[FLEUVES] River Transportation in Cilicia and the Amuq in the Second Millennium BC

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…

Between Asia and Asia Minor: Cilician and Near Eastern Rivers

Sevilay Zeynep YILDIZ (Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi, sevilayzeynep.h@gmail.com)
River Transportation in Cilicia and the Amuq in the Second Millennium BC

Rivers are the crucial components of maritime harbor settlements. Through these harbors, goods coming from inland reach the sea; the river mouths offer bays protecting the boats which sail up the river, from the seacoast and back. In Cilicia and Amuq regions, the coastline is dominated by mountains which obstruct overland transportation. It seems that only the rivers provided short and suitable paths for goods transportation. Unfortunately, unlike in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Europe, there is no evidence for Bronze Age navigation on the rivers of these regions. Nevertheless, geomorphological studies in the Cilician and Amuq deltas showed that estuarine areas presented more appropriate conditions for river transportation and harbors during the second millennium BC than in later times. In this paper, I will present the characteristics of the possible river transportation and its crafts that might have been used in the second millennium BC in Cilicia and the Amuq valley.