Samsun is a city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of 1,382,376. The city is home to Ondokuz Mayıs University, several hospitals, three large shopping malls, Samsunspor football club, an opera house and a large and modern manufacturing district. The city is best known as the place where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk began the Turkish War of Independence in 1919.
Name
Although Amisos is attested in Greek historical sources, the -ssos / -sos suffix is widely discussed in scholarship as reflecting an Anatolian, especially Luwian, substrate rather than a straightforward Greek derivation.
The present name of the city is believed to have come from its former Greek name of () by a reinterpretation of (meaning "to Amisós") and (Greek suffix for place names) to (: ) and then SamsunÖzhan Öztürk. Karadeniz: Ansiklopedik Sözlük (Blacksea: Encyclopedic Dictionary) . 2 Cilt (2 Volumes). Heyamola Publishing. Istanbul. 2005 ().
The early Greek historian Hecataeus wrote that Amisos was formerly called Enete, the place mentioned in Homer's Iliad. In Book II, Homer says that the ἐνετοί (Enetoi) inhabited Paphlagonia on the southern coast of the Black Sea in the time of the Trojan War (c. 1200 BC). The Paphlagonians are listed among the allies of the Trojans in the war, where their king Pylaemenes and his son Harpalion perished.Homer, Iliad; online version at classics.mit.edu, accessed on 2009-08-18. Book II: "The Paphlagonians were commanded by stout-hearted Pylaemanes from Enetae, where the mules run wild in herds. These were they that held Cytorus and the country round Sesamus, with the cities by the river Parthenius, Cromna, Aegialus, and lofty Erithini." Strabo mentioned that the inhabitants had disappeared by his time.Strab. 12.3 "Tieium is a town that has nothing worthy of mention except that Philetaerus, the founder of the family of Attalic Kings, was from there. Then comes the Parthenius River, which flows through flowery districts and on this account came by its name; it has its sources in Paphlagonia itself. And then comes Paphlagonia and the Eneti. Writers question whom the poet means by 'the Eneti,' when he says, 'And the rugged heart of Pylaemenes led the Paphlagonians, from the land of the Eneti, whence the breed of wild mules; for at the present time, they say, there are no Eneti to be seen in Paphlagonia, though some say that there is a village on the Aegialus ten schoeni distant from Amastris.' But Zenodotus writes 'from Enete,' and says that Homer clearly indicates the Amisus of today. And others say that a tribe called Eneti, bordering on the Cappadocians, made an expedition with the Cimmerians and then were driven out to the Adriatic Sea. But the thing upon which there is general agreement is, that the Eneti, to whom Pylaemenes belonged, were the most notable tribe of the Paphlagonians, and that, furthermore, these made the expedition with him in very great numbers, but, losing their leader, crossed over to Thrace after the capture of Troy, and on their wanderings went to the Enetian country, as it is now called. According to some writers, Antenor and his children took part in this expedition and settled at the recess of the Adriatic, as mentioned by me in my account of Italy. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that it was on this account that the Eneti disappeared and are not to be seen in Paphlagonia."
Samsun has also been known as Peiraieos by Athenian settlers and even briefly as Pompeiopolis by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.
The city was called Simisso by the Genoese. It was during the Ottoman Empire, that its present name was written as (Ṣāmsūn). The city has been known as Samsun since the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1923.
History Prehistory and foundation
Paleolithic artifacts found in the Tekkeköy Caves can be seen in Samsun Archaeology Museum.
The earliest layer excavated of the höyük of Dündartepe revealed a Chalcolithic settlement. Early Bronze Age and Hittite settlements were also found there and at Tekkeköy.
Samsun (then known as Amisos, Greek Αμισός, alternative spelling Amisus) was settled in about 760–750 BC by Ionians from Miletus, who established a flourishing trade relationship with the ancient peoples of Anatolia. The city's ideal combination of fertile ground and shallow waters attracted numerous traders.Cohen, Getzel M. (1995). "The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor". Berkeley and Los Angeles: California: University of California Press. p. 384.
Amisus was settled by the Ionian Milesians in the 6th century BC;Wilson, M. W. "Cities of God in Northern Asia Minor: Using Stark's Social Theories to Reconstruct Peter's Communities". Verbum et Ecclesia 32 (1). p. 3. it is believed that there was significant Greek activity along the coast of the Black Sea, although the archaeological evidence for this is very fragmentary.Topalidis, S. "Formation of the First Greek Settlements in the Pontos". Pontos World. Pontosworld.com. Retrieved 11 March 2015. The only archaeological evidence we have as early as the 6th century is a fragment of Wild Goat style Greek pottery, in the Louvre.Tsetskhladze, G.R. (1998 ) "The Greek Colonisation of the Black Sea Area: Historical Interpretation of Archaeology". Stuttgart: F. Steiner. p. 19.; Louvre page
Persian, Classical and Hellenistic Periods The city was captured by the Persians in 550 BC and became part of the satrapy of Cappadocia. In the 5th century BC, Amisus became a free state and one of the members of the Delian League led by the Athenians;Wilson, M. W. "Cities of God in Northern Asia Minor: Using Stark's Social Theories to Reconstruct Peter's Communities". Verbum et Ecclesia 32 (1). p. 4. it was then renamed Peiraeus under Pericles.Jones, A.H.M (1937). "The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces". Oxford: The Clarendon Press. p. 149. A historical tradition from Theopompus by way of Strabo has it that the city was originally colonized by the Greeks by a man named Athenocles. Starting in the 3rd century BC, the city came under the control of Mithridates I, later founder of the Kingdom of Pontus. The Amisos treasure may have belonged to one of the kings.
Tumuli, containing tombs dated between 300 BC and 30 BC, can be seen at Amisos Hill but unfortunately Toraman Tepe was mostly flattened during construction of the 20th century radar base. The artisanal production included Terracotta products in a Greek style.Summerer, Lâtife (1999). Hellenistische Terrakotten aus Amisos. Ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte des Pontosgebietes [Hellenistic terracotta figurines from Amisos. A contribution to the art history of the Pontus region]. Geographica historica, vol. 13. Stuttgart: Steiner, .
Roman Period The Romans conquered Amisus in 71 BC during the Third Mithridatic War. and Amisus became part of Bithynia et Pontus province. Around 46 BC, during the reign of Julius Caesar, Amisus became the capital of Roman Pontus. From the period of the Second Triumvirate up to Nero, Pontus was ruled by several client kings, as well as one client queen, Pythodorida of Pontus, a granddaughter of Marcus Antonius. From 62 CE it was directly ruled by Roman governors, most famously by Trajan's appointee Pliny. Pliny the Younger's address to the Emperor Trajan in the 1st century CE "By your indulgence, sir, they have the benefit of their own laws," is interpreted by John Boyle Orrery to indicate that the freedoms won for those in Pontus by the Romans was not pure freedom and depended on the generosity of the Roman emperor.Orrery, J. B. (1752). "The Letters of Pliny the Younger: With Observations on Each Letter; and an Essay on Pliny's Life, Addressed to Charles Lord Boyle". The 3rd ed. London: Printed by James Bettenham, for Paul Vaillant. p. 407.
The estimated population of the city around 150 AD is between 20,000 and 25,000 people, classifying it as a relatively large city for that time.Mitchell, S. (1995). "Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor". Journal of Roman Studies, 85. pp. 301–302. The city functioned as the commercial capital for the province of Pontus; beating its rival Sinope (now Sinop) due to its position at the head of the trans-Anatolia highway.
In Late Antiquity, the city became part of the Dioecesis Pontica within the eastern Roman Empire; later still it was part of the Armeniac Theme.
Samsun Castle was built on the seaside in 1192; it was demolished between 1909 and 1918.
Early Christianity With its ancient Hellenic roots, that date back to its founding during the period of Greek colonisation, Samsun subsequently became the center of an early Christian congregation. Its function as a commercial metropolis in northern Asia Minor was a contributing factor to enable the spread of Christian influence. As a large port city – the commercial capital of Pontus Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. (2013). "Roads to Pontus, Royal and Roman." The Journal of Hellenic Studies (Vol. 21). London: Forgotten Books. (Original work published pre-1945, year unknown) p. 105-6. – travel to and from Christian hotbeds like Jerusalem was not uncommon.Wilson, M. W. "Cities of God in Northern Asia Minor: Using Stark's Social Theories to Reconstruct Peter's Communities". Verbum et Ecclesia 32 (1). p. 2. According to Josephus, there was a large Jewish diaspora in Asia Minor.Schalit, A. "Asia Minor." Encyclopedia Judaica. Accessed 11 March 2015. Early Christian missionary work focused on Jewish diaspora communities, and given that the Jewish community in Amisus was a geographically accessible group with a mixed heritage, Amisus was an appealing site for missionary activities. The author of 1 Peter 1:1 addresses the Jewish diaspora of the province of Pontus, along with four other provinces: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia." (Peter 1:1) As Amisus would have been the largest commercial port-city in the province, it is believed certain that the spread of Christianity in the region would have begun there. In the 1st century Pliny the Younger documents accounts of Christians in and around the cities of Pontus."Pliny and Trajan on the Christians." Pliny and Trajan on the Christians. Accessed 7 April 2015. His accounts center on his conflicts with the Christians when he served under the Emperor Trajan and describe early Christian communities, his condemnation of their refusal to renounce their religion, but also describes his tolerance for some Christian practices like Christian charitable societies.Alikin, V. A. (2010). 'Chapter 7.' In The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering: Origin, Development and Content of the Christian Gathering in the First to Third Centuries. Leiden: Brill. p. 270. Many great early Christian figures had connections to Amisus, including Caesarea Mazaca, Gregory the Illuminator (raised as a Christian from 257 CE when he was brought to Amisus) and Basil the Great (Bishop of the city 330–379 CE).Wilson, M. W. "Cities of God in Northern Asia Minor: Using Stark's Social Theories to Reconstruct Peter's Communities". Verbum et Ecclesia 32 (1). p. 7.