Editing Cappadocia (section)

==Etymology==
[[Image:AciksarayFassade.jpg|thumb|upright|Facade of an ancient church called Açık Saray, literally meaning "Open Palace", carved into the valley walls in [[Gülşehir]], Cappadocia.]]

The earliest record of the name of Cappadocia ({{IPAc-en|k|æ|p|ə|ˈ|d|oʊ|ʃ|ə|,|_|-|ˈ|d|oʊ|k|i|ə}}; {{langx|tr|Kapadokya}}; {{langx|grc|Καππαδοκία|Kappadokía}}, {{langx|syc|ܩܦܘܕܩܝܐ|Kəp̄uḏoqyā}}, from {{langx|peo|𐎣𐎫𐎱𐎬𐎢𐎣}} {{Transliteration|peo|Katpatuka}}; {{langx|hit|𒅗𒋫𒁉𒁕|Katapeda}}; {{langx|hy|Կապադովկիա, |Kapadovkia}}) dates from the late sixth century BC, when it appears in the trilingual inscriptions of two early [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid emperors]], [[Darius the Great]] and [[Xerxes I]], as one of the countries ([[Old Persian]] ''dahyu-''). In these lists of countries, the Old Persian name is ''Katpatuka''. It was proposed that ''Kat-patuka'' came from the [[Luwian language]], meaning "Low Country".<ref>Coindoz M. Archeologia / Préhistoire et archéologie, n°241, 1988, pp. 48–59</ref>

Subsequent research suggests that the adverb ''katta'' meaning 'down, below' is exclusively [[Hittite language|Hittite]], while its Luwian equivalent is ''zanta''.<ref>Petra Goedegebuure, "The Luwian Adverbs ''zanta'' 'down' and *ānni 'with, for, against'", ''Acts of the VIIIth International Congress of Hittitology'', A. Süel (ed.), Ankara 2008, pp. 299–319.</ref> Therefore, the recent modification of this proposal operates with the Hittite ''katta peda-'', literally "place below" as a starting point for the development of the [[toponymy|toponym]] Cappadocia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yakubovich|first=Ilya|year=2014|editor-last=Kozuh|editor-first=M.|title=From Lower Land to Cappadocia|url=https://www.academia.edu/6798289|journal=Extraction and Control: Studies in Honor of Matthew W. Stolper|publisher=Oriental Institute|location=Chicago|pages=347–52}}</ref>

The earlier derivation from Iranian ''Hu-apa-dahyu'' 'Land of good horses' can hardly be reconciled with the phonetic shape of ''Kat-patuka''. Several other etymologies have also been offered in the past.<ref>See R. Schmitt, "Kappadoker", in ''Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie'', vol. 5 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1980), p. 399, and L. Summerer, "Amisos – eine Griechische Polis im Land der Leukosyrer", in: M. Faudot et al. (eds.), ''Pont-Euxin et polis. Actes du Xe Symposium de Vani'' (2005), 129–66 [135] According to an older theory (W. Ruge, "Kappadokia", in A.F. Pauly – G. Wissowa, ''[[Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft]]'', vol. 10 (Stuttgart: Alfred Druckenmüller, 1919), col. 1911), the name derives from Old Persian and means either "land of the ''Ducha''/''Tucha''" or "land of the beautiful horses". It has also been proposed that ''Katpatuka'' is a Persianized form of the [[Hittite language|Hittite]] name for Cilicia, ''Kizzuwatna'', or that it is otherwise of Hittite or Luwian origin (by Tischler and Del Monte, mentioned in Schmitt (1980)). According to A. Room, ''Placenames of the World'' (London: MacFarland and Company, 1997), the name is a combination of [[Akkadian language|Assyrian]] ''katpa'' "side" (cf. Heb ''katef'') and a chief or ancestor's name, ''Tuka''.</ref>

[[Herodotus]] wrote that the name of the Cappadocians was applied to them by the [[Persia]]ns, while they were termed by the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] "White Syrians" (''[[Leucosyri]]''),{{sfn|Bunbury|Hogarth|1911|p=286}} who were most probably descendants of the [[Hittites]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Janse |first1=Mark |title=The resurrection of Cappadocian (Asia Minor Greek)|journal=ΑΩ International |date=2009 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294141546}}</ref> One of the Cappadocian tribes he mentions is the [[Mushki|Moschoi]], associated by [[Flavius Josephus]] with the biblical figure [[Meshech]], son of [[Japheth]]: "and the Mosocheni were founded by Mosoch; now they are Cappadocians". [[AotJ]] I:6.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

[[File:Turkey-1864 (2216687352).jpg|thumb|right|Fresco of [[Christ Pantocrator]] on the ceiling of Karanlık Kilise [[Churches of Göreme]].]]
Cappadocia appears in the [[Christian Bible|biblical]] account given in the book of {{bibleverse||Acts|2:9|!}}. The Cappadocians were named as one group (among "Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia")<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Acts 2 NIV |url=https://biblehub.com/niv/acts/2.htm |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=biblehub.com}}</ref> hearing the [[Gospel]] account from [[Galilee|Galileans]] in their own language on the day of [[Pentecost]] shortly after the [[Death and resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]] of [[Jesus]] Christ. {{bibleverse||Acts|2:5|!}} states "Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven," seeming to suggest that some of the Cappadocians were [[History of the Jews in Turkey|Jews]], or part of the diaspora of Jews present in Jerusalem at the time.<ref name=":0" />

The region is also mentioned in the Jewish [[Mishnah]], in [[Ketubot]] 13:11, and in several places in the [[Talmud]], including [[Yevamot]] 121a, [[Hullin]] 47b.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sefaria.org/Chullin.47b.5 | title=Chullin 47b:5 }}</ref>

Under the later kings of the Persian Empire, the Cappadocians were divided into two [[satrapy|satrapies]], or governments, with one comprising the central and inland portion, to which the name of Cappadocia continued to be applied by [[History of geography#Ancient geography|Greek geographers]], while the other was called [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]]. This division had already come about before the time of [[Xenophon]]. As after the fall of the Persian government the two provinces continued to be separate, the distinction was perpetuated, and the name Cappadocia came to be restricted to the inland province (sometimes called Great Cappadocia), which alone will be the focus of this article.{{sfn|Bunbury|Hogarth|1911|pp=286–287}}

The kingdom of Cappadocia still existed in the time of [[Strabo]] ({{Circa|64 BC|AD 24}}) as a nominally independent state. [[Cilicia]] was the name given to the district in which [[Caesarea Mazaca|Caesarea]], the capital of the whole country, was situated. The only two cities of Cappadocia considered by Strabo to deserve that appellation were [[Caesarea Mazaca|Caesarea]] (originally known as [[Mazaca]]) and [[Tyana]], not far from the foot of the [[Taurus Mountains|Taurus]].{{sfn|Bunbury|Hogarth|1911|p=287}}