A last minute sign indicating the location change.

David Murphy, event organizer /auctioneer.

Connie in the white New England Patriots shirt and Collin in his button down pink.

    I had met Connie once, years ago, when we were both in Langkawi, Malaysia.  She is a friend of a friend of a friend.  It was actually her voice I recognized first before I remembered her face.  Connie sounds like our New Bedford friends because she’s from eastern Massachusetts.  She hardly looks it, but she’s been cruising for years.  Collin, who had been recruited to lead some “games” came prepared with two dozen eggs for some kind of toss. That lead to a discussion of who would, and how would the ensuing mess be cleaned up.  The games part of the morning never did happen, a good news/bad news kind of thing.  Collins and his dog Buttons hopefully like omelets..

Early arrivals

Muffins, scones, marmalade, and some art cards for sale too. 

Very popular stop.

Local police stopped by; but just for a visit to make sure we were following some official’s rules.

David and his Turkish interpreter.

There was a brief bidding war for these speakers which finally sold for 10 TL.

Do I hear 5 TL ?

Sold for 10 TL !

This TV was offered.

Joanne and Gwen, such colorful spectators.

Several cruisers had given Gwen “stuff to sell.”  I bought a black and white scarf for 1TL

Returning home with the “left-overs.”

The final take for the Rotary was between 200 and 300 TL; all for a good cause.  Some folks sold their “treasurers,” some folks bought some “treasures,” and some folks went home exactly as they had come.

The towers on the hill

Starting up

Marina on the bottom left, Marmaris harbor and town in the middle and Iҫmeler off in the distance.

Looking down on the town fountain and clock tower.

DoraMac in the middle of the first two docks on the right

There she is though now we’re moved up into the space in front of us as a stage was set up on the walkway just next to us here in the photo for a private LOUD musical night.  The marina felt it would be better for us and the event if we weren’t so close to the stage and the crowd. 

Master and student

Duck in a drawer

It kept opening and closing its beak as if trying to say something.

The rest of the ducks were just doing normal duck things.

This morning at 8 am Randal took me on the motorbike to meet Patricia in Iҫmeler where she lives and where we would start hiking.  To start hiking any later would have made most of the hike in the heat of the day.  As it was we finished about 12:45.

Patricia told me the sign prohibited bee keeping along the trail; you see hives lots of places when you hike, but not here so I guess the sign worked.

A hazy view as Patricia and I started hiking.

A tortoise nest and some hatched eggshells.  I’d never see that before but Patricia has several tortoises in her yard so she knows.  They keep making more tortoises so one day she will round up most of them and take them to a safe place in the woods. 

Patricia had asked him if he would mind giving us a ride across the stream and he offered to drive us across all of the streams.

We sat behind the driver. After climbing up it was tricky trying to figure out what to do with my backpack as the seat is pretty narrow.  I would have loved a photo of us on the tractor, but didn’t want to hold him up mucking about for my camera.  I’d buried it deep in my pack for the walk across the stream in case I slipped and landed in the water.

It was ankle deep and wide with no stepping stones, even if I had the balance so a ride across was nice.

This was the third stream?  I can’t remember how many we crossed.

Our pal was waiting for his cousin with a backhoe who was delivering a load of rubble stuff to take to a house/olive farm/goat farm we’d passed just before arriving at the first stream.  I learned all about it because after the tractor man had his load, he drove off and Patricia and the man driving the backhoe had a lengthy conversation about his life and that he would soon be retired at age 50 something and he had 3 grandkids who had named all of the goats on the farm we’d passed.  He also lived in Iҫmeler.

Patricia’s command of Turkish is really very impressive.

We actually met friends of Patricia’s.

Patricia is the blond in pink and it would have been nice if I’d taken a photo of her face rather than her back.  The woman in blue had been in Patricia’s Turkish class several years ago but had moved back to England.  So she was just here visiting.  She and her friend were serious runners.  They had to be to bike from Beldibi up the hill to where the hike started in Armutalan and then hike an additional piece before hiking down to Siteler or Iҫmeler, I can’t remember which.  Strong women!

We did the barefoot thing here for the second time.  When we got to the next stream we just walked through it.  I was tired of doing the shoes on and off thing and it was not as deep or as wide.  Patricia and I finished our hike and caught a dolmus back to Marmaris where we had lunch and a drink and by then it was 2:30 and time for her hair appointment.  If there’s time next week we’ll do another hike.

Running parallel with the Amasya-Tokat road is the water course that inspired the legend of Ferhat and Shirin; the Ferhat Water Channel, nearly six kilometres long.  But concerning the origins of this magnificent engineering, it is, of course, a matter of choice whether we believe the legend, or the archaeologists: who inform us it was built by the Romans.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/1e7b82/

It’s hard to make it out but between the dark stone and light stone there is a channel. 

Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 5(12): 2109-2116, 2009

© 2009, INSInet Publication

Corresponding Author: Yasemin KUSLU, Assistant Professor Dr. Atatürk University Faculty of Agriculture Department of

Agricultural Structures and Irrigation 25240 Erzurum, TURKEY

Phone: +90 442 231 3466 Fax: +90 442 236 0958

E-mail: ykuslu@atauni.edu.tr or ykuslu@hotmail.com

2109

Water Structures in Anatolia from Past to Present

http://www.aensiweb.com/jasr/jasr/2009/2109-2116.pdf can probably answer any question you have about the Ferhat water channel or any in Anatolia

We saw similar channels in Petra, Jordan.

After stopping for photos at the Ferhat Water Channel we moved right along to the Amasya Museum. 

It would be a quickish visit as we had a long drive to Sinop and some stops to make.  We also had to do a wine, corkscrew, and snacks run to the Migros across the road.  Migros looks like Kroger or Shaws so no photos necessary.

Amasya Museum……

A number of archaeological findings were collected in 1925 in two rooms inside the madrasa of Sultan Bayazid II Kulliye, which, together with the mummies from the Ilkhanate, were initially placed in a “museum warehouse”. As the number of items to be displayed grew, it became evident that new locations were needed. Thus, all the items were moved in 1962 to the Gökmedrese Mosque, a building that dates back to the Seljuk Era.

The museum moved to its current modern building on 22 March 1977. Following a detailed work for rearrangement, all items were classified according to a chronology-based listing and the museum officially opened in 1980.

The Archaeological Museum of Amasya consists of three sections: the Hall of Archaeological Artifacts, where items from 13 civilizations are on display; the Hall of Ethnographical Artifacts, where items from regional handicrafts and life culture are on display; and the Hall of Mummies inside the Sultan Mesud I Tomb in the museum yard, where mummies from the Ilkhanate period are displayed.

Amasya Museum consists of Şehzadeler Museum, Milli Mücadele Museum, and Hazeranlar Konağı Museum   http://www.yesilirmakbasinmuseums.org.tr/amasya/mn1.html

http://www.yesilirmakbasinmuseums.org.tr/amasya/mn1.html is a virtual tour of the museum.

Painting in the lobby of the Amasya museum.

I wish I could do this, capture the idea of a place and leave off everything else.  I’m still trying to do that with Marmaris harbor, but so far no luck. 

Embalmed rulers a draw in Amasya

HDN | 8/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | AMASYA – İhlas News Agency

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=mummy-returns—2009-08-12

Mummification, a practice usually associated with the culture of ancient Egypt, was also known and used in the territories that today comprise modern Turkey.

The concept of mummification, a practice usually associated with the culture of ancient Egypt, was also known and used in the territories that today comprise modern Turkey.

A local museum in the 7,500-year-old central Anatolian city of Amasya contains one of the world’s most impressive mummy collections, one that could easily compete with better-known groupings.

Among the first bodies mummified in that area was Amasya Governor Sehzade Cumudar, along with members of his family, including his wife and children. They are believed to have been poisoned or garroted by Mongol invaders, who attacked in the 14th century.

Two other Amasya rulers, İşbuğa Noyina and Pervane, were also mummified after their deaths, however, in these cases a method different from the Egyptian one was used. The mummified bodies still contain internal organs, in contrast to the Egyptian method, in which the entrails are removed.

The 17th century Turkish traveler and writer Evliya Celebi mentioned the Amasya mummies in his journals.

The mummies were kept in the depot of the old Amasya Museum after it was established in 1925. Before they had a chance to be exhibited, however, the mummies were partially damaged by flooding in the city center.

In 1962, the mummies were transferred to another location, the Gokmedrese Mosque, which was turned into a museum. Later, they were moved again, this time for exhibition in the tomb of Sultan Mesut, located in the garden of the contemporary Amasya Museum, right after the institution was established in 1976.

Amasya Museum researcher Muzaffer Doğanbaş considers mummification, also known in Turkish as “tahnit,” as a kind of art.

“Turks have their own special mummification tradition that is different from the Egyptian or Russian methods,” Doğanbaş said. “However, today we do not have mummification experts in Turkey.”

According to the researcher, there are nearly 40 different chemicals and medicines used for mummification in Turkey.

“[The methods] were mentioned in Hacı Paşa’s book ‘Şifa-ül Eksan,’ written in 1380,” Doğanbaş said, “For example, the salt we use for cooking is a material used in mummification, as is the onion.”

Doğanbaş said that tahnit experts were also educated in the medical sciences. “The Ottoman Empire had assigned officers who attended the mummification of sultans and princes,” he said. “Excepting Osman Gazi, Orhan Gazi, Yavuz Sultan Selim and Bayezid II, almost all of the Ottoman sultans were mummified.”

Currently, there are seven museums in Turkey with mummies in their collections, along with known mummy samples in some of the country’s Ottoman and Seljuk tombs.

The mummies of the children are just so sad, and I hesitated to include this but it was mentioned in the Hurriyet article above and the one below mentions that Nat Geo Researchers could still identify diseases in the children caused by their diet.

http://www.trt.net.tr/trtworld/en/newsdetail.aspx?haberkodu=1d7001ac-dcf9-4009-91a6-cfa547f59e51 is another story: “The National Geographic researchers came to Amasya for the mummies in 2002 and conducted some endoscopic examination on the mummies and saw that the internal organs were still in the mummies, Özdemir points out , adding that even the diseases the children in particular suffered from because of the things they had eaten were diagnosed.”

On a “lighter” note, lovely Turkish oil lamps.

Ceramics

And more examples of Turkish copper samovars.

Museum Garden

Sarcophagus Material: Limestone Dimensions: l:2.15cm w:85cm h:60cm Period: Roman Place: Merzifon

“In the museum yard, big stone pieces from the Hittite, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ilkhanate and Ottoman periods are displayed in open air.”

http://www.yesilirmakbasinmuseums.org.tr/amasya/mn2_en.aspx

From that rather gruesome stop we went on to lunch: by the lake at the foot of the mountain with the castle somewhere between Amasya and Sinop.

Though pide was a specialty of the house, I was full of Migros snacks so just had some soup and a bit of the wonderful round bread.

From Mary Lee Settle who visited Turkey in 1989 to write her book Turkish Reflections.

“ I went out early in the morning to see the Seljuk mental hospital, built in 1308, and in use until the mid-nineteenth century.  As early as the fourteenth century the treatment of mental patients was astonishingly modern.  They were not chained or beaten as in Europe.  Instead they were talked to, given exercises, sedated by warm water baths, and made calm by music and dancing and sometimes hypnosis.

  It was 6:30, the sun was new, and the façade of the hospital was a perfection of Seljuk carving: the florets, the twining vines, and a kneeling figure on the keystone of the door.  Was it a slave of the local sultan who had had it built in honor of his ruler?  I thought that nobody was there and then – I had not even heard him – a smiling boy-man was standing beside me, awkward and helpful, treating the hospital as if it were his own home, and attitude I would find over and over with volunteer guides.

  He was a natural.  They are not isolated in Turkey, but are cared for by their families.  Inside the hospital, built in the traditional medrese style, with an iwan – the open lecture hall – on either side and another at the far end, and the patients’ rooms in long colonnades, he took me to room after room, some full of ruble, all empty and forgotten, except, I think by him, who had made it a second home.  His brother, or father – I never knew- saw that we had become friends when he came out of the great door; he sent some tea and those huge round sesame-covered rolls, called simit, over to us, and we sat together on the sill of the Seljuk carved window in front of the hospital in the sun and ate our breakfast together. When I tried to pay for it, they both refused.  But the boy insisted that I take his picture in front of the Seljuk façade.”

After reading that passage, the hospital was # 1 on my list of places to see in Amasya.  We had to wait until Tuesday morning, the day we were leaving Amasya as museums aren’t open on Mondays.  It was much changed since Mary Lee Settle’s visit.  It is now a museum with displays and a lovely gift shop.  We arrived just at opening- at 9 am.  Our guide was a young man and he did smile a lot, but he was part of the official museum staff. 

Medicine and Surgery Museum

Main hall with rooms leading off to the sides.

Dr. Sabuncuoḡlu and his patient “pose” for David and Taṣ.

That instrument came out of a coal fire so hopefully he’d had something to dull the pain.

Pulse taking….

When I started researching for this email it was easy to find lots of information on Sabuncuoḡlu in the National Institute of Health which I thought was pretty impressive and a bit more reliable in Wikepedia.

Plast Reconstr Surg. 1997 May;99(6):1775-9.

Plastic surgical techniques in the fifteenth century by Serafeddin Sabuncuoğlu.

Doğan T, Bayramiçli M, Numanoğlu A.

Source    Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.

Abstract

    Serafeddin Sabuncuoğlu (A.D. 1385-1468) is the author of the first illustrated surgical textbook in the Turkish-Islamic literature, namely, Cerrahiyet-ül Haniyye (Imperial Surgery). A pioneer in all fields of surgery. Sabuncuoğlu developed numerous original techniques. He was a keen observer and inventor and a prolific writer who combined his fortune with knowledge of his era. He described a mass reduction procedure for the management of gynecomastia, probably one of the first attempts at reduction mammaplasty. He gave detailed descriptions of different eyelid pathologies and their surgical managements. The aim of this study is to investigate the contributions of this remarkable pioneer to the field of plastic surgery.

PMID: 9145157 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9145157

Color illustrations and neurosurgical techniques of Serefeddin Sabuncuoğlu in the 15th century.

Elmaci I.

Source   Department of Neurosurgery, Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Serefeddin Sabuncuoğlu (AD 1385-1468?) is the author of Cerrahiyyetü’l-Haniyye (Imperial Surgery), which was written in Turkish in 1465. It was the first illustrated textbook of surgery in the Turkish medical literature, containing color illustrations of surgical procedures, incisions, and instruments. Sabuncuoğlu, a pioneer of surgery, developed numerous original techniques in a variety of surgical specialties. He described surgical management of spinal trauma, epilepsy, migraine, facial palsy, hemiplegia, low back pain, cranial fracture, and hydrocephalus. The aim of this study is to describe his contributions to neurosurgery.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11014435

Orthopaedic techniques of Sabuncuoğlu in the 15th century Ottoman period.

Sarban S, Aksoy S, Uzel I, Işikan UE, Atik S.

Source  Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harran University Faculty of Medicine, Sanliurfa, Turkey. sezginsarban@harran.edu.tr

Abstract

Serefeddin Sabuncuoğlu (1385-1468) was the author of the surgical textbook Cerrahiyyetü’l-Haniyye (Imperial Surgery). It was the first illustrated surgical textbook in the Turkish-Islamic medical literature. Cerrahiyyetü’l-Haniyye is significant because it includes Sabuncuoğlu’s color illustrations of surgical procedures, incisions, fracture dislocation reduction techniques, and instruments. There are only three handwritten copies. Two originally were written by Sabuncuoğlu and are exhibited in Paris and Istanbul. The book was rediscovered in 1936, but some parts are suspected to be missing. The book currently consists of three chapters divided into 193 sections. The third chapter includes orthopaedics and traumatology, reduction techniques of lower and upper extremities, fractures and dislocations, and relevant Greek, Arabic, and Persian textbooks are cited. Sabuncuoğlu also wrote about surgical treatment of congenital hand anomalies. He was the first to advise placing a wooden splint under the palmar side after hand surgery. We reviewed the sections of Cerrahiyyetü’l-Haniyye related to orthopaedics and traumatology. Compared with previous writings by Hippocrates, Ibn-i Sina, and Al-Zahrawi, there are no major differences in the treatment of fracture dislocations.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16205167

Lots of cauterization was done to treat many different illnesses with medicinal plants used as anesthesia: this was taken from the animation shown in one of the rooms .

“ Serafettin Sabuncuoglu discusses operational anesthesia in his text as follows: ”Some patients might be able to resist incisions and cauterization, while others might not. Therefore, narcotic medicine called murkid is necessary to prepare when needed, so that the operation might be possible. Take and cut the fresh parts of Luffah (mandragora), pound and mix it with almond oil and let it stay for a day and night. Then, the surgeon who wants to use it must give one drachm of it to be eaten before meal. A little later you’ll see that the patient will lie down and fall asleep without perceiving you. Then, practice whatever treatment you want to do. Give one drachm (dirhem = dram = 4 g) of it to the adult, but administer only the amount needed for children, so that no malpractice occurs. This is the narcotic I used all through my life and did not need any other anesthetic medicine.” http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/content/102/4/1289.1.full

Music therapy  exhibit

http://www.turath.org/ProfilesMenu.htm  explains that Maqams are different Arabic melodies.

I’m a Libra so listened to my Rehavi makam.

Rehavi makam: effective at pre-dawn.

Hüseyni makam: effective at dawn.

Rast makam: effective in early morning.

Buselik makam: effective in mid morning.

Zirgüle makam: effective toward noon.

Uşşak makam: effective at noon.

Hicaz makam: effective in the afternoon.

Irak makam: effective in late afternoon.

Isfahan makam: effective at dusk.

Neva makam: effective in the evening.

Büzürk makam: effective in late evening.

Zirefkend makam: effective during the time of sleep.

The great Islamic thinker and philosopher Ibn Sina (980-1037

http://www.turkishmusicportal.org/article.php?id=12&lang2=en

Some of the instruments

Finally, of course, a look in the gift shop where lots of us bought a few things

Medicinal plants and herbs

We weren’t as lucky with the weather as Mary Lee Settle had been: but it was only a light drizzle.

Our next stop was a small museum in Amasya where I saw my first mummy!  Next email.

A great place to eat lunch: food good, cheap and the view is great.

Patricia sat across from me.  Patricia, an expat Brit and retired psychiatric nurse,  has lived in Iҫmeler, the small town down the beach from Marmaris for about 6 years or so.  She has studied Turkish so during the trip she would explain words to me. 

Keṣkek

This photos doesn’t do justice to its bubblingly colorful flavor.

  I first had keṣkek at the home of Reyhan and Selahattin Ünver.  I loved it and would have licked the bowl clean except there was a ton more food to come.  So when I saw Keṣkek on the menu for lunch I was really pleased.  It was as good as I remembered it.  It was even as good as the great humus we had in Jaffa with Eve and her son. 

The menu description and price: cheap and great tasting.

“The wheat must be soaked in water the night before.  The onions and meat are fried in the pot, along with red chili and salt, in butter.  One glass of hot water is added, and it is boiled for 15 minutes.  The wheat and 10 glasses of water are added to the pot.  Once the mixture starts boiling, its lid is closed and the edges are sealed with dough.  Only an opening the size of a finger is left, in order to let the steam off. It is cooked for 2 hours on low heat. “  Çorum Guide

Randal had the mantı, a Turkish ravioli

“Meat stuffed dumplings with garlicky yogurt and paprika butter” description in Secrets of the Turkish Kitchen by Angie Mitchell Sunkur.   There are regional differences but they’re all quite good.  I like Keṣkek better.

After lunch everyone kind of went his/her own way.   Tazeena and Els hiked up to the Kral Kaya Mezarlari, the Rock Tombs of the Pontus Kings (around 4^th century BC) up above town.  Another time I’d have gone, but it was too late in the afternoon and getting chilly and I was sort of tired and not really interested in the tombs, so I didn’t go.  I’m a bit sorry now, but so it goes.

After lunch I’d rushed off to the post office, to no avail, to be back at the meeting point at 2:15 to regroup with the group. But group plans had  gotten changed so Randal and I just sort of went off on our own and skipped seeing the Sultan Bayezid Mosque.  We could have joined up with the tour, but opted for a walk around town rather than wait the 20 minutes so we could enter the mosque.  At least I think this is the mosque they toured.  This is a photo of  the Sultan Bayezid Mosque I shot from Amasya Castle and I just saw the same photo with the same caption in the   http://www.amasyakulturturizm.gov.tr/dosya/1-280779/h/rehber-ing-mail.pdf

I just read that the Public Library has been made from part of the mosque’s medresse and I am sorry I missed that.  I’m thinking everyone else did also as no one mentioned it.  Unless this really isn’t the mosque they visited.  It really is the Sultan Bayezid Mosque.  

Randal and I went off for a walk around “new Amasya” and a visit a bazaar street, but not The Covered Basaar.   The sun came and went and the drizzle came and went.

We each bought a lightweight lined cotton zip vest with a half-dozen pockets. 

Randal bought some crocheted wash cloths.

Some street scenes I took on my early morning walk before our tour began..

Some night scenes…

After dinner I went out to take some night photos.  I learned a bit about night shots and I also learned that my camera will store photos internally.  I learned that when I returned to our hotel room and went to download the photos and saw the camera card still in my computer where it had been since late afternoon.  I was too pooped to go back out so was really disappointed.  But the camera had never “told me” that the card wasn’t inserted so I couldn’t take photos, which my other camera did,  so I hoped the photos were actually stored on the camera.  I took out the camera card, attached the camera to the computer with a cable and voila!  There they were; the camera has its own memory.  So now I know that.  

Regimental Headquarters with Atatürk statue

Amasya Municipal Tea Garden

Our hotel backed up to the river; the entrance obviously on the street side.

There is a covered restaurant on the right and a patio on the left for dining when the weather is sunnier than it was when we were visiting.

The lobby

We had a stunning view from the dining room.

My morning walks took me across the river for a walk along the foot of the mountain.

Gern. Antony, Els, David, Patricia and Dorothy were finishing up breakfast when I stopped in for a glass of tea after my walk.  I’d already eaten

I crossed the bridge and walked past the “intermittent waterfall.”   Water is pumped up above the rock face and periodically allowed to fall back which is a surprise before you know what’s happening.  A disappearing waterfall is a strange phenomenon when it occurs on a daily basis rather than seasonally.

Saraydüzü Regimental Quarters Museum ofNational Struggle and Congress Center

Owing to its historical significance, Saraydüzü Kışlası, which Atatürk used as his headquarters during his

visits to Amasya and where the Amasya Circular was penned, was rebuilt (after landslides in 1935 and 1944)  in compliance with the original plan on the banks of the Yeşilırmak. The building is used both as a museum housing certain documents and works belonging to the Republican Period and a culture center where various organisations are held.  The Independence Museum, which is open all year round, houses reliefs and statues depicting Atatürk’s arrival in the city, the welcoming committee and the announcement of the Amasya Circular, along with numerous documents belonging to the period.  http://www.amasyakulturturizm.gov.tr/dosya/1-280779/h/rehber-ing-mail.pdf

In 1919 Amasya was the location of the final planning meetings held by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for the building of a Turkish army to establish the Turkish republic following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. It was here that Mustafa Kemal made the announcement of the Turkish War of Independence in the Amasya Circular. This circular is considered as the first written document putting the Turkish War of Independence in motion. The circular, distributed across Anatolia, declared Turkey’s independence and integrity to be in danger and called for a national conference to be held in Sivas (Sivas Congress) and before that, for a preparatory congress comprising representatives from the eastern provinces of Anatolia to be held in Erzurum in July (Erzurum Congress).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasya#The_Turkish_War_of_Independence

Mary Lee Settle’s impressions of the Ataturk statue now surrounded by Toruism Week banners.

“…..the ever-present statue of  Mustafa Kemal Atatὕrk is the finest I saw in Turkey.  When the first statues were put up in the inland cities in the twenties and thirties, most of the people had just been jogged awake from a thousand years of medieval sleep by circumstance and Mustafa Kemal.  Most of them had never in their lives seen a statue, as the Koran forbids the representation of humans.

It stands on a crag of rock in the middle of the Centrum.  Baroque, elegant, and in some ways a dangerously inept memory of him, Ataturk sits on a wonderful Delacroix horse: he is a ghazi, a warrior hero.  There is no sense here of his reforms, his modern views, his dandyism, his intelligence…..he is a fighter  surrounded by heroic figures from the army that he created out of almost nothing at the end of the First World War.  There are the wounded, the women, the lines of his generals who look out across the river at the tomb of the Pontic kings.

It was in Amasya where Ataturk found a force of mountain volunteers already formed to fight against the Greek parisans who had armed themselves to take part in the carving up of Anatolia (Turkey) by the Allies at the end of the First World War.”  Turkish Reflections

Back side of the statue.

“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours… you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well.”

http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/ataturk.asp

Aussie Peter Barker of Bowtie Lady read this piece at the end of the morning NET on ANZAC Day.  It was incredibly moving.

Strange picture, No?

Gwen hates heights, unless she’s in an airplane and then it’s okay.  She especially hates driving long winding mountain roads.  Taṣ figured what she couldn’t see wouldn’t bother her.

Our way to Amasya Castle

http://www.amasyakulturturizm.gov.tr/dosya/1-280779/h/rehber-ing-mail.pdf has more info about the castle.  I liked it because it was a great place to climb around and see the view and get exercise.

The letter R had been left out of appropriate so Taṣ was filling it in.

“Yesilirmak has been the source of civilizations since Chalcolithic Age in Amasya. Also the passages opened by the river in the deep valleys have ensured the safest ways for thousands of years connecting Amasya to the Central Anatolia and to the Black Sea coast and enabled the permanence of the civilizations in the region. That’s why Hattis, Hittites, Phrygians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Medes, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks and Ilkhanids, Eretna State and of course great Ottoman Empire have left traces in Amasya.”  http://www.yesilirmak.org.tr/en/destinasyon1.aspx

A hamam is a Turkish bath that was included at one point when the Ottomans used the castle.

I remembered that we were shown the mikvah, a Jewish version of the hamam, while touring Masada.  I started to research the similarities/differences but that just was so far off the topic of Amasya that I’ll have to leave it for another day.

I had used a blade of grass to make a “duck caller.”  Taṣ was fascinated so Randal was showing him how to make one.

Red hat day.

Randal bought three hats in Avanos, Cappadocia: red, light tan, and black.  He wears a color when the mood strikes to wear that color.  Our day in Amasya was certainly a red letter day!

All too soon it was time to go, but Taṣ lured us back to the minibus with the promise of a coffee stop on the way back to Amasya town.

Coincidentally Pam and Dave arrived on the day before the President’s Bicycle Ride stage ended in Marmaris.  Funny enough our first day ever in Marmaris was the stage of the same race.  Our bus was stopped at an intersection on the way from Izmir to Marmaris so the race could cross an intersection.  I believe a Russian won this stage: Pam and I went back later in the afternoon to see the finish but it was over when we arrived. So we went off to visit the yarn shops instead.

A banner painted by some of the art students to celebrate Tourism Week, the 15^th-22^nd of April.

Paintings and wood sculpture are the current exhibits.

The artist who was exhibiting her work.

This was my favorite..

Or maybe this one: I liked her use of bright colors!

I liked the bold rooftop perspective on this painting of a mosque.

Wood sculptures were fun.

This wood sculpture inspired us to try one ourselves…….

Tables were set up so you could make your own sculpture.

My sculpture.

I just sort of picked up the pieces and set them down but looking at it now I see big animals sheltering smaller animals.

A mountain range?

Teens are teens and McDonald’s is McDonalds except in India where there is no beef.

I love what I call “Cape Cod blue” because the color reminds me of what I remember from my growing up years in Massachusetts.  Here it’s Mediterranean Blue.

This restaurant in Boḡazkale had an interesting name.

You can translate Aşıkoğlu  as “son of the lover or really lover son .”  Aşık translates as lover, wanderer or bard and when you add oḡlu it means son.

Lunchtime celebrities.

Ayden and Taṣ with this gentleman who was the only undefeated competitive wrestler from the region.

Photos were displayed on the restaurant wall.

The restaurant manager had once acted the part of a Hittite King in a National Geographic documentary.

Lunch was fun!

Standing in the ancient past….

The replica of the Sphinx Gate: the originals are in The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. But even the replicas were striking in the setting.

“The most important of the extant remains of the Hittites at Alacahoyuk is the Sphinx Gate, which marked the entrance to the Bronze Age city. This dates to the Hittite Empire period of 1450-1180 B.C. The original orthostats that decorated the city wall are in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara, but they have been replaced at the site by cast replicas.” http://www.travellinkturkey.com/hittites-alacahoyuk.html

Bas Relief with cat

“These orthostats, from the left side of the entrance, bear depictions of a king and his queen worshipping the sacred bull, sacrificial animals, priests, jugglers, a sword swallower, and a man climbing a ladder that is standing in space, and an unfinished relief that may possibly have been intended as a chariot scene. On the right side of the entrance gate is likely a representation of the sun goddess Arinna, who was the primary female deity of the Hittites.”  http://www.travellinkturkey.com/hittites-alacahoyuk.html

The cat followed us around the site meowing finally allowing me to give it a few pats just before we entered the museum.

Burial sites

“The first excavations at Alacahoyuk were started in 1861 by a French archeologist. Georges Perrot. More extensive work was initiated by the Turkish Historical Association in 1935 and continued until 1948. While excavating in the deeper levels of the city-mound at Alacahoyuk, a group of graves was found by Turkish archaeologists. They are thought to be of a local ruling family of the Early Bronze Age period, buried among the paraphernalia of their funerary ceremonies, and accompanied by their private possessions. The interments had been made over a period of several generations. Some of the graves contained single burials, while others held the remains of both a man and a woman buried on separate occasions. In the graves, the men were buried with their weapons and women with jewelry, ornaments, and toiletries. Both were accompanied by utensils and eating vessels that were made of precious metals. An extraordinary find was a dagger in the shape of a crescent, made entirely of iron. This metal, very rarely used during this early period, was likely to have been much more valuable than gold. A large assortment of funerary objects was found in the graves including bronze “sun-disks” and standards that were likely used at the top of a pole in the funeral procession or on canopy-stakes at the burial spot. Many of these standards were uncovered in the graves. They are openwork grills, often adorned with animal figures. Others were simply representations of animals mounted on a base, such as the well-known Hittite stag. These were made of bronze and inlaid with silver.

The graves at Alacahoyuk were in the form of rectangular pits, as large as twenty feet long and ten feet Wide in several cases. The tombs were lined with a wall of rough stone and covered with a lid of wooden beams. On top of the wood were placed the skulls and hooves of cattle, which had apparently remained attached to the hides; it is assumed that the carcasses of the animals were eaten during the funeral feast. Wooden furniture and other perishable articles are believed to have been placed in the graves with the bodies.” http://www.travellinkturkey.com/hittites-alacahoyuk.html

Where’s Randal!

Graves of Early Bronze Age

When you widen the scene it gets surreal with the ancient and present side by side. With the house in the photo the Sphinx Gate just becomes an artifact.  In the first photo you feel as if time stopped in the tage of the Hittites.

Can you imagine living so close to something so ancient?  What a great place to play as a kid.  I would have loved that.

The sign for the dam had fallen down so Taṣ stood it back up!

Bronze Age Dam Irrigates Modern Farms

Bible and archaeology news

Noah Wiener  •  11/07/2012

“This Bronze Age dam at Alacahöyük still irrigates modern farmland. AA photos.

A 3,250-year-old Hittite dam at Alacahöyük features striking similarities to modern water management construction. Archaeologist Aykut Çınaroğlu says the dam in north-central Turkey was built for irrigation and drinking water, and the dam’s clean water is still used by local farmers today. Hittite tablets indicate that it was built under the reign of King Hattushili III or his son Tudhaliya IV in the 13th century B.C.E. and was dedicated to the goddess Hepat. Like other Hittite dams, the large clay construction was built by hand during a period of drought and famine in Late Bronze Age Anatolia, recorded in the historical record by documentation of the importation of wheat from Egypt and evinced by dendrochronological archaeological evidence. However, unlike its contemporaries, the water source for the Alacahöyük dam is located inside the dam’s reservoir, and as a result, it hasn’t run dry over the course of the past three millennia. Professor Çınaroğlu told the Turkish paper Hurriyet Daily News that “The dam had been used to provide water for animals for thousands of years. Analyses have shown that its water is very clean. It could even be sold under the name Hittite water.”

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/bronze-age-dam-irrigates-modern-farms/

Gwen standing outside the Çorum Museum

We only had a short time to visit the museum before it closed at 5 pm.

Big Vase with reliefs 1650 B.C.                                            I loved the blue color on this vase

A mosaic in the museum lobby

There was a birthday banner, flowers and gifts….

Bill and Joan: A Birthday Kiss!

Gwen giving the “Birthday Toast”  Here!  Here!

Everyone was happy to see Bill feeling better after his “not so great” past 2 days.

Bill, Joan and their grandson Chris

The gang’s all here…

Dear friend Nermin.

Alex and Joan dancing to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.”

My piece of cake was size X-Large but I managed to get most of it down even after a huge dinner of pasta with salmon, spinach and cheese.