Paleolithic artifacts found in the Tekkeköy Caves can be seen in Samsun Archaeology Museum.
The earliest layer excavated of the höyük of Dündartepe revealed a Chalcolithic settlement. Early Bronze Age and Hittite settlements were also found there and at Tekkeköy.
Samsun (then known as Amisos, alternative spelling Amisus) was settled between the years of 760 - 750 BC by people from Miletus, who established a flourishing trade relationship with the ancient peoples of Anatolia. The city's ideal combination of fertile ground and shallow waters attracted numerous traders.
In the 3rd century BC the city came under the expanded rule of the Kingdom of Pontus. The Kingdom of Pontus had been part of the empire of Alexander the Great. However, the empire was fractured soon after Alexander's death in the 4th century BC. At its height, the kingdom controlled the north of central Anatolia and mercantile towns on the northern Black Sea shores.
The Romans took over in 47 BC and Amisos became part of the eastern Roman Empire.
For the period after the fall of Rome the Eastern Roman Empire is now called the Byzantine Empire. The city was part of the theme of Armeniakon.
In 1200 Samsun was captured by the Seljuks and divided two part Muslim Samsun and Gavur (Christian) Samsun after that Muslim Samsun to be later taken over by the İlhanlılar.
Samsun was incorporated into the network of Genoese trading posts and was taken by the Ottomans in the beginning of the 15th century and called "Canik". Before leaving, the Genoese razed the town.
In the later Ottoman period the land around the town mainly produced tobacco. The town was connected to the railway system in the second half of the 19th century, and tobacco trade boomed.
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Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Turkish liberation movement in Samsun on May 19, 1919, the date which traditionally marks the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence
