Ἀμόριον(in Greek) | |
 Ruins of Amorium | |
  Shown within Turkey | |
| Alternative name | Amorion, ʿAmmūriye, Amūrīn, Hergen Kale |
|---|---|
| Location | Hisarköy,Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey |
| Region | Phrygia |
| Coordinates | 39°1′21″N31°17′42″E / 39.02250°N 31.29500°E /39.02250; 31.29500 |
| History | |
| Periods | Hellenistic toHigh Middle Ages |
| Associated with | Aesop (legendarily),Michael II |
| Events | Sack of Amorium |
Amorium, also known asAmorion (Greek:Ἀμόριον), was a city inPhrygia,Asia Minor[1] which was founded in theHellenistic period, flourished under theByzantine Empire, and declined after theArab sack of 838. It was situated on the Byzantine military road fromConstantinople toCilicia.[2] Its ruins andhöyük ('mound,tumulus') are located under and around the modern village ofHisarköy, 13 kilometers east of the district center,Emirdağ,Afyonkarahisar Province,Turkey.[3][4]
Arab/Islamic sources refer to the city asʿAmmūriye (Arabic:عمورية). Under Ottoman rule the site, which never regained importance, was calledHergen Kale orHergen Kaleh.[1]
The city minted its own coins beginning between 133 BC to 27 BC until the 3rd century AD, indicating its maturity as a settlement and military importance during the pre-Byzantine period.[5] Amorium then must have been prestigious and prosperous. But early historical records that mention the city are strictly limited to a reference byStrabo, although it is expected that new discoveries will shed light on the city'sRoman period and before.
The city was fortified by the emperorZeno in the 5th century, but did not rise to prominence until the 7th century.[6] Its strategic location in centralAsia Minor made the city a vital stronghold against the armies of theUmayyad Caliphate following theMuslim conquest of theLevant. The city was first attacked byMuawiyah I in 646. It capitulated to‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Khalid in 666 and was occupied byYazid I in 669, then retaken byConstans II's general Andreas.[2] Over the next two centuries, it remained a frequent target of Muslim raids (razzias) into Asia Minor, especially during the great sieges of 716 and 796. It became capital of thethema ofAnatolikon soon after. In 742-743, it was the main base of EmperorConstantine V against the usurperArtabasdos, and in 820, an Amorian,Michael II, ascended the Byzantine throne, establishing theAmorian dynasty. This began the period of the city's greatest prosperity, when it became the largest city in Asia Minor. Its status however as the native city of the reigning dynasty also spelled its doom: in 838, the CaliphAl-Mu'tasim launched a campaign specifically against the city, which wascaptured and razed, an episode recounted in a poem ofAbu Tammam.[2]
The town was rebuilt, but was burned byThamal al-Dulafi in 931. Nonetheless, it remained an active Byzantine city at least into the 11th century.[7] Following theBattle of Manzikert, it was devastated by theSeljuks and a large proportion of its inhabitants were killed.[8] EmperorAlexios I Komnenos defeated the Seljuks at Amorium in 1116.
It remained an important place in the 12th–14th centuries according toal-Idrisi andHamdallah Mustawfi.[2]
Amorium was abishopric at latest by 431,[1] when its bishop, Abraham or Ablabius, was at theCouncil of Ephesus. The acts of the earlierFirst Council of Constantinople (381) were signed by a priest, Tyrannus, of Amorium. Other bishops were Mysterius, who took part in theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451, Theodorus, in theTrullan Council of 692, Theodosius, in theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787, and Bessarion in theCouncil of Constantinople (879). Theophilus was part of the mission thatPhotius sent to Rome about 20 years earlier.
In theNotitiae Episcopatuum of Pseudo-Epiphanius (c. 640), Amorium appears as a suffragan ofPessinus, capital ofGalatia Salutaris. It appears with the same rank in another of the end of the 8th century. Soon afterwards, presumably as a result of citizens of Amorium taking the imperial throne, it became ametropolitan see with, as shown by the early 10th-centuryNotitiae Episcopatuum ofLeo VI the Wise, five suffragan sees:Philomelium,Claneus,Docimium,Polybotus. andPissia.[9] There is no longer any mention of the see in the 14th-centuryNotitiae Episcopatuum.[10][11][12]
No longer a residential bishopric, Amorium is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[13]
Following the 838 sack, 42 officers and notables of Amorium were taken as hostages toSamarra (today inIraq). Refusing to convert toIslam, they were executed there in 845, and became canonized as the "42 Martyrs of Amorium".[14]
Amorium's site was long unknown, though its name appears on many maps of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was rediscovered byRichard Pococke in 1739, but the first visit by a western scholar was by the English geologistWilliam Hamilton in 1836; subsequently, maps placed it more accurately.[15]
In 1987,Martin Harrison of Oxford University conducted a preliminary survey of the site, with excavations being started in 1988. From its inception the Amorium Excavations Project has been principally concerned with investigating post-classical, Byzantine Amorium.[16] During 1989 and 1990, an intensive surface survey was conducted of the man-made mound in the upper city. In 2001, Ali Kaya made a geophysical survey of the church found in the upper city, although a full excavation has yet to be undertaken. The Project is sponsored by theBritish Institute of Archaeology atAnkara and funded by grants from various institutions in the United States including the Adelaide and Milton De Groot Fund atThe Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Friends of Amorium.[17][failed verification]
After more than 20 years of British led excavation at Amorium, fieldwork restarted in 2014 with a new Turkish team under the direction of Doçent Doktor Zeliha Demirel Gökalp ofAnadolu University, based at Eskisehir.[18] Amorium Excavations Project retains its character of international collaboration with foreign institutions, like the Institute of Mediterranean Studies ofFoundation for Research & Technology – Hellas.[19]
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