Turkey’s historic city of Antakya, known in Roman and medieval times as Antakya, was razed to the ground by powerful earthquakes in the past – and has rebuilt itself

Tens of thousands died and millions were left homeless in southern Turkey and northern Syria after the massive earthquake that struck the country on February 6, 2023. But the ancient Turkish city of Antakya, known in Roman and medieval times as Antakya, was here before.

In the late fourth century Roman world, two days after a powerful earthquake shook the borders of Turkey and Syria, the Christian preacher John Chrysostom preaches to the terrified worshipers of his turbulent city of Antioch, just as today’s survivors struggle to comprehend the devastation of the ancient world. “Your nights are sleepless,” he confessed, and your possessions “tore as easily as a spider’s web. … For a short while I became angels instead of men.”

As a historian of Christianity in the late Roman world, my research on the Christianization of Antioch took me to the region in 2006, 2008, and 2010, and it broke my heart to see the region where I had been so welcomed was once again broken with generosity. However, it is useful to know the rich history of Antakya and the resilience and courage of its people, who have rebuilt the city before.

Layers of time

The city has known many rulers in its long history, and remarkable religious diversity. The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities have called Antioch their home from late antiquity until today.

In the New Testament, Antioch was the place where Jesus’ followers were first called “Christians,” and the apostles Peter and Paul met in the city. Roman emperors often spent winters in the temperate capital. The fourth-century Greek teacher Libanius declared in his sermon “On Antioch” that this city on the Orontes River was so beautiful that the gods preferred to dwell there.

Remains of a Roman aqueduct in Antakya. Christine Shepherdson, CC BY-NC-ND

The ancient Greek and Roman city came under Muslim control in 637, returned to Greek Christian control in the 10th century, Muslim control briefly in the 11th century, and then Western Christian control in 1098 during the First Crusade.

The Crusaders established the Emirate of Antioch, which lasted until the arrival of the Mongols in the 13th century, when the city eventually found itself ruled by the Muslim Mamluks based in Egypt after some conflicts. It became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and after World War I, France oversaw the region as part of Syria until Turkey annexed it in 1939. It has received countless refugees since the civil war in Syria began in 2011.

During my visits, the woven layers of the city’s long history were visible everywhere. Kurtuluş’s main avenue followed the ancient Roman road, and the Habibi Neccar Mosque, destroyed in the recent earthquake, commemorates the city’s early Islamic history on the site of what was once a church.

The Orontes still flows through the city, and the modern houses are situated, as Roman houses once did, against the mountain where the early Christian indulgences withdrew to pray; Remains of a Roman aqueduct and medieval stone walls spread across the town and up the mountainside.

Cruciform facade of Saint Peter’s Church in Antakya. Kristin Shepherdson, CC BY-ND Shivering Earth

Earthquakes punctuate the city’s past as well as its present, including at least one that completely destroyed the Romanian city in the manner we witnessed in February 2023.

In his Roman History from the early 3rd century, early historian Cassius Dio described the catastrophic devastation and loss of life from the violent earthquake that devastated the city in 115, in which “the whole earth overturned and buildings rose into the air.” The ancient Christian historian John Malalas survived another devastating earthquake. in the city in 526, and described in the “Historical Record” the terrible fire that multiplied the unfathomable devastation after “the surface of the earth boiled and … everything fell to the ground”.

Also today, countless buildings are razed to the ground, such as the historic Habibi Nekar Mosque, which was actually rebuilt after another earthquake destroyed it in 1853. Medieval Crusaders built a towering stone entrance to the mountain cave church associated with the Apostle Peter, and we wait to see if He was damaged.

My friend Hulya replied to my first panicked text on February 6: “I can’t tell you how bad it was.” And tens of thousands of others in the area are not so lucky. She wrote “Pray for Us”.

Hope in the future

However, the city’s history is one of transition and rebirth, and I believe there is hope amidst the wreckage.

Malalas wrote that in the year 526, “pregnant women were born underground and emerged with their babies unharmed,” echoing the life of a baby girl born in Antakya on February 6, 2023, in the rubble of her collapsed home. It was called Aya, an Arabic word that loosely translates as a sign from God. The city’s Hatay Archaeological Museum houses a stunning collection of Roman floor mosaics from the suburb of Dafni, famous since Roman times for its natural springs, and the Ministry of Culture has staff on site to protect them.

As neighbors scavenge demolished buildings for survivors, the world rushes to help. My friend in Knoxville, Tennessee, Yasin Tiro, a Syrian refugee, has returned to the area to provide meals to survivors as part of a global relief effort.

Aid workers and volunteers are rushing to bring medical care, food, shelter and clean water to the area, although it remains difficult to reach those isolated in northern Syria.

The scope of the disaster is heartbreaking, but these echoes of Romania’s past, I think, can offer an optimistic reminder of the resilience of city dwellers who have rebuilt from devastating earthquakes before. Maybe they can do it again with the support of the world.

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