Bible Encyclopedia: Cappadocia

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

CAPPADOCIA

kap-a-do'-shi-a (he Kappadokia): An extensive province in eastern Asia Minor, bounded by the Taurus mountains on the South, the Anti-Taurus and the Euphrates on the East, and, less definitely, by Pontus and Galatia on the North and West. Highest mountain, Argaeus, over 13,000 ft. above sea-level; chief rivers, the Pyramus now Jihan, Sarus now Sihon, and Halys now the Kuzul; most important cities, Caesarea Mazaca, Comana, Miletene now Malatia, and Tyana now Bor. At Malatia the country unrolls itself as a fertile plain; elsewhere the province is for the most part composed of billowy and rather barren uplands, and bleak mountain peaks and pastures.

The Greek geographers called Cappodax the son of Ninyas, thereby tracing the origin of Cappadocian culture to Assyria. Cuneiform tablets from Kul Tepe (Kara Eyuk), deciphered by Professors Pinches and Sayce, show that in the era of Khammurabi (see HAMMURABI) this extensive ruin on the ox-bow of the Halys and near Caesarea Mazaca, was an outpost of the Assyr-Bah Empire. A Hittite civilization followed, from about 2000 B.C. onward. Malatia, Gurun, Tyana and other old sites contain important and undoubted Hittite remains, while sporadic examples of Hittite art, architecture and inscriptions are found in many places, and the number is being steadily increased by fresh discovery. After the Hittites fade from sight, following the fall of Carchemish, about 718 B.C., Cappadocia emerges as a satrapy of Persia. At the time of Alexander the Great it received a top-dressing of Greek culture, and a line of native kings established an independent throne, which lasted until Cappadocia was incorporated in the Roman Empire, 17 A.D. Nine rulers bore the name of Ariarathes (the Revised Version (British and American) Arathes) the founder of the dynasty, and two were named Ariobarzanes. One of these kings is referred to in 1 Maccabees 15:22. The history of this Cappadocian kingdom is involved, obscure and bloody.

Pagan religion had a deep hold upon the population prior to the advent of Christianity. Comana was famous for its worship of the great goddess Ma, who was served, according to Strabo, by 6,000 priestesses, and only second to this was the worship paid to Zeus at Venasa.

Representatives from Cappadocia were present at Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and Peter includes the converts in this province in the address of his letter (1 Peter 1:1). Caesarea became one of the most important early centers of Christianity. Here the Armenian youth of noble blood, Krikore, or Gregory the Illuminator, was instructed in the faith to which he afterward won the formal assent of his whole nation. Here Basil governed the churches of his wide diocese and organized monasticism. His brother, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzen, lived and labored not far away. Cappadocia passed with the rest of Asia Minor into the Byzantine Empire, but from its exposed position early fell under the domination of the Turks, having been conquered by the Seljukians in 1074.

G. E. White

Greek

2587. Kappadokia -- Cappadocia, a province of Asia Minor
... Cappadocia, a province of Asia Minor. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration:
Kappadokia Phonetic Spelling: (kap-pad-ok-ee'-ah) Short Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2587.htm - 6k

4899. suneklektos -- chosen together with
... 1 Pet 1:1,2: " 1 To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, , by the sanctifying work of the Spirit ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4899.htm - 7k

Library

The Writings of Alexander of Cappadocia
The Writings of Alexander of Cappadocia. <. The Writings of Alexander
of Cappadocia Alexander of Cappadocia. Translated by the Rev. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/alexander/the writings of alexander of cappadocia/

Ep. Clxxxiv. Bosporius, Bishop of Colonia in Cappadocia Secunda ...
... Division III. Miscellaneous Letters. Ep. CLXXXIV. Bosporius, Bishop of Colonia in
Cappadocia Secunda, who had apparently taken a prominent part in� ...
/.../select letters of saint gregory nazianzen/ep clxxxiv bosporius bishop of.htm

Epistle Lxxiv. Firmilian, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, to ...
... Epistle LXXIV. Firmilian, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, to Cyprian, Against
the Letter of Stephen. ad 256. Argument."The Argument ...
/.../cyprian/the epistles of cyprian/epistle lxxiv firmilian bishop of.htm

The Writings of Alexander of Cappadocia
The Writings of Alexander of Cappadocia. <. ...
/.../alexander/the writings of alexander of cappadocia/title page.htm

Funeral Oration on the Great S. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in ...
... Funeral Oration On The Great S. Basil, Bishop Of Cæsarea In Cappadocia. Funeral
Oration on the Great S. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. ...
/.../cyril/lectures of s cyril of jerusalem/oration xliii funeral oration on.htm

Thalassius is Ordained Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia.
... Book VII. Chapter XLVIII."Thalassius is ordained Bishop of Cæsarea in
Cappadocia. About this same time, under the seventeenth ...
/.../chapter xlviii thalassius is ordained bishop.htm

The First Canonical Epistle of Our Holy Father Basil, Archbishop ...
... The Sixth Ecumenical Council. V. The First Canonical Epistle of Our Holy Father
Basil, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia to Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium. ...
/.../schaff/the seven ecumenical councils/v the first canonical epistle.htm

How Herod Took up Alexander and Bound Him; whom yet Archelaus King ...
... CHAPTER 8. How Herod Took Up Alexander And Bound Him; Whom Yet Archelaus
King Of Cappadocia Reconciled To His Father Herod Again. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 8 how herod took.htm

Letter cxxxvii. To Antipater, on his Assuming the Governorship of ...
... TOU AGIOU BAChILEIOU PERI TOU PNEUMATOCh BIBLION. Letter CXXXVII. To
Antipater, on his assuming the governorship of Cappadocia. ...
/.../basil/basil letters and select works/letter cxxxvii to antipater on.htm

Life.
... [4] Of their children the names of two only have survived: Gregory [5] and Basil.
[6] The former became bishop of one of the sees of Cappadocia. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/basil/basil letters and select works/i life.htm

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Cappadocia

the same as Caphtor

ATS Bible Dictionary

Cappadocia

The largest ancient province of Asia Minor; having Pontus on the north, mount Taurus, separating it from Cilicia and Syria, on the south, Galatia on the west, and the Euphrates and Armenia on the east. It was watered by the river Halys, and was noted for its fine pastures and its excellent breed of horses, asses, and sheep. There were many Jews residing in it, Acts 2:9. Christianity was early introduced there, 1 Peter 1:1, among a people proverbial for dullness, faithlessness, and vice. See CRETE. Several celebrated Christian fathers flourished in this province, as Basil and the three Gregories; and their churches may be traced as late as the tenth century.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The easternmost and the largest province of Asia Minor. Christianity very early penetrated into this country (1 Peter 1:1). On the day of Pentecost there were Cappadocians at Jerusalem (Acts 2:9).

Thesaurus

Cappadocia (2 Occurrences)
...CAPPADOCIA. ... After the Hittites fade from sight, following the fall of Carchemish,
about 718 BC, Cappadocia emerges as a satrapy of Persia. ...
/c/cappadocia.htm - 10k

Cappado'cia (2 Occurrences)
Cappado'cia. Cappadocia, Cappado'cia. Caprice . Multi-Version Concordance
Cappado'cia (2 Occurrences). ... Cappadocia, Cappado'cia. Caprice . Reference Bible
/c/cappado'cia.htm - 6k

Pontus (3 Occurrences)
... The name was geographical, not ethnical, in origin, and was first used to designate
that part of Cappadocia which bordered on the "Pontus," as the Euxine was ...
/p/pontus.htm - 16k

Lycaonia (2 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary An inland province of Asia Minor, on the west of
Cappadocia and the south of Galatia. It was a Roman province ...
/l/lycaonia.htm - 10k

Gomer (7 Occurrences)
... nations. One division moved eastward toward Media, another westward, where
they conquered Cappadocia and made it their special abode. ...
/g/gomer.htm - 11k

Arathes
... a-ra'-thez (the King James Version Araiarthes; Arathes; Ariarathes): King of Cappadocia,
163-130 BC Educated in Rome, he imbibed Roman ideas and became a ...
/a/arathes.htm - 7k

Amorites (82 Occurrences)
... as well as in the cuneiform Tell el-Amarna Letters, and the Hittite archives recently
discovered at Boghaz-keui, the site of the Hittite capital in Cappadocia. ...
/a/amorites.htm - 50k

Hittites (39 Occurrences)
... to have been partly Semitic and partly Mongolic; and the same mixed race is represented
by the Hittite records recently discovered in Cappadocia and Pontus. ...
/h/hittites.htm - 55k

Philistines (224 Occurrences)
... In the Septuagint of this passage (and in Amos 9:7) Cappadocia stands for
Caphtor (Kaphtor), and other versions have the same reading. ...
/p/philistines.htm - 75k

Assyria (124 Occurrences)
... and gazelles. Horses were imported from Cappadocia; ducks were kept, and
mastiffs were employed in hunting. IV. Population. The ...
/a/assyria.htm - 101k

Bible Concordance

Cappadocia (2 Occurrences)

Acts 2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Subtopics

Cappadocia

Cappadocia: The Easternmost Province of Asia Minor

Cappadocians Cappadocia

Related Terms

Cappado'cia (2 Occurrences)

Pontus (3 Occurrences)

Lycaonia (2 Occurrences)

Gomer (7 Occurrences)

Arathes

Amorites (82 Occurrences)

Hittites (39 Occurrences)