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Antioch

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Location o Antioch, in present Turkey

Antioch on the Orontes (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη; Georgie: ანტიოქია; Armenie: Անտիոք Antiok; Laitin: Antiochia ad Orontem; Arabic:انطاکیه, Anṭākiya; an aw Great Antioch or Sirie Antioch) wis an auncient ceety on the eastren side o the Orontes River. It is near the modren ceety o Antakya, Turkey.

Foondit near the end o the 4t century BC bi Seleucus I Nicator, ane o Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief ceety o the Near East an wis a cradle o Gentile Christianity.[1] It wis ane o the fower ceeties o the Sirie tetrapolis. Its residents are kent as Antiochenes. Ance a great metropolis o a hauf million fowk, it declined tae insignificance durin the Middle Ages acause o repeatit earthquakes, the slochter o its inhabitants bi a Mameluk airmy in 1268, an a chynge in trade routes, follaein the Mongol conquests, which then nae langer passed through Antioch frae the far east.

Geography

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Twa routes frae the Mediterranean, lyin through the Orontes gorge an the Beilan Pass, converge in the plain o the Antioch Lake (Balük Geut or El Bahr) an are met there bi

  1. the road frae the Amanian Gate (Baghche Pass) an wastren Commagene, which descends the valley o the Karasu River tae the Afrin River,
  2. the roads frae eastren Commagene an the Euphratean crossins at Samosata (Samsat) an Apamea Zeugma (Birejik), which descend the valleys o the Afrin an the Quweiq rivers, an
  3. the road frae the Euphratean ford at Thapsacus, which skirts the fringe o the Sirie steppe. A single route proceeds sooth in the Orontes valley.

Footnotes

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  1. "The mixture of Roman, Greek, and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for the great part it played in the early history of Christianity. The ceety wis the cradle o the kirk." Encyclopedia Biblica

Freemit airtins

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Coordinates: 36°12′N 36°09′E / 36.200°N 36.150°E / 36.200; 36.150