Tyana, earlier known as Tuwana during the Iron Age, and Tūwanuwa during the Bronze Age, was an ancient city in the

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

n region of

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

, in modern

Kemerhisar Kemerhisar is a town (''belde'') in the Bor District, Niğde, Bor District, Niğde Province, Turkey. Its population is 5,463 (2022). Geography The distance from Kemerhisar to Bor, Niğde, Bor is and to Niğde is . It is only west of Bahçeli, ...

Niğde Province Niğde Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the southern part of Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 7,234 km2, and its population is 365,419 (2022) of which 170,511 live in the city of Niğde. The population was 348,081 in 200 ...

, Central Anatolia,

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 was the capital of a

Luwian Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') – ...

-speaking

Neo-Hittite The states called Neo-Hittite, Syro-Hittite (in older literature), or Luwian-Aramean (in modern scholarly works) were Luwian and Aramean regional polities of the Iron Age, situated in southeastern parts of modern Turkey and northwestern parts o ...

kingdom in the 1st millennium BC.

Name

The name of the city was () during the Hittite Empire, and () in the

Luwian language Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') – ...

during the Syro-Hittite period. From the Luwian name were derived: * the Neo-Assyrian Akkadian name of the city, (), * and the

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 ...

name of the city, (; ).

Geography

Location

The location of the Hittite Tūwanuwa/Neo-Hittite Tuwana/Classical Tyana corresponds to the modern-day town of

Surroundings

The region around Tyana, which corresponded to roughly the same area as the former Iron Age kingdom of Tuwana, was known in Classical Antiquity as Tyanitis.

History

According to later Hittite sources, Tūwanuwa was an important cult centre, and its local pantheon was headed by the Storm-god

Tarḫunz Tarḫunz (stem: ''Tarḫunt-'') was the weather god and chief god of the Luwians, a people of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Anatolia. He is closely associated with the Hittite god Tarḫunna and the Hurrian god Teshub. Name The name of the Pro ...

as of Tūwanuwa and his consort, the goddess Šaḫḫaššara of Tūwanuwa.

Bronze Age

The city of Tūwanuwa was first mentioned in the texts of the

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

, as a city located in southeastern Anatolia, in the northern regions of the Lower Land. According to the , Tūwanuwa was part of the territories that the 17th century BC founder-king of the Hittite Old Empire,

Labarna I Labarna was the traditional first king of the Hittites, (middle chronology), the most accepted chronology nowadays. He was the traditional founder of the Hittite Old Kingdom (fl. c. 1680(?)-1650 BC). His wife was Tawannanna. The existence of La ...

, had conquered and which his sons divided among each other and established their rule there. During the reign of the Hittite Middle Empire's king

Tudhaliya III Tudḫaliya is the name of several Hittite kings or royals. It is not clear how many kings bore that name, and numbering schemes vary from source to source. *Tudḫaliya (sometimes called Tudḫaliya I) is deduced from his early placement in a lat ...

, the cities of Tūwanuwa and Uda had become border towns of the forces of

Arzawa Arzawa was a region and political entity in Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age. In Hittite texts, the term is used to refer both to a particular kingdom and to a loose confederation of states. The chief Arzawan state, whose capital wa ...

after it had invaded the Lower Land. Tūwanuwa itself was attacked by Arzawa, and Hittite records of this development associated Tūwanuwa with the town of Tupazziya and Mount Ammuna. Hittite descriptions of the city suggest that Tūwanuwa itself might have been located on a hill or a mountain at this time. The prince Suppiluliuma fought a battle against the Arzawan forces near Tūwanuwa and recaptured Tūwanuwa, which then became a base from which the Hittite forces reconquered the Lower Land from Arzawa. Several Hittite texts associated Tūwanuwa with the cities of Nenašša and

Ḫupišna Cybistra or Kybistra, earlier known as Ḫubišna, was a town of ancient Cappadocia or Cilicia. The main city of Kybistra/Ḫubišna was located at the site corresponding to present-day , about 10 km northeast of the modern town of Ereğ ...

, attesting that they were located close to each other. The city of Purušḫattum was also located close to Tūwanuwa.

Iron Age

Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Tuwana

After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, Tūwanuwa became the centre of the

-speaking Syro-Hittite state of Tuwana in the region of Tabal, in whose southernmost regions it was located.

=Location

= The kingdom of Tuwana was located in southern

and covered the territory located in the present-day province of Niğde in Turkey, lying to the east of the

Konya Plain The Konya-Karaman Plain is a plain in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey, associated with the Konya and Karaman Provinces. It is a flat plain (a height of 900–1050 m) that covers the majority of Konya Basin and constitutes the main pa ...

and the Obruk Plateau across

Lake Tuz Lake Tuz ( meaning 'Salt Lake) is the second largest lake in Turkey with its surface area and one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. It is located in the Central Anatolia Region, northeast of Konya, south-southeast of Ankara and ...

and the Melendiz Mountains until the Hasandağ volcano to the north, where the Erdaş and Hodul mountains formed its northern boundary by separating it from the kingdom of Tabal, while to the south it extended to the south until the

Cilician Gates The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m. The Cilician Gates ...

so that Tuwana was the first area travellers would reach after leaving

Ḫiyawa Ḫiyawa () or Adanawa () was a Luwian-speaking Syro-Hittite state which existed in southeastern Anatolia in the Iron Age. Name The native Luwian name of the kingdom was (), which bears a strong similarity to the name () used to refer to the ...

to the north by passing through the Cilician Gates to cross the Taurus Mountains. Tuwana thus corresponded to the region which later in Classical Antiquity was called Tyanitis. Tuwana was therefore located in the southern Tabalian region, of which it was the largest and most prominent kingdom, with its territory consisting of several settlements surrounding the royal capital at the city of Tuwana, although the city of Naḫitiya (modern

Niğde Niğde (; ; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and is located in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Niğde Province and Niğde District.Tynna and presently as Porsuk-Zeyve Höyük. By the 8th century BC, Tuwana's territory included the Mount Mudi, which was likely identical with the "alabaster mountain," Mount Mulî, which the Neo-Assyrian king

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

climbed and from where he extracted

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...

during his campaign in the Tabalian region in 837 BCE. The name () was the Akkadian form of a Luwian original name () which had experienced the Luwian sound shift from to . Based on the close association of the "silver mountain," Mount Tunni, with Mount Mulî in the Neo-Assyrian records, both of these mountains were located close to each other, in the northeastern end of the Bolkar and Taurus Mountains, where are presently located the silver mines of Bulgarmaden and the

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

mine at Porsuk- Zeyve Höyük.

=Population

= Tuwana was a state whose population was descended from the largely

inhabitants of the former Hittite region of Tūwanuwa.

=History

= Tuwana might have been ruled by a single dynasty consisting of the kings Warpalawas I, followed by his son Sarruwannis, who was succeeded by his own son Muwaḫḫaranis I, himself succeeded by his son

Warpalawas II Warpalawas II () was a Luwian king of the Syro-Hittite kingdom of Tuwana in the region of Tabal who reigned during the late 8th century BC, from around to . Name Etymology The Luwian name was pronounced and was derived by adding the adjecti ...

, whose son and successor was Muwaḫḫaranis II. Tuwana was spared by the Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III's invasion of the Tabalian region which he conducted in 837 BC.

Submission to the Neo-Assyrian Empire

By , the Tabalian region, including Tuwana, had become a tributary of the

Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...

, either after the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III's () conquest of Arpad over the course of 743 to 740 BC caused the states of the Tabalian region to submit to him, or possibly as a result of a campaign of Tiglath-pileser III in Tabal. Consequently, the longest reigning king of Tuwana,

, was mentioned in the records of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as one of five kings who offered tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III in 738 and 737 BC. Tuwana was a powerful state under Warpalawas II, under whose reign it contained one sub-kingdom whose capital was at the site corresponding to present-day Porsuk, and whose ruler Tarḫunazzas declared himself to be the "servant" of Warpalawas. By the time of the Neo-Assyrian king

Sargon II Sargon II (, meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is generally believed to have be ...

(), Tuwana was one of the last still independent Tabalian kingdoms, although it was coming under the pressure of both the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the kingdom of

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

because of its location between these two powers. Some

Old Phrygian The Phrygian language () was the Indo-European language of the Phrygians, spoken in Anatolia (in modern Turkey), during classical antiquity (c. 8th century BCE to 5th century CE). Phrygian ethno-linguistic homogeneity is debatable. Ancient Greek ...

inscriptions on basalt, possibly dated from Warpalawas II's reign, as well as the Phrygian robe depicted as worn by Warpalawas II in his İvriz monument, suggest that aspects of Phrygian culture were arriving into Tuwana during the late 8th century BC in the time of Warpalawas II. Warpalawas II's reign coincided with mentions in the annals of Sargon II of a ruler named Mita of

Mushki The Mushki (sometimes transliterated as Muški) were an Iron Age people of Anatolia who appear in sources from Assyria but not from the Hittites. Several authors have connected them with the Moschoi (Μόσχοι) of Greek sources and the Geor ...

who competed with the Assyrians for influence in Tabal. This Mita may have been the historical basis for the mythical king

Midas Midas (; ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. His father was Gordias, and his mother was Cybele. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek m ...

of Phrygia. One Phrygian inscription in Tuwana appears to reference Mita by name. Warpalawas II appears to have carried out a policy of cooperation with the Neo-Assyrian Empire, thanks to which he was able to keep his throne until the . And, after Sargon II had annexed the kingdom of Tabal, then reorganised as the kingdom of Bīt-Burutaš, and deported its king Ambaris in 713 BC, he increased Tuwana's territory in the broader Tabalian region by giving Warpalawas II part of the territory of Bīt-Burutaš.

Imposition of Neo-Assyrian governorship

Tuwana however appears to have come under direct Assyrian rule during the later years of Warpalawas II's reign, especially following the annexation of the kingdom of Tabal, then reorganised as the kingdom of Bīt-Burutaš, and the deportation of its king Ambaris in 713 BC, after which Sargon II appointed one Aššur-šarru-uṣur as governor of Que based in Ḫiyawa who also held authority on

Ḫilakku Ḫilakku (), later known as Pirindu ( and ), was a Luwian-speaking Syro-Hittite state which existed in southeastern Anatolia in the Iron Age. Name Ḫilakku The native name of this kingdom is still unknown due to a lack of Hieroglyphic Luwian i ...

and the Tabalian region, including both Bīt-Burutaš and Tuwana. Thus Tuwana and other nearby Anatolian kingdoms were placed the authority of Aššur-šarru-uṣur. Following the appointment of Aššur-šarru-uṣur, Warpalawas II of Tuwana and

Awarikus Awarikus () or Warikas () was a Luwian king of the Syro-Hittite kingdom of Ḫiyawa in Cilicia who reigned during the mid to late 8th century BCE, from around to 709 BCE. Name The name of this king is attested in Anatolian hieroglyphs in the for ...

of Ḫiyawa became largely symbolic rulers although they might have still held the power to manage their kingdoms locally. The reason for these changes was due to the fact that, although Warpalawas II and Awarikus had been loyal Neo-Assyrian vassals, Sargon II considered them as being too elderly to be able to efficiently uphold Neo-Assyrian authority in southeastern Anatolia, where the situation had become volatile because of encroachment by the then growing power of Phrygian kingdom. Tuwana nevertheless appears to have continued to thrive as a Neo-Assyrian vassal during the rules of Warpalawas II and his son and successor, Muwaḫḫaranis II. Some cities in these new territories from Bīt-Burutaš which Sargon II had assigned to Warpalawas II were later attacked and occupied by Atuna and Ištuanda in . The last known king of Tuwana was Muwaḫḫaranis II, the son of Warpalawas II. As in the latter part of his father's reign, Tuwana during the rule of Muwaḫḫaranis II was under direct rule of the Neo-Assyrian governor Aššur-šarru-uṣur.

Regained independence

Muwaḫḫaranis II might have continued to rule in Tabal into the 7th century BC, by which time Neo-Assyrian control of the Tabalian region had ended. A late 8th century BC king named Masauraḫissas is also attested from an inscription at Porsuk-Zeyve Höyük, although it is uncertain whether he was the king of another state (he is commonly assumed to have been a ruler of Tunna), or whether he ruled in Tuwana after Muwaḫḫaranis II. Masauraḫissas's name might possibly have been a Luwianisation of a Phrygian name . By , Neo-Assyrian sources no longer referred to the local Tabalian kings, suggesting that they, including Tuwana, might have been annexed by the king Iškallû of Tabal proper, after which it became part of the united kingdom of Tabal and Melid of the king Mugallu. The situation of Tuwana following the loss of Neo-Assyrian control over the Tabalian region after 705 BC is unknown, although the survival of the city's name until the Classical period suggests that there was no significant cultural break there after the end of the 8th century BC.

=List of rulers

= *Warpalawas I ?, *Sarruwannis (), *Muwaḫḫaranis I (), *

( ), * Muwaḫḫaranis II (), *Masauraḫissas ? ()

Hellenistic period

By the Graeco-Roman period, the city became known as Tyana (; ), and the country around it as Tyanitis (; ). In Greek legend, the city was first called Thoana because Thoas, a

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

king, was its founder (

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; ; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of ...

, ''Periplus Ponti Euxini'', vi); it was in

, at the foot of the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...

and near the Cilician Gates (

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, XII, 537; XIII, 587). According to Strabo the city was renamed as "Eusebeia at the Taurus", likely due to its refoundation by Ariarathes V Eusebes. In the first century B.C., the city had a gymnasium.

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

mentions it in his book ''

Anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * '' Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), ...

'', under the name of ''Dana'', as a large and prosperous city. The surrounding plain was known after it as ''Tyanitis''.

Roman period

In the first century of Roman rule of Cappadocia, the city was one of the only four major "cities" in the region and among those the most hellenised and therefore the closest to a Roman city. Tyana is the reputed birthplace of the celebrated philosopher (and reputed saint or magician)

Apollonius of Tyana Apollonius of Tyana (; ; ) was a Greek philosopher and religious leader from the town of Tyana, Cappadocia in Roman Anatolia, who spent his life travelling and teaching in the Middle East, North Africa and India. He is a central figure in Ne ...

in the first century AD.

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

(

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

VIII) places the tale of

Baucis and Philemon Baucis and Philemon () are two characters from Greek mythology, only known to us from Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in the region of Tyana, which Ovid places in Phrygia, and the only ones in their t ...

in the vicinity. Under Roman Emperor

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

, the city became ''Antoniana colonia Tyana''. After having sided first with the

Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

ruler

Shapur Shahpur, Shapur, Shahpoor, or Shahapur () may refer to: People * Shapur (name), Persian given name and a list of people with the name Places India Bihar * Shahpur, Bihar, a city in Bhojpur district ** Shahpur, Bihar Assembly constitue ...

in 260 and then Queen

Zenobia Septimia Zenobia (Greek: Ζηνοβία, Palmyrene Aramaic: , ; 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner, and she married the ruler of the ...

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

, it was captured by emperor

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

in 272, who would not allow his soldiers to sack it, allegedly because

Apollonius Apollonius () is a masculine given name which may refer to: People Ancient world Artists * Apollonius of Athens (sculptor) (fl. 1st century BC) * Apollonius of Tralles (fl. 2nd century BC), sculptor * Apollonius (satyr sculptor) * Apo ...

appeared to him. It is more likely though that the city was its strategic importance in a fertile plain and as a major stop linking Anatolia with Cilicia. In 372, Emperor

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

split the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Cappadocia in two, and Tyana became the capital and metropolis of ''

Cappadocia Secunda Cappadocia was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia (modern central-eastern Turkey), with its capital at Caesarea Mazaca, Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the Emperor Tiberius (ruled 14–37 AD), following the death ...

'', and the city was sometimes referred to as Christoupolis () in

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

. Due to its location, the city was on one of the major Christian pilgrim routes in the empire and also had its own local saints such as Orestes, who according to tradition was

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial ...

in Late Antiquity in Tyana and remained a venerated figure in Cappadocia up to the tenth century at least.

Byzantine period

In the fifth century, Cooper and Decker estimate that the city had possibly a population of no more than 10,000. Being located around 30 km to the north of the Cilician Gates, Tyana lied on the main road between Constantinople and the Levant. Following the

Muslim conquests The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc. *Early Muslim conquests ** Ridda Wars **Muslim conquest of Persia *** Muslim co ...

and the establishment of the frontier between the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and the

Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

along the

, this made Tyana a recurrent target of raids by the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

and then

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

Caliphates in 708, 806 and 831: *the city was first sacked by the Umayyads after a long siege in 708, and remained deserted for some time before being rebuilt *it was then occupied by the

caliph

Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...

in 806. Harun began converting the city into a military base and even erected a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

there, but evacuated it after the Byzantine emperor

Nikephoros I Nikephoros I (; 750 – 26 July 811), also known as Nicephorus I, was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. He was General Logothete (finance minister) under Empress Irene, but later overthrew her to seize the throne for himself. Prior to becomi ...

bought a peace. The city was again taken and razed by the Abbasids under

Al-Abbas ibn al-Ma'mun Al-Abbas ibn al-Ma'mun () (died 838 CE) was an Abbasid prince and general, the son of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (). A distinguished military leader in the Arab–Byzantine wars, he was passed over in the succession in favour of his uncle al-Mu' ...

in 831. Abbas rebuilt the site three years later as an Abbasid military colony in preparation for Caliph

al-Ma'mun Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

's planned conquest of Byzantium, but after Ma'mun's sudden death in August 833 the campaign was abandoned by his successor

al-Mu'tasim Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd (; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his laqab, regnal name al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh (, ), was the eighth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, ruling from 833 until his death in 842. ...

and the half-rebuilt city was razed again. Tyana finally entered into a permanent phase of decline after 933 and was replaced by a number of nearby settlements. In the Middle and Late Byzantine periods the city recovered somewhat as a place of relative agricultural and commercial importance, but it never hosted more than a few thousand inhabitants.

Modern period

Insignificant ruins of the Byzantine city are still visible at the site of Tyana in the present.

Ecclesiastical history

As noted, in 372 Emperor

created the province of ''Cappadocia Secunda'', of which Tyana became the metropolis. This aroused a violent controversy between Anthimus, Bishop of Tyana, and St.

Basil of Caesarea Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who suppor ...

, each of whom wished to have as many

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

sees as possible. About 640 Tyana had three, and it was the same in the tenth century (

Heinrich Gelzer Heinrich Gelzer (1 July 1847 – 11 July 1906) was a German classical scholar. He wrote also on Armenian mythology. He was the son of the Swiss historian Johann Heinrich Gelzer (1813–1889). He became Professor of classical philology and an ...

, "Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiae episcopatum", 538, 554).

Le Quien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. Biography Le Quien studied at , Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made ...

mentions 28 bishops of Tyana, among whom were: *Eutychius, at Nice in 325 *Anthimus, the rival of St. Basil *Aetherius, at Constantinople in 381 *Theodore, the friend of St. John Chrysostom *Eutherius, the partisan of

Nestorius Nestorius of Constantinople (; ; ) was an early Christian prelate who served as Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 11 July 431. A Christian theologian from the Catechetical School of Antioch, several of his teachings in the fi ...

, deposed and exiled in 431 *Cyriacus, a Severian

Monophysite Monophysitism ( ) or monophysism ( ; from Greek , "solitary" and , "nature") is a Christological doctrine that states that there was only one nature—the divine—in the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnated Word. It is rejected as ...

. In May 1359, Tyana still had a

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

(Mikelosich and Müller, "Acta patriarchatus Constantinopolitani", I, 505); in 1360 the metropolitan of Caesarea secured the administration of it (op. cit., 537). Thenceforth the see was titular. In 2020, during excavations the archaeologists discovered an octagonal church and coins dated to the 4th century.1,600-year-old octagonal church found in Central Anatolia
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Dietrich Berges Dietrich () is an ancient German name meaning "ruler of the people", but also "keeper of the keys" or "lockpick" (either the tool or the profession). Given name * Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg (c. 1398–1440) * Thierry of Alsace (; 1099–1168), ...

, "Die Frühgeschichte Tyanas." In Dietrich Berges,

Johannes Nollé Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

, ''Tyana. Archäologisch-historische Untersuchungen zum südwestlichen Kappadokien''. Rudolf Habelt Verlag, Bonn 2000, , pp. 465–475. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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External links

Tyana in Turkey
Nigde city. Tyana and Apollonius

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