Eordaea (also spelled Eordaia or Eordia, ) was a

geographical region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

upper Macedonia Upper Macedonia ( Greek: Ἄνω Μακεδονία, ''Ánō Makedonía'') is a geographical and tribal term to describe the upper/western of the two parts in which, together with Lower Macedonia, the ancient kingdom of Macedon was roughly divi ...

and later an administrative region of the kingdom of Macedon. Eordaea was located south of Lynkestis, west of Emathia, north of Elimiotis and east of Orestis.Dimitrios C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of the Roman province of Macedonia (The Departmement of Western Macedonia today) (in Greek), Thessaloniki 1989 Eordaea stretched in the basin of Eordaia, the current homonymous municipality in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, which is named after the ancient region, and also in the southern part of the municipality of

Amyntaio Amyntaio (, before 1928: Σόροβιτς – ''Sorovits''; Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,348, while that o ...

and the western part of the municipality of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

. The capital of Eordaea was the city of Eordaea ( el) (), which was mentioned by many historians and geographers of antiquity.

Name

The name Eordaea is of

proto-Greek The Proto-Greek language (also known as Proto-Hellenic) is the Indo-European language which was the last common ancestor of all varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean Greek, the subsequent ancient Greek dialects (i.e., Attic, Ionic, Ae ...

origin and related to the Mycenaean word "''Ϝορδία''" meaning "rich land". The name refers to the fact that Eordaea was a region rich in roses, as noted by

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

(8.138).

History

The history of Eordaea stretches long before 2000 BCE when the first

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

, known as the Mycenean Greeks, began to inhabit this area. Remnants of exploited copper mines from 2700 up until 1200 BCE strongly indicate that the Greeks inhabited Eordaea for many years. Iron mines have also been exploited in the Eordean region.

Recent discoveries

Within a 50-year period, paleontologists and archaeologists have made many discoveries due to the industrial development of the Eordean countryside. In particular, the skeletal

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

of a prehistoric mammoth, a prehistoric

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

, and

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

tools have all been found within the province of Eordaea. These finds add to knowledge on the variety of animal species and human artifacts from the region of

Western Macedonia Western Macedonia (, ) is one of the thirteen Regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional units of Greece ...

. In addition, two ancient Macedonian tombs have been excavated within Eordaia. The first was located in a rural area of the village of Spilia, while the second was located in the village of Pyrgoi.

Towns

Many ancient towns of Eordaea are mentioned and many archaeological sites have been examined on the past decades, certainly around the Vegoritida lake, but it is difficult to distinguish their names. The most significant towns, according to

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

writers, were: * Eordaea (city) () *

Arnissa Arnissa (, before 1926: , ''Ostrovon'';) is a town in the Pella (regional unit), Pella regional unit of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. It is located near the Lake Vegoritida and Kaimakchalan, Mount Kaimakchalan and is the seat of the Vegori ...

() * Vegora ( el) () * Kella ()

Notable people

Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pto ...

. He is the most known notable person of ancient Eordaea. He was a distinguished General of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. After the death of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy became

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and founder of the

Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty (; , ''Ptolemaioi''), also known as the Lagid dynasty (, ''Lagidai''; after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. ...

which ruled Egypt until 30BC. * Lagus. Father of Ptolemy I Soter * Peithon. Satrap of Alexander the Great * Aristonous. Bodyguard of Alexander the Great

References

Upper Macedonia Geography of ancient Macedonia Historical regions in Greece {{AncientMacedonia-geo-stub