With a history going back over 6,000 years, Tarsus has long been an important stop for traders and a focal point of many civilisations. During theRoman Empire, it was the capital of the province ofCilicia. It was the scene of the first meeting betweenMark Antony andCleopatra, and the birthplace ofPaul the Apostle.
The ancient nameTarsos is derived fromTarsa, the original name given to the city by theHittites, who were among the earliest settlers of the region. That in turn was possibly derived from the name of the storm godTarḫunz.[4] During the Hellenistic era Tarsus was known asAntiochia on the Cydnus (Greek:Αντιόχεια του Κύδνου,Latin:Antiochia ad Cydnum), to distinguish it fromSyrian Antioch. The Romans knew it asJuliopolis, while it wasDarson inWestern Armenian andTarson inEastern Armenian.
According to theSuda, the city was founded byPerseus after he fought theIsaurians and theCilicians. An oracle told him to found a city in the place where the flat (ταρσός) of his foot would touch the earth while he was dismounting from his horse after the victory.[5]
St. Paul's Well in Tarsus,CiliciaSt. Paul's ChurchInterior of Saint Paul's Church
Located on the mouth of theBerdan River (Cydnus in antiquity), which empties into the Mediterranean, Tarsus sits at a junction where land and sea routes connecting theCilician plain (today calledÇukurova), centralAnatolia and the Mediterranean Sea meet. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean region, with very hot, humid summers and chilly, damp winters.
Tarsus has a long history of commerce, and is still a commercial centre today, trading in the produce of the fertile Çukurova plain. Tarsus is also a thriving industrial centre for refining and processing for export. Industries include agricultural machinery, spare parts, textiles, fruit-processing, brick-making and ceramics.
Agriculture is an important source of income with half the local land area farmland (1,050 km2 [410 sq mi]) and most of the remainder forest or orchard. The farmland is mostly well-irrigated, fertilised and managed with up-to-date equipment.
Archaeological evidence suggestsGözlükule, a mound located in southeastern Tarsus, was the site where humans first settled in the area. Excavations conducted under Princeton University archaeologist Hetty Goldman in the 1930s and 1940s at the mound found evidence that the site was occupied fromNeolithic to Islamic times. A fortified town existed at the site of Tarsus since at least as early as the 3rd millennium BC.[6]
The settlement stood at the crossing of several important trade routes linkingAnatolia toSyria and beyond. Because most of the ruins lie under the modern city, archaeology has barely touched the ancient city. As an important port in a merchant marine trade network spanning the eastern Mediterranean and beyond from before the third millennium, the city was always an important centre for cultural interchange with traces of its influence visible from pre-Homeric Greek evidence onwards. The city may have been ofAnatolian orSemitic origin; it is first mentioned asTarsisi inNeo-Assyrian records of the campaigns ofEsarhaddon, as well as several times in the records ofShalmaneser I andSennacherib, the latter having had the city rebuilt. A Greek legend connects it with the memory of the Assyrian kingSardanapalus (Ashurbanipal), still preserved in theDunuk-Tach, called 'tomb of Sardanapalus', a monument of unknown origin. During the Hellenistic era it was a centre for exchange between Neo-Platonic, Gnostic and Mystery traditions.
Anchiale, daughter ofIapetus, founded Anchiale (a city near Tarsus): her son wasCydnus, who gave his name to the river at Tarsus: the son of Cydnus was Parthenius, from whom the city was called Parthenia: afterwards the name was changed to Tarsus.
Much of this legendary account of the foundation of Tarsus, however, appeared in the Roman era, and it is not reliable. The geographerStrabo states that Tarsus was founded by people fromArgos who were exploring this coast. Another legend claims thatBellerophon fell off his winged horsePegasus here, hurting his foot in the process, and that the city was namedtar-sos (the sole of the foot) in memory of his accident. Other candidates for legendary founder of the city include the heroPerseus andTriptolemus, son of the earth-goddessDemeter, doubtless because the countryside around Tarsus is such good farmland. Later the coins of Tarsus bore the image ofHercules due to another tale in which the hero was held prisoner here by the local godSandon. Tarsus has been suggested as a possible site for the biblicalTarshish, to which the prophetJonah wanted to flee, butTartessos in Spain has also been offered as a possible location for this. (See further[7])
In historical times, the city was first ruled by theHittites, followed byAssyria, and then by thePersian Empire. As the principal town ofCilicia, Tarsus was the seat of a Persiansatrapy from 400 BC onward. Indeed,Xenophon records that in 401 BC, whenCyrus the Younger marched againstBabylon, the city was governed by KingSyennesis in the name of the Persian monarch.
At this period the god of the city was Sandon, of whom a large monument existed at Tarsus at least until the 3rd century AD. Coins showed Sandon standing on a winged and horned lion, and it is now thought likely that theLion of Saint Mark on the pillar in thePiazza San Marco inVenice was in origin a winged lion-griffin copied from such a monument in Tarsus.[8]
Alexander the Great passed through with his army in 333 BC and nearly met his death here after bathing in the Cydnus. By this time Tarsus was already largely influenced byGreek language and culture, and as part of theSeleucid Empire it became more and moreHellenised. Strabo praised the cultural level of Tarsus in this period with its philosophers, poets and linguists. The schools of Tarsus rivalled those ofAthens andAlexandria. A reference in the Bible (2 Maccabees (4:30)) records the city's revolt againstAntiochus IV Epiphanes in about 171 BC. The king had renamed the townAntiochia on the Cydnus although the name did not stick because too many cities were named Antioch. At this time the library of Tarsus held 200,000 books, including a huge collection of scientific works.
The huge Temple of Tarsus, one of the largest and most important in antiquityOscillum depicting a couple kissing.Terracotta figurine made in Tarsus,Roman Era.Roman road in Tarsus
After crushing the fearedCilician pirates,Pompey brought Tarsus underRoman rule In 67 BC, and it became the capital of theRoman province of Cilicia.[9] To flatterJulius Caesar, it was briefly namedJuliopolis.Cassius Longinus planned to kill him here as early as 47 BC, andCleopatra andMark Antony met and was the scene of the celebrated feasts they gave during the construction of their fleet (41 BC). InWilliam Shakespeare's 1606 playAntony and Cleopatra (Act 5, Scene 2) Cleopatra says she is going to Cydnus to meet Antony after his death, (i.e. she will commit suicide to meet him in the afterlife). "Go fetch / My best attires: I am again for Cydnus, / To meet Mark Antony."
In the Roman period, the city was an important intellectual centre, boasting its own academy. One of its leading lights, the philosopherAthenodorus Cananites, was the tutor of the first Roman emperor,Augustus, a fact which secured continuous imperial patronage for the city.[9]
When the province of Cilicia was divided, Tarsus remained the civil and religious metropolis of Cilicia Prima, a grand city with palaces, marketplaces, roads and bridges, baths, fountains and waterworks, a gymnasium on the banks of theCydnus, and a stadium. Tarsus was later eclipsed by nearbyAdana but remained important as a port and shipyard. Several Roman emperors were interred here:Marcus Claudius Tacitus,Maximinus II andJulian the Apostate, who planned to move his capital here from Antioch if he returned from his Persian expedition.[10]
Church ofSt. Paul in Tarsus (the church and its surroundings are on theUN World Heritage tentative list)
Tarsus was the city where, according to theActs of the Apostles, Saul of Tarsus[11] was born, although he was brought up in Jerusalem.[12] He was a Roman citizen (Acts 21:39; Acts 22:25–29) "of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city".[13] Saul, who eventually becamePaul the Apostle after his professed encounter with Jesus (Acts 9:11,21:39,22:3), returned here after his conversion (Acts 9:30). About eight years later,Barnabas retrieved him from Tarsus to help with the work of preaching and teaching inSyrian Antioch (Acts 11:25).
The city remained largely pagan until the reign ofJulian the Apostate (r. 361–363), who reportedly planned to make it his capital.[14] Following hisdeath during his campaign againstSassanid Persia, he was buried next to the city walls, opposite the earlier tomb of theTetrarchMaximinus Daza.[15] In the early 5th century, Christian chroniclerPalladius recorded the presence ofSamaritan and Jewish synagogues in Tarsus (407/408 CE).[16] Under EmperorJustinian I (r. 527–565), public works were carried out in the city, including alterations to the course of the Cydnus river and the rebuilding of the bridge. Towards the end of his reign, the city suffered from riots instigated by the Hippodrome Blues faction.[15]
A cave near Tarsus is one of several places said to be the location of the legend of theSeven Sleepers, common toChristianity andIslam.
Following theMuslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, the city came into contact with the forces of theRashidun Caliphate. It is unclear when the town was first captured by the Arabs, but it is clear that it, and the wider region of Cilicia, remained contested between the Byzantines and the new Caliphate for several decades, up to the early 8th century. According to Muslim sources, as he was retreating the Byzantine emperorHeraclius (r. 610–641) deliberately withdrew the population and devastated the region between Antioch and Tarsus, creating ano man's land between the two empires.[17]
It was not until the earlyAbbasid period that Tarsus, by then lying in ruins, was reoccupied and refortified, this time as an advance strongpoint within the fortified zone of theal-ʿAwāṣim, stretching from Tarsus northeast toMalatya, and as an assembly point for expeditions against the Byzantine Empire.[18] The first attempt was undertaken byal-Hasan ibn Qahtaba al-Ta'i in 778/9 but was apparently unsuccessful and the city was not fully restored until 787/8, byAbu Sulaym Faraj on the orders of CaliphHarun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). Three thousandKhurasanis and 2,000 Syrians (a thousand each fromAntioch andal-Massisa) were given houses and land in the new fortress city.[19] Tarsus was apparently recovered by the Byzantines soon after, at some point around the turn of the century. The city probably remained in Byzantine hands during the Abbasid civil war of theFourth Fitna, but returned to Muslim control by 830 when Caliphal-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) recommenced offensive campaigns against Byzantium using the city as a base.[20]
Henceforth and until the Byzantine reconquest in the 10th century, Tarsus was one of the main centres for the holy war (jihād) against Byzantium, comprising annual raids (ṣawāʿif) into Byzantine lands through theCilician Gates when the mountain snows had melted and passage was possible. These raids were mounted by the local garrisons, maintained by the taxation not only of the frontier zone of theal-ʿAwāṣim but also by generous subsidies from the caliphal government, and large numbers of volunteer warriors of the faith (mujahidun orghazis).[21] Tarsus remained under directAbbasid control until 878/9, when it and the wider Cilician border zone were given to the autonomous ruler of Egypt,Ahmad ibn Tulun. The local governorYazaman al-Khadim returned the city to the direct allegiance ofBaghdad from 882 on, but was forced to recognise theTulunids again in 890. Tulunid possession of the border zone lasted until the death of Ibn Tulun's heirKhumarawayh in 896, after which Caliphal-Mu'tadid (r. 892–902) re-asserted direct control.[22] The area remained under Abbasid rule for the next four decades. After a brief period when the border zone was underIkhshidid control, in 946/7, Tarsus recognised the overlordship of theHamdanid emirSayf al-Dawla ofAleppo, who had become the new master of northern Syria and the Byzantine borderlands. Facing a resurgent Byzantium, he was able to stem the tide for a while, but in 965,the Byzantine emperorNikephoros II Phokas (r. 963–969) captured the city, ending Muslim rule there.[23] Throughout this period, thegovernors of Tarsus also operated an active mint in the city.[24][25]
The terms of the city's surrender allowed any Muslim who wished to leave with as many of his possessions as he could carry. Many of those who left eventually settled, according toal-Muqaddasi, atBaniyas. Most of those who remained behind became Christians and the main mosque was either torn down or turned into a stable.[18] The city remained under Byzantine rule until 1085.[15] It was thereafter disputed between LatinCrusaders, Byzantines (1137–1172),Seljuk Turks and the Armenians of theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Kingdom of Lesser Armenia).[15] The city was the capital of theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1080 and 1198. The Armenians became definitive masters until about 1359 when the city was captured by theRamadanid Emirate andMamluk Sultanate. Finally, the area was brought under the control of theOttoman Empire bySelim I in 1516.
In the Middle Ages, Tarsus was renowned throughout the Middle East; a number of Arab writers praised it as a beautiful and well-defended city, its walls having two layers of fortifications with five gates and earthworks outside, surrounded by rich farmland and watered by the river and the lake.
Visiting in 1671 the travellerEvliya Çelebi recorded"a city on the plain, an hour from the sea, surrounded by strong walls two-storeys high, moated on all sides, with three distinct neighbourhoods inside the walls".
Despite its excellent defences, Tarsus was captured from the Ottomans in 1832 by theMamluks ofIbrahim Pasha of Egypt, son ofMuhammad Ali, and remained for eight years in Egyptian hands. The Egyptians began growing cotton on the surrounding plain. Following the return of Ottoman rule this cotton drove substantial growth in the local economy, due to increased world demand for the crop during shortages caused by theU.S. Civil War. A new road was built to the port inMersin and the city of Tarsus grew and thrived. Still today many large houses in the city stand as reminders of the wealth generated during this period.
However, after 3,000 years as a flourishing port, by the end of the 19th century neglect meant Tarsus lost its access to the sea as the delta became a swamp. At this point it was a typical Ottoman city with communities of Muslim Turks, Christian Greeks andArmenians. With the founding of theTurkish Republic in the 1920s, the swamp was drained and the River Berdan was dammed to build Turkey's first hydro-electric power station. Irrigation, roadworks and a railway brought the economy of Tarsus back to life, with new factories particularly producing textiles.
The distinctive local cuisine includes chargrilled chicken,hummus (sometimes heated and served withpastırma),şalgam,tantuni, miniaturelahmacun called"fındık lahmacun", andcezerye, a dessert made from carrots.
Tarsus has two football stadiums,Tarsus City Stadium and Burhanettin Kocamaz Stadium, and an arena, Tarsus Arena. The local football club isTarsus Idman Yurdu.
Tarsus city centre is home to the magnificent homes of wealthy traders, some of them restored, some still waiting a saviour. Additionally it is home to several historic sites although some are in need of restoration and research. These sites have been described by travellers for well over a century. For instanceBlackwood's Magazine (Edinburgh) in 1890,[27] andH. V. Morton'sIn the Steps of St Paul in 1936.[28]
The best known include:
Cleopatra's Gate – to the west of the city, the only ancient city gate still standing, where Antony and Cleopatra entered the city in 41 BC, though the "restoration" of this structure has covered much of it with shiny new stone (see[1] for a picture of the gate before the work was done).
The old baths; the dark brown spots on the white marble walls are said to be the bloodstains ofShahmeran, the legendary Snake King who was killed in an ambush in the baths. (seeShahmeran Hamam)
^"I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day." --Acts 22:3
^Edwards, Robert W. (2016). "Tarsus".The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology, ed., Paul Corby Finney. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 569–570.ISBN978-0-8028-9017-7.
^Pummer, R. (1999). Fine, S. (ed.). "Samaritan Synagogues and Jewish Synagogues: Similarities and Differences".Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue: Cultural Interaction During the Greco-Roman Period. London–New York: Routledge: 119.
^Miles, George C. (1957). "Islamic coins from the Tarsus excavations of 1935-1937".The Aegean and the Near East, Studies presented to Hetty Goldman. New York. pp. 297–312.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Stern, S. M. (1960). "The Coins of Thamal and of Other Governors of Tarsus".Journal of the American Oriental Society.80 (3):217–225.doi:10.2307/596170.JSTOR596170.
^MahalleArchived 2023-03-06 at theWayback Machine, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
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