Description

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Eastern Turkey is a fascinating region, with far fewer tourists than along the coastal areas of the Aegean Sea. This guidebook includes essential information needed to visit those ancient sites in eastern Turkey, which date back to the thousand-year period from 200 BCE to 800 CE. This was the era when the Roman Empire reached its apex, Judaism was fundamentally internationalized, Christianity arose to ultimately become the official imperial ideology, and Islam was born. This book provides precise GPS coordinates and essential site descriptions, as well as relevant historical, religious and mythological references for more than sixty ancient places. This guidebook includes comprehensive coverage of the earliest Christian churches. Even though local signage is often inadequate, a determined independent traveler or tour group leader with this book and a GPS can drive directly to the ancient sites described here. Using Google Earth, scholars and students of ancient history can use this guidebook to virtually explore these sites without even leaving home. This volume covers nine broadly defined ancient regions: Galatia (including Ankara, Turkey's modern capital), Pontus, Cappadocia, Commagene, Cilicia, Antiochia, Osrhoene, Tur Abdin, and Armenia Minor. References to relevant historical and religious figures can easily be found using the comprehensive index. Whenever possible, this guidebook refers to the work of particular universities and museums and includes their websites.