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Bible Encyclopedias
Cilicia
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or Cilicia
(Κιλικία; on the deriv., see below), a maritime province in the south- eastern part of Asia Minor, bounded on the west by Pamphylia; separated on the north from Cappadocia by the Taurus range, and on the east by Amanus from Syria; and having the Gulf of Issus (Iskenderoon) and the Cilician Sea (Acts 27:5) on the south. These lofty mountain barriers can be surmounted only by a few difficult passes, the latter by the Portae Amanides, at the head of the valley of the Pinarus, the former by the Portae Ciliciae, near the sources of the Cydnus; towards the south, however, an outlet was afforded between the Sinus Issicus and the spurs of Amanus for a road, which afterwards crossed the Portne Syriae in the direction of Antioch (hence the close connection which existed between Syria and Cilicia. as indicated in Acts 15:23; Acts 15:41; Galatians 1:21).
The sea- coast is rock-bound in the west, low and shelving in the east; the chief rivers — Sarus, Cydnus, and Calycadnus — were inaccessible to vessels of any size from sand-bars formed at their mouths. By the ancients the eastern part was called Cilicia Propria (ἡ ἰδίως Κιλικία , Ptolemy), or the level Cilicia (ἡ πεδιάς, Strabo); and the western, the rough (τραχεῖα, Strabo, 14:5), or mountainous (ἡ ὀρεινή, Herod. 2:34). The former was well- watered, and abounded in various kinds of grains and fruits (Xenoph. Anab. 1:2, § 22; Ammianus Marcell. 14:8, § 1). The chief towns in this division were Issus (Xenoph. Anab. 1, 4), at the south-eastern extremity, celebrated for the victory of Alexander over Darius Codomanus (B.C. 333), and not far from the passes of Amanus (τῶν Ἀμανίδων λεγομένων Πυλῶν , Polyb. 12:8); Sole, originally a colony of Argives and Rhodians, the birthplace of Menander, the comic poet (B.C. 262), the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus (B.C. 206), and of Aratus (q.v.), author of the astronomical poem τὰ Φαινόμενα (B.C. 270); and Tarsus, the birthplace of the apostle Paul (q.v.). Cilicia Trachea furnished an inexhaustible supply of cedars and firs for shipbuilding; it was also noted for a species of goat (Martial, 14:138), of whose skins cloaks and tents were manufactured. Its breed of horses was so superior, that 360 (one for each day of the year) formed part of the annual tribute to the king of Persia (Herod. 3. 90). The neighborhood of Corycus produced large quantities of saffron (Pliny Nat. Hist. 21:17). Josephusi dentified Cilicia with the Tarshish of Genesis 10:4 (Ant. 1:6, 1).
Herodotus says that the first inhabitants of the country were called Hypachcei (Υπαχαιοι ); and derives the name of Cilicia from Cilix son of Agenor, a Phoenician settler (7, 91). This is confirmed by Phoenician inscriptions, on which the name is written Chalak (חלר , Gesenius, Monum. Phoen. p. 279). Herodotus also states that the Cilicians and Lycians were the only nations within the Halys who were not conquered by Croesus (1, 28). Though partially subjected to the Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Syrians, and Romans, the Eleuthero — (or free) Cilicians, as the inhabitants of the mountainous districts were called, were governed by their own kings ("Reguli," Tacit. 2:78), till the time of Vespasian. The seacoast was for a long time occupied by pirates, who carried on the appropriate vocation of slave-merchants, and found ample encouragement for that nefarious traffic among the opulent Romans (Mannert, Geogr. 6:1; Strabo, 14:5); but at last their depredations became so formidable that Pompey was invested with extraordinary powers for their suppression, which he accomplished in forty days. He settled the surviving freebooters at Solae, which he rebuilt and named Pompeiopolis. Cicero was proconsul of Cilicia (B.C. 52), and gained some successes over the mountaineers of Amanus, for which he was rewarded with a triumph (Epist. ad Fam. 15:3). As the more level portion was remarkable for its beauty and fertility, as well as for its luxurious climate, it became a favorite residence of the Greeks after its incorporation into the Macedonian empire, and its capital, Tarsus (q.v.), was elevated into the seat of a celebrated school of philosophy. The connection between the Jews and Cilicia dates from the time when it became part of the Syrian kingdom (see 1 Maccabees 11:14; 2 Maccabees 4:36; comp. Judith 1:7; Judith 1:12; Judith 2:21; Judith 2:25).
Antiochus the Great is said to have introduced 2000 families of the Jews into Asia Minor (Josephus, Ant. 12:3, 4), many of whom probably settled in Cilicia (Philo, De legat. ad Caiurm, 30). In the apostolic age they were still there in considerable numbers (Acts 6:9). Cilician mercenaries, probably from Trachea, served in the body-guard of Alexander Jannaeus (Joseph. Ant. 13:13, 5; War, 1:4, 3). The synagogue of "them at Cilicia" (Acts 6:9) was a place of Jewish worship in Jerusalem, appropriated to the use of the Jews who might be at Jerusalem from the province of Cilicia. SEE SYNAGOGUE. Cilicia was, from its geographical position, the high road between Syria and the West, and it was also the native country of Paul; it was visited by him, first, soon after his conversion (Galatians 1:21; Acts 9:30), on which occasion he probably founded the Church there (Neander, Planting and Training, 1:114; Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, 1:17-25, 249), and again in his second apostolical journey, when he entered it on the side of Syria, and crossed Anti-Taurus by the Pylae Ciliciae into Lycaonia (Acts 15:41). Christianity continued to flourish here until the 8th century, when the country fell into the hands of the Saracens, by whom, and by their successors the Turks, the light of true religion has been almost extinguished. According to the modern Turkish divisions of Asia Minor, Cilicia Proper belongs to the pashalic of Adana, and Cilicia Trachea to the Liwah of Itchil in the Mousselimlik of Cyprus (see Penny Cyclopaedia, s.v.; Smith, Dict. of Class. Geogr. s.v.; Vict. Langlois, Voyage dans la Cilicee, Par. 1861). SEE ASIA MINOR.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Cilicia'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/c/cilicia.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
