Sarıkamış, Turkey

History

For most of the 19th century, Sarikamish was an insignificant settlement that was divided into two parts: upper Sarikamish and lower Sarikamish.

Obsidian from Sarikamish was found at several Neolithic sites in South Caucasus, such as at Aratashen, and at Khramis Didi-gora dating from the 6th millennium BC. Obsidian from Meydan Dağ (to the south of Sarikamish) was also found in South Caucasus.

During the later history, nearby archaeological sites date from Urartian times: there is a Urartian fortress on a hill beside upper Sarikamish, another, 12 km (7.5 mi) away, beside Chatak village, and a third, 15 km (9.3 mi) away, at a site known as Yedikilise. In 1878, archaeologist Alexander Yeritsian discovered near Sarıkamış a cuneiform inscription made during the reign of Urartian king Argishti I. To the east and south of the town, in the forests of Soğanlı, there were many medieval Armenian monasteries, but most were in ruins by 1878.

Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan invaded the Sarikamish area including Allahüekber and Soğanlı mountains in 1064, only a few years prior to the battle of Manzikert between the armies of Alp Arslan and Byzantines. The area was then taken by Selim I in 1514 and became a liva of Kars sancak of the Ottoman Empire.

From the History section of Sarıkamış on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.