Karkamış, formerly Carablus, is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Gaziantep Province,

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 ...

. Its area is 298 km², and its population is 9,379 (2022). It is next to the site of ancient Carchemish. It is a border checkpoint on the road to Jarabulus in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

History

What is now the present-day town of Karkamış was essentially a constituent neighborhood of the town Jarabulus known as ''Şeyhavi''. Upon the formation of the Syria–Turkey border, which followed the railroad running through the town, this neighborhood was isolated from the rest. The newly-isolated settlement was initially renamed to ''Cerablus'' in 1928 after the main town, ''Barak'' in 1946 after a local Turkmen tribe found in the region, and lastly ''Karkamış'' after the ancient town Carchemish.

Geography

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 ...

runs east of Karkamış southward into Syria. At this place, a railway bridge of that was built between 1911 and 1913 by German engineers as part of the Istanbul-Baghdad Railway, crosses the river parallel to the border line. One of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), the Karkamış Dam and hydroelectric power station is located upstream from the border crossing of Euphrates.

Composition

There are 39 neighbourhoods in Karkamış District: * Akçaköy * Alaçalı * Alagöz * Arıkdere * Ayyıldız * Balaban * Beşkılıç * Çarşı * Çiftlik * Eceler * Elifoğlu * Erenyolu * Etiler * Gürçay * Karacurun * Karanfil * Karşıyaka * Kelekli * Kepirler * Kıvırcık * Korkmazlar * Kuruyazı * Lojmanlar * Öncüler * Örmetaş * Savaş * Şenlik * Soylu * Subağı * Teketaşı * Tosunlu * Türkyurdu * Yarımca * Yaşar * Yazır * Yeşerti * Yolağzı * Yurtbağı * Zührecik

Demographics

The district is mostly populated by Turkmens from the Barak tribe, which inhabits all villages in the district while sharing some with other groups.

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

are also found in the town of Karkamış and two villages.

Archeology

In March 2011, the Turkish military base which included the ruins of Karkemish was cleared of mines. Archaeologists from Italy and Turkey began excavations, still ongoing, in the ancient town in September 2011. The ancient site of Karkemish is now an extensive set of ruins, located on the West bank of Euphrates River, about south-east of Gaziantep,

and northeast of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. The site is crossed by the Syria–Turkey border. A Turkish military base has been built after 1920 on the Karkemish

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

and Inner Town, and access to the acropolis is still restricted. Most of the Outer Town lies in Syrian territory. Karkemish has always been well known to scholars because of several references to it in the Bible (Jer. 46:2; 2 Chr. 35:20; Isa. 10:9) and in Egyptian and Assyrian texts. However, its location was identified only in 1876 by George Smith. The site was excavated by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, 1878-1881 by Patrick Henderson, 1911 by D. G. Hogarth and R. C. Thompson, and from 1912 to 1914 by C. L. Woolley, and T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"). Excavations were interrupted in 1914 by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, resumed in 1920 with Woolley and then ended with the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

. These expeditions uncovered substantial remains of the Neo-Hittite and Neo-Assyrian periods, including defensive structures, temples, palaces, and numerous basalt statues and reliefs with Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions. Following the completion in March 2011 of mine clearing operations on the Turkish portion of the site, archaeological work was resumed in September 2011 by a Turco-Italian joint archaeological expedition under the direction of Prof. Nicolò Marchetti of the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karkamis Districts of Gaziantep Province Syria–Turkey border crossings Populated places in Gaziantep Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Turkoman settlements in Gaziantep Province