Natolia, Anatole, Anatolios, and Anadulia: A Study of the Religious, Linguistic, and Political Layers in the Naming of Asia Minor

Abstract

This independent research article examines the historical development of the names Natolia, Anatole, Anatolios, Anatolia, Aladuli, Aladule, Anadule, and Anadulia in relation to the geographical naming of Asia Minor. Rather than assuming that all these forms derive from a single linguistic tradition, the study distinguishes between several potentially overlapping historical layers. It investigates the ancient Greek semantic field of anatole and anatello, their Jewish and early Christian usages, including the association of Anatole with messianic imagery, and the later geographical use of related forms. Particular attention is given to the appearance of Anatolia as a feminine personal name and to the historical distribution of Anatole-related terminology. A second line of inquiry traces the forms Ala al-Dawla, Aliduli, Aladuli, Aladule, Anadule, and Anadulia through European historical, geographical, and lexicographical sources from the late fifteenth to the eighteenth century, with particular reference to the Dulkadir polity and Lesser Armenia. The article argues that the conventional explanation of Anatolia solely as “the land of the rising sun” may not sufficiently account for the complexity of the surviving historical evidence. It therefore proposes a layered historical model while explicitly distinguishing documented evidence from linguistic and historical hypotheses.