In the foregoing general view of Central Asia Minor we have seen that the interior tableland may be divided conveniently for description into five main regions, not for the most part separated from one another by any definite boundary, but each characterised by some special feature. These are, in the south, the plains that lie northward and eastward from Iconium; in the west, the pine-clad hills and verdant pastures of Phrygia, where several great rivers rise that descend in different directions; in the north, the upland but not highland country around Angora, in which also is the divide between some tributaries of the Sangarius and of the Halys; in the north-east, the broad tract enclosed by the convex curve of the Halys River, to which we shall presently return; and, in the south-east, the tract of which Tyana is the centre, with which we shall include the eastern portion of the plain of Konia and the range of Taurus that bounds it on the south. Of these regions, the two latter may be regarded as an eastern or inner group as opposed to the three former lying to their west, from which they are physically separated, more clearly, at any rate, than the components of either group from one another, by the broad expanse of desert, the great central lake, and especially by the middle course of the Halys. This distinction between eastern and western will be found to have a real significance as our story develops: it is clear from the outset, however, that the former group would first receive and longest retain contact with Eastern civilisation, whether by the natural approaches over the watershed between the Euphrates and the Halys, or by the several crossings of the Anti-Taurus which converge upon Cæsarea, or by what is now the chief channel of communication through the Taurus Mountains by way of Cilicia. This distinction will be found further emphasised by the comparative plenty of Hittite monuments on the one side, and their paucity in the west. On the southern plains, indeed, skirting the main range of Taurus, westward progress was less restrained;[26] but that the Halys in the north presented a real barrier[27] is borne out by the fact that when the Lydian Crœsus crossed the Halys in the sixth century B.C. he found a strange and presumably non-Aryan people surviving upon the eastern side, who were indeed, according to Herodotus,[28] called Syrians by the Greeks, and by that historian spoken of as Syro-Cappadocians.
With our two eastern divisions we must include the plain and district westward of Cæsarea, a tract which on the north lies partly in the basin of the Halys, and on the south is practically continuous with the plains of Tyana, from which it is separated only by a low ridge of hills. Towards the west are the remarkable troglodyte villages,[29] where, probably from remote antiquity, the inhabitants have hewn out their dwellings in the soft surface rock and conical mounds which are the peculiar feature of the locality. There is little evidence as yet, however, to make this region of importance in our subject, and it is only recently that Cæsarea has yielded trace of Hittite handiwork.[30] None the less the continuation of exploration will certainly bring to light new monuments, for the district lies in the heart of the Hittite country; and Old Cæsarea (Mazaca) was the residence of Cappadocian kings.
PLATE IX
CÆSAREA: CLOISTER OF A SCHOOL, WITH THE CITADEL BEYOND
The position of Cæsarea is geographically of great importance, and from Roman times at any rate has marked the focus of the trade and traffic, and consequently of the road-systems, of the interior. The soil locally is of great fertility, owing to its volcanic nature. Vines and fruit-trees grow and thrive luxuriantly. The middle heights of slumbering Argæus are covered thickly with pine-woods. The snow-capped peak of this mountain towers in the heavens, the conspicuous feature of the horizon and the landmark for two days’ journey on every side. Its form is conical: to the west and south, where it rises directly from the plain, its base is washed by great lakes and marshes of variable extent. Towards the east it is connected up by broken ridges with the Anti-Taurus system. On its northern slope is Asarjik, overlooking Cæsarea, which lies at the foot of the mountain on that side. The site of the ancient city (Mazaca) is probably that marked by the ruins of Græco-Roman times, to be found in the vineyards on a low spur of the mountain about a mile south of the modern town.[31] Here is a spot that will one day reward excavation by a volume of unsuspected history. In the modern town, apart from its bazaars and industries and its splendid mediæval remains,[32] one of the most interesting sights is the ever-changing stream of human faces to be seen in its streets, for its traffic and position bring to it daily caravans from every side. In its resident population there are considerable Greek and Armenian elements; but there may be noticed as specially of interest to our subject the Jewish families,[33] in which the dominant features of face and stature recall again the type previously noticed at Kartal in Northern Syria. Main roads radiate from Cæsarea in all directions: towards the north-east to Sivas by the valley of the Halys; to the north by Yuzgat, crossing the river, which is five hours distant from Cæsarea, by a remarkable bridge of many spans (hence called Chok-Geuz Keupru); to the north-west by way of a lower bridge (called in contrast Bir-Geuz, or One-span Bridge), heading thence directly for Angora by the bridge at Cheshme Keupru; to the west across the plains to Konia by Sultan Han, skirting the southern border of the salt lake (Tuz Geul); to the south by Injesu and Tyana, and so to the Cilician Gates, or by a western branch to Eregli. An alternative route from Cæsarea to the Cilician Gates, shorter but impassable by carts, leads through defiles of wild beauty through the outlying ridges of the Anti-Taurus. South-east there are several well-established mountain tracks, like those to Fraktin and Ekrek, but there is one of special interest and antiquity, to which we have already alluded, heading directly for Marash by way of the high pass of Kuru-Bel,[34] and passing hence by Komana. Of the other routes enumerated there is one which was already of importance on general grounds before a recent discovery gave to it a special historical interest. This is the main road north and south, passing through Yuzgat, which in antiquity connected Boghaz-Keui with the east by way of Tyana and the Cilician Gates. This is clearly a southerly stage of the Royal Road of the Persian period, but whether it is the main route is not determinable from the description of Herodotus.[35] It has, however, now been traced for several miles between Injesu and a ford of the river near Bogche,[36] by the ruts scored deeply and over a broad track on the surface rock, exactly like the section previously traced through Phrygia by Sir William Ramsay.[37] It is significant that this route did not touch Cæsarea, to reach which a considerable détour must be made around the foot of Argæus, so much so that even now an optional route is in use from Injesu to Chok-Geuz Keupru. The old route was, if anything, even more direct, for from Injesu, near which it is traceable, it headed for the river in due line for Boghaz-Keui. The Hittite inscription overlooking the river at Bogche, the continuous signs of the road approaching Injesu from this direction, the Phrygian inscription found on the site of Tyana,[38] and the Hittite inscriptions from the same vicinity,[39] are evidences of the antiquity of this road analogous in every way to those which have been accepted as identifying it in the Phrygian country, from Bey-Keui to Doghanlu. Incidentally we find light in this discovery on the historical antiquity of the Cilician Gates as the main channel of communication with the east. Later in these pages[40] we shall find reason to believe that the western part of the great Royal Road, which led the Persian posts in crossing Asia Minor to make the wide détour by way of Pteria (even though the city was in ruins),[41] had been made and established by the Hittites in the thirteenth century B.C., when the stone walls of their capital crowned the hilltops of Boghaz-Keui. Possibly the earliest communication with the East was by way of the valley of the Tochma Su,[42] or by Marash; but the development of this southern branch of the main chariot-way cannot well be later than the tenth century B.C., when the second kingdom of the Hittites grew prominent with Tyana (or maybe Cæsarea) as its centre.
PLATE X
INJESU: VIEW OF THE MOSQUE AND TOWN