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Mopsuestia and Mopsuhestia ( grc, Μοψουεστία and Μόψου ἑστία, Mopsou(h)estia and Μόψου ''Mopsou'' and Μόψου πόλις and Μόψος;
Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
: ''Mamista'', ''Manistra'', ''Mampsista''; Arabic: ''al-Maṣṣīṣah''; Armenian: ''Msis'', ''Mises'', ''Mam(u)estia''; modern
Yakapınar Mopsuestia and Mopsuhestia ( grc, Μοψουεστία and Μόψου ἑστία, Mopsou(h)estia and Μόψου ''Mopsou'' and Μόψου πόλις and Μόψος; Byzantine Greek: ''Mamista'', ''Manistra'', ''Mampsista''; Arabic: ''al-Maṣṣ ...
) is an ancient city in
Cilicia Campestris Cilicia () was an early Roman province, located on what is today the southern (Mediterranean) coast of Turkey. Cilicia was annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of its military presence in the east, after pursuing vi ...
on the Pyramus River (now the
Ceyhan River The Ceyhan River (historically Pyramos or Pyramus ( el, Πύραμος), Leucosyrus ( el, Λευκόσυρος) or Jihun) is a river in Anatolia in the south of Turkey. Course of the river The Ceyhan River (Pyramus) has its source (known as ' ...
) located approximately east of ancient Antiochia in
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 coas ...
(present-day Adana, southern Turkey). From the city's harbor, the river is navigable to the Mediterranean Sea, a distance of over 40 km (24 mi). The 1879 book '' A Latin Dictionary'', the 1898 book '' Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', the 1913 '' Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the 1920 ''La Cilicie'' mention that the city at that time was called Missis or Messis, but in 1960 the name changed to Yakapınar.


History

The founding of this city is attributed to the seer Mopsus, from whom the city also took its name,Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, § M459.1
/ref> who lived before the Trojan war, although it is scarcely mentioned before the
Christian era The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...
. The name has been glossed as , "The house (hestia) of Mopsus". Pliny the Elder calls it the free city of Mopsos (''Hist. nat.'', V, 22), but the ordinary name is Mopsuestia, as found in
Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
and all the Christian geographers and chroniclers. Under the
Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
, the city took the name of Seleucia on the Pyramus (classical Greek: Σελεύκεια πρὸς τὸν Πύραμον, ''Seleukeia pros ton Pyramon''; la, Seleucia ad Pyramum), but gave it up at the time of the Roman conquest; under
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
it was called Hadriana, under Decius Decia, etc., as we know from the inscriptions and the coins of the city. Constantius II built there a magnificent bridge over the Pyramus (
Malalas John Malalas ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Malálas'';  – 578) was a Byzantine chronicler from Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey). Life Malalas was of Syrian descent, and he was a native speaker of Syriac who learned how to write in Greek later in ...
, ''Chronographia'', XIII; P.G., XCVII, 488) afterwards restored by Justinian ( Procopius, ''De Edificiis'', V. 5) and has been restored again recently. Near the city a battle between the Antiochus X Eusebes, son of Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, and Seleucus VI Epiphanes was fought. Antiochus won and Seleucus took shelter in Mopsuestia, but the citizens of Mopsuestia killed him. His brothers Antiochus XI and Philip I destroyed Mopsuestia as an act of revenge and their armies fought those of Antiochus X, but they lost. Christianity seems to have been introduced very early into Mopsuestia, and during the 3rd century, there is mention of a bishop, Theodorus, the adversary of Paul of Samosata. Other famous residents of the early Christian period in the city's history include Saint Auxentius (d. 360), and
Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...
, bishop from 392–428, the teacher of Nestorius. The bishopric is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. Along with much of Cilicia, the region was wrested from Roman control by the Arabs in the late 630s. In 684 the Emperor Constantine IV recaptured Misis from its small Arab garrison and it remained an imperial possession until 703 ( Theophanes, "Chronogr.", A. M. 6178, 6193), when it was recaptured by the Arabs, who rebuilt the fortifications, constructed a mosque, and maintained a permanent garrison. Because of its position on the frontier, the city was repeatedly fought over and was recaptured from time to time by the Byzantines: it was besieged in vain by the Byzantine troops of John I Tzimisces in 964, but was taken the following year after a long and difficult siege by Nicephorus Phocas. Mopsuestia then numbered 200,000 inhabitants, some of whom were Muslim, and the Byzantines made efforts to re-Christianize the city. In the early 1090s, Turkish forces overran the town, but were expelled in 1097 by
Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
r troops under
Tancred Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espe ...
who took possession of the city and its strategic port, which were annexed to the Principality of Antioch. It suffered much from the internecine war between Crusaders, Armenians, and Greeks who lost it and recaptured it, notably in 1106, 1132, and 1137. Finally, in 1151–1152 the Armenian Baron T'oros II captured the city and defeated the Greek counterattack led by Andronikos I Komnenos. Thereafter it remained a possession of the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Կիլիկեան Հայաստան, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...
, but was briefly captured and plundered by the Mamluks in 1266, 1275, and 1322. The Venetians and Genoese were licensed by the Armenians to maintain warehouses near the harbor to store goods brought from India. The Armenians were permanently evicted by the Mamluks in 1347. The city was the site of several church councils and possessed four Armenian churches; the Greek diocese still existed at the beginning of the fourteenth century ( Le Quien, ''Oriens Christianus'', II, 1002). In 1432 the Frenchman Bertrandon reported that the city was ruled by the Muslims and was largely destroyed. In 1515 Mopsuestia, and the whole of Cilicia was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Selim I. Since then it has steadily declined and became the small village of ''Misis''. Misis was renamed ''Yakapınar'' in the 1960s. Only fragments of the medieval fortifications survive today. However, an etching of the circuit walls and towers was made in the mid-19th century. The Misis Mosaic Museum was founded in 1959 to exhibit the mosaics found in the area, including the famous "Samson Mosaic". Victor Langlois wrote that he found a beautiful Greek inscription at the city and while he was trying to move it to France, the inscription fell in the
Pyramus River The Ceyhan River (historically Pyramos or Pyramus ( el, Πύραμος), Leucosyrus ( el, Λευκόσυρος) or Jihun) is a river in Anatolia in the south of Turkey. Course of the river The Ceyhan River (Pyramus) has its source (known as ' ...
.


Notable people

* Heracleides ( grc, Ἡρακλείδης) was a grammarian from Mopsus.Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, §6.234b
/ref> * Theodore of Mopsuestia, bishop of Mopsuestia * Auxentius of Mopsuestia, bishop of Mopsuestia


References


Sources

* *


External links

* Article on modern Yakapınar in the Turkish Wikipedia
Pictures of the bridge
{{Former settlements in Turkey Neighborhoods/Settlements in Adana Roman towns and cities in Turkey Catholic titular sees in Asia Former populated places in Cilicia History of Adana Province Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Populated places in ancient Cilicia Denyen