The city of Istanbul has been known by a number of different names. The most notable names besides the modern Turkish name are Byzantium, Constantinople, and Stamboul. Different names are associated with different phases of its history, with different languages, and with different portions of it.
Up until the year 330 Istanbul was known as Byzantium, and then until 1453 Constantinople. Its current name of Istanbul only came into being on the 28th March 1930. Istanbul was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and later of the Ottoman Empire.
After that, as part of the Turkification movement, Turkey started to urge other countries to use Turkish names for Turkish cities instead of other transliterations to Latin script that had been used in Ottoman times and the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages.
Where was the Byzantine Empire? At its greatest extent, the Byzantine Empire covered much of the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, including what is now Italy, Greece, and Turkey along with portions of North Africa and the Middle East.
In addition to Greek, the Byzantines spoke many other languages. In Late Antiquity, Latin and Greek, the two "world languages", were not only the primary cultural languages, but also the sole official languages, of the Roman Empire.
In Biblical history, Iraq is also known as Shinar, Sumer, Sumeria, Assyria, Elam, Babylonia, Chaldea, and was also part of the Medo-Persian Empire. Formerly also known as “Mesopotamia,” or “land between two rivers,” the modern name of “Iraq” is sometimes translated “country with deep roots.”
The area was part of the Roman Empire at the time Jesus was born. Many cities in this area were represented at Pentecost (Acts 2), which means the Hebrew religion had spread at least this far and Paul's journeys took him through what is now Turkey several times.
However The New York Times stated that year that mail to "Constantinople" may no longer be delivered. In 1929, Turkish government advocated for the use of Istanbul in English instead of Constantinople. The U.S. State Department began using "Istanbul" in May 1930. In English, the name is usually written "Istanbul".
The Ottoman Empire sided with Germany in World War I (1914–18); postwar treaties dissolved the empire, and in 1922 the sultanate was abolished by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who proclaimed the Republic of Turkey the following year. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Decline of the Ottoman Empire".
Some scholars allege that his main objective was to gain unanimous approval and submission to his authority from all classes, and therefore he chose Christianity to conduct his political propaganda, believing that it was the most appropriate religion that could fit with the imperial cult.
Turkestan, also meaning the "land of the Turks", was used for a historic region in Central Asia. Middle English usage of Turkye or Turkeye is found in The Book of the Duchess (written in 1369–1372) to refer to Anatolia or the Ottoman Empire. The modern spelling Turkey dates back to at least 1719.
On the crossroads of ancient commercial and military roads, Constantinople was chosen as the capital of the Roman Empire. The main reasons for this choice were based on the political and military situation that called for a strong center in the eastern part of the Empire.
The empire's inhabitants, now generally termed "Byzantines", regarded themselves as Romans (in Greek, Ῥωμαῖοι or Romaioi). Similarly, their Islamic contemporaries called their empire the "land of the Romans" (Bilād al-Rūm).
The "wealth tax" is still remembered as a "catastrophe" among the non-Muslims of Turkey and it had one of the most detrimental effects on the population of Turkish Jews. Many people unable to pay the exorbitant taxes were sent to labor camps and in consequence about 30,000 Jews emigrated.
The Basilica of St. John (Greek: Βασιλική του Αγίου Ιωάννη του Θεολόγου) was a basilica in Ephesus, Turkey. It was constructed by Justinian I in the 6th century at a site where John the Apostle was said to have been buried.
Although it is forbidden in Turkey to hand out Christian literature, visitors are allowed to take anything that is displayed for them including a Bible or a gospel tract. In 2020, 9,500 copies of the New Testament were distributed in this way. Because the demand is so great, there is a shortage of Bibles in the church.
The most common location for the Garden of Eden is in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). The primary reason is the mention of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which flow through that country. This view has been accepted by Christians from antiquity down to modern times.
Arabs are the majority ethnic group in Iraq, at around 80%. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority. Turkmens are the third largest ethnic group in the country. This is followed by Assyrians and Armenians (500,000), Yazidis (500,000), Marsh Arabs, and Shabaks, Persians (500,000) (250,000).
Greeks or Hellenes (/ˈhɛliːnz/; Greek: Έλληνες, Éllines [ˈelines]) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Anatolia, parts of Italy and Egypt, and to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Aramaic is best known as the language Jesus spoke. It is a Semitic language originating in the middle Euphrates. In 800-600 BC it spread from there to Syria and Mesopotamia.
In later centuries, Byzantines still considered themselves to be Romans, despite the fact that they spoke Greek and practiced Eastern Orthodox Christianity. However, Byzantine society was incredibly diverse and included Christian Greeks, Slavs, Armenians, Georgians, Coptics, and Jewish populations.
