Old Assyrian Empire to place the settlement along the southern bend of the Kızılırmak River. Alişar Hüyük, which has also been suggested as a location, is an archeological site near the present-day village of Alişar. Alişar Hüyük was occupied from the Copper Age (c. 5000 BC — c. 3300 BC) then well into the Bronze Age (c. 3300 BC – c. 1200 BC.) A number of Hittite-era cuneiform tablets written in the Old Assyrian cuneiform script of the Cappadocia-type have been found here. Mention in those tablets of “Ankuwa” has caused speculation that the archaeological site is the Ankuwa mentioned in other Hittite
Christianity in Asia was first preached by the apostles Simon and Andrew in the first century. It became the state religion of Kartli, Iberia (the area of Georgia's capital) in 326. The conversion of Georgia to Christianity is credited to the efforts of Saint Nino of Cappadocia (290–338). Christianity further spread eastward under the Parthian Empire, which displayed a high tolerance of religious matters. According to tradition, Christian proselytism in Central Asia, starting with Mesopotamia and the Iranian plateau, was put under the responsibility of Saint Thomas the Apostle, and started in the first century AD. Saint Thomas is also credited with the