Antiochia ad Taurum (lit. "Antiochia at Taurus") ( grc, Ἀντιόχεια τοῦ Ταύρου; lit. "Antiochia of Taurus") was a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

city in ancient

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

east of Mount Amanus of the Taurus mountain range. Later identified as 'ad Taurum montem' (lit. "at Mount Taurus") in the Commagene province of

Historical geography

Antiochia ad Taurum was located to the east of Mount Amanus, and in the Second Temple period, Jewish authors seeking to establish with greater precision the geographical borders of the Promised Land, began to construe Mount Hor as a reference to the Amanus range of the Taurus Mountains, which marked the northern limit of the Syrian plain. Most modern scholars locate Antiochia ad Taurum at or near

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approxi ...

(formerly called ''Aïntab'') in the westernmost part of present-day

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 ...

Southeastern Anatolia Region The Southeastern Anatolia Region ( tr, Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous city in the region is Gaziantep. Other examples of big cities are Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Adıyaman. It ...

, although past scholars tried to associate it with Aleppo (Arabic name ''Halab''),

. It has also been identified with Perrhe near Adıyaman. Locating Antiochia ad Taurum at or near (

), the city lies in the Islahiye valley which connects the lower Orontes valley to the southern piedmont of the central Taurus mountain range. During the Bronze age, the region belonged to the Inner Syrian cultural context, and held a highly strategic significance, over the course of time, for the connections between Upper Mesopotamian and Levantine lowlands on the one hand and the Anatolian highlands on the other.

Numismatics

Coins were minted at Antiochia ad Taurum.

History of Christianity

During the Roman Period (1st century CE), Antiochia ad Taurum was located within the Roman provinces of Antiochia or

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...

, and excluded from Paul's missionary journeys. Antiochia ad Taurum was eventually Christianized and formed a bishopric see as "the episcopal city of Commagene in Syria with the Euphrates river near its border."

References

* Bouillet Chassang, Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie ("Aintab")

External links

Hazlitt's Classical Gazetteer
Commagene Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Seleucid colonies in Anatolia Roman sites in Turkey Former populated places in Cilicia History of Gaziantep Province {{Gaziantep-geo-stub

Historical geography

Numismatics

History of Christianity

See also

References

External links