The mountains of the regions of Cappadocia, Pontus, Paphlagonia and Cilicia

Mountain ranges starting in the west from the Aegean coast and reaching eastwards to the Indian border modify the topography of the Anatolian peninsula. In the south rise the tremendous mountains known as Taurus, while North Anatolian Mountains surrounds the peninsula in the north,. These mountains providing passes at only a few points lie parallel to the Black Sea in the east-west direction. These mountains that keep rain clouds rising from the Black Sea thanks to its temperate climate are covered with thick forests. The Tauros Mountains command the landscape at the south. Behind these mountains is located the southeastern Taurus range which extends to northeast and joins East Anatolian High Plateau. These mountain ranges create a set between the Cilician and Mesopotamian river plateaus. The inner part of the Anatolian peninsula is a deep basin. The most important part of the southern Tauros range constitutes the Amanos Mountains. Numerous cultural groups which flourished one after the other were influenced by the former cultures and were also affected latter ones.Mountains play an important role for the political and economic history of Anatolia. Through the testimony of the literary sources, numismatic and epigraphic evidence is understood that steep mountains determining the topography have a decisive influence on the flowering of the cultures. Indeed, tribes who lived at the Black Sea and Mediterranean mountains has been called as wild by many ancient writers. Owing to that fact many expedition were held to get them under control. However, these tribes were often able to eliminate their enemies due to the conditions of their land. Those who managed to take over this mountainous region became the owner of sometimes rich mineral deposits, sometimes a rich cedar forests to create a navy. Because of these favorable conditions the holders of these regions, as well as maritime trade along the coasts of the Anatolian peninsula, were also able to keep ongoing land trade under control. Although this mountainous terrain has a hilly topography, through the fertile plains has been granted the necessary supplies to their residents to maintain their lifeMountains also played an important role for religious beliefs of the inhabitants of the surroundings. In fact, the mountains having been respected because of their greatness had a many sacred meanings and were often deified. Therefore, the mountains are heavily used as a plastic type on coins, in other words they had been also used in works of art.In this thesis mountains playing so important a role in the history of the Anatolia were investigated in the frame of Cappadocian, Pontic, Paphlagonian and Cilician regions in the light of literary sources; numismatic, epigraphic and archaeological evidence.