Antiquity
Gaziantep is one of the most developed provinces of the region and is also one of the oldest, its history reaching as far back as the Hittites. Being the center of pistachio cultivation in Turkey and with its extensive olive groves and vineyards, Gaziantep is one of the important agricultural and industrial centres of Turkey.
Gaziantep is the probable site of the Hellenisticcity of AntiochiaadTaurum ("Antiochia in the Taurus Mountains"). The ruins of the Doliche(Turkish: Dülük) lie a few kilometers to the north of the city center and they are located in the natural setting of a forest arranged into a recreational area also including picnic and camping facilities.
In the center of the city stands the Gaziantep Fortress and the Ravanda citadel as reminders of past - the citadel was restored by the Byzantinesin the 6th century. The Archaeological Museum, with its important collections from Neolithic and the Hittite ages as well as the Roman and Commagenetimes, attracts many visitors. A recent addition to the Museum's riches are the Roman mosaics discovered in Zeugma. The surroundings of the city are also full of valuable Hittite remains. The HasanSüzer House, which has been restored to its original state, now houses the Ethnographical Museum. Yesemek Sculpture Workshop, 30 kilometers south of the town of Islahiye, is one of the world's first of this kind. Some of the other historical remains are the Zeugma (called alsoBelkıs in Turkish), and Kargamış ruins by the town of Nizip and slightly more to the north, Rumkale.
Gaziantep was ruled by Akkadians, Mitannis,Hittites, Neo-Hittites, Assyrians, Urartians,Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Parthians,Commagene, Romans, Byzantines, Sassanids, and Arabs.
Middle Ages
In the first half of the 7th century, Arab armies of the Muslim Caliphate captured this region. It was passed to the Umayyads in 661 and the Abbasids in 750. During the period of Arab
