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Archaeology in Eastern Turkey
  • Tim Lynette Wilkins

Archaeology in Eastern Turkey

A 14-day adventure by Tim Lynette Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 7, 2024
    Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    View from our room
    Spice marketInto the restaurant

    Arrival in Istanbul

    September 7, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Long day - taxi at 3 a.m., but trip itself was uneventful. We arrived at the brand new Istanbul Airport which is wonderful, quiet peaceful and efficient, we were out with our bags in no time at all. After checking in to the hotel we walked to the spice market which is just down the street in the centre of the city, and afterwards went for an early dinner at a restaurant we know next to the aghia Sofia mosque ( it used to a cathedral, then a museum and then a mosque) . The setting for the restaurant is wonderful - down inside a medieval water cistern and every time before we have loved it. Since then its been done up and seems now to cater to Japanese and Chinese tour groups. The food is still great but the prices are stunningly and eye-wateringly expensive. Ah well , , , times change! At least on our walk back we bought our first batch of baklava. Still good!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler

    Istanbul

    September 8, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We were woken during the night by a massive thunderstorm with lighting so bright you could see it despite the heavy curtains and closed eyelids, and with a tremendous downpour of rain, and great claps of thunder that seemed to shake the whole city. So no surprise that we got wet in our travels around the city this morning.

    We started with a visit to the old city walls, built up from roman times to byzantine and ottoman times, followed by a wonderful church dating to the 13th century and completely covered by magnificent mosaics and frescoes. We've been there a couple of times before but that doesn't matter, it's still breathtaking.

    One of the most popular sites in the city is the huge cistern, where roman and byzantine aquaducts bring fresh water into the city and its stored in underground reservoirs. After lunch we spent a couple of hours in the archaeological museum, stopping, now in hot sunshine, to buy a bag of hot roasted chestnuts on our way back to the hotel.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler

    Adiyaman and Mount Nimrud

    September 9, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Another early start to get an internal turkish flight from Istanbul to Adiyaman, way down in the south east part of the country, then a long winding journey by bus over the mountains to Mount Nimrud, to see the colossal heads we put in the photo of this blog trip. We stopped on the way to see a really nice small roman bridge over the river, and climbed up the mountain (2,200 metres high). It was a tough, rough climb, the guide book say takes 20 to 30 mins, we did it in about an hour!

    The top of the mountain is a huge tumulus of King Antiochus, who surrounded it with huge statues of gods and himself, although over the years the statues have fallen and now only the heads stick up.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler

    Earthquake and wildlife

    September 10, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    This whole area was one of the worst affect by the big earthquake of last year, along with northern Syria. Over 100,000 people were killed and millions left homeless. A lot of work has been done to start to recover but many people are still living in temporary portcabin-like homes. In the cities there are many city blocks where the ruins have been razed down but which are still heaps of rubble, and some high-rise buildings still have the top floors open and ruined. However there is lots of new construction going on. But the most noticeable fact is that many high rise buildings DID survive - those that complied with the regulations for earthquake proofing.

    As we drive through the countryside and hills we see bits of local wildlife. Yesterday we stopped by the side of the road to watch a family of gazelle - a adult male and female and a couple of kids. Today we saw some desert foxes. Very handsome!    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    T-shaped columns
    Desert fox carvingScorpionPredator and a wild boarAtaturk damEuphrates riverChillies drying in the sun

    Sanliurfa

    September 10, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    Two incredible neolithic sites today,

    We started off by going to Gobekli tepe, and on the way seeing the massive Ataturk dam on the river Euphrates . The archaeological site was excavated from 1995 until today and remains one of the earliest human constructions, dating from 9500 BC to around 8000 BC. It consists of a number of circular structures cut into the bedrock and containing rings of stone columns inscribed with animals, birds and human figures. The columns were T-shaped. This area is in the heart of the fertile crescent so central to development of early civilisation. The main site seems to have been used as a meeting or religious site, and some residential sites have been found around it, but it's not known if they represent a domestic settlement or just for guardians of the site. We should see many of the artifacts on our museum visit tomorrow. While we were there , there was a team from the Discovery Channel filming for a programme to be broadcast next year - we'll have to look out for it! Work continues!

    The second site at Karahan tepe was only discovered recently with excavations starting 5 years ago. It's a bit later than Gobekli tepe, from 8500 BC. It is more clearly a settlement site with domestic tools and artifacts - all stone, both these sites predate ceramics and metals. There are also many columns in the circular areas, some T-shaped, but also many phallus-shaped. We were able to meet and discuss with the site director some of his interpretations about the site which was really interesting. Looking down from the top of the tel, it was easy to see other rings and marks in the surrounding land so I think they will be working there for many years to come. We weren't allowed to take pictures of some of the site because it hasn't been published yet.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    First human statue 9500 BC
    Vulture karahantepe 8000 BCWild boar gobekli tepe 8500 BCReproduction T-columns showing how big they were!Copper age bowlCopper age idolBronze age toy carIron age head of SargonRoman necropolisMosaic of achilles and thesis 1st c AD

    Sanliurfa museum

    September 11, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    This morning we were supposed to take a trip to a town called Harran, but we opted out. The sites in the town were damaged in the earthquake and are either rebuild anew, or levelled and built over. Half of our group went anyway, but we had a pleasant morning in our room reading and doing crosswords, which seemed a nice relaxation after all our recent site visits. When they came back we all went out for lunch at local restaurant with some really good turkish food, followed by the city museum.

    This museum is only 9 years old, and is excellent, but absolutely HUGE. Amongst other things it contains the finds from the excavations at Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe so there was lots to see and really we could have stayed all day, but we needed to also visit the mosaic museum.

    The mosaic museum is based around the mosaics found from a roman Palace dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries A D, . The mosaics are still shown in place where they found. They are exquisite, and made from very small and fine tessera, and show animals, birds and scenes from mythology.

    Finally we went to see the cave where Abraham was supposed to have been born and the pool where he was thrown into the fire and saved by God by creating the pool of water.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Euphrates
    FortFortPistachiosZeugma villaZeugmaMosaicDanae

    Gaziantep

    September 12, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    From Sanliurfa we took our bus to the banks of the Euphrates and a hours river trip before having lunch. On the river trip we could see the remains of a seljuk and roman fort dating to the first century AD. When the dam was built many villages and towns were flooded, in particular the town of Zeugma, from which spectacular mosaics were saved and which are now in the museum in Gaziantep and we will see tomorrow. Some however were in an roman villa above the water level and are still in situ.

    Along the drive we passed through great fields of tobacco and cotton, and vast plantations of pistachio trees. This area is renowned for its pistachios and when we go for a walk through the grand bazaar tomorrow we plan to buy some, along with some baklava, another speciality of the city.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Gypsy girl mosaic
    Poseidon and ThetisEuphrates God of the riverAchillesPoseidonEros and PsycheBronze statue of MarsDaedelus and IcarusThe rape of Europa

    Gaziantep mozaic museum

    September 13, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    We spent the morning in the mosaic museum in Gazientep and after lunch had a walk through the old town and bazaar, before going to the airport for our flight to Ankara.

    The mosaics in the museum are mostly the ones rescued fron zeugma and are just magnificent.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Gazientep castle
    Castle wallsMosaic , dog chasing a hareGazientep bazaar

    Gazientep

    September 13, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    38 degrees C today. Should be cooler in Ankara.

    For some reason at the moment we are unable to up load pictures. The hotel in Ankara is really crappy so I think it's Internet access is very weak, we are moving on again tomorrow so we will try again when we get there.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Obsidian toolsPlaster painting 6000 BCObsidian rock mirrorBronze jug 2500 BCGold jugs 2500 BCLion head 18th century BCGold and lapiz rings 17th century BCWall carving of Gilgamesh 800 BCWar chariot 800 BC

    Ankara museum

    September 14, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We spent the morning in the Ankara museum. Its quite a small museum in a beautiful 15th c ottoman Palace and, like all the museums we've been to here, is well thought out and presented. It contains a lot of the artifacts from the places we visited before, along with a wealth of Hittite material from sites we will visit tomorrow.

    After that, a drive to the site of Gordion, a phrygian city at its heights in about 800 BC. The city is named for king Gordius, and surrounded by huge tumuli, one of which the King's. His son was king Midas, of the turning everything to gold fame. In addition, its the city where Alexander the great cut the famous knot defending the city using his sword.

    The Gordius tumulus is open to the public we went in saw the huge wooden burial chamber in side, made of whole cypress trees,,! The local museum, also small but beautifully presented , contains all of the grave goods, but his body which was found in place during the excavation in now missing. Also, there is a pebble mosaic, from the 9th c BC, said to be the oldest ever found.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Hattusa entrance gates
    Drainage channelStorage jarsWork continuesLion gateTunnel under the wallsSphinx gateKings gateRoyal PalaceBull-headed vase (big!)

    Hattusa

    September 15, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Hattusa is one of the highlights of the trip for us. We know of it as the capital of the Hittite empire from around 1700 BC to 1200BC when it was destroyed and the Hittites "disappeared ". But we have now learned that it was much more than that and the Hittites didn't disappear but moved south towards Syria and were no longer significant.
    Hattusa was the capital for a tribe called the Hattians who were indigenous in Anatolia before the Hittites moved in ( probably from central Asia) and took over. They were fierce warriors ( eg. Fighting Ramses to a draw at Kadesh) and built their capital with strong defensive walls. But they adopted the gods and practices of those that conquered or allied with and ended up with a pantheon of hundreds of gods.
    The site was both wonderful and disappointing. Wonderful in the size, location and scale of the place but disappointing in that most of the sculptures and carvings have been removed to museums.
    We toured the site in the minibus as its so vast stopping at temples (of which the are 32), gates (we visited 3) and the Royal acropolis. The site has a small museum but the best bits are in Ankara that we saw yesterday.
    We spent the night in a simple rural hotel with a view over the site.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Sanctuary entrance
    Drawing of major relief elementsKingSun godGods of the underworldKing and GodLion-headed god protector of the inner sanctuary

    Yazilikaya

    September 16, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Just a few minutes drive from Hattusa in the site of Yazilikaya, a religious sanctuary with wall reliefs of the Hittite kings and gods, from the 13th century BC. Hittites burned their dead so there are no tombs or graves, just offering tables and images cut into the walls.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Fairy chimneys
    Underground passagewayWineryDoor locking stoneFairy chimneys

    Ozkonak underground city

    September 16, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Pretty much everywhere in Cappadocia, because of the deep layers of volcanic ash now turned to stone, all the houses and villages have dug huge complicated rooms, corridors and houses underground. The one we went to is quite small but still interesting. (Last time we were here we went to one much bigger and more complicated). They served as somewhere to hide if they were attacked, as well as storage space for food.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    Our room at the top of the stairs
    View from our patioOur sitting roomOur hammamThe bathroomThe bedroomThe poolView from the poolOther cave dwellings in the townAnd more

    Urgup

    September 17, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Our mini bus has fantastic wi-fi!. It hasn't been working till now but they fixed yesterday so now we have good Internet access while we are travelling, and I was able to upload up the blog pictures for the last few days as we were going along.

    The rest of the group are going on a bus tour around cappadocia today but having done that before we have opted out. The hotel here is really good, very smart and it has a pool, so we will have a rest day. Maybe just a little walk around the town of Urgup.

    It is a boutique cave hotel created out of caves that people and their animals used to live in. Each room has been individually converted to beautiful suites and they are all different. Ours has a sitting room with 2 divan sofas, a hamam with marble slab for your massage, a bathroom with jacuzzi bath and a big bedroom. Quite palatial! The pool is lovely and we spent the morning lying in the sun and swimming.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler

    Goreme

    September 18, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    All around the towns of Goreme and Urchisar there are valleys and rock formations created by erosion of the soft layers of rock. Because the rock is so soft many formations have been carved out to form homes. Not many are still lived in todayRead more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    St Basil church - saints George and Theodore
    Elmali (apple) churchSaints Constantine & Helena in Yilani churchLast supper scene in the Dark churchApse in the Tokali church with brilliant blue background

    Frescoes in Goreme open air museum

    September 18, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    We came to Cappadocia several years ago. It was April and it snowed heavily. When we visited the open air museum it was just raining but very cold so seeing it again today in blazing sunshine was a treat.
    The open air museum is a natural valley eroded by the weather which was used by the first monks in the 4c ad. They carved monasteries and churches in the soft rock and lived there. In the 8-9 centuries they painted the walls with geometric patterns then from 10c painted figures on the walls. Finally in the 11c they plastered the walls and covered them with frescoes illustrating bible scenes.
    We visited 6 churches covering the different styles. You are not allowed to take any photos inside so these are examples downloaded from the Internet.

    St Basil - painted panels including saints George and Theodore who look very similar

    Elmali (apple)church - has patches of the 10c geometric painting and many frescoes from 11c

    Yilani (snake) church - painted panels

    Karanlic (dark) church - walls covered in frescoes on a navy background, fabulous scenes very well preserved

    Carikli (sandal) church - similar to dark church but less well preserved

    Tokal(buckle) church - the largest and most richly decorated with more detailed frescoes. They are currently being cleaned and restored and it was interesting to watch.

    A very rewarding morning despite the huge crowds from all nationalities.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in Eastern TurkeyTraveler
    12c caravansaray
    Carved entrance gateInterior courtyardCatalhuyuk town from 6200bcTypical houseBurial pits under the living room

    Catalhuyuk

    September 19, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We woke up this morning to grey skies and light rain. The rain had stopped by the time we said goodbye to our lovely hotel but it was still dull.
    We had a 4 hr drive to Konya stopping on the way at a large well preserved caravanseray dating from the Seljuk period about 1200 ad.
    The final archaeological site of Catalhuyuk was supposed to be a highlight of the tour. It is the earliest known town settlement dating from 8000bc until 6200bc. It is thought to have between 5000 and 8000 inhabitants at its height who lived in mud brick houses with no streets between them. They accessed their homes through holes in the roof and ladders.
    It was a great disappointment. Apparently the earliest, largest and most significant of the 2 mounds excavated has been closed to visitors for 2 years as its protective roof is considered unsafe. Meanwhile they have built a fancy big visitor centre and are constructing expensive raised walk ways. The mound we were able to visit was small as they have only uncovered 10% of it and was very unclear in the remains. Most of the wall paintings have been removed to Ankara museum (where we saw them) leaving only sandbags to protect the mud brick walls. It was such a sad end to a fascinating archaeological trip.    Read more

    Trip end
    September 20, 2024
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