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Cilicia

Historical Location
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Region in southeastern Anatolia, birthplace of St. Paul and a Roman province

Detailed Definition
Cilicia was a rugged frontier zone, home to pirates before Pompey’s campaign. Tarsus, its capital, was a Hellenistic center. Paul’s Cilician origin links the region to apostolic mission. Poets use Cilicia to explore themes of conversion, cultural duality (Jew and Greek), and the transformation of wild frontiers into corridors of faith.
Example
Example in poetry:
Paul’s journeys inspire a Christian lyric where Cilicia’s Tarsus births apostolic vision; A Roman poet praises Cilicia’s rugged passes as bandit-haunted yet vital; In a modern Turkish poem, Cilicia (Çukurova) embodies agricultural and ethnic mosaic; A post-Armenian Genocide verse uses Cilicia to reclaim lost homeland; A minimalist lyric reduces Cilicia to citrus grove and mountain echo.
Additional Notes
Cilicia, St. Paul’s birthplace (Tarsus), was a rugged region famed for pirates before Pompey’s campaign; its mix of Greek, Armenian, and Semitic cultures makes it a rich setting for exploring identity in Hellenistic and early Christian texts.
Also Known As
Taurus mountains Tarsus birthplace pirate coast
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