In
ancient geography,
Cappadocia or
Capadocia,
Turkish Kapadokya (from
Greek ?appad???a / Kappadokía, which in turn is from the
Persian Katpatuka meaning "the land of beautiful horses"
[1]), was the name of an extensive inland district of
Asia Minor (modern
Turkey). The name continued to be used in western sources and in the
Christian tradition throughout history and is still widely used as an international
tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by
fairy chimneys and a unique
historical and
cultural heritage. The term, as used in tourism, roughly corresponds to present-day
Nevsehir Province of Turkey.
It is impossible to define Cappadocia's limits with any real accuracy. In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians are supposed to have occupied the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of Mount Taurus, to the east by the Euphrates, to the north by Pontus, and to the west vaguely by the great salt lake, Lake Tuz, in Central Anatolia. But Strabo, the only ancient author who gives any circumstantial account of the country, greatly exaggerated its dimensions. It is now believed that 400&_160;km (249&_160;mi) east-west by 200&_160;km (124&_160;mi) north-south is a more realistic appraisal of Cappadocia's extension.[1]
The earliest record of the name of Cappadocia dates from the late 6th century BC when it appears in the trilingual inscriptions of two early Achaemenid kings, Darius I and Xerxes, as one of the countries (Old Persian dahyu-) which are part of the Persian Empire. In these lists of countries the Old Persian name is Katpatuka, but it is clearly not a native Persian word. The Elamite and Akkadian language versions of the inscriptions contain a similar name from Akkadian katpa "side" (cf. Heb katef) and a chief or ancestor's name, Tuka.[2]
Cappadocia is also mentioned in the Biblical account given in the book of Acts 29, with the Cappadocians being named as one of the people groups hearing the Gospel account from Galileans in their own language on the day of Pentecost shortly after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Acts 25 seems to suggest that the Cappadocians in this account were "God-fearing Jews". See Acts of the Apostles.
