Kemah ( ku, Kemax), known historically as Ani-Kamakh ( hy, Անի-Կամախ), Gamakh, Kamacha or Kamachon ( el, Κάμαχα, Κάμαχον) is a town and district of
Erzincan Province
Erzincan Province ( tr, ; ku, Parezgêha Erzînganê) is a province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. In Turkey, its capital is also called Erzincan. The population was 236,034 in 2018.
Geography
Erzincan is traversed by the northeaste ...
in the
Eastern Anatolia Region
The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ.
It is bordered by the Black S ...
of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
History
Ancient and medieval
Kemah is a town with a present population of 2141 (2010 est.). The town is located almost in the centre of Erzincan Province.
In ancient times, the town was known as Ani-Kamakh, and was the cult center of the Armenian goddess
Anahit (Ani). It may be what the Hittites referred to as Kummaha (if that was not just a variant of
Kummuh
Kummuh was an Iron Age Neo-Hittite kingdom located on the west bank of the Upper Euphrates within the eastern loop of the river between Melid and Carchemish. Assyrian sources refer to both the land and its capital city by the same name. The city i ...
).
The necropolis of Armenia's
Arsacid Dynasty
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...
was located in Kemah, including the tomb of
Tiridates III who was instrumental in the conversion of the Armenian people to Christianity.
During the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, Kemah was a strategically important border fortress in the
border wars between the
Byzantines and the
Umayyads Umayyads may refer to:
*Umayyad dynasty, a Muslim ruling family of the Caliphate (661–750) and in Spain (756–1031)
*Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)
:*Emirate of Córdoba (756–929)
:*Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خ ...
and
Abbasids. It first fell to the Muslims in 679 and changed hands frequently until the mid-9th century (cf.
Siege of Kamacha (766)
The siege of Kamacha by the Abbasid Caliphate took place in autumn 766, and involved the siege of the strategically important Byzantine fortress of Kamacha on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, as well as a large-scale raid across eastern ...
), when Byzantine control was consolidated. According to
Constantine VII, in the late 9th century Kemah formed a ''
tourma
A ''turma'' (Latin for "swarm, squadron", plural ''turmae''), (Greek: τούρμα) was a cavalry unit in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-administrative di ...
'' in the ''
thema'' of
Koloneia. Under Emperor
Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well ...
, Kemah was joined with the district of
Keltzene
Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ci ...
to form the new ''thema'' of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
. Little is known of the site thereafter, except that it was the seat of a bishopric named "Armenia". The Byzantines lost control of the area following the
Battle of Manzikert in 1071.
Modern
The Kemah Gorge was the scene of massacres during the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
. In one instance, 25,000 Armenians were killed in one day by throwing the victims off a steep gorge and into the Euphrates river.
Demographics
In the 19th century, Armenian Catholic geographer Rev. Ghukas Injijian wrote that the Muslim population in Kemah were of Armenian origin but had converted to Islam during the devastation caused by the Persian-Ottoman wars in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Fundamental Armenology
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Erzincan Province
Districts of Erzincan Province
Kurdish settlements in Turkey