Part I – Gaziantep – (Zeugma Museum) – Halfeti – Nemrud Daği

By Heidi Trautmann

Preparing yourself for a journey into one of the most significant cultural areas in the European and Near East countries such as we did recently means not only to pack your suitcase fitting the weather conditions on different altitudes but to make yourself acquainted with the cultural background of the places on the agenda. For us it turned out to be a never ending flood of literature and photographic material and with one question answered we opened the door to new ones.

It started with the fact that we were going to pass several eras, from the very beginning of mankind to our modern times. i.e. the latter with respect to the incredible fast pulse  of development in poor and isolated areas…and it continued with the flow of different tribes that once flooded through this corridor of trade between the West and the Near and Far East and also Northern Africa, always on the lookout for better pastures, riches and new ways of trade, thus establishing the famous Silk Road, also on it people on the lookout for knowledge, as the cradle of knowledge was undoubtedly in the Eastern countries in the early ages of our world; while wise men noted down their findings in mathematics, astronomy and medicine and stored them in famous libraries, and architecture of unbelievable size was done, our ancestors in the Western hemisphere were still far behind.

East Turkey, from the South up to the North, a region where holy sites were found only recently pinpointing  the first changes from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlements….and later the changes from nature religions and polytheism to monotheism.  We came across the disputes between the regional churches, the religions of Christianity and Islam…so many themes came up while looking for guidance to understand the complexity and mixture of cultures.

The programme organised by Kaleidoskop Turizm in Kyrenia, was laid out for our group of ten over a period of 10 days and included some of the important highlights to discover for ourselves the answers to this complex field, leading us on roads east and north bound more or less along the borders of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia, a journey of mixed feelings with respect to the political unrests, wars and sabre-rattling; the political refugees in camps which we however did not encounter but beggars in the streets.

To give the reader a rough idea of the route we took: Gaziantep – Halfeti – Nemrut Daği – Urfa/Şanliurfa – Atatürk Barrage – Göbekli Tepe - Mardin  - Midyat – Hasankeyf – Van Lake – Nemrut Volcano within sight of the snow-capped Ararat – up to Kars and back to Erzurum …with all the famous castles, churches of Syrian, Armenian and Byzantine origin and old mighty mosques. Most of our journey led us over highland in heights between 1000 to 3000 m and not only the incredible offer of culture but also the thin air took our breath away.

Gaziantep, previously and still informally called Antep, is the city in the southeast of Turkey where our journey began. Our hotel in one of the old quarters in the centre of the old city  – I would call it a Boutique Hotel, was only to be reached on foot through narrow old lanes with beautiful old houses renovated. A nice place to begin a trip into the past, only 97 km north of Aleppo in Syria.  One of the busiest cities of Turkey with about 2 million inhabitants, famous for its copper ware and pistachio – the Antep Fistiği – not to forget the baklava, especially the green one made from the nuts,  and,  as I read - for the Yemeni shoes and sandals.  The Copper Bazaar, a place of 1001 nights, with Aladin lamps, all hand made in the old way, plates, vases, cups for the Turkish coffee with lids on. Nearby the bazaar streets full of herbs and spices, pistachio and dried fruit and vegetables. An offer of colour and scents of the orient, intoxicating, you just have to close your eyes to be transported into a different world full of secrets. The first kilos of pistachios were bought after we had tried the various sizes, our lot lasted us to the very last day.

But it is not only in the bazaars that you find the fragrances of the orient, all over town big bags of spices are standing open to reach the noses of the passers-by. An old city, going back to the Hittites and when I tell you all the reigns under which the city Antab or Aintab, or Hantab, Hatab by the Crusaders, you will have an idea of the cultural influences the place and its surrounding area along the silk road and close to the fertile crescent was subjected to. Akkadians, Mittanis, Neo-Hittites, Assyrians, Urartians Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Parthians, Commagene, Romans, Byzantines, Armenians, Sassanids and Arabs….then the Greek and Roman and Byzantine influence of each period there are still sites to be found. Then the Muslim conquest by the Arabs, the Umayads, the Abbasids, Tulunids, Ikhshidid, Hamdanids; then the Seljuks took Aintab in 1067; in 1098 the crusaders took it and formed the County of Edessa…..the Armenians, the Mameluks and finally the Ottomans under which the place became a centre of commerce including muslims, Arabs, Kurds and Armenian Christians. In the old Bey Quarter with its beautiful architecture mainly built by the Armenians, you find churches and mosques next to each other incorporating the elements of various cultures, even Seljuk architecture.

I have mentioned the colourful history and its cultures of East Turkey right from the beginning in order to attune your attention to the mélange we are going to find right throughout our journey. There is a wide offer of literature covering the East of Turkey. Many years ago I came across a book by Werner Keller ‘The Bible as History’ and his comments on the ‘Fertile Crescent’ around 2000 BC as being the centre of a high culture with the rest of the world still in deep darkness, it was Egypt and the area between Euphrat and Tigris, the two rivers that are today object of  great interest concerning water and energy, and consequently subject of political unrest among the neighbouring countries. Where there is water there is life….and there is fight over it.

Our main interest the next day was focused on the Zeugma Mosaic Museum which was opened in 2011 after a rescue operation when it became known that the ancient place was to be flooded by a dam project, the GAP (Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi), the biggest project of regional development in Turkey along the rivers Euphrates and Tigris….but of that later.

Zeugma, today Belkis, developed to an important trade centre due to its bridge over the Euphrates,  erected by the Greeks and later conquered by the Romans. Rich houses with beautiful mosaic floors and walls were eventually buried under soil mass due to earthquakes which actually helped to conserve the mosaic surfaces best.  Archaeological excavations had begun in the 19^th century but the rescue work on the site six months before the place was to be flooded was started by the son of the Hewlett Packard founder who read about it and organised experts, 60 archaeologists and 200 workers and a huge budget to salvage the mosaics; in 2011 the rescued mosaics were displayed in the new museum. What a place and what an effort. It aroused deep feelings in us to realise what human efforts can do in such a short time. The museum is erected right on the former Silk Road which is made obvious by a train of camels and their drivers in the middle of the road going eastward. What riches, what beauties, what excellent artists were employed by the wealthy Romans: my pictures will do the talking.

Leaving Gaziantep we came through wide hilly stretches with rich pistachio farms, endless; in the early afternoon we reached Halfeti on the Birecik Dam which was built between 1985 and 2000, about 100 km away, part of Halfeti is under water now.  It was nominated one of the Slow Cities of the Cittaslow Movement and it is attraction No. 1 to many tourists who are taken around the sea on boats and can watch through glassbottoms the former life of the area such as the sunken mosque and village buildings. I read an article on Halfeti underwater exploration projects; interesting to read and pics to see, you’ll find it on the internet. What an afternoon pleasure to sit in the May sun in one of the many seafront restaurants, early still but warm, and enjoy a trout dish or any of the other local cuisine.

We continued our journey on new roads leading north, and wherever we went in these ten days we came across road construction, new roads everywhere, four lane ones, made for future heavy traffic, for the hopefully soon developing farming industry . With every breath you take you taste future development of the Eastern area, especially within the framework of the GAP project which involves several governmental districts. We came close to the Atatürk Dam and we could get a glimpse from afar of the wide barrage lake; we would visit it later because we were on our way to the Nemrud Daği, through hilly country, the hills covered with seemingly endless spaces of yellow white corn fields, interchanging with glaring fresh green grass, soothing to the eye, again road works on the way to Kahta, a newly developed city of farming population and from here we were going up and up towards the Nemrut Daği, a National Park, the antique Kommagene, a kingdom of King Antiochus who saw himself equal to the gods, on the same level, eye to eye sort of, as we could see on the many statues in several holy sites. That was where we were heading, to the tomb he had prepared for himself on top of the Nemrud Daği. We were to ascend on the following morning to witness the sunrise that meant getting up at 3.30 am.

We stayed at the mountain hotel Euphrat for two nights,  a simple place reminding me of a Nepalese mountain hotel, with a little bit of adventure in the air. It was bitterly cold then, but we were warned and had brought our anoraks and mountain shoes. 20 minutes drive in our bus to the ground station and 20 minutes climbing to the top and…guess what…we were not the only ones, at least twenty busses were ahead of us and hundreds of people going up, breathing heavily, also many old people, sometimes drawn by a helpful hand but not giving up, it must have been like in the times of King Antiochus around 60 BC for his birthday, a cult journey, as we pulled up to pay our respects, to the sun, the gods, to the idea of this king who wanted to unite several religions and gods with him next to the other deities, an attempt to unify his multi-ethnic people and secure his dynasty’s security.  It must have been due to the fact that he was the son of a mixed marriage, Hellenistic/Persian. I shall recommend his philosophy to the Cypriot leaders.

A strong wind and some drizzle awaited us on the East Terrace – there were two more terraces  -  where the gods sit waiting for the sun with the tomb hill behind the statues and the altar in front, the altar for sacrifices; we stood very close to each other, the sun would not rise, just give a notion of light behind heavy clouds; the beheaded gods have seen many such scenes, the heads of deitites next to Antiochus. The place was discovered by Karl Sester, a German Engineer who was sent out to find ways of army transportation. On the mountain tops close by were other tombs of Antiochus’ family, in line of view, so to speak.  The steps down were slippery and a cup of hot tea very welcome. The strong Turkish tea became our drink during the ten days of our journey, on some days up to ten glasses, including the ones we had with our meals as alcoholic drinks were not available.

We continued to follow the traces of the Commagene kingdom, visited the tombs of several others, in Arsameia on the Euphrates and Arsameia on the Nymphaios, today Gerger, founded by Arsames, holy places and it says that if you don’t respect the holiness you are going to be hit by Apollo’s arrows.  Again short breathed because of the height above 2000 m but the more it made you aware of the passage of time, and our feet that took the same steps to the holy places above. Reliefs cut into the rocks and statues of god and kings shaking hands, inscriptions of wise rules, all on certain points on the way to the place of worship. Two castles, the old and new one on two opposite hill tops.

The reign of the Commagene kings did not last long in-spite of their wise thoughts to unify the people…nothing seems to change.

The mountainous area is quite wild and so is the river unbound coming out of narrow rocky clefts over which the old Roman Cendere Bridge was built in the years of 198 – 200 AD replacing an even older one. A Roman Legion had built it, bridges the important link, necessary for quick moves of the army and easy to defend.

After another cold night at the Euphrat Hotel, it was raining and storming all night, but we were the lucky travellers to have the sun with us again the next morning.

End of Part I – With part II I will take you to the Atatürk Dam, from there to Harran, to Göbekli Tepe, and finally to Şanliurfa, or short Urfa. As usual you will find the complete row of photos on my website.