Amasya - Amasia Strabon Geographika-07.02.2009-Erkan-Kiraz

Amasya [Greek: Αμάσεια, the Amaseia of antiquity, or Αμάσεια Amáseia] is the administrative district of Amasya Province in northern Turkey. It covers an area of 1730 km², and the population is 133,000, of which 74,000 live in the city and the remainder in surrounding villages. Altitude is 411 m. Amasya stands in the mountains above the Black Sea coast, the city was built in a narrow valley along the banks of the Yesilırmak River. Although near the Black Sea this area is very high above the coast and has an inland climate, well-suited to growing apples, for which the province of Amasya is famed. In antiquity Amaseia was a fortified city high on the cliffs above the river. This area has a long history as provincial capital, a wealthy city producing kings and princes, artists, scientists, poets and thinkers, from the kings of Pontus, through Strabo the geographer, to many generations of the Ottoman imperial dynasty and right up to being the location of an important moment in the life of Ataturk. With its Ottoman period wooden houses and the tombs of the Pontus kings carved into the cliffs overhead Amasya is still attractive to visitors. According to Strabo the name Amasya comes from Amasis the queen of the Amazons, who were said to have lived here. The name has changed little throughout history, Αμάσεια, Amaseia, Amassia and Amasia all being found in Greek and Roman coinage. Following the arrival of the Turks the name mutated to Amasya. Strabon –Strabonis [Στράβων; İ.Ö. 63/64 BC – yak. İS 24]: Anadolu’nun eski coğrafyasını kaleme alan Amaseia’lı [Amasya] Strabon’un olgunluk döneminde, kimi araştırmacılara göre İÖ 7 yılında, kimilerine göre İS 18–19 yılları arasında yazdığı 17 kitaplık Geographika [Γεωγραφικά: Geōgraphiká: Coğrafya] Külliyatı, ilk seyahatname örneklerinden biridir. “Strabonis: Rervm Geographicarvm. Strabon, By Isaac Casaubon, 1620. Geographika – Antik Anadolu Coğrafyası [Kitap XII-XIII-XIV], Çev. Adnan Pekman. “Geographika (The Geogrpahy of Strabon”. Strabo - Strabon – Strabonis [Greek: Στράβων; 63/64 BC – ca. AD 24) was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. Strabo was born in a wealthy family from Amaseia in Pontus [modern Amasya Turkey], which had recently become part of the Roman Empire. His mother was Georgian. He studied under various geographers and philosophers; first in Nysa, later in Rome. He was philosophically a Stoic and politically a proponent of Roman imperialism. Later he made extensive travels to Egypt and Kush, among others. It is not known when his Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Some place its first drafts around 7 AD, others around 18 AD. Last dateable mention is given to the death in 23 AD of Juba II, king of Maurousia [Mauretania], who is said to have died "just recently". On the presumption that "recently" means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next (24 AD), when he died. Strabo's History is nearly completely lost. Although Strabo quotes it himself, and other classical authors mention that it existed, the only