Turkey

2010

Gallipoli

Visiting the Gallipoli peninsula will always be a special experience for New Zealanders. At our first stop in Turkey, we got the first indication that our new guide, Ahmet Isçimen, would deliver a better experience for us, this time round.

For a start, Ahmet said that the ferries from Eceabat to Çanakkale continued to run, on the half hour, until quite late in the day. We did not have to rush to be back for the 4:30pm sailing!

Ahmet then proceeded to show us more of the various locations below Çunuk Bair than on our previous visit. We were able to take a liesurely stroll from Beach Cemetery around to the main memorial site. The scene was very different from 95 years earlier.

Anzac Cove 1915.

Photo: credit unknown.

Anzac Cove, 95 years on...

Photo: 18 May 2010

Ahmet also took us to Lone Pine and The Nek, two very significant locations, especially for our Australian friends. The accounts of the battles fought at these two sites alone would be enough to convince anyone of the horror and stupidity that was the Gallipoli Campaign. The tragedy is that the horror and stupidity was repeated all over the whole peninsula for eight months in 1915.

Above, left to right: Looking south toward Gaba Tepe from Lone Pine, Lone Pine Cemetery and looking north from The Nek toward Suvla Bay. Photos: 18 May 2010

Crossing the Dardanelles to Çanakkale by ferry is a good opportunity to let the sea breeze cleanse the depressing taint of war from the heart and mind. The sombre mood is lifted and replaced by anticipation of more New Testament locations. On this occasion I was excited about the potential of our first significant addition to the tour itinerary: the visit to Alexandria Troas.

Alexandria Troas

When Elke heard back from Professor Schwertheim's assistant, not only were we sent information about the excavations, we were also sent contact details for the security guard who looks after the site between visits by the university team. We had a phone number for Ibrahim Bey and it was encouraging to have our plans fall into place as Ahmet made contact and arranged a meeting place.

Ibrahim Bey, astride his small and rather noisy motorcycle, eventually arrived and, with an evident sense of pride in 'his place', led us to the site and unlocked the gate. He was equally keen to assist Ahmet with interpreting the site for us.

Much of the site has been pillaged for building materials over the years. Apparently some of its blocks can still be seen, incorporated into buildings in Istanbul! Nevertheless, enough remains to stir the imagination.

Above left: Some of the team stood reflecting on the significance of Alexandria Troas without realising they were also demonstrating the strength and durability of arches as architectural features! Above centre: Ahmet points out the fluted surface characteristic of a Corinthian column. Above right: Evidence that use of recycled building materials is not a new phenomenon! Photos: 19 May 2010

As this was the place from which Paul and Silas took the gospel to Europe for the first time, the most significant sights, for me, were the harbour road (left) and the remains of the harbour itself.

In 2008 I had shuffled across roadways in Philippi and Ephesus to be sure that my feet had, literally, walked in the footsteps of St Paul. It was somewhat deflating to learn later that those roads had been repaired and resurfaced hundreds of years after Paul was there!

But, Alexandria Troas is different! Here, we were told, the road dates to the first century: Paul walked here! Time to 'shuffle' again!!

Photo: 19 May 2010

The harbour, created artificially in the Hellenistic period, helped make this such a strategic location that Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar and Constantine all considered moving the imperial capital to Alexandria Troas. Constantine came closest when he re-established Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople, now Istanbul, about 300 km north-east as the crow flies) as his new capital in 324 AD.

All that remains of this once significant harbour, is a lagoon and some, barely discernible, submerged stonework. Photos: 19 May 2010

Even so, sharing devotions in the shade of an old farm building overlooking this spot was a special moment. Paul and his companions were guided to this place by the Holy Spirit and, because of their obedience, the gospel spread from its Asian roots to bear fruit in Europe. (Acts 16:6ff) It was such a blessing to be able to add Alexandria Troas to our tour itinerary.

Of course, Alexandria Troas is also the location of the first known occurrence of someone, quite literally, being bored to death by a sermon! (Acts 20:7-12) Perhaps I need to talk less in the coach?!?

Pergamum

Because of the time spent locating and visiting at Alexandria Troas for the first time, on this occasion we by-passed Assos and made our way to directly to Pergamum, with just a lunch stop along the way.

At Pergamum, Ahmet took us on an anti-clockwise tour of the site This route takes you past the upper agora, on your left, and around to the site of the Altar of Zeus. From there we entered the theatre from the southern side. Our sudden emergence into the very steep cavea took the acrophobes among us by surprise. The pause for devotions allowed a time for some heart rates to settle!

After sharing in a biblical reflection we climbed to exit via the vomitorium, through which we had descended the previous year. This route took us adjacent the site of the Temple of Athena and the remains of the famous library, before passing the through the vaults supporting the Temple of Trajan.

Left: Crepidoma of the Altar of Zeus viewed from above the theatre. Right: The theatre looking up from the orchestra: a performer's perspective. Photos: 19 May 2010

The other new development at Pergamum was the gondola under construction. The increased traffic of tourist coaches up the winding road to the acropolis had prompted a rethink about access to the site. It wasn't yet operational, but things might be different next time... Something else for the acrophobes to cope with!

An unexpected change to our itinerary was cooked up between Wilfred and Ahmet over dinner that evening. Ahmet insisted that it was just as convenient to travel via Akhisar to Sardis as it was to go via Izmir.

Smyrna had been a bit of disappointing visit in 2008 so I had been looking forward to meeting our new contact at Izmir and seeing the agora of Smyrna. Suddenly, however, I was needing to communicate a last minute change to our unmet Kiwi friend: we wouldn't be coming to Izmir after all!

The compensation, of course, was that Akhisar is the location of the biblical city of Thyatira: here was a chance to visit the one Church of the Revelation that had not previously been part of the tour! A decent visit to Smyrna would have to wait for another year!

Thyatira

The archaeological site of Thyatira occupies a single city block in the middle of the modern town. The site is little more than half a hectare in size. A few sections of wall remain but there are no really impressive standing ruins. A collection of artefacts and architectural elements lie scattered about the site. Compared to some of the other sites, it's not particularly exciting but... being there was special.

Photos: 20 May 2010 Left: Walls, ancient and modern - Thyatira and Akhisar. Centre: Arch elements, presumably once supported by columns to form an arcade. Right: One of a pair... (Not right, but left!)

Another bonus of the visit to Thyatira was that the drive south to Sardis gave us a view of the tumuli (tomb mounds) of the ancient Lydian rulers, dating from the fifth and sixth centuries BC. About 115 of these mounds remain today, the largest of which is some 355 metres in diameter and 63 metres high!

Above: Lydian tomb mounds (tumuli) photographed from the moving coach. Photos: 20 May 2010

Sardis

At Gallipoli, and by taking us to Thyatira, Ahmet had started to show his value. At Sardis that was taken to a whole new level. The previous year we had only been taken to the site of the restored gymnasium. As Ahmet guided the coach down a side road to the site of a temple of Artemis, he expressed his surprise that we hadn't been this way before.

We entered a second site and were amazed to find two huge standing columns, complete with Ionic capitals, dwarfing another dozen incomplete columns at one end of the exposed foundations. If it had been completed, this would have been the fourth largest Ionic temple in the world, larger even than the Parthenon on the acropolis of Athens.

Construction probably began in the second century BC but it was still incomplete when the project was abandoned in the fourth century AD. The rise of Christianity had generated new priorities.

The small Christian chapel, built onto the south west corner of the platform, must have looked puny against the grandeur of even the incomplete structure. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 springs to mind!

Above: Temple of Artemis, Sardis. Right: Fluted column 'drums' scattered on the site - probably abandoned as they were being removed from the site for building materials elsewhere, or to be burned for lime!

Photos: 20 May 2010

Philadelphia

There really isn't a lot to see at Philadelphia so, after Ahmet had described the site and we had completed our devotions, I checked out some of the smaller artefacts and fragments lying around the site. I even managed to find a sarcophagus in my size!

Left: Footloose in Philadelphia. Centre: Inscription seems to read "...of the house of salvation...". Right: A perfect fit if ever I need my very own "flesh eater"!

Photos: 20 May 2010

Hierapolis

Two years earlier, towards the end of a long day, as soon as we arrived at Pamukkale, our guide took us to the southern entrance for a very fleeting visit. Ahmet was having none of that. Instead, it was straight to the hotel so we could be ready for a long day to come. This time we were really going to see Hierapolis!

Our visit began at the northern entrance, at about 8:30 am. The route from there is through the extensive northern necropolis. The road is lined on either side with a spectacular array of tomb monuments and sarcophagi, almost all the way to the Roman bath complex: a distance of about one kilometre.

The bath complex, every arriving traveler's first stop, does not look very stable. It is propped up in places and has little laser targets for measuring any movement in the structure. It was later converted into a Basilica and engraved crosses are visible in the keystones of some of the arches.

Past the baths, it is another 200 metres to the Frontinus Gate, flanked by its circular guard towers. Just inside that gate are latrines - also popular with arriving travellers, perhaps! The city had obviously shrunk by the Byzantine era as the gate from that period is a further 170 meters from the Frontinus Gate.

From the Byzantine Gate it is another 750 meters to the modern hot pools complex. We weren't there for a swim, so it was either turn right to visit the travertines and more Roman buildings, or turn left to wander up to the theatre.

We were free to wander for a while and at the agreed time we all made our way to the southern exit, the shops and our waiting coach. In all, we had spent about three hours visiting Hierapolis. Ahmet had proven, once again, that he was there to provide maximum value to us, rather than rush us through a site to get to another kickback opportunity at a retail outlet somewhere!

Above left: Tomb monuments and sarcophagi of the northern necropolis. Above right: Sarcophagus inscription bearing a biblical name: Onesimou (ie 'of Onesimus'). Not likely to be the Onesimus of the New Testament!

Below left: Tumuli (tomb mounds) of the northern necropolis. Below right: Interior view of a tumulus. I crawled down inside and only thought about the possibility of snakes or scorpions after I had climbed back out!!!

Photos: 21 May 2010

Above left: The crumbling Roman Baths of Hierapolis. Above right: The Frontinus Gate - the latrines are located in the colonnade on the left inside the gate.

Below left: The remains of the scene building of the theatre, from high in the cavea. Below right: The spectacular travertines in the morning sun.

Photos: 21 May 2010

Laodicea

The short drive from Hierapolis to Laodicea was filled with anticipation: how much change had happened as a result of ongoing excavation in the two years since our last visit? I was keen to find out.

At the site it was obvious that the excavation was continuing. But it was equally clear the site was being 'developed' to cater for 'tourists' like us. Rather than simply being an academic archaeological exploration, the proliferation of descriptive signboards, in both Turkish and English, testified to the increasing importance of 'Christian pilgrimage' as a foreign exchange earner for the tourist economy. A New York Times article from 2011 gives an indication of what was happening.

On this visit we did not see any more of what had been identified as "possibly an early Church" back in 2008. However there was significant reconstruction work on a temple, further to the west.

Above: Temple A being reconstructed. Originally dedicated to Apollo, Artemis and Aphrodite, by New Testament times it was associated with the Roman imperial cult.

Below left: Ongoing excavation of the housing and commercial area. Below right: The West Theatre with a glimpse of the travertines of Hierapolis across the valley.

Photos: 21 May 2010

Colossae

Since the previous visit nothing had changed at Colossae: it was still an unexcavated mound. Google Earth showed what looked like the cavea of a theatre or an odeon on the western side of the mound. I made may way down the road to find out.

Above left: Google Earth image with shadow of cavea circled. (Image captured 9 June 2018)

Above right: The small cavea from the roadway. Not much to see and difficult to capture from the road level! Photo: 21 May 2010

After our brief stop at Colossae we were back on the road, traveling out to the coast and our hotel at Kuşadası, the perfect resting place before our final site visit in Turkey, Ephesus.

Ephesus

This would be our last full day with Ahmet on this journey. Once again the experience he delivered was far superior to that of the previous tour. Ahmet spent much more time wandering slowly down through the site and included a side trip around the state agora to the site of the 'Water Palace" and the platform on which once stood the Temple of Domitian. When we got down to the Library of Celsus, Ahmet was happy to let us disperse for personal exploration, including the opportunity to visit the Houses on the Slope. We would meet back outside the Library at a designated time to make our way to the theatre together.

Above left: The Bouleterion, looking across a corner of the State Agora. Above right: An arch of the Scholastica Baths.

Photos: 22 May 2010

Above: The "Houses on the Slope", under ongoing excavation and study by the Austrian Archaeological Institute.

Below left: Earthenware in situ in the "Houses on the Slope". Below right: Detail of floor mosaic in the image above.

Photos: 22 May 2010

Later we, again, made our way to the Church of Mary for devotions before leaving the site. On this occasion we learned why September is a better time to visit than May.

As Susan Jarvis was leading us in devotions we began to hear thunder rumbling around the hills to the south. Soon, intermittent but very large raindrops began to spot the dust around our feet. Slowly and (hopefully) unobtrusively I extracted my rain jacket from my backpack. By the time Susan had concluded we were caught in a torrential downpour. We had to beat a very hasty retreat to the north western exit gate and sheltered as best we could, huddled under the awnings of market stalls, along with hundreds of other visitors to the site.

We did our best to dry out in the coach as we made our way to the same carpet factory we had visited on the previous tour. This time, however, Ahmet had arranged a 'loss-leader' lunch before the factory visit. For 10L we ate well, dried out, and prepared ourselves to withstand the coming sales pitch!

After the carpet factory Ahmet surprised us again. Before visiting the Basilica of St John we stopped off at the Ephesus Archaeological Museum. This was a fascinating addition to the itinerary: a range of artefacts retrieved from Ephesus brought a whole new dimension to our appreciation for this significant biblical location.

Above: Objects on display in the Ephesus Museum.

Anti-clockwise from top left: Augustus Caesar - the Roman emperor at the time of Jesus' birth. (Note the crude cross etched into his forehead, perhaps signifying the victory of Christianity?); Tiberius Caesar - the Roman emperor at the time of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection; Artemis, goddess of the Ephesians - unearthed near the bouleterion, possibly buried for safe keeping when the city was under attack.

Photos: 22 May 2010

After visiting the Basilica of St John it was back to Kuşadası for a farewell dinner with Ahmet and our driver, then preparation for an early departure for Patmos the next day. The 2010 visit to Patmos, and the conclusion of the tour, is recorded here.

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