INTRODUCTION TO ANATOLIA
Anatolia is the birthplace of many civilizations, thus Turkey with its cultural diversity, has an important place among the countries of rich cultures in the world.
The world’s oldest city was discovered in Anatolia at Çatalhöyük in 7500 BC. But before, men lived in the caves in The Palaeolithic Age (600000-10000 BC) in Anatolia. “Karain Cave” from Antalya / Mediterranean region and “Yarımburgaz” near Istanbul are the most important Palaeolithic places in Anatolia. Karain is the largest cave in Turkey to have been inhabited.Agriculture started in The Neolithic Age (8000-5500 BC). Man started to cultivate plants and domesticate wild animals and left the rock and build home close to his farm. Therefore Neolithic period can be considered as the beginning of real civilization. “Çatalhöyük” is the most advanced Neolithic town and “Çayönü” is the oldest Neolithic village in Turkey.
In The Chalcolithic Age ( 5500-3000 BC) man started to use copper in addition to stones and made strong weapons and ornaments from copper. And the trade is developed between the local or remote civilizations. Hacilar is the most advanced example of the Chalcolithic culture in Anatolia. Beycesultan, Canhasan, Mersin Yumuktepe, Elazig Tepecik, Malatya Degirmentepe, Norsuntepe, Istanbul Fikirtepe are some other important sites of this period in Turkey.
In The Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC) tools and weapons were made of bronze. Musical instruments were discovered in this age. Hattians were the first people in Anatolia to use a written language. Hattians who reached an advanced intellectual level, strongly influenced the Hittites. Written history starts in Anatolia with the introduction of the Assyrian language. Assyrian traders developed a sophisticated trading system in their time, they established commercial colonies in the Central Anatolia, they established markets called “karum”. These 20 karums were ruled by one central market, Kanis, located in Kültepe. By 1800 BC, however, the coming of the HITTITES drove the Assyrian out of Anatolia.
The Hittites arrived in Anatolia from the north in 2000 BC. And they conquered the town Hattuşaş around 1800 BC.
) "Hittites Marching At Yazılıkaya (meaning 'inscribed rock'). 2 km. north-east of Hattuşaş (Boğazköy).")
Ancient Hattuşaş (modern Boğazköy in north-central Turkey) had been the capital of Hittite Empire. The Hittite Empire achieved the zenith of its political power and cultural accomplishment in the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC. By 1250, the empire started to fail. Invaders from the Greek isles and from Syria weakened the Hittites. Finally, around 330 BC, Alexander the Great took over Anatolia.
Hittites are one of the most significant peoples in Mesopotamian history, they were the first people to work iron. They spoke an Indo-European language. Agriculture played a very important role in the economy of the Hittite Empire. Trading with all the civilizations of the Mediterranean, the Hittites transmitted Mesopotamian thought, law, political structure, economic structure, and ideas around the Mediterranean, from Egypt to Greece.
The technology is developed in The Iron Age (1200-700 BC) in Anatolia. Iron replaced bronze as the basic material for implements and weapons.
When the Hittite Empire fell down , refugees or descendants of refugees from the Hittite homeland spread out to North Syria, South and South-Eastern Anatolia , Central Anatolia and formed small city-states. This nation was called as the Neo-Hittites by historians.
The Urartians established a state on the shores of Lake Van in 1000 BC. They were the descendants of the Hurrians.The centre of their state was at modern Van. Urartians were skilled in metal work, they were exporting to the Mediterranean basin very fine objects made of bronze. In 590 BC their kingdom was overthrown by the Medes.
The Phrygians were among those “Sea Peoples” who conquered the Hittite capital of Hattuşaş around 1200 BC and set up their own city there. They had been affected by Hellenistic and Hittite cultures soon after their arrival in Anatolia. Gordion which is located 95 kilometres to the east of Ankara was the capital of this kingdom.Ionians were Greek refugees who escaped from the Dorian invasion of Greece around 1200 BC They settled in western Anatolia. The favoured position of being sided with the sea and Asia minor helped them developing the trade and thus quickly growing in size. Ionia is considered to be birthplace of many arts and sciences. Because the civilized Ionia created the scientific thinking and observation. The first steps of democracy had been taken in Ionia. Ionian thinkers devoted themselves to the study of the universe and the discovery of the laws of nature. These first scientists examined the nature free from the effects of religious beliefs and superstition. Ionia is at the same time a meeting place of religions.
The Ionian cities comprised Priene, Miletus, Teos, Chios, Clazomenae, Myus, Samos, Phocaea, Lebedus, Ephesus, Colophon and Erythrae. Especially, the city of Miletos was not only a city of trade, but also an intellectual centre of Ionia and of the ancient world. The philosopher of nature, Thales, the historians Anaximander and Aneximenes, the geographer Hecataeus and Kadmos, all lived in Miletos at this time. These scientists created modern day mathematics, geometry, astronomy, philosophy and most of the other sciences.
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At the time of the Aegean immigration, about 1200 BC, many Anatolian cities were devastated. The Aegean immigration caused The Dark Age in Anatolia which lasted until 750 BC. The eastern world fell into the dark ages and civilizations passed to the western world.
The Lydian Kingdom was founded in Western Anatolia, and existed for a century and a half, reached its zenith under the reign of Croesus, powerful King of Lydia. (569-546 BC) Sardes was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia.
In 546, Croesus and and his empire were conquered by the Persians and Lydia was dominated by the Persians until Alexander the Great. Lydia's most significant contribution to human history was the coining of the first metal coin in the world. The first time in history coins were used in exchange for goods by the Lydians.
The Carians were famous mercenaries who lived in the south west of Turkey. They had as their capital first Mylasa (Milas) and later, under King Mausolus (377-353 BC) Halikarnassós (modern Bodrum).
The Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halikarnassós, which was planned by Mausolus himself but was actually built by his wife and successor Artemisia, is known today as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.