During the reign of king Artaxerxes the Mnemon , Kappadokia became a kingdom, having Ariarathis I as her first king. During the reign of Ariarathis II both “ Great” and “Pontiki” Kappadokia were under the same ruler. So Macedonians conquered a united Kappadokia. After the death of Alexander the Great, Kappadokia was divided in two. There two parts became free and independent by Ariarathis III, king of “ Great or Kappadokia near Taurus” and Mithridatis II king of “Pontiki or Kappadokia near the Euxine Sea”. According to recent linguistic research , the name Kappadokia has its origin the word “ KATWATNA” found in written Hettite documents which means “ the Lower land”. Although originally referred to the land south of Mt. Taurus, it finally referred to an area almost as vast as Asia Minor itself. It was believed that the name “ Kappadokia” was Persian and it had its origin in “ Katpatuka” which means “ the land of good horses”. Before the Indo-Europeans arrive there lived Husites and Turanians . The Hatti was another tribe which was settled in central Anatolia between 2500BC and 2000BC. They left no traces of their civilization.
The Hatti was another tribe which was settled in central Anatolia between 2500BC and 2000BC. They left no traces of treir civilization. During the late copper period (1950-1800BC), new people arrived bringing writing with them. The Assyrians, coming from Northern Mesopotamia, settled in the vergion between Iconio and Melitini (Malatia). They were not conquerors but traders and chose Kioltepe as their base, a place east of Caesaria. At the beginning of the second millenium the Indo-Europeans came. The Hettites came to Asia Minor from Caucasus.They were the first to establish a government, having all the thriving cities under their rule. Labarna I(1680-1600) is considered to be the first leader to establish Hettite ruling Kioltepe- Kanes, which used to be the Assyrian base east of Caesaria , is identified with Nissa, the first capital of the Hettite kingdom. During Labarna's II reign (1600-1620) their capital was moved to Hettusa (today Bojazkioi). Another important city of Hettites in Kappadokia was Adzem-hojouk, west of Akserai which had been an important city since the Assyrian times.



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