and Cappadocia until his assassination in c.  362 BC . In the 340s BC, the satrap of Cilicia was Mazaeus , who was also given authority over Syria as reward for his service in

4752-413: The Arabs' most important base in their raids across the Taurus Mountains into Byzantine-held Anatolia. Anatolia Anatolia ( Turkish : Anadolu ), also known as Asia Minor , is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey . It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean Sea to

4860-441: The Asian and European Greeks. Under Darius I's successor, Xerxes I , Cilicia contributed both troops and ships for the Achaemenid conquest of the Aegean Sea: the Cilician ruler Syennesis II led these ships, but was killed in battle. At this time, the ruling dynasty of Cilicia had been linked by marriage bonds with Carian notables. Syennesis II was succeeded by one Xeinagoras of Halicarnassus, who had no previous ties to Cilicia and

4968-544: The Assyrian colony of Kanesh , use an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. Unlike the Akkadians and Assyrians, whose Anatolian trading posts were peripheral to their core lands in Mesopotamia , the Hittites were centered at Hattusa (modern Boğazkale) in north-central Anatolia by the 17th century BCE. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language , or nesili (the language of Nesa) in Hittite. The Hittites originated from local ancient cultures that grew in Anatolia, in addition to

5076-411: The Babylonians and Scythians briefly appropriating some territory. From the late 8th century BCE, a new wave of Indo-European-speaking raiders entered northern and northeast Anatolia: the Cimmerians and Scythians . The Cimmerians overran Phrygia and the Scythians threatened to do the same to Urartu and Lydia , before both were finally checked by the Assyrians. The north-western coast of Anatolia

5184-527: The Caucasus have been proposed, but are not generally accepted. The region became famous for exporting raw materials. Organized trade between Anatolia and Mesopotamia started to emerge during the period of the Akkadian Empire , and was continued and intensified during the period of the Old Assyrian Empire , between the 21st and the 18th centuries BCE. Assyrian traders were bringing tin and textiles in exchange for copper, silver or gold. Cuneiform records, dated c.  20th century BCE , found in Anatolia at

5292-399: The Egyptians, annexing much Hittite (and Hurrian) territory in these regions. After 1180 BCE, during the Late Bronze Age collapse , the Hittite Empire disintegrated into several independent Syro-Hittite states , subsequent to losing much territory to the Middle Assyrian Empire and being finally overrun by the Phrygians , another Indo-European people who are believed to have migrated from

5400-490: The Galatians (1:21). After Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, Cilicia was included in the territories of the patriarchate of Antioch. The region was divided into two civil and ecclesiastical provinces: Cilicia Prima , with a metropolitan diocese at Tarsus and suffragan dioceses for Pompeiopolis , Sebaste , Augusta  [ cs ; de ; it ; pl ] , Corycus , Adana , Mallus and Zephyrium ; and Cilicia Secunda , with

5508-400: The Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles, as well as to the Maghreb . Most modern Europeans derive a significant part of their ancestry from these Neolithic Anatolian farmers. Neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family , although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that

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5616-413: The Iron Age, Cilicia was dominated by two main polities: In the 6th century BC, an independent state, called Cilicia ( Ancient Greek : Κιλικια , romanized :  Kilikia ) by the ancient Greeks, was established in southeastern Anatolia under the rule of a native dynasty, with its capital of Cilicia at the city of Tarsus . Cilicia and Cilicians do not appear in any extant list of people ruled by

5724-412: The Lydian king Croesus . However, it is unknown whether this means that the Cilicians and Lycians were able to resist the Lydian conquest, or whether Croesus did not find any interest in annexing them. In the mid-6th century BC, the kingdom of Cilicia supported the founding king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire , Cyrus II , in his wars against Croesus of Lydia, as a consequence of which Cilicia became

5832-502: The Neolithic period onwards. Dating of the ancient settlements of the region from Neolithic to Bronze Age is as follows: Aceramic/Neolithic: 8th and 7th millennia BC; Early Chalcolithic : 5800 BC; Middle Chalcolithic (correlated with Halaf and Ubaid developments in the east): c. 5400–4500 BC; Late Chalcolithic: 4500 – c. 3400 BC; and Early Bronze Age IA: 3400–3000 BC; EBA IB: 3000–2700 BC; EBA II: 2700–2400 BC; EBA III A-B: 2400–2000 BC. The area had been known as Kizzuwatna in

5940-424: The Sasanian forces burnt and sacked several cities in Syria, Cilicia ( Middle Persian : 𐭪𐭫𐭪𐭩𐭠𐭩 ‎ ) and Cappadocia. Under Emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy (c. 297), Cilicia was governed by a consularis ; with Isauria and the Syrian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Libyan provinces, formed the Diocesis Orientis (in the late 4th century the African component was split off as Diocese of Egypt ), part of

6048-411: The Seha River Land (to be identified with the Hermos and/or Kaikos valley), and the kingdom of Mira-Kuwaliya with its core territory of the Maeander valley. From the 9th century BCE, Luwian regions coalesced into a number of states such as Lydia , Caria , and Lycia , all of which had Hellenic influence. Arameans encroached over the borders of south-central Anatolia in the century or so after

6156-421: The Younger , resulting in the kingdom of Cilicia being abolished and fully integrated into the Achaemenid empire as a province ruled by and appointed by the Achaemenid king of kings, which it would remain until the end of the Achaemenid Empire in 333 BC. Once the revolt of Cyrus the Younger had been suppressed, Cilicia was again used as an assembly point for Achaemenid forces in preparation for military action in

6264-475: The administration of the Empire preferred the description Ἀνατολή ( Anatolḗ ; lit.   ' the East ' ). The endonym Ῥωμανία ( Rōmanía "the land of the Romans, i.e. the Eastern Roman Empire") was understood as another name for the province by the invading Seljuq Turks , who founded a Sultanate of Rûm in 1077. Thus (land of the) Rûm became another name for Anatolia. By the 12th century Europeans had started referring to Anatolia as Turchia . During

6372-407: The appearance of a plateau with rough terrain, is wedged between two folded mountain ranges that converge in the east. True lowland is confined to a few narrow coastal strips along the Aegean, Mediterranean, and the Black Sea coasts. Flat or gently sloping land is rare and largely confined to the deltas of the Kızıl River , the coastal plains of Çukurova and the valley floors of the Gediz River and

6480-466: The arrival of Indo-European languages. Attested for the first time in the Assyrian tablets of Nesa around 2000 BCE, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BCE, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland , however, the Hittites (along with the other Indo-European ancient Anatolians ) were themselves relatively recent immigrants to Anatolia from

6588-403: The birthplace of Christianity . Roman Cilicia exported the goats-hair cloth, Cilicium , which was used to make tents. Tarsus was also the birthplace of the early Christian missionary and author St. Paul , likely writer of 13 of the 27 books included in the New Testament . Cilicia had numerous Christian communities and is mentioned six times in the Book of Acts and once in the Epistle to

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6696-437: The central peninsula. Among the other peoples who established a significant presence in ancient Anatolia were the Galatians , the Hurrians , the Assyrians , the Armenians , the Hattians , and the Cimmerians , as well as some of the ancient Greek tribes , including the Ionians , the Dorians , and the Aeolians . In the era of classical antiquity (see Classical Anatolia ), the Anatolian languages were largely replaced by

6804-399: The coasts of Anatolia. Greeks started Western philosophy on the western coast of Anatolia ( Pre-Socratic philosophy ). In Classical antiquity , Anatolia was described by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus and later historians as divided into regions that were diverse in culture, language, and religious practices. The northern regions included Bithynia , Paphlagonia , and Pontus ; to

6912-404: The control of the Mongols, at least nominally, through declining Seljuk sultans. The Beyliks did not mint coins in the names of their own leaders while they remained under the suzerainty of the Mongol Ilkhanids . The Osmanli ruler Osman I was the first Turkish ruler who minted coins in his own name in 1320s; they bear the legend "Minted by Osman son of Ertugrul". Since the minting of coins

7020-439: The death of Alexander the Great and the subsequent breakup of the Macedonian Empire , Anatolia was ruled by a series of Hellenistic kingdoms, such as the Attalids of Pergamum and the Seleucids , the latter controlling most of Anatolia. A period of peaceful Hellenization followed, such that the local Anatolian languages had been supplanted by Greek by the 1st century BCE. In 133 BCE the last Attalid king bequeathed his kingdom to

7128-416: The death of Murshili around 1595 BC, Hurrians wrested control from the Hitties, and Cilicia was free for two centuries. The first king of free Cilicia, Išputahšu , son of Pariyawatri , was recorded as a "great king" in both cuneiform and Hittite hieroglyphs . Another record of Hittite origins, a treaty between Išputahšu and Telipinu , king of the Hittites, is recorded in both Hittite and Akkadian . In

7236-405: The decline of the Ilkhanate from 1335 to 1353, the Mongol Empire 's legacy in the region was the Uyghur Eretna Dynasty that was overthrown by Kadi Burhan al-Din in 1381. By the end of the 14th century, most of Anatolia was controlled by various Anatolian beyliks . Smyrna fell in 1330, and the last Byzantine stronghold in Anatolia, Philadelphia, fell in 1390. The Turkmen Beyliks were under

7344-418: The defeat of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. The empire reached its height in the 13th century BCE, controlling much of Asia Minor, northwestern Syria , and northwest upper Mesopotamia. However, the Hittite advance toward the Black Sea coast was halted by the semi-nomadic pastoralist and tribal Kaskians , a non-Indo-European people who had earlier displaced the Palaic-speaking Indo-Europeans. Much of

7452-475: The earlier Hittite era ( 2nd millennium BC ). The region was divided into two parts, "plain" Cilicia (Uru Adaniya), a well-watered plain, and "rough" Cilicia (Tarza), in the mountainous west. There exists evidence that circa 1650 BC both Hittite kings Hattusili I and Mursili I enjoyed the freedom of movement along the Pyramus River (now the Ceyhan River in southern Turkey ), proving they exerted strong control over Cilicia in their battles with Syria . After

7560-457: The early 20th century (see the rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire ). During World War I, the Armenian genocide , the Greek genocide (especially in Pontus ), and the Assyrian genocide almost entirely removed the ancient indigenous communities of Armenian , Greek , and Assyrian populations in Anatolia and surrounding regions. Following the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 , most remaining ethnic Anatolian Greeks were forced out during

7668-406: The east, included the rugged spurs of Taurus and a large coastal plain , with rich loamy soil, known to Greeks such as Xenophon (who passed through with his mercenary group of the Ten Thousand ,) for its abundance ( euthemia ), filled with sesame and millet and olives and pasturage for the horses imported into ancient Israel by King Solomon . Many of its high places were fortified. The plain

7776-576: The era of the Ottoman Empire , many mapmakers referred to the mountainous plateau in eastern Anatolia as Armenia . Other contemporary sources called the same area Kurdistan . Geographers have used East Anatolian plateau , Armenian plateau and the Iranian plateau to refer to the region; the former two largely overlap. While a standard definition of Anatolia refers to the entire Asian side of Turkey, according to archaeologist Lori Khatchadourian, this difference in terminology "primarily result[s] from

7884-462: The expanded use of "Anatolia" to apply to territory in eastern Turkey that was formerly referred to as Armenia (which had a sizeable Armenian population before the Armenian genocide ) an "ahistorical imposition" and notes that a growing body of literature is uncomfortable with referring to the Ottoman East as "Eastern Anatolia". The highest mountain in the Eastern Anatolia Region (also

7992-758: The expansionist policies of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus , many Muslim nations and groups in that region, mainly Circassians , Tatars , Azeris , Lezgis , Chechens and several Turkic groups left their homelands and settled in Anatolia. As the Ottoman Empire further shrank in the Balkan regions and then fragmented during the Balkan Wars , much of the non-Christian populations of its former possessions, mainly Balkan Muslims ( Bosniaks , Albanians , Turks , Muslim Bulgarians and Greek Muslims such as

8100-782: The fall of the Hittite empire, and some of the Syro-Hittite states in this region became an amalgam of Hittites and Arameans. These became known as Syro-Hittite states . From the 10th to late 7th centuries BCE, much of Anatolia (particularly the southeastern regions) fell to the Neo-Assyrian Empire , including all of the Syro-Hittite states , Tabal , Commagene , the Cimmerians and Scythians , and swathes of Cappadocia . The Neo-Assyrian empire collapsed due to

8208-722: The following century, the Byzantines managed to reassert their control in western and northern Anatolia. Control of Anatolia was then split between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm , with the Byzantine holdings gradually being reduced. In 1255, the Mongols swept through eastern and central Anatolia, and would remain until 1335. The Ilkhanate garrison was stationed near Ankara . After

8316-545: The guards and sending them and their satrap into full flight, setting their crops aflame as they made for Tarsus . This good fortune allowed Alexander and his army to pass unharmed through the Gates and into Cilicia. During Alexander III's invasion, a lesser officer named Arsames who had fled to Cilicia from the northwest to organise new resistance there defended it against the Macedonian forces. After Alexander's death it

8424-553: The highest average temperature in Cilicia. Mersin also has high annual precipitation (1096 mm) and 85 rainy days in a year. The mountains of Cilicia are formed from ancient limestones, conglomerate , marlstone, and similar materials. The Taurus Mountains are composed of karstic limestone, while its soil is also limestone-derived, with pockets of volcanic soil. The lower plain is the largest alluvial plain in Turkey. Expansion of limestone formations and fourth-era alluvials brought by

8532-719: The highest peak in the Armenian Highlands ) is Mount Ararat (5123 m). The Euphrates , Aras , Karasu and Murat rivers connect the Armenian Highlands to the South Caucasus and the Upper Euphrates Valley. Along with the Çoruh , these rivers are the longest in the Eastern Anatolia Region. The English-language name Anatolia derives from the Greek Ἀνατολή ( Anatolḗ ) meaning "the East" and designating (from

8640-724: The history of the Hittite Empire concerned war with the rival empires of Egypt , Assyria and the Mitanni . The Ancient Egyptians eventually withdrew from the region after failing to gain the upper hand over the Hittites and becoming wary of the power of Assyria, which had destroyed the Mitanni Empire. The Assyrians and Hittites were then left to battle over control of eastern and southern Anatolia and colonial territories in Syria . The Assyrians had better success than

8748-407: The incoming Indo-European Anatolian peoples , who spoke the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The major Anatolian languages included Hittite , Luwian , and Lydian ; other local languages, albeit poorly attested, included Phrygian and Mysian . The Hurro-Urartian languages were spoken throughout Mitanni in the southeast, while Galatian , a Celtic language , was spoken throughout Galatia in

8856-416: The land, particularly, the eastern plains, fertile. In the coldest month (January), the average temperature is 9 °C, and in the warmest month (August), the average temperature is 28 °C. The mountains of Cilicia have an inland climate with snowy winters. The average annual precipitation in the region is 647 mm and the average number of rainy days in a year is 76. Mersin and surrounding areas have

8964-399: The latter to the northern part of the Mesopotamian plain. According to Richard Hovannisian , this changing of toponyms was "necessary to obscure all evidence" of the Armenian presence as part of the policy of Armenian genocide denial embarked upon by the newly established Turkish government and what Hovannisian calls its "foreign collaborators". Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to

9072-586: The mid-5th century onwards, urbanism was affected negatively and began to decline, while the rural areas reached unprecedented levels of prosperity in the region. Historians and scholars continue to debate the cause of the urban decline in Byzantine Anatolia between the 6th and 7th centuries, variously attributing it to the Plague of Justinian (541), the Byzantine–Sasanian War (602–628), and

9180-464: The narrow strip of flat land along its coast, due to which the imperial authorities often led repressive measures against these inhabitants of the hilly regions. During the reign of the Achaemenid king of kings Darius I , Cilicia was used as an assembly point for the military forces which Mardonius used to campaign in Europe as well as those which Datis and Artaphernes used to campaign against both

9288-405: The next century, the Cilician king Pilliya finalized treaties with both King Zidanta II of the Hittites and Idrimi of Alalakh , in which Idrimi mentions that he had assaulted several military targets throughout Eastern Cilicia. Niqmepa , who succeeded Idrimi as king of Alalakh, went so far as to ask for help from a Hurrian rival, Shaushtatar of Mitanni , to try and reduce Cilicia's power in

9396-475: The north. However, they did not necessarily displace the population genetically; they assimilated into the former peoples' culture, preserving the Hittite language. The Hittites adopted the Mesopotamian cuneiform script . In the Late Bronze Age, Hittite New Kingdom ( c.  1650 BCE ) was founded, becoming an empire in the 14th century BCE after the conquest of Kizzuwatna in the south-east and

9504-693: The northwest, the Galatian variant of Gaulish in Galatia until the 6th century CE, Cappadocian in the homonymous region, Armenian in the east, and Kartvelian languages in the northeast. Anatolia is known as the birthplace of minted coinage (as opposed to unminted coinage, which first appears in Mesopotamia at a much earlier date) as a medium of exchange, some time in the 7th century BCE in Lydia. The use of minted coins continued to flourish during

9612-747: The only remaining part of the Byzantine East , and thus commonly referred to (in Greek) as the Eastern part of the Empire. At the same time, the Anatolic Theme ( Ἀνατολικὸν θέμα / "the Eastern theme") was created, as a province ( theme ) covering the western and central parts of Turkey's present-day Central Anatolia Region , centered around Iconium , but ruled from the city of Amorium . The Latinized form " Anatolia ", with its -ia ending,

9720-422: The region. It was soon apparent, however, that increased Hittite power would soon prove Niqmepa's efforts to be futile, as the city of Kizzuwatna soon fell to the Hittites, threatening all of Cilicia. Soon after, King Sunassura II was forced to accept vassalization under the Hittites, becoming the last king of ancient Cilicia. After the death of Mursili I , which led to a power struggle among rival claimants to

9828-599: The reign of Roman Emperor Constantine I (306–337), who created the Praetorian prefecture of the East , known in Greek as the Eastern Prefecture, encompassing all eastern regions of the Late Roman Empire and spanning from Thrace to Egypt . Only after the loss of other eastern regions during the 7th century and the reduction of Byzantine eastern domains to Asia Minor, that region became

9936-564: The rest of Europe. Following the Russo-Persian Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828) and the incorporation of Eastern Armenia into the Russian Empire, another migration involved the large Armenian population of Anatolia, which recorded significant migration rates from Western Armenia (Eastern Anatolia) toward the Russian Empire, especially toward its newly established Armenian provinces. Anatolia remained multi-ethnic until

10044-426: The rich plain of Issus ran the great highway that linked east and west, on which stood the cities of Tarsus (Tarsa) on the Cydnus, Adana (Adanija) on the Sarus, and Mopsuestia (Missis) on the Pyramus. The climate of Cilicia shows significant differences between the mountains and the lower plains. At the lower plains, the climate reflects a typical Mediterranean style; summers are hot while winters are mild, making

10152-478: The river is 124 kilometres (77 mi) (including Kadıncık). Although the river is quite short, the average discharge is 42 cubic metres per second (1,500 cu ft/s), which is higher than most short rivers in the vicinity. The drainage basin covers 1,592 square kilometres (615 sq mi). The river flows to the Mediterranean Sea at 36°28′N 34°30′E  /  36.47°N 34.50°E  / 36.47; 34.50 . Just north of Tarsus there

10260-414: The rivers Seyhan and Ceyhan formed the plains of the region over the course of time. Akyatan , Akyayan, Salt Lake, Seven lakes at Aladağ, and Karstik Dipsiz lake near Karaisalı are the lakes of the region. The reservoirs in the region are Seyhan, Çatalan, Yedigöze, Kozan and Mehmetli. The major rivers in Cilicia are Seyhan , Ceyhan , Berdan (Tarsus) , Asi and Göksu . Cilicia was settled from

10368-532: The shifting political fortunes and cultural trajectories of the region since the nineteenth century". Turkey's First Geography Congress in 1941 created two geographical regions of Turkey to the east of the Gulf of Iskenderun-Black Sea line, the Eastern Anatolia Region and the Southeastern Anatolia Region , the former largely corresponding to the western part of the Armenian Highlands,

10476-525: The throne, eventually leading to the collapse of Hittite supremacy, Cilicia appeared to have regained its independence. In the 13th century BC a major population shift occurred as the Sea Peoples overran Cilicia. The Hurrians that resided there deserted the area and moved northeast towards the Taurus Mountains , where they settled in the area of Cappadocia . During the early and middle of

10584-479: The warmest regions of Turkey, but its upper reaches in the Toros Mountains make the water much cooler than the surrounding streams. History has two very well known accounts of health problems caused by swimming in the river. In 333 BC Alexander the Great and in 833 AD Caliph Al-Ma'mun both swam in the river and both fell ill (hypothermia or pneumonia?); Al Mamun died of the illness. In Greek mythology ,

10692-417: The west were Mysia , Lydia , and Caria; and Lycia , Pamphylia , and Cilicia belonged to the southern shore. There were also several inland regions: Phrygia , Cappadocia , Pisidia , and Galatia . Languages spoken included the late surviving Anatolic languages , Isaurian , and Pisidian , Greek in western and coastal regions, Phrygian spoken until the 7th century CE, local variants of Thracian in

10800-861: The west, the Turkish Straits to the northwest, and the Black Sea to the north. The eastern and southeastern limits have been expanded either to the entirety of Asiatic Turkey or to an imprecise line from the Black Sea to the Gulf of Alexandretta . Topographically, the Sea of Marmara connects the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles , and separates Anatolia from Thrace in Southeast Europe . During

10908-623: The western district was left independent under native kings or priest-dynasts, and a small kingdom, under Tarcondimotus I , was left in the east; but these were finally united to the province by Vespasian , AD 72. Containing 47 known cities, it had been deemed important enough to be governed by a proconsul . In 259 or 250, the Persian Sasanian king of kings Shapur I defeated the Roman Emperor Valerian , whose army included Cilician soldiers. After Valerian's defeat,

11016-473: The whole was organized by Pompey , 64 BC, into a province which, for a short time, extended to and included part of Phrygia . In 51 BC, the Parthian Empire was able to take advantage of the weakness of the Roman Republic to invade Cilicia ( Parthian : 𐭊𐭉𐭋𐭊𐭉𐭀 ‎ ). It was reorganized by Julius Caesar , 47 BC, and about 27 BC became part of the province Syria-Cilicia Phoenice. At first,

11124-628: Was a prerogative accorded in Islamic practice only to a sovereign , it can be considered that the Osmanli, or Ottoman Turks, had become formally independent from the Mongol Khans. Among the Turkish leaders, the Ottomans emerged as great power under Osman I and his son Orhan . The Anatolian beyliks were successively absorbed into the rising Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. It

11232-403: Was appointed as satrap of Cilicia by Xerxes I as reward for his service. Cilicia remained under efficient administration, and it would continue to provide troops for the Achaemenid wars in Anatolia, Egypt and Cyprus. In 401 BC, the Achaemenid king of kings Artaxerxes II abolished the autonomy of Cilicia in reaction to the local Cilician ruler Syennesis III's support for the rebellion of Cyrus

11340-700: Was derived from Ḫilakku ( 𒆳𒄭𒋃𒆪 ), which was the name used by the Neo-Assyrian Empire to designate the western part of what would become Cilicia. The English spelling Cilicia is the same as the Latin, as it was transliterated directly from the Greek form Κιλικία. The palatalization of c occurring in Western Europe in later Vulgar Latin ( c.  500–700 ) accounts for its modern pronunciation in English. Cilicia extends along

11448-541: Was inhabited by Greeks of the Achaean / Mycenaean culture from the 20th century BCE, related to the Greeks of southeastern Europe and the Aegean . Beginning with the Bronze Age collapse at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE, the west coast of Anatolia was settled by Ionian Greeks , usurping the area of the related but earlier Mycenaean Greeks . Over several centuries, numerous Ancient Greek city-states were established on

11556-426: Was inhabited by tribal populations who were led by native chieftains, and it contained fortified strongholds protecting its agricultural land and its inhabitants, as well as various native and Persian cities and towns. Nevertheless, the western pert of Cilicia, corresponding to the later Graeco-Roman Rough Cilicia, probably remained independent of Persian rule and of the administration of the satrap of Tarsus except for

11664-491: Was long a battleground of the rival Hellenistic monarchs and kingdoms, and for a time fell under Ptolemaic dominion (i.e., Egypt), but finally came to the Seleucids , who, however, never held effectually more than the eastern half. Although no later Persian empire ever regained control of Cilicia, one Seleucid officer named Aribazus and attested as administrator of Cilicia in 246 BC was possibly of Persian descent. During

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