[FLEUVES] Historical Geography of the Hebros Valley

Anatolian Rivers between East and West

Axes and Frontiers
Geographical, economical and cultural aspects of the human-environment interactions between the Hebros and Tigris Rivers in ancient times

The Cultural Aspects of Rivers
28th September-1st October 2017
Istanbul (French Institute of Anatolian Studies)
Enez (Enez Excavations Directorate)

http://www.transfers.ens.fr/anatolian-rivers-between-east-and-west-axes…

On the Edge of Europe: from Hebros to Meriç

Mustafa Sayar (University of Istanbul, mhsayar@gmail.com)
Historical Geography of the Hebros Valley

The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the historical geography of the landscape between Ainos and Hadrianopolis, which is the catchment area of the Hebros river and the mouth of the river on the northern shore of Aegean sea.
The urbanisation process on the Aegean coast and along the Hebros river is deeply influenced by the organisation of this area as a Roman province. Hebros was one of the important rivers in the province of Thrace, which was founded in 46 AD and reorganised under the emperor Diocletian. According to new administrative organisation, at the end of 3rd cent. A.D. and in 4th cent. A.D., four new provinces were created in Thrace: Europe, Rodope, Thrake and Haimimontos. Hebros took in this time an important geostrategical role. In the area of the mouth of Hebros and Cap Sarpedon there was the border of the province Haimimontos and Europe.
In this contribution, we will try to describe the settlements between Ainos and Hadrianopolis, especially in the area of Kypsela, Kissos and Didymoteichos. We will present the villages, the farms and their connections with the river Hebros and the Roman roads to the Aegean sea as well as the harbours on the river side. It seems that it was possible to sail on the Hebros, in the region of Hadrianopolis, until the mid of the 14th century.
The identification of some settlements between Ainos and Hadrianopolis, which are documented by the surveys in the last twenty years with the place names, known from the ancient sources, seems to be an important step to understand this area.