The aim of this chapter is to try to identify the itineraries followed by Arab armies when entering Cappadocia during their incursions across the Anatolian plateau between the 7th and the 10th centuries AD. The analysis of the distribution of a series of ‘territorial markers’ and of itinerary information recoverable from the Arabic sources led to the detection of those routes and to a better understanding of the Arab military strategies in central Anatolia, as well as of the continuity/discontinuity of the post-Classical Cappadocian Road network; more specifically, the Graeco-Roman system of communication. In particular, it is argued that routes which were only of secondary importance during the Roman period acquired a new relevance starting from the end of the 7th century and, similarly, that main routes became less utilised, illustrating a clear shift in the organisation and exploitation of the landscape. Recent palaeoecological analysis of annually laminated sediments from Lake Nar have made it possible to reconstruct the changes that occurred within the Cappadocian landscape, confirming the hypothesis proposed on the basis of archaeological and topographical data.
From Loulon to the Fortress of the Black Camel. The routes of the Arab incursions in Cappadocia
Jacopo Turchetto
2025
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to try to identify the itineraries followed by Arab armies when entering Cappadocia during their incursions across the Anatolian plateau between the 7th and the 10th centuries AD. The analysis of the distribution of a series of ‘territorial markers’ and of itinerary information recoverable from the Arabic sources led to the detection of those routes and to a better understanding of the Arab military strategies in central Anatolia, as well as of the continuity/discontinuity of the post-Classical Cappadocian Road network; more specifically, the Graeco-Roman system of communication. In particular, it is argued that routes which were only of secondary importance during the Roman period acquired a new relevance starting from the end of the 7th century and, similarly, that main routes became less utilised, illustrating a clear shift in the organisation and exploitation of the landscape. Recent palaeoecological analysis of annually laminated sediments from Lake Nar have made it possible to reconstruct the changes that occurred within the Cappadocian landscape, confirming the hypothesis proposed on the basis of archaeological and topographical data.
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