Temple states of pontus : comana pontica and zela

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Türkiye

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: EMİNE SÖKMEN

Danışman: Deniz Burcu Erciyas

Özet:

Before the Roman rule in Asia Minor, under the Hellenistic kings, small communities lived independently within areas surrounding temples with local powers. The temple held together and ruled these communities. Under the Romans these communities were brought and united to form cities in order to govern them by a central power and to take advantage of their unified work force. These communities served the Temple providing it necessary resources to function and provided themselves protection under sacred power. Some scholars have identified term as أtemple stateؤ, a term originated from the Sumerian communal structure. This study examines the validity of the use of the term أtemple stateؤ in defining Comana Pontica and Zela in the Black Sea region in Pontic region through a comparison with similar examples found in Anatolia. This study also aims to provide a revision to the meaning of independently structured temples by observing their transformation in time and by examining changes of the properties of their location.