Kemah (), known historically as Ani-Kamakh (), Gamakh, Kamacha or Kamachon () is a town in
Erzincan Province
Erzincan Province (; ; ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. In Turkey, its capital is also called Erzincan. Its area is 11,815 km2, and its population is 239,223 (2022).
Geography
Erzincan is trav ...
in the
Eastern Anatolia Region
The Eastern Anatolia region () 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 Sea Region and Georgia in th ...
of
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. It is the seat of
Kemah District
Kemah District is a district of the Erzincan Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Kemah.İlçe Belediyesi , Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 2,929 (2022). The town is located almost in the centre of Erzincan Province.
Neighborhoods
The town is divided into the neighborhoods of Aşağıgedik, Beklimçay, Cirgişin, Çarşı, Göğüsbağı, Karşıbağ, Mektepönü, Ortagedik, Pörhenkbaşı and Yukarı.
History
Late Bronze
In ancient times, the town was known as Ani-Kamakh, and was the cult center of the Armenian goddess
Anahit
Anahit () was the goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and water in Armenian mythology. In early periods, she was the goddess of war. By the 5th century BCE, she was the main deity in Armenia along with Aramazd. The Armenian goddess Anahit ...
(Ani). It may be what the Hittites referred to as Kummaha, one of the cities of Azzi (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 ...
).
Classical
The necropolis of Armenia's
Arsacid dynasty
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...
was located in Kemah, including the tomb of Tiridates III who was instrumental in the conversion of the Armenian people to Christianity.
Medieval
During the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, Kemah was a strategically important border fortress in the border wars between the Byzantines and the Umayyads and
Abbasids
The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes i ...
. 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
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...
, in the late 9th century Kemah formed a ''
tourma
A ''turma'' (; plural ''turmae''; ) 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 divisions of a '' thema''. The word is often tran ...
Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 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 read, leading to his epithet. During ...
, Kemah was joined with the district of
Keltzene
Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni with a ...
to form the new ''thema'' of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
. 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
The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army ...
in 1071.
Modern
The Kemah Gorge was the scene of massacres during the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, 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 t ...
. In one instance, 25,000 Armenians were killed in one day by throwing the victims off a steep gorge and into the
Euphrates
The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...
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.