City
Comana Pontica
Gümenek near Tokat (Turkey)
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Comana Pontica lay at Gümenek, near Tokat in Turkey, on the upper Iris river, and was above all a temple state. Its goddess Ma was served by more than six thousand temple servants, and her high priest ranked second only to the king of Pontus. The town was also a busy market, especially for Armenian traders, and under the emperors it took the name Hierocaesarea. The historian Cassius Dio noted that it and its namesake in Cappadocia both showed visitors the very sword of Iphigenia. Excavations since 2004 have uncovered remains from the late Copper Age to Ottoman times.