According to the
Suda, the original name of the place was
Cyinda or
Kyinda or
Quinda (); and that it was next called
Diocaesarea (Διοκαισάρεια). A city in Cilicia called
Kundu rebelled against the Assyrian king
Esarhaddon in 7th century BC, but it's unclear if there is a connection. At least it's known a city called
Anazarbus (Ἀνάζαρβος) and
Anazarba (Ἀνάζαρβα) and
Anazarbon (Ἀνάζαρβον), situated on the river
Pyramus, existed in the first century BC and was a part of the small client-kingdom of
Tarcondimotus I until it was annexed by Rome. How the city obtained the name is a matter of conjecture. According to
Stephanus of Byzantium, after the city was destroyed by an earthquake, the emperor
Nerva sent thither one Anazarbus, a man of senatorial rank, who rebuilt the city, and gave to it his name. This account cannot be accurate, as
Valesius remarks, for it was called Anazarbus in
Pliny's time. There are three writers of antiquity from this city.
Pedanius Dioscorides is called a native of Anazarbus; but the period of Dioscorides is not certain. It was also the home of the poet
Oppian and the historian
Asclepiades of Anazarba. Its later name was
Caesarea ad Anazarbum, and there are many medals of the place in which it is both named Anazarbus and Caesarea at or under Anazarbus. On the division of Cilicia it became the chief place of the
Roman province of
Cilicia Secunda, with the title of Metropolis. Early in the sixth century, in the reign of
Eastern Roman emperor Justin I, it was named
Justinopolis or
Ioustinoupolis (Ἰουστινούπολις). The city suffered from an earthquake in 526 and was rebuilt by
Justinian I and renamed
Justinianopolis or
Ioustinianoupolis (Ἰουστινιανούπολις); but the old name persisted, and when
Thoros I, king of
Lesser Armenia, made it his capital early in the 12th century, it was known as
Anazarva. Its great natural strength and situation, not far from the mouth of the Sis pass, and near the great road which
debouched from the
Cilician Gates, made Anazarbus play a considerable part in the struggles between the
Eastern Roman Empire and the early Muslim invaders. It had been rebuilt by
Harun al-Rashid in 796, refortified at great expense by the
Hamdanid Sayf al-Dawla In late 1097 or early 1098 it was captured by the armies of the
First Crusade and after the
conquest of Antioch it was incorporated into
Bohemond of Taranto's
Principality of Antioch. The site briefly exchanged hands between the
Byzantine Empire and Armenians, until it was formally part of the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Anazarbus was one of a chain of Armenian fortifications stretching through Cilicia. The
castle of Sis (modern
Kozan, Adana) lies to the north while Tumlu Castle and
Yilankale are to the south, and the fortresses of
Amouda and
Sarvandikar are to the east. The
Mamluk Empire of Egypt finally destroyed the city in 1374. == Remains ==