May 10, 2022

May 10, 2022

We had the traditional after-dinner tea last night. Still awake in the middle of the night, Aimee and I realized we need to give that practice up. Morning comes way too soon.

Fertility Goddess of Catalhoyuk

Today our first stop in Ankara, Turkey was the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. It is housed in an old Caravanserai, an inn for the Silk Road traders bringing goods west to Europe. This museum is the opposite of the Istanbul Archeological Museum. There the highlights were the impressive artifacts from the Greco-Roman era. Here the emphasis is the civilizations that preceded them. And there were a lot! Anatolia or Asia Minor or Turkey has a very long human history. Gobekli Tepe from a staggering 12000 years ago in southern Turkey has the oldest temple yet discovered. The Neolithic settlement of Catalhoyuk may be the oldest city dating to 7500 BC. Wall murals and many female fertility figures have been found there.

The Hittite Kingdom was the first to organize the tribes of Anatolia. They were Indo-European speaking invaders from the North. They brought with them impressive skills. The Hittites were advanced metallurgists, the first to smelt iron. I like the big bronze cauldrons on display. They could play witches brews but for the decorations. What I find interesting is that the type of animal representations is so different than Egypt. There it might be a crocodile, jackal, or scarab; here it is more likely a Stag, a Bull or a Ram.

The Hittites are famous because of their war (and peace treaty) with the Egyptians. They were an equal to powerful Egypt. On display is a Cuneiform tablet that is a letter from Egyptian Queen Nefertari (our favorite) to her Hittite counterpart.

Hittite Relief from Aslantepe (Lion Hill)

The stone carvings and metal sculpture are impressive. The art is as good as Egypt but significantly less numerous. While Egypt was protected by the desert and lasted for millennia, empires in Anatolia were in constant danger from every direction. Surprising for me the carvings even have some kind of hieroglyphic picture writing but in a totally different alphabet than the Egyptian version. Clearly the Anatolian civilizations had sophisticated cultures rivalling Egypt. We just have less knowledge because their relics either didn't survive or the collections are not as accessible to western museums. That is probably especially so for regions controlled by the Ottoman Empire. They were rich and powerful enough not to be exploited by outsiders.

After finishing the circuit, we realized there were basement exhibits too. There we found artifacts from the Romans who were the modern Anatolians (only 2000-years old!)

From the Museum we crossed Ankara to visit the Ataturk Memorial. Mustafa Kemal was a Turkish hero from the WWI Gallipoli Peninsula Campaign. After siding with Germany and losing WWI, the victorious European powers were eager to carve up the Ottoman Empire. The Greeks made major inroads in Western Turkey. Kemal led a war effort to expel the Greeks from Asia Minor. After driving the Greeks into the sea in 1922, the other European powers gave up their ambitions in Anatolia. Kemal exiled the last Sultan in 1922 and formed the Turkish Republic the following year.

Because of this he was given the honorific title of Ataturk, father of the Turks. This Memorial was built to hold his sarcophagus as a thank you from the Turkish people. The day of his death continues to be mourned by all. This memorial is built on the highest point of Ankara. After viewing the tomb we made a quick tour of the museum in the courtyard porticoes. After forming the Republic, he made a series of reforms to westernize and modernize the country so Turkey would not be a pawn of the European powers. He secularized the country, reformed the education system, introduced the Latin Alphabet, and gave women equal rights. If only the other Muslim countries could have their Ataturk hero the world would be a better place.

Based on our observations, Ataturk clearly was successful, as Turkey is a far richer country than other Ottoman territories (like Egypt). The highways we traveled rival the US, and the commercial buildings are new with futuristic designs. We went to a modern urban mall for lunch. Surprisingly we had delicious Mexican nachos on an outdoor roof terrace. Aimee did succumb to the culture with the drink Raki. It is a Anise flavored liqueur diluted with water.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving southeast to the center of the Anatolian peninsula. The wide open rolling farmland resembles the Montana plains, but greener.

Eventually the tall snow packed peak of Mt Hasan appears in the distance. It is of obvious volcanic origin. The Anatolian peninsula was formed when the African plate ran into the Eurasian plate pushing up the Taurus Mountains and forming volcanoes. The Anatolian interior, known as Cappadocia, is a high plateau built up from volcanic ash (tuff) and basalt.

After several hours we reached Goreme National Park. The soft Tuff in Cappadocia has been eroded into deeply scarred valleys. In ancient times, the local inhabitants would dig holes into the soft Tuff for a custom-made cave home. Indians in New Mexico also used to do this at Bandelier National Park. Our first stop is Pigeon Valley to stretch our legs. At the far end we see Uchisar Castle, the most photographed rock outcropping in Cappadocia. We can see it is honeycombed with man-made cave dwellings. A town naturally grew up around it.

Aimee and I hiked a half hour down along Pigeon Valley. Its name comes from the many pigeon cotes carved high into the white cliff faces. The birds were used for food and fertilizer. Egyptians continue to raise pigeons for food. On the hike we met two girls collecting wild asparagus and wild mushrooms. Back on top Aimee took off her hat to pose for a photo and accidentally scared all the pigeons.

We stopped for the night in a hotel outside the park in the town of Mustafapasha. We ate at a restaurant housed in a 200-year old house. The entree is Guvech, a meat and pepper and eggplant stew cooked in a clay pot. Served over rice, it was delicious. I retire early to catch up on my sleep.