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82-664: Built on a limestone cliff 400 ft. high on the left/east bank of the Euphrates, "at the upper part of a reach of that river, which runs nearly north-south, and just below a sharp bend in the stream, where it follows that course after coming from a long reach flowing more from the west". The historical name of the town, al-Bīra in Arabic and Bīreh in Syriac, derives from the Aramaic Bīrthā , meaning fortress. It later evolved to Birecik with

164-501: A semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ), which borders a mediterranean climate . The average annual temperature in Birecik is 18.2 °C (64.8 °F), and average annual precipitation is 354 millimetres (13.9 in). Birecik Dam Cemetery is an Early Bronze Age cemetery near Birecik. It was used extensively for about 500 years at the beginning of the third millennium BC. More than 300 graves were excavated here in 1997 and 1998. The site

246-519: A case of military operation against Turkish soil in the Syrian Civil War , which was accepted. On 6 February 2023, the city and nearby areas were devastated by catastrophic earthquakes . Around 900 buildings collapsed and 10,777 other buildings were heavily damaged in the city, which have been slated for demolition. Historic buildings including the Gaziantep Castle , the Şirvani Mosque and

328-602: A certain extent. Birecik then formed part of the County of Edessa ; it was strongly fortified with a castle and served as the capital of a minor feudal lordship. In 1151, Birecik was captured by the Artukid ruler Timurtaş of Mardin , an ally of the Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din Zengi , and afterwards Birecik became part of Nur ad-Din's direct holdings. After Nur ad-Din died in 1174, Saladin conquered

410-401: A fight and gave him the keys to the castle on 20 August. The next day, 21 August, Selim set up camp outside the city "with great majesty and pomp" and held meetings with local military commanders to discuss strategy for the upcoming battle. The fateful Battle of Marj Dabiq took place just days later, on 24 August. Gaziantep, although not an active battle site, thus played a strategic role in

492-649: A general decline in commerce in the eastern Mediterranean region that caused a general economic downturn in the region in the early 1500s. Only around the 1530s, when the Ottoman authorities turned their attention to the territories recently conquered from Dulkadir, do cadastral records indicate renewed prosperity in Gaziantep. An important event was Süleyman the Magnificent 's successful Mesopotamian campaign against Safavid Iran in 1534-36 , which took Baghdad and increased

574-499: A period of relative peace and stability under his brother and successor Alaüddevle . Alaüddevle appears to have considered Gaziantep an important possession and commissioned several constructions in the city, including a reservoir and a large mosque in the middle of town. The city's fortress was also renovated, completed in 1481. These repairs were likely ordered by the Mamluk sultan Qaitbay during his tour of northern Syria in 1477; his name

656-679: A significant trade route within the Ottoman Empire. Armenians were active in manufacturing, agriculture production and, most notably, trade, and became the wealthiest ethnic group in the city, until their wealth was confiscated during the Armenian genocide. At the beginning of his campaign against the Mamluks in 1516 , the Ottoman sultan Selim I brought his army to Gaziantep en route to Syria. The city's Mamluk governor, Yunus Beg, submitted to Selim without

738-509: Is Fatma Şahin , who had previously served as the minister of family and social policies in the third cabinet of Erdoğan. Gaziantep is famous for its regional specialities: copperware and "Yemeni" sandals, specific to the region, are two examples. The city is an economic centre for Southeastern and Eastern Turkey. The number of large industrial businesses established in Gaziantep comprise four percent of Turkish industry in general, while small industries comprise six percent. Also, Gaziantep has

820-492: Is a basalt formation which covers a large area between Birecik and Suruç . This basalt formation was formed from basalt flows during Pliocene times. By this time, the Birecik area was no longer underwater – during the Middle and Late Miocene , tectonic activity had uplifted the region above sea level. Major basalt outcroppings exist at Arat Dağı, Karadağ, and north of Suruç. To a lesser extent, there are also outcroppings west of

902-454: Is built out of limestone quarried from Kalazan Dağı to the northwest. As an episcopal see , Birtha was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Edessa , the capital of the Roman province of Osrhoene . This is attested in a Notitia Episcopatuum of 599, which assigns to it the first place among the suffragans. The names of three of its bishops are recorded in extant documents. Mareas signed

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984-603: Is inscribed above the entrance portal, perhaps symbolically marking his territory. The end of the Dulkadir principality came around 1515. Alaüddevle refused to fight alongside the Ottomans at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514. The Ottomans used this as a pretext to overthrow him, and in June 1515 he was executed. As Alaüddevle had been a Mamluk vassal, the Mamluks considered this an affront, and

1066-573: Is now flooded by the lake formed by the Birecik Dam (Birejik Dam). The ancient term Zeugma actually referred to the twin cities on the opposing banks of the river. Today the name Zeugma is usually understood to refer to the settlement on the west bank, called Seleucia ( Greek : Σελεύκεια ) after the founder , while the one on the East bank was called Apamea after his Persian wife Apama . This article about an Ancient Greek colony, settlement, or region

1148-459: Is now seen as the site of Zeugma, and there may have been no bridge of boats at Birtha/Birecik until the crossings at Zeugma and at Tell-Ahmar (further down) lost popularity. These, rather than the crossing at Birecik/Birtha may therefore be what the 1911 publication said "was used from time immemorial in the passage from North Syria to Haran (Charrae), Edessa and North Mesopotamia, and was second in importance only to that at Thapsacus, by which crossed

1230-663: Is one of the leading producers of machined carpets in the world. It exported approximately US$ 700 million of machine-made carpets in 2006. There are over 100 carpet facilities in the Gaziantep Organized Industrial Zone. With its extensive olive groves, vineyards, and pistachio orchards, Gaziantep is one of the important agricultural and industrial centres of Turkey. Gaziantep is the centre of pistachio cultivation in Turkey , producing 60,000 metric tons (59,000 long tons; 66,000 short tons) in 2007, and lends its name to

1312-576: Is the marly limestone known as havara coming from a quarry east of Birecik. This type is less resistant to weathering. In some buildings, both types of stone were used. More recently, Urfa limestone has also been used in restoration work on historic buildings. One example is the Mahmutpaşa Cami, which now has examples of all three types of stone. An old qanat , estimated to be 30 km long, historically brought water to Bireck for drinking, irrigation, water mills, and other uses. The exact source of

1394-561: The Armenian Ablgharib , who was a vassal to the Armenian ruler Kogh Vasil . Matthew of Edessa states that the army of Ablgharib numbered 1,000 and that he was eventually removed by the Franks. Matthew's account of this is suspect however as it seems that his daughter married the next lord, Galeran of Le Puiset of the Montlhery family , and it seems that Ablgharib's position was preserved to

1476-619: The Armenian community. In the 19th century, considerable American Protestant Christian missionary activity occurred in Aintab. In particular, Central Turkey College was founded in 1874 by the American Mission Board and largely served the Armenian community. The Armenians were systemically slaughtered during the Hamidian massacres in 1895 and later the Armenian genocide in 1915. Consequently,

1558-575: The Ayyubids in 1181. It was retaken by the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in 1218. With the turn of the 13th-century, Dülük became one of Aintab's dependencies according to geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi . In the next century, Aintab was the capital of its district and a town with fine markets much frequented by merchants and travellers, while Dülük was in ruins, according to Abulfeda . Still, Aintab continued to be hotly contested throughout these centuries. It

1640-699: The First Council of Nicaea and the Council of Chalcedon is called by this name in Latin and Greek records, but Birtha in Syriac texts. A 6 AD inscription in Syriac found at Birecik contains an epitaph of Zarbian, "commander of Birtha". Ancient Birtha grew when the ancient city of Carchemish (known as Europos to the Greeks) became abandoned; this had happened by the middle of the 4th century. Another possible impetus for Birtha's growth

1722-716: The Liberation Mosque were also heavily damaged. The city is located on the Aintab plateau . Gaziantep has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csa , Trewartha : Cs ), with very hot, dry summers and cool, wet and often snowy winters. According to 1966 data, on average, Gaziantep experiences 4.6 snowy days per winter with 10 days of snow cover, along with 2.5 days of hail. Highest recorded temperature: 44.0 °C (111.2 °F) on 29 July 2000 and 14 August 2023 Lowest recorded temperature: −17.5 °C (0.5 °F) on 15 January 1950 The current mayor of Gaziantep

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1804-609: The Mediterranean coast in Syria, and the mountain regions nearby are able to support large mixed-growth forests to supply timber for shipbuilding. The city of Basra , despite having the advantage of being much further downstream and closer to the Persian Gulf , has a drier climate and therefore lacked a consistent supply of wood. The Portuguese explorer Pedro Teixeira noted this problem when he visited Basra in 1604: since importing timber

1886-549: The Mediterranean Region . It is located approximately 185 km (115 mi) east of Adana and 97 km (60 mi) north of Aleppo , Syria and situated on the Sajur River . The city is thought to be located on the site of ancient Antiochia ad Taurum and is near ancient Zeugma . As of the 2021 census, the Gaziantep province (Metropolitan municipality) was home to 2,130,432 inhabitants, of whom 1,775,904 lived in

1968-555: The 'river god', have been taken to Gaziantep Museum, but some rescued remains of Zeugma are exhibited in Birecik. With its rich architectural heritage, Birecik is a member of the Norwich -based European Association of Historic Towns and Regions (EAHTR) There are 83 neighbourhoods in Birecik District: In mid-19th century, Swiss traveler Alexander Schläfli recorded that Birejik had 5500-6000 people with 50-60 Armenian families and

2050-570: The Algaze survey were Akarçay Tepe and Mezraa Teleilat , which are two of the oldest known settlements in the Euphrates basin. In 1998, with the pending construction of a dam, excavations were done on sites that would be inundated once the dam was completed. More Middle Paleolithic findings were encountered by a team headed by M. Özdoğan and N. Karul in 2001. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica identified Birecik with ancient Apamea or its suburb Seleucia and described it as opposite Zeugma , with which it

2132-526: The Birecik area is the Gaziantep Formation , which dates to Eocene through Oligocene times. Large exposed outcroppings of formation this exist around Birecik and along the Euphrates. It consists of gray, soft to medium-hard chalky limestone, marl , clayey limestone, and limestone. The upper levels of the Gaziantep Formation contain a distinct karstic limestone member. This limestone member

2214-725: The Central Turkey College was transferred to Aleppo in 1916. After the First World War and Armistice of Mudros , Gaziantep was occupied by the United Kingdom on 17 December 1918, and it was transferred to France on 5 November 1919. The French Armenian Legion was also involved in occupation. In April 1920 irregular Turkish troops known as Kuva-yi Milliye besieged the city , but the 10-month-long battle resulted in French victory. Around 6,000 Turkish civilians were killed in

2296-429: The Euphrates. Most of the underlying basalt and limestone formations are now covered by more recent alluvial deposits . There is also an alluvial plain along the Euphrates, formed by clay, sand, silt, and gravel deposited during floods. This area is about 3 km wide around Birecik but only 1 km wide further north near ancient Zeugma. To the west of the Euphrates, there are also fluvial terraces . Birecik has

2378-402: The French occupation in 1921, Gaziantep was relatively peaceful. In the short term, though, Gaziantep was still reeling from the instability before (and after) the Ottoman conquest. During that period, Gaziantep had suffered from "depredation", as well as fear caused by political uncertainty. Besides political conflict, the city's economic slump at this time can also be partly attributed to

2460-436: The French … seems to have been as much the organised struggle of a group of genocide profiteers seeking to hold onto their loot as it was a fight against an occupying force. The resistance … sought to make it impossible for the Armenian repatriates to remain in their native towns, terrorising them [again] to make them flee. In short, not only did the local … landowners, industrialists, and civil-military bureaucratic elites lead to

2542-512: The Gaziantep Formation, and it stands without supports. Vertical wells were dug at several points along the qanat's course so they could access the water. Water flows through the qanat at a rate of approximately 20 liters per second. Birecik Castle (in Turkish: Birecik Kalesi ) is built on a clayey limestone hill that belongs to the Gaziantep Formation. Rockfall caused by erosion of the hill has happened in some areas. The castle itself

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2624-481: The Mamluk period, Gaziantep was then seen more as part of northern Syria than as part of Anatolia. The area was "culturally mixed", and many locals were bilingual in Turkish and Arabic (as well as other languages). Gaziantep's cultural and economic ties were mostly with Aleppo, which was a major international center of trade. At some point in the 1530s, Gaziantep was moved into the beglerbeglik of Dulkadir, whose capital

2706-409: The Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri mobilized an army and marched north towards Aleppo. The conflict over the region meant that in Gaziantep, anxieties about the fate of the city and its surroundings must have been high. Later court records from the early 1540s provide documentary evidence of "dislocation and loss of population" as people fled; this may have been more pronounced in rural areas than in

2788-506: The Mamluks, Birecik was one of the most important fortified garrisons in the region. A post route ran directly between Birecik and Aleppo. There was little traffic between Birecik and Rum Kale , another important stronghold located a bit to the north. Like Rum Kale, Birecik was not directly located on the frontier itself, but its value to the Mamluks was as a strong fallback position in case their border territories (in Bireci'ks case, Urfa ) fell to

2870-618: The Mongols. Birecik wasn't very important commercially until the end of the 1300s, when some commercial traffic between Aleppo and Upper Mesopotamia began to follow the Birecik-Urfa route. It was unsuccessfully besieged by the Dulkadirid leader Sevli Beg in 1390. In 1401, however, Timur crossed the Euphrates at Birecik on his way from Damascus to Malatya . The Mamluk commander of Birecik's castle submitted to Timur's forces, and it appeared that

2952-412: The Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk sultanate. The Ottoman victory at Marj Dabiq had profound consequences for Gaziantep, although its inhabitants had no way of knowing at the time. For the first time in almost 1,000 years, Gaziantep was located in the middle of an empire rather than a contested border region. It lost its strategic importance, but also its vulnerability to attack. For four centuries, until

3034-480: The Ottoman vizier Hüsrev Pasha ordered 100 new ships to be built at Birecik. Birecik was the scene of an unusually cruel massacre and persecution of Armenians in 1895. Birecik Dam and hydroelectric power plant, part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project , is situated within the district. The Roman city of Zeugma is now drowned in the reservoir behind the dam. Zeugma's famous mosaics, including

3116-543: The Taurus foothills, and the rest of its course consists of gentle slopes and wide valleys. In contrast, the Tigris has a steeper gradient at the same latitude, hindering navigation by larger ships. Towns on the upper Tigris like Diyarbakır or Cizre would have therefore been less suitable for a large naval base compared to Birecik. At the same time, Birecik has a wetter climate than settlements further downstream because it's closer to

3198-483: The Turkish word for pistachio , Antep fıstığı , meaning "Antep nut". Gaziantep is the main centre for pistachio processing in Turkey, with some 80% of the country's pistachio processing (such as shelling, packaging, exporting, and storage) being done in the city. "Antep fıstığı" is a protected geographical indication in Turkey; it was registered under this status in 2000. In 2009, the largest enclosed shopping centre in

3280-572: The abundance of timber as one of the reasons why the "large and well-populated" town of Birecik was such an advantageous shipbuilding location. Around that time, the Birecik shipyard employed 45 tax-exempt workers. The first documented order for ship construction at Birecik dates from July 1552, when the Ottoman Imperial Council commissioned 300 new ships to be built. In 1559, the Ottomans decided to deploy five new galliots at Basra to counter

3362-715: The acts of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 as bishop of Macedonopolis, The chronicle of Michael the Syrian speaks of a Daniel of Birtha at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, while Giovanni Domenico Mansi calls him bishop of Macedonopolis. The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite tells of a Bishop Sergius of Birtha who was entrusted by the Emperor Anastasius I Dicorus with refortifying the city, something that must have occurred after peace

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3444-451: The addition of the Turkish diminutive suffix, cik . It is called Belejik amongst the local population. In Ottoman times, the historical forms Bi'retü'l-Fırat , Biğrecik , and Biğrecek are also attested. Birecik is located between Gaziantep to the west and the Urfa plateau to the east. The region's elevation varies between about 400 and 500 meters above sea level, with steep slopes along

3526-501: The banks of the Euphrates. Low-lying areas are used for farming; the higher areas are used for livestock grazing. Cotton growing is common in the Birecik area. There are no major tributaries of the Euphrates in the area, although there are some minor streams such as the Kerzin Çayı (located about 8 km south of Birecik), Hamomin Dere, Yedigöz Dere, and Pırpar Dere. The lowest geological layer in

3608-465: The base of the castle upgrades the beauty and accessibility to the castle and to the surrounding copper workshops. New restaurants and tourist-friendly businesses are moving into the area. In comparison with some other regions of Turkey, tourists are still a novelty in Gaziantep and the locals make them very welcome. Many students studying the English language are willing to be guides for tourists. Gaziantep

3690-409: The case in Gaziantep – tax rates in 1536 were significantly lower than the rates in 1520, which she assumes were the pre-Ottoman rates. The rates went up again in the 1543 survey, which she interprets as the Ottomans raising taxes again in the meantime. The Dulkadir emirate did not simply go away immediately after the Ottoman victory at Marj Dabiq. It stuck around as an Ottoman vassal until 1522, when

3772-484: The city and region, Sanko Park , opened, and began drawing a significant number of shoppers from Syria . Ties between Turkey and Syria have severely deteriorated since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Gaziantep is mostly inhabited by Turks. It is also inhabited by a significant minority of Kurds, about 450 thousand people, and roughly 470 thousand Syrian refugees. Apamea (Euphrates) Apamea or Apameia ( Greek : Απάμεια , Syriac : ܐܦܡܝܐ )

3854-494: The city between 1261 and 1271, 1272–1280, 1281–1299, 1317–1341, 1353–1378, 1381–1389. It was unsuccessfully besieged by the Dulkadir leader Sevli Beg in 1390. Although the Mamluks and their Dulkadirid vassals could control the city from 1395 until the Ottoman conquest in 1516, the city was besieged by Timur in 1400, and then in 1420 by the Ak Koyunlu leader Kara Yusuf . These attacks all caused destruction and suffering among

3936-621: The city itself. The Ottoman Empire captured Gaziantep just before the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516, under the reign of Sultan Selim I . In the Ottoman period, Aintab was a sanjak centred initially in the Dulkadir Eyalet (1516–1818), and later in the Aleppo vilayet (1908–1918). It was also a kaza in the Aleppo vilayet (1818–1908). The city established itself as a centre for commerce due to its location straddling trade routes. Although it

4018-565: The city was heavily damaged by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake . Due to the city's contact with various ethnic groups and cultures throughout its history, the name of the city has many variants and alternatives, such as: The several theories for the origin of the current name include: Gaziantep is the probable site of the Hellenistic city of Antiochia ad Taurum ("Antiochia in the Taurus Mountains"). During its early history, Aintab

4100-664: The city was ruled successively by the Tulunids , the Ikhshidids , and the Hamdanids . In 962, it was recaptured by the Byzantines, upon the expansion led by Nikephoros II Phokas . After Afshin Bey captured the fortress in 1067, Aintab fell to Seljuk rule and was administered by Seljuk emirs of Damascus. One of these emirs, Tutush I appointed Armenian noble Thoros of Edessa as the governor of

4182-423: The government might have been applying more strict scrutiny as their control increased. Part of this was deliberate – the Ottomans had a policy of lowering taxes in recently conquered territories, both to placate locals and to provide an economic stimulus to help war-torn areas recover. Later, as their control solidified, the authorities would raise taxes again. According to Leslie Peirce , this seems to have been

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4264-554: The largest organised industrial area in Turkey and holds first position in exports and imports. The city is the centre of the green olive oil-based Nizip Soap industry. Traditionally, commerce in Gaziantep was centre in covered markets known as 'Bedesten' or 'Hans', the best known of which are the Zincirli Bedesten, Hüseyin Pasha Bedesten and Kemikli Bedesten. Gaziantep also has a developing tourist industry. Development around

4346-443: The last Dulkadir ruler "resisted discipline by the Ottoman administration". The Ottomans had him executed and officially dismantled the Dulkadir principality, annexing its territories to the empire to form the beglerbeglik of Dulkadir . Despite being part of the former Dulkadir territories, though, the sanjak of Gaziantep was initially put under the beglerbeglik of Aleppo instead of Dulkadir. This indicates how, just as in

4428-464: The late 1460s, when the Dulkadir prince Şehsuvar rebelled against the Mamluks. Mamluk forces captured Aintab in May 1468, driving out Şehsuvar's forces; a report by the governor of Aleppo indicates that resistance had been fierce. Just a month later, Şehsuvar recaptured Aintab after four "engagements" with Mamluk forces. After Şehsuvar's final defeat and public execution by the Mamluks in 1473, Gaziantep enjoyed

4510-488: The local population. But at the same time, the city was "acquiring a reputation as a cultured urban center". Badr al-Din al-Ayni , an Aintab native who became a successful diplomat, judge, and historian under the Mamluks, wrote at the end of the 1300s that the city was called "little Bukhara " because so many scholars came to study there. Ayni also left a firsthand account of the suffering caused during Sevli Beg's siege in 1390. Another rough patch for Aintab's people came in

4592-425: The metropolitan area made of two (out of three) urban districts of Şahinbey and Şehitkamil , as Oğuzeli is not conurbated. It is the sixth-most populous city in Turkey. Gaziantep is a diverse city inhabited mostly by ethnic Turks and a significant minority of Kurds and Syrian refugees . It was historically populated by Turkmens , Armenians , Jews , and a plethora of other ethnic groups . In February 2023,

4674-575: The presence of Portuguese ships near Ottoman ports, which was causing a decline in customs revenue. From October 1559 until February 1560, the Imperial Council wanted to build the ships at Birecik, but ultimately the vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha decided to send the materials to Basra instead and assemble the galliots there. The governor in Basra received the materials that summer. Later, as part of an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to reconquer Baghdad in 1629,

4756-634: The process. The French made the last attempt to revive the Armenian community in the city during the Siege of Aintab , where the Armenians who fled the genocide were promised their homes back in their native lands. However, on 25 December 1921, the Treaty of Ankara was signed, and as a result, the French evacuated the city. According to Ümit Kurt , born in modern-day Gaziantep and an academic at Harvard's Center for Middle East Studies, "The famous battle of Aintab against

4838-446: The province on the right/west bank of the river. The name "Birtha" is found in no ancient Greek or Roman writer, although Bithra ( Greek : Βίθρα ) (probably meant for "Birtha") appears in the account by Zosimus of the invasion of Mesopotamia by Roman Emperor Julian in AD 363. The Greeks at one stage called what is now Birecik by the name Macedonopolis (anglicized also as Makedonoupolis ). The city represented by bishops at

4920-402: The region. It was captured by the Crusaders and united to the Maras Seigneurship in the County of Edessa in 1098. The region continued to be ruled by independent or vassalized Armenian lords, such as Kogh Vasil . It reverted to the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in 1150, was controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1155–1157 and 1204–1206 and captured by the Zengids in 1172 and

5002-435: The resistance movement, but they also financed it to cleanse Aintab of Armenians." The same Turkish families who made their wealth through the expropriation of Armenians in 1915 and 1921/1922 continued to dominate the city's politics through the one-party period of the Republic of Turkey . In 2013, Turkey, a member state of NATO , requested deployment of MIM-104 Patriot missiles to Gaziantep to be able to respond faster in

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5084-443: The rest being Turks. He further mentioned that Birejik was an ethnic and linguistic border, because to the east lived Kurdish tribes, to the west Turks-Turkmens, and to the south Arab tribes. In his travels, Julius Heinrich Petermann observed that the north and northeastern sides of the town were inhabited by Kurds, who partly lived in rock caves, while further south lived Turks and some Armenians. Historically, Birecik's urban fabric

5166-405: The route to Babylon and South Mesopotamia." The placing of Apamea-Zeugma further upstream and the identification of Birecik with Roman Birtha was already stated in the American Journal of Archaeology in 1917; and William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) clearly identified Birtha with Birecik, although at another point it seems to confuse it with " the Zeugma of Commagene" ,

5248-417: The security of trade routes in Gaziantep's region. As with the earlier economic downturn, the renewed prosperity in Gaziantep in the 1530s was part of a broader regional pattern of economic growth during this period. As a disclaimer – some of this apparent economic growth may be an artifact of using tax documents as a source. Tax assessors may have simply been doing more accurate counts in later surveys, or

5330-401: The town would be spared, but Timur left a contingent of about 3,000 troops in Birecik and they ended up looting the town and castle before leaving to rejoin Timur. Birecik gained in importance during the 1400s as the preferred route connecting Aleppo and Upper Mesopotamia shifted towards the Birecik-Urfa route instead of the Mardin - Ra's al-'Ayn route that had been preferred previously. Birecik

5412-447: The water is not known – locals believe it comes from Arat Dağı, but a survey by Gürpinar et al was unable to verify this. Gürpinar et al guessed that the ultimate source for the water is the karstic reservoir in the limestone member of the Gaziantep Formation. The main tunnel of the qanat is about 1.5 m in diameter and about 2-10 m below the surface. Its course is dug in a thick and relatively soft layer of rock that forms part of

5494-453: The whole region. Birecik formed part of the Kurdish Ayyubid principality of Aleppo ; while other towns in the principality were assigned as sub-principalities (namely Tall Bashar and Aintab ), Birecik was not and seems to have been governed directly from Aleppo by its Ayyubid governor, Az-Zahir Ghazi . Birecik was later captured by the Mamluks under Baybars c. 1261. They repaired its castle in 1277-78 and again in 1300-01. Under

5576-484: Was Maraş . Even though it was now administratively part of Dulkadir, Gaziantep remained commercially more connected to Aleppo. The 17th-century Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi noted it had 3,900 shops and two bedesten s. In 1818, Gaziantep was moved back into the Aleppo province. By the end of the 19th century, Aintab had a population of about 45,000, two-thirds of whom were Muslim—largely Turkish, but also partially Arab. A large community of Christians lived in

5658-418: Was a Hellenistic city on the left (viz., the eastern) bank of the Euphrates , opposite the famous city of Zeugma , at the end of a bridge of boats (Greek: Ζεῦγμα zeugma ) connecting the two, founded by Seleucus I Nicator ( Pliny , v. 21). The city was rebuilt by Seleucus I. The site, once partially covered by the village of Tilmusa  [ tr ] (now Keskince ), Şanlıurfa Province , Turkey ,

5740-417: Was besieged by the Mongols in 1270. It repeatedly changed hands between the Ilkhanate and the Mamluk Sultanate or the Dulkadirids , a Turkoman vassal state of the Mamluks. Gaziantep was near the southern frontier of the Dulkadir emirate, and on several occasions it slipped out of their control. The Ilkhans ruled over it between 1260 and 1261, 1271–1272, 1280–1281 and 1299–1317. The Mamluks controlled

5822-430: Was collecting tolls; the income from the tolls rose dramatically after Suleiman the Magnificent 's campaign to conquer Baghdad in 1534 (see table). Meanwhile, by 1547 the Ottomans had chosen to make Birecik the site of a major imperial shipyard – the empire's first in Mesopotamia. Birecik's geography made it uniquely well-suited to play such a role: by the time it reaches Birecik, the Euphrates has already descended from

5904-423: Was connected by a bridge of boats. At the same time, it added that "the place seems to have had a pre- Seleucid existence as Birtha , a name which revived under Roman rule". Later discoveries have shown that the identification with Apamea and its Zeugma (the word zeugma meant junction and referred to a junction of roads at a point where a pontoon bridge crossed a river) is false: Bali, some 17 kilometres upstream

5986-513: Was controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia only between 1155–1157 and 1204–1206, for most of the last two millennia, Gaziantep hosted a large Armenian community. Armenians played a significant role in the city's history, culture, welfare, and prosperity. These communities no longer exist in the city due to the Hamidian massacres in 1895 and the Armenian genocide in 1915. Gaziantep served

6068-591: Was costly, locally-built ships were small and expensive. Although Basra did also become an Ottoman shipyard later on, Birecik had none of these disadvantages and remained the primary Ottoman shipyard in Mesopotamia. The first reference to the Ottoman shipyard at Birecik is in June 1547, when an Arab merchant from Basra named Hajji Fayat reported to the Portuguese governor in Hormuz about it. Hajji Fayat specifically referred to

6150-402: Was deposited in a shallow marine environment during Eocene-Oligocene times. Karstic springs have formed in these deposits. The transition between this unit and the rest of the Gaziantep Formation is not always clearly discernible. The closest areas to Birecik where this unit is visible are at Kalazan Dağı, Arat Dağı, and the heights to the west of ancient Zeugma . Above the Gaziantep Formation

6232-473: Was discovered during the building of the Birecik Dam as part of the GAP project . The cemetery was used between 3100-2600 BC. Early archaeological inspection in the Birecik area was done in 1894 by J.E. Gauiter. Later, in 1946, K. Kökten conducted a survey of the area and found traces of Middle Paleolithic occupation. Another survey was done in 1989 by a team headed by G. Algaze. Among the sites first identified by

6314-712: Was largely a fortress overshadowed by the city of Dülük , some 12 km to the north. Aintab came to prominence after an earthquake in the 14th century devastated Dülük. Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant , the region passed to the Umayyads in 661 AD and the Abbasids in 750. It was ravaged several times during the Arab–Byzantine wars . After the disintegration of the Abbasid dynasty,

6396-468: Was made up of stone houses. The stone used in these houses was mostly derived from two sources. The first is limestone quarried from Kalazan Dağı, northwest of the city. This stone, which was also used to build other historical buildings in Birecik, is derived from the upper limestone member of the Gaziantep Formation and is resistant to weathering. Four old quarries at Kalazan Dağı have been identified. The other type main type, used particularly in later times,

6478-621: Was made with the Persians in 504. The work was completed by Justinian . No longer a residential bishopric, Birtha is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see . Gaziantep Gaziantep , historically Aintab and still informally called Antep , is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province , in the westernmost part of Turkey 's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in

6560-615: Was no longer used, and the traffic all went to Birecik instead. Zeugma's population had probably also moved to Birecik as well. Al-bira had been under control by the Muslim Arabs from 637 until 1079 when it was conquered by the Seljuk Turk warlord Tutush but at some point afterwards it was taken by the Armenians . When the First Crusade arrived in the region, the town was under control of

6642-464: Was unsuccessfully put under siege in 1420 by the Ak Koyunlu leader Kara Yusuf . Again in 1472, the Ak Koyunlu leader Uzun Hasan attacked Birecik unsuccessfully, causing damage to the city walls. The Mamluk sultan, Qaitbay , later came to inspect the damage and ordered significant rebuilding of the walls. Birecik became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1516. It already had a dock at the time that

6724-480: Was when the Romans withdrew their legion from Zeugma after a Persian attack in the mid-3rd century; some of Zeugma's inhabitants may have moved to Birtha at that point. Although Birtha served as a crossing point on the Euphrates, the main crossing was still at Zeugma. The town maintained its importance during medieval times as it protected the most important crossing of the Euphrates in northern Syria. The crossing at Zeugma

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