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province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire
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Cilicia ( sil-ISH-ə) is a geographical region of southern Anatolia in West Asia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia borders Pamphylia to the west, Lycaonia and Cappadocia to the north, Commagene to the north-east, Syria to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. 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 and Hatay.
The name of Cilicia (Κιλικία) was derived from the Akkadian toponym 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 is located on the southern coast of Anatolia, and it historically extended from Coracesium or the river Melas in the west to the Amanus Mountains in the east, while to the north and northwest it was bounded by the Taurus Mountains, which are passable in very few places, such as the Cilician Gates, and in the south it was bounded by the Gulf of Iskenderun.
Cilicia consisted of two main contrasting regions:
The western mountainous part of Cilicia was called Rugged Cilicia or Rough Cilicia (Ancient Greek: Κιλικία Τραχεῖα, romanized: Kilikía Trakheîa; Latin: Cilicia Aspera), while the eastern region was dominated by the alluvial plain of the rivers Cydnus, Sarus, and Pyramus, and was therefore known as Plain Cilicia or Flat Cilicia (Ancient Greek: Κιλικία Πεδιάς, romanized: Kilikía Pediás; Latin: Cilicia Campestris).
Although Cilicia's boundaries are difficult to traverse, it has important access routes which have connected it since antiquity with the neighbouring North Syrian Plain in the east and the Anatolian Highlands in the north:
The most important route of the Cilician Plain, since antiquity, has run from the Amanus passes to the Taurus passes. This route comes from northern Syria, crosses Plain Cilica westward through Adana and Tarsus, and finally continues into Anatolia. In modern times, this route corresponds to the trajectory of a motorway, a national highway, and the Baghdad Railway built in the early 20th century AD. The distribution of ancient settlements along this axis suggests that this route existed from as early as the Chalcolithic Period.
Salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in the Roman province of Cilicia from 58 BC until 27 BC.
Rough Cilicia (Ancient Greek: Κιλικία Τραχεῖα, romanized: Kilikía Trakheîa; Latin: Cilicia Aspera; Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒆳𒄭𒋃𒆪, romanized: Ḫilakku; Neo-Babylonian Akkadian: 𒆳𒉿𒆸𒁺, romanized: Pirindu) 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: Κιλικία Πεδιάς, romanized: Kilikía Pediás; Latin: Cilicia Campestris; Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒆳𒄣𒂊, romanized: Que; Neo-Babylonian Akkadian: 𒆳𒄷𒈨𒂊, romanized: Ḫuwê), to 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 is watered by multiple rivers originating in the Tauris Mountains, with the three most important of these being:
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 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 the highest average temperature in Cilicia. Mersin also has high annual precipitation (1096 mm) and 85 rainy days in a year.
The Cilician Plain possesses fertile soils, a hot climate, and abundant water resources thanks to enough rainfalls and multiple rivers, which make it one of the most productive agricultural regions of present-day Turkey. A large number of burial mounts from every era of human presence there shows that these favourable conditions have been conducive to intensive human settlement in Plain Cilicia from the Neolithic Period.
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 an extremely important alluvial plain in Turkey. Expansion of limestone formations and fourth-era alluvials brought by 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.
Plain Cilicia formed an important link between Syria, and, by extension, Mesopotamia and Egypt as well, with Cyprus and the Anatolian highlands for several periods.
Due to its propitious environmental conditions, Plain Cilicia has been intensively settled by humans since the Neolithic Period.
During the Neolithic Period, ceramic wares from Cilicia show links to northern Syria and northern Mesopotamia, as well as to the ceramics of Inner Anatolia. Influences from the Halaf culture of northern Mesopotamia are visible in Cilicia in this period, and so are influences from the Ubaid culture.
During the Chalcolithic Period, close contacts existed between Cilicia and the Amuq E and F cultures of the nearby Amuq Plain.
During the Late Chalcolithic Period, when the Uruk period culture spread in Mesopotamia, Cilicia exhibited closer cultural links to the Anatolian Highlands.
Beginning in the Early Bronze Age II period, and especially during the Early Bronze Age III period, which corresponds to the Early Bronze Age I-IV of the northern Levant, Syrian-Levantine influence on Cilician pottery was more intensely felt, resulting in the appearance of special types of pottery such as Metallic Ware and Syrian Flasks. Thus, Cilicia moved away from influence by the Anatolian cultural sphere and towards the northern Syrian cultural zone during the early Bronze Age, with this latter one persisting until the Middle Bronze Age.
Cilicia is not mentioned in any ancient texts in the 3rd millennium BC, and even the sources of Ebla do not refer to it.
The first recognisable mentions of the Cilician Plain instead are from between c. 2000 and c. 1750 BC, with the Story of Sinuhe, which takes place during the reign of Senusret I (r. 1971 – 1926 BC), referring to a ḫantawattis from the south of the land of Kawa, who can be located in Plain Cilicia; the Luwian title of this ruler shows that the ruling class of Cilicia during this period were Luwians.
An Egyptian inscription from the reign of Senusret I's successor, Amenemhat II (r. 1929 – 1895 BC), mentioned the port city of Ura. There is otherwise no information about the political situation of Cilicia from the period lasting from c. 2000 to c. 1500 BC, with neither the letters of Assyrian traders in Kaniš nor the royal correspondence of the palace at Mari providing any information about Cilicia.
Archaeological remains from this period derive almost solely from Tarsus, Mersin, Kinet Höyük and Sirkeli Höyük. Beginning in the Bronze Age IA, which is when the land of Kawa was mentioned in the Story of Sinuhe, Painted Syro-Cilician Ware became prevalent in large parts of the Levant and Syria, which, in addition to its similarities with Khabur Ware and Levantine Painted Ware, showed close connections between Cilicia and these regions. Contacts between Cilicia and Central Anatolia are discernible in the forms of the ceramics, such as spouted jugs found at Sirkeli Höyük, as well as by the dominance of Central Anatolian house types at Tarsus and Mersin.
Before the end of the Middle Bronze Age, the Hurrian language and religion had spread into Cilicia, where the Hurrian and Luwian components were dominant among the population of the region from the period lasting from c. 1500 to c. 1250 BC.
During the Late Bronze Age, Cilicia was dominated by the kingdom of Kizzuwatna which came into existence during the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, at the time of the Hittite king Ammuna, and was an independent power as well as a buffer between the Hittite Empire and the kingdom of Mitanni. During this period, silver from this region was exported to Middle Kingdom Egypt.
Even at this early period, Kizzuwatna was an important location for the Hittite Empire, since it provided the Hittites with access to Syria, which was useful for trade and was strategically advantageous.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Cilicia (satrapy)”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.