Eordaea (also spelled Eordaia or Eordia, el, Ἐορδαία) was a geographical region of upper Macedonia and later an administrative region of the

kingdom of Macedon Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

. Eordaea was located south of Lynkestis, west of

Emathia Emathia ( gr, Ἠμαθία) was the name of the plain opposite the Thermaic Gulf when the kingdom of Macedon was formed. The name was used to define the area between the rivers Aliakmon and Loudias, which, because it was the center of the kingd ...

, north of

Elimiotis Elimiotis or Elimeia ( grc, Ἐλιμιώτις or Ἐλιμία or Ἐλίμεια) was a region of Upper Macedonia that was located along the Haliacmon river. The capital of Elimiotis was Aiani, located in the modern municipality of Kozani, ...

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 Eordaia ( el, Εορδαία) is a municipality in the Kozani regional unit, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Ptolemaida. The municipality has an area of 708.807 km2. The population was 45,592 in 2011. Municipality The munici ...

, the current homonymous municipality in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, which is named after the ancient region, and also in the southern part of the municipality of Amyntaio and the western part of the municipality of Edessa. The capital of Eordaea was the city of

Eordaea Eordaea ( el, Ἐορδαία) was a geographical region of upper Macedonia 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.Di ...

( el) ( el, Εορδαία, κείμενη της λίμνης), 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, Aeo ...

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 ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

(8.138).

History

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

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, 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 of a prehistoric mammoth, a prehistoric

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

, and Stone Age 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 ( el, Δυτική Μακεδονία, translit=Ditikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional uni ...

. 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 Vegoritida ( el, Βεγορίτιδα) is a former municipality in the Pella regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Edessa, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 2 ...

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 ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

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 ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and Byzantine Greek writers, were: * Eordaea (city) ( el, Ἐορδαία) *

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

( el, Άρνισσα) * Vegora ( el) ( el, Βεγόρα) * Kella ( el, Κέλλα)

Notable people

Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedo ...

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

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

. After the death of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy became

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled Egypt until 30BC. *

Lagus Lagus of Eordaia (Greek Λάγος, ''Lagos''; lived 4th century BC) was a Macedonian courtier and the father of Ptolemy, the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He married Arsinoe of the Argead dynasty and a concubine of Philip II, king of Mac ...

. Father of Ptolemy I Soter *

Peithon Peithon or Pithon (Greek: ''Πείθων'' or ''Πίθων'', 355 – 314 BC) was the son of Crateuas, a nobleman from Eordaia in western Macedonia. He was famous for being one of the bodyguards of Alexander the Great, becoming the later ...

. 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