Abstract:

Tarsus is an ancient city with a rich religious history and a historical history of about seven thousand years. Archaeological discoveries show that the settlement in Tarsus continued from the Neolithic era to the present day. Tarsus, in the historic process, remained under the rule of the Hittites, Roma, Arabs, Byzantine and Ottoman Turks. The city remained under the influence of Greek culture during the great Alexandria period and almost completely reflected the Helenic culture. During these periods, Tarsus had a degree of accumulation of knowledge that would compete with the schools of philosophy and scientific thinking and Athens and Alexandria. The city, which was so rich in cultural and intellectual spheres, also showed diversity in its religious beliefs. These beliefs consisted of pre-Christian local Tarsus religions and the gods named by their different names. On the other hand, Tarsus gained importance in terms of the place where Paul was born and received his first education. At the same time, it was seen that many Christian saints died here in the subsequent periods due to this importance of Tarsus. However, Tarsus also has the characteristic of being a city recognized by the belief of "Ashab-i Kehf" in the Islamic culture.

Keywords: