filotheatis: October 2011

Kurdistan: Arsameia

Malatya (Melitene)

•apricot capital of Turkey, base for Nemrut Dagi (instead of Adiyaman or Kahta)

•3,000 years old town, Hittites (Melid), roman (Melitene)

•the Byzantine town was at Battalgazi (Arslantepe)

•Kahta : nearby Karakus (burial place of the royal ladies of the roman-era kingdom of Commagene)

Arsameia

•the Roman-period city of king Antiochos

•Nemrut – Nemrud : mountain 2,150 m high. Kings of Commagene from 80 BC to 72 AD rules Adiyaman and vicinity. Its capital was Samosata (Samsat) founded 80 BC by Mithridates father of Antiochos.

•The magnificent ruins on the summit are not those of an inhabited site, however. They are instead the famous tumulus (burial mound) and

•hierotheseion : a word that means the sacred burial precint of the royal family -whose use is only known in Commagene- of King Antiochos I who ruled from 69 to 36 BC.

•In a cult inscription Antiochos declares that he had the site built for the ages and generations that were to follow him as a dept of thanks to the gods and to his deified ancestors for their manifest assistance. The king also declares that his aim was to provide for the people an example of the piety that the gods commanded be shown towards the gods and towards ancestors.

•Mt Nemrud discovered in 1881. There is no mention in scriptures

•The tumulus on the summit measures 50 m high and covers an area 150 m in diameter.

•It is formed of stones the size of a fist and is bounded on the east, west and north by terraced courts carved out of the native rock.

•The eastern court was the center of the sacred precint. It is surrounded on the west by colossal statues, on the east by a fire altat in the shape of a stepped pyramid and on the north and south by low walls of orthostats (upright stone slabs) standing on a long narrow base.

•Antiochos’ father was Persian, his mother Greek Macedonian

•On the north are the Persian ancestors, in the south Macedonian ancestors

•Dareios, founder of Achemenid dynasty

•Names carved on the rear of statues

•In the front of each statue, an altar for sacrifices

•Statues made of blocks of limestone

•Eastern terrace : Antiochos, goddess Kommagene, Zeus –Oromasdes, Apollo_Mithras, Heracles – Antagnes

•On one side an eagle, on the other a lion

•Gods wear Persian headgear

•The remains of Antiochos should be under the tumulus. Investigations have revealed a rocky hill under the tumulus

•rock statue of Mithras

•The rock room is a tunnel 158 m long

•The longest inscription found in Anatolia at the entrance of the cult cave

•A huge relief showing Antiochos shaking hands with Heracles

Karakus Hill

•It is actually a tumulus, burial of the kings. 35 m high surrounded by four 9-10 m columns. On one of these columns is an eagle statue from which the village derives its name (Karakus= blackbird)

Kurdistan: Zeugma

•Among the 4 most important settlement areas under the reign of the kingdom of Commagene.

•It is named for the bridge of boats (zeugma) which crossed the Euphrates there.

•Originally founded by Seleucos I Nicator, one of the generals of Alexander in 300 BC. King Seleucos almost certainly named the city Seleuceia after himself. At its peak, it had 80,000 people. In 64 BC conquered by Romans, named changed into Zeugma. City on the Silk road connecting Antioch to China, of great commercial importance

•In 265 invasion by Sassanid king Shapur I destroyed it fully, not able to recover, An earthquake followed buried the city beneath rubble. The city never regained prosperity as during the roman times

•Due to Arab raids of 6th cent. city abandoned again

•Village Belkis founded in 17th cent.

•During roman times, it was home to high ranking officials and officers, beautiful art in the form of steles, rock reliefs, statures and altars. Became rich

•At Iskele ustu, 65,000 seal imprints (in clay, known as Bulla) were found in a place which is believed to serve as the archives for the customs of ancient Zeugma. Imprints were used in saling papyrus, parchment, moneybags and customs bales : lots of trade

•Recent excavations and the Legacy of ancient Zeugma

•1987 : frescoes revealed by smugglers

•1992 : watchman reported illegal activity, trench dug by smugglers. Museum team uncovered a villa with magnificent mosaic pavements

•this 1st cent. roman villa consisted of galleries around an atrium with 8 columns and rooms. The mosaic was the marriage of Dionysos to Ariadne. Sadly 6 of the figures portrayed were stolen in 1998.

•Mosaic fragments discovered during construction of the Birecik Dam wall that commenced in 1996, Museum halted the work to excavate. Roman bath and Gymnasium with 36 mosaic panels

•On the clay quarry area in front of the dam wall a large Bronze Age cemetery discovered. 8,000 pottery vessels were found in 320 graves.

•Salvage operations carried out by Nantes Univ.

•Mosaic with the head of Dionysos and Oceanos and Tethys with sea creatures

•Minos bull

•A fountain with its own tank at a depth of 3 m

•Marble figure of Apollo

•9 figures depicting Achilles being taken by Odysseus to fight in the Troyan War

•bronze statue of Mars found among storage jars

•altogether 17 mosaic pavements with walls decorated with colourful frescoes

•ancient Birtha (Roman) and Macedonopolis (religious see) prob. coincide with Zeugma

•bishop of Macedonopolis attended the council of Chalcedon (451 AD)

Kurdistan: Antep

Daphne (Harbiye)

•Place where Zeus caught Daphne and turned her into a laurel tree. Seleucus built a temple to Daphne here.

•To the Romans it was a place of resort for the rich and powerful of Antioch. Built beautiful villas with mosaics.

•Many waterfalls, water courses, tea gardens, restaurants, some right in the water

•Apollo fell in love with Daphne and tried to approach her, but she turned into an elegant tree.

Kapisuyu

•A drive to Kapisuyu village you will see a fascinating scene from the Zeus temple. Excellent view from there of the harbor, sandy beach and fertile plain below.

Gaziantep

• old name is Antep

•Among the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world

•6th largest city, in 1921 Antep was legally renamed Gaziantep, meaning Antep the veteran

•Antiochia ad Taurum during Hellenistic times

•Center of pistachio cultivation

•The fortress and citadel : restored by the Byzantines in 6th cent.

•Mosaics from Zeugma in the museum

•Many Hittite remains in the surroundings

•Remains of Greek Doliche, some km north of town

Kahramanmaras

•old Maras (home of Maraslis, benefactor)

•Founded by Hittites 1000 BC

•Germanikeia during Roman and Byzantine empires

•Modern name from 1973 when the Assembly added Kahraman (= hero) in commemoration of the victory against the French Armenian Legion

•Site of the Alevi massacre (grey Wolves killed 700) in 1978 that led to a military coup in 1980

•Textile companies, both Turkish and USA and ice cream (dondurma) and salep ( aflour made from orchid tubers)

•Nestorius : 5th cent. religious leader was born here

Domuztepe

•Recent excavations with remains as far back as 6,200 BC

•Occupied during Hellenistic period and a significant settlement during the 1st cent. AD

•Evidence of a church, a small Christian cemetery

•Site is south of Maras

Nizip

•Nisibis, near Zeugma, also near Rumkale (= roman castle)

•Some of the valuable mosaics are :

•Triton, Dionysos’ wedding, Poseidon, Perseus, Gypsy girl or Gaia, Dolphin and Eros, Physke, Achilleus, Aphrodite’s birth, the God of Euphrates, Europa, etc

•Rumkale : powerful fortress on the Euphrates

•Structure is Hellenistic in origin

•Today accessible by boat from Zeugma

•Center of Christianity, visited by saints Paul, Barnavas, Peter

•Museum: one of the richest collections of Roman mosaics in the world

•Antioch: where the followers of Jesus were called Christians for the first time.

•Saint Lukas from Antioch

•Saint Simon monastery

•Church of saint Peter with its network of refuges and tunnels carved out of the rock, a site of pilgrimage. There are also tombs cut into the rock along the Orontes valley

•Antioch Archeological museum : mosaics from the 2nd – 5th cent. AD