Cappadocia

Cappadocia (kăpədō`shə), ancient region of Asia Minor, watered by the Halys River (the modern Kizil Irmak), in present E central Turkey. The name was applied at different times to territories of varying size. At its greatest extent Cappadocia stretched from the Halys valley E to the Euphrates River, from the Black Sea S to the heights of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus ranges. Mostly a high plateau, it was famous for its mineral resources, particularly its copper and iron. Cappadocia maintained its local Asian traditions in contrast to the Mediterranean seacoast of Asia Minor, which was dominated by the Aegean culture. Several thousand tablets, written in cuneiform by Assyrian colonists in Cappadocia, have been found at Kültepe (Kanesh); they show that a highly developed trade existed between Assyria and Asia Minor before 1800 B.C. At that time Cappadocia was the heart of an old Hittite state. Later the Persians controlled Cappadocia. It did not yield fully to the conquest of Alexander the Great, and during the 3d cent. B.C. it gradually developed as an independent kingdom. Pontus now became completely separated from Cappadocia. The kings had their capital at Mazaca (later Caesarea Mazaca); the only other important cities were Tyana and Melitene, though Iconium was at times in Cappadocia. In the 2d and 1st cent. B.C. the Cappadocian dynasty maintained itself largely by siding with Rome. Invaded in 104 B.C. by Mithradates VI and c.90 B.C. by his son-in-law, Tigranes of Armenia, Cappadocia was restored by Pompey. Antony replaced the king, who had been disloyal to Rome in the Parthian invasion at the time of Julius Caesar, and in A.D. 17 Rome annexed the region as a province and Cappadocia became prosperous.

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Cappadocia

Ancient district, eastern Anatolia. It is a mountainous area located in present-day Turkey; its earliest records date from the 6th century BC, when it was a Persian satrapy. A period of semi-autonomy followed Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian empire (330 BC). Important as a Roman ally and client, it was annexed by the emperor Tiberius in AD 17 and made a Roman province. With its command over strategic passes in the Taurus Mountains, the area was a bulwark of the Byzantine Empire until the 11th century. Part of the district was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.

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Cappadocia

an ancient region of E Asia Minor famous for its horses