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Information about the place (4)

The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites

Comana Cappadociae

In the valley of the Sarus (Goksu), in the deep glens of the Antitauros. It is probably Hittite Kummani, religious center with goddess Hepat. By Hellenistic times Comana, with Comana Pontica, was one of the two cult centers of the Goddess Ma, equated by Strabo with Enyo. The city, chief town of the strategia of Cataonia, was ruled by the chief priest, who ranked second after the king of Cappadocia and was generally of the royal f amily. Strabo states that the temple servants numbered 6000 and also implies a lay population (12.2.2); an inscription by the demos honors King Archelaos and a gerousia is also attested. Roman period inscriptions refer to the city as Hieropolis. Then as in the Byzantine period it was evidently prosperous but not important.
The small town center, unwalled as befits a holy place, did not hold the whole population. The fertile valleys for miles around bear traces of ancient occupation. Principal standing monuments are the Ala Kapi, a tetrastyle prostyle temple of the 2d c. A.D., the Kirik Kilise, 4th c. A.D. heroon of the senator Aurelius Claudius Hermodorus, a theater, and a number of churches and chapels. Outside the town are hundreds of tumulus graves. A number of sculptured and inscribed monuments are housed in the Adana Museum.

R. P. Harper, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites, Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.