Eskiçağda Anadolu Su Kaynakları Orta ve Doğu Anadolu

Her insan topluluğu dünya üzerinde bir yer işgal eder. Başka bir ifade ile insan topluluklarının tümü coğrafî bir mekâna sahiptir. Coğrafî mekân, üzerinde yaşayan toplulukların maddi hayatlarına değişik biçimlerde etki etmektedir. Örneğin, deniz kenarında oturan insanlarla yaylalarda oturanların, nehir kenarında oturanlarla bozkırlarda oturan toplumların yaşantılarıbirbirinden farklıdır. Bu durumda tarihiolaylar toplumların üzerinde yaşadıklarıcoğrafî mekânların toplumlara etkileri çerçevesinde değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Tarih boyunca insanlar bir coğrafyayıyerleşim yeri olarak seçerken dikkat ettikleri en önemli unsurlardan biri su kaynaklarına yakınlıktır. Hatta Anadolu’da kurulan krallıkların birçoğu yerleşim yeri olarak su kaynaklarının bulunduğu coğrafyalarıkendilerine mekân olarak seçmişlerdir. Örneğin, M.Ö. II. binin ortalarından itibaren Anadolu’ya hâkim olan Hitit Devleti Kızılırmak’ın bulunduğu bölgeye yerleşirken, M.Ö. I. binin ilk çeyreğinde güçlü bir krallık haline gelen Phrygler Sakarya havzasına, M.Ö. 9-6. yüzyıllar arasında ortaya çıkan Urartu Krallığıise Van ve Urmiye gölleri arasındaki bölgeye yerleşmişlerdir. Adıgeçen krallıklardan Hititler ve Phrygler Orta Anadolu, Urartular ise Doğu Anadolu’daki su kaynaklarının bulunduğu alanlarıkendilerine uygun görmüşlerdir. Su kaynaklarıAnadolu’da kurulan krallıkların yayılım alanlarınıetkilediği gibi, krallıklar arasında gerçekleşen siyasi olaylarda da etkili olmuştur. Bilindiği gibi Eskiçağtarihinde siyasi sınır kavramıgeçerli değildir. Bunun yerine coğrafya sınır olarak belirlenmiştir. Nitekim Med ve Lydia Krallıklarıarasında, M.Ö. 585 tarihinde gerçekleşen savaşsonunda Kızılırmak her iki devleti birbirinden ayıran bir sınır olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Ayrıca, Doğu Anadolu’nun önemli su kaynaklarından olan Aras ve Dicle Nehirleri hala sınır görevi görmektedirler. Tüm bunların yanında Eskiçağliteratürüne göre, bir bölgeye yerleşen insan topluluklarının, kendi isimlerini bulunduklarıcoğrafyaya vermeleri bilinen bir yöntemdir. Anadolu’daki su kaynaklarının hemen hepsi Eskiçağda, günümüzde kullanıldıklarıisimlerden farklıisimlerle anılmışlardır. Bunlardan Kızılırmak’a Hititler tarafından Marasantiya, Grekler tarafından ise Halys isimleri verilmiştir. Sakarya Nehri’ne Hititler tarafından Sahiriya/Siyanda ve Grekler tarafından Sangarios ismi verilirken, Aras Nehri’ni Grekler Araxes/Arax ismiyle anmışlardır. Ayrıca Dicle Nehri Sümerler tarafından Idigna, Akadlar tarafından Idiglat ve Grekler tarafından Tigris isimleri ile anılırken; Fırat Nehri Sümerler tafarından Buranun, Akadlar tarafından Purattu ve Grekler tarafından Euphrates isimleri ile anılmıştır. Bu çalışmada su kaynaklarının isimlerinden Eskiçağdaki önemlerine, krallıklar arasında geçen siyasi olaylardaki rollerinden antik kaynaklarda rastlanan kayıtlarına kadar birçok konudaki özelliklerine değinilecektir.

Human communities have remained under the influence of geographical factors until recently. Besides this, a human community is not such a being which accept the geographical factors as they are and remain indifferent to such conditions as plant and animal communities do, but is a living creature which attempts to change, to challenge against them. There is a geographical location on which every civilization that has experienced historical events is established. The most important role in spread and expansion, or dissipation and destruction of a civilization is assumed by the natural conditions of the time. A political formation established on a geographical territory that is extremely rich of favorable climate conditions, fertile soils and water resources will undoubtedly develop. History has three never changing main elements. Place location time and human. Historical events cannot be clearly explained without any one of them. In order to have a better understanding of the history, not only the geography on which human communities live, but also how the geographical factors influence the lives of people living on a location should be known. Hence, what the history requires is not an absolute knowledge of geography. On the contrary, what the history requires is the influence of the soil, waters and seas of that location on the people living on it. Human is a living creature using and dominating the natural resources, recognizing their boundaries, and adapting to several things which he cannot overcome. Geographical factors have positively or negatively influenced human communities and political, economical, religious and cultural lives of such communities, and are continuing to influence albeit not as intense as formerly. Each human community occupies a place on the world. In other words, all the human communities have geographical location. Geographical location influences the material lives of the human communities living on it in different ways. For instance, lives of the people settled on seaside and of people settled on flatlands, lives of people settled along rivers and of people settled on moorlands are different from each other. In this case, historical events should be tried to be explained within the framework of the influences of geographical locations on which communities live on the communities. Throughout the history, one of the most important elements in choice of a geography as a settlement area by people has been closeness to water resources. Moreover, many kingdoms established in Anatolia have chosen the geographies where water resources are located as settlement area. For instance, while the Hittite State, which has dominated Anatolia since the mid-IInd millennium B.C., settled on the region comprising Kızılırmak, the Phrygians, which became a strong kingdom in the first quarter of Ist millennium BC, settled on the Sakarya basin, and the Urartian Kindom, which emerged between the 9th-6th centuries BC, settled on the region between Van and Urmiye lakes. Among the said kingdoms, the Hittites and Phrygians found the water resources areas in Middle Anatolia, and the Urartians found the water resources areas in East Anatolia suitable for themselves. This was the case for the villages just as was for kingdoms and cities. First villages were concentrated on a junction point, along shores of a river, on cross points of rivers, or nearby a resource. Water resources have both influenced the spread areas of the kingdoms established in Anatolia and been influential on the political events that have taken place between the kingdoms. As it is known, the concept of political boundary is not applicable in the Ancient Age history. Instead, the geography has been identified as boundary. Thus, at the end of the war that took place in the Ancient Age between Med and Lydian Kingdoms in 585 B.C., Kızılırmak emerges as the boundary separating the two states from each other. Furthermore, Aras and Dicle Rivers, which are among the most important water resources of Anatolia, still serve as a boundary. Besides all these, according to the Ancient Age literature, the fact that human communities which settle on a region give their names to the geography they settle on is a known method. Almost all of the water resources located in Anatolia have been called with such names that are different from those used in the Ancient Age. Among these which are covered by this study, Kızılırmak has been called with the names Marasantiya and Halys, Sakarya has been called with the name Sangarios, Aras has been called with the name Araxes, Fırat and Dicle rivers have been called with their Sumerian and Akkadian names as well as such names as Euphrates and Tigris. Anatolia, which has had the most important natural resources and located at the junction point of the world since the most ancient ages, has always been attention-attractive with its many regions and different geographical characteristics isolated from each other with mountain ranges. In virtually every age of the history, it has been split into neighborhoods having various cultural characteristics. These have over time turned into regions bearing different geographical names, where different ethnical groups live. It is very usual that people living in Anatolia have given several names to the localities they lived on. Some of these names have disappeared, whereas some have not changed although others have settled on that region. Besides this, the geography of Anatolia show great variation in terms of elevation, climate, water resources and strategy. Middle and East Anatolia Regions, which are subject of this study, which have extremely rich history and natural resources