Eordaea
(also spelled
Eordaia
or
Eordia
,
Greek
:
?ορδα?α
) was a
geographical region
of
upper Macedonia
and later an
administrative region
of the
kingdom of Macedon
. Eordaea was located south of
Lynkestis
, west of
Emathia
, north of
Elimiotis
and east of
Orestis
.
[1]
Eordaea stretched in the basin of
Eordaia
, the current homonymous municipality in
Greece
, which is named after the ancient region, and also in the southern part of the municipality of
Amyntaio
and the western part of the municipality of
Edessa
.
The capital of Eordaea was the city of
Eordaea
(
el
) (
Greek
:
Εορδα?α, κε?μενη τη? λ?μνη?
), which was mentioned by many historians and geographers of antiquity.
Name
[
edit
]
The name Eordaea is of
proto-Greek
origin and related to the
Mycenaean
word "
?ορδ?α
" meaning "rich land".
[2]
The name refers to the fact that Eordaea was a region rich in roses, as noted by
Herodotus
(8.138).
[2]
History
[
edit
]
The history of Eordaea stretches long before 2000 BCE when the first
Greeks
, known as the
Mycenean Greeks
, began to inhabit this area. Remnants of exploited copper mines from 2700 up until 1200 BCE strongly indicate that the Greeks inhabited Eordaea for many years. Iron mines have also been exploited in the Eordean region.
[1]
Recent discoveries
[
edit
]
Within a 50-year period, paleontologists and archaeologists have made many discoveries due to the industrial development of the Eordean countryside. In particular, the skeletal
fossils
of a prehistoric mammoth, a prehistoric
elephant
, and
Stone Age
tools have all been found within the province of Eordaea. These finds add to knowledge on the variety of animal species and human artifacts from the region of
Western Macedonia
.
[
citation needed
]
In addition, two
ancient Macedonian
tombs have been excavated within Eordaia.
[3]
The first was located in a rural area of the village of
Spilia
, while the second was located in the village of
Pyrgoi
.
[3]
Towns
[
edit
]
Many ancient towns of Eordaea are mentioned and many archaeological sites have been examined on the past decades, certainly around the
Vegoritida
lake, but it is difficult to distinguish their names.
The most significant towns, according to
Ancient Greek
,
Roman
and
Byzantine Greek
writers, were:
Notable people
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Dimitrios C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of the Roman province of Macedonia (The Departmement of Western Macedonia today) (in Greek), Thessaloniki 1989
- ^
a
b
Πρ?μπονα?, Ιω?ννη? Κ (1972).
"Η Συγγ?νεια Μακεδονικ?? και Μυκηνα?κ?? Διαλ?κτου και η Πρωτοελληνικ? Καταγωγ? των Μακεδ?νων"
.
Μν?μων
.
2
: 5?66.
doi
:
10.12681/mnimon.137
.
ISSN
2241-7524
.
- ^
a
b
Karamitrou, Georgios (2002).
"Explanatory Guide ? Archaeological Museum of Aiani"
.
via Greek Travel Pages
(in Greek).
- ^
Jones, Prudence J. (2006).
Cleopatra: A Sourcebook
. University of Oklahoma Press. p.
14
.
ISBN
9780806137414
.
They were members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Macedonians, who ruled Egypt after the death of its conqueror, Alexander the Great.
- ^
Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1990).
Women in Hellenistic Egypt
. Wayne State University Press. p. 16.
while Ptolemaic Egypt was a monarchy with a Greek ruling class.
- ^
Redford, Donald B., ed. (2000).
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
. Oxford University Press.
Cleopatra VII was born to Ptolemy XII Auletes (80?57 BCE, ruled 55?51 BCE) and Cleopatra, both parents being Macedonian Greeks.
- ^
Bard, Kathryn A., ed. (1999).
Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt
. Routledge. p.
687
.
ISBN
9780415185899
.
During the Ptolemaic period, when Egypt was governed by rulers of Greek descent...
40°30′00″N
21°40′00″E
/
40.5000°N 21.6667°E
/
40.5000; 21.6667