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Kemah (Kurdish: Kemax),[3] known historically as Ani-Kamakh (Armenian: Անի-Կամախ), Gamakh, Kamacha or Kamachon (Greek: Κάμαχα, Κάμαχον) is a town and district of Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey.

Kemah Ani-Kamakh
Kemah
Coordinates: 39°36′10″N 39°02′08″E
Country	Turkey
Province	Erzincan
Government
• Mayor	Osman Kemal Aslan (MHP)
• Kaymakam	Hasan Ongu
Area [1]
• District	2,297.98 km2 (887.26 sq mi)
Elevation	1,130 m (3,710 ft)
Population  (2012)[2]
• Urban	2,434
• District	6,905
• District density	3.0/km2 (7.8/sq mi)
Post code	244xx
Website	www.kemah.bel.tr

History

Ancient and medieval

Kemah is a town with a present population of 2141 (2010 est.). The town is located almost in the centre of Erzincan Province.

In ancient times, the town was known as Ani-Kamakh, and was the cult center of the Armenian goddess Anahit (Ani).[4] It may be what the Hittites referred to as Kummaha (if that was not just a variant of Kummuh).[5]

The necropolis of Armenia's Arsacid Dynasty was located in Kemah, including the tomb of Tiridates III who was instrumental in the conversion of the Armenian people to Christianity.

During the early Middle Ages, Kemah was a strategically important border fortress in the border wars between the Byzantines and the Umayyads and Abbasids. It first fell to the Muslims in 679 and changed hands frequently until the mid-9th century (cf. Siege of Kamacha (766)), when Byzantine control was consolidated. According to Constantine VII, in the late 9th century Kemah formed a tourma in the thema of Koloneia. Under Emperor Leo VI the Wise, Kemah was joined with the district of Keltzene to form the new thema of Mesopotamia. Little is known of the site thereafter, except that it was the seat of a bishopric named "Armenia". The Byzantines lost control of the area following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.[6]

Modern

The Kemah Gorge was the scene of massacres during the Armenian genocide. In one instance, 25,000 Armenians were killed in one day by throwing the victims off a steep gorge and into the Euphrates river.[7][8]

Demographics

In the 19th century, Armenian Catholic geographer Rev. Ghukas Injijian wrote that the Muslim population in Kemah were of Armenian origin but had converted to Islam during the devastation caused by the Persian-Ottoman wars in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.[9]

References

На других языках

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[de] Kemah (Türkei)

Kemah (armenisch Gamax, zazaisch Kemax) ist eine Stadt und zugleich Verwaltungszentrum des gleichnamigen Landkreises in der türkischen Provinz Erzincan. Der Ort liegt im oberen Euphratabschnitt (türkisch Fırat) am südlichen Rand des Karasu-Tals an der Mündung von Tanasur Çayı und Kömür Çayı (Manek Çayı) in den Karasu etwa 50 Straßenkilometer westlich der Provinzhauptstadt Erzincan und beherbergt mehr als ein Drittel (2020: 37,5 %) der Landkreisbevölkerung. Die heutige Stadt liegt am Fuße der alten Festung von Kemah an der Bahnstrecke von Erzincan nach Sivas.

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- [en] Kemah, Erzincan

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[ru] Кемах

Кемах[1] (тур. Kemah) — город и район в провинции Эрзинджан (Турция). Расположен на севере Армянского нагорья, на берегу реки Евфрат[1].

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