[view of Temple of Aphrodite from the stadium]
It’s been far too long
since my last post and indeed so much has transpired in the world of Turkish
adventures. In addition to the regular
madness and excitement in the Queen of Cities (AKA Istanbul), I have floated
over the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia, worn a Batman shirt in Batman (SE
Turkey), went night swimming in Olympos, trekked through the sites of Antalya,
been awed by Gobekli Tepe, and summated Nemrut Dağ. I’ve also read thousands of inscriptions from
Ephesos and Termessos, read more German than I cared to, know more about elites
from the 2nd century than I do about some of my friends (in the
present), and finally, have a manageable amount of data for the dissertation
(and an accomplishable outline and finishing plan). In order to maintain my sanity, I found great
group of guys to play football (aka soccer) with on the Asian side of Istanbul,
started a friendly karaoke night, and befriended a stray cat named
Sparkles. Details of much of these
adventures will probably appear in future posts.
Map of all the places I have visited in Turkey: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=205271214912842760890.0004c5e60e4c2e47dbcc1
A brief life update: my
residential fellowship at the Research Center for Anatolian ended in mid-June
and I had to say goodbye to my swank accommodations on Istiklal. A sad day indeed, particularly because it was
paired with saying goodbye to the wonderful friends I made this past year. I moved in with three other American
researchers into a glorious flat in Cihangir (arguably the cat and coffee
shop-capital of Istanbul). In between my
archaeological travels, I’ve been there all summer working at the library and
pushing my way through the crowds of tourists on the street, all the while
shaking my head and thinking “foreigners” J My stay in Turkey is coming to a close. And
it saddens me greatly, but before I go (in only two weeks now!), I had to head
out of Istanbul once again for research—site visits to Aphrodisias, Sagalassos,
and Ephesos, mostly to photograph the objects I am writing about, but also to
meet directors and specialists, discuss my project, and get feedback. I am about mid-way through the adventure,
having just finished my stay in Aphrodisias and awaiting the bus for a short
trip to Sagalassos. Perhaps it is
because I am travelling solo, perhaps because I am stuck at a bus station in
Nazili for three hours, or perhaps because I am having the most incredible
time, I felt compelled to compose a new entry.
So here goes…
[Landscape of Aphrodisias]
[bus station at Nazili]
[Men at Nazili trying to fix the bus]
[Dig house cat taking a nap]
At
dinner (and mind you there without a shower after 3 hours on an un-air-conditioned
bus), I met some of the biggest names in my field, some of whom I was
expecting, some of whom were a serendipitous surprise. I’m exhausted, but thrilled. I am not staying at the excavation house
however, but a hotel 2km away.
Fortunately, so are two of the other guests, one of whom, Chris Ratte,
is a leading scholar on Aphrodisias (and generally all things Roman in Asia
Minor). They offer me a ride. We arrive, I get a room and Chris looks at me
and says, “would you like a beer?”
Sweeter words have never been spoken!
In a heavy sigh of relief, I say yes please! And then he and I and another scholar site in
the garden drinking beer and talking about my dissertation. A good start.
Roman tetrapylon re-used as a Late Roman church
Theater Baths
The dig house Kitten. I named him Mort.
Day
2. Early morning start with 6:30
breakfast made even earlier by the rooster outside my room who has decided that
the sun rises at 4am. I am thankful that
my travels were so exhausting because the bed is uncomfortable, the pillow
worse, the room un-air-conditioned, and the night still and a balmy 30 degrees or
so (upper 80s). A brief word on the
circumstances I am entering into: Aphrodisias, a Roman city, is excavated every
year under the auspices of R.R.R. Smith from Oxford university and professors
from NYU. The project consists of a few
graduate student archaeologists, mostly from NYU, digging a few trenches in the
city, a number of student architects, mostly from UPenn, drawing for the
project, and a slew of conservators, specialists, and professional architects
and restoraters. And all this is on top of the 90 or so local workmen employed
there to assist in all this. Needless to
say, it is a large group with varied interests and backgrounds. They have been in the field since the first
week of July and will continue on until late August. I am here for three days, primarily to
photograph the inscriptions (on statue bases) that I am analyzing as part of my
dissertation.
I had envisioned that I would be very separate from the project, wandering around on my own and meeting with people when possible. But to my much appreciated surprise, I was fully integrated into the group with amazing hospitality and friendliness. I ate all my meals with the team, joined them for tea breaks, and had access to the office space, internet, and resources of the excavation house. I was even able to play a little pick up football in front of the Temple of Aphrodite one evening, relax under the tetrapylon listening to music and drinking a few beers, and, another night, sit on a patio overlooking the Sebasteion. It was incredible. An amazing project that I was so happy to be a part of, however fleeting. The people were amazingly friendly, interested in my project, in Austin, and in my year in Istanbul. It made me miss field work. Other archaeologists will understand, but there is a sort of magical and instantaneous comradery that occurs on archaeological projects. It might be an effect of being so far from home, sometimes in a strange and new place; it may be that you are so far removed from the normalcies of daily life, such as television, consumerism, or anything to do; it may be that you are usually living under stressful circumstances of long, hot, demanding days with little sleep. For whatever reason, archaeology brings people together and it was nice to be brought into the fold so warmly.
View from top of Theater of Tetrastoon, Theater baths and basilica
Hadrianic Baths undergoing restoration and conservation. And I got to join in a full site tour from the main directors with a group visiting from Sardis (another Roman city)--met Nick Cahill and many others!
Some of the less-than-ideally displayed statue bases I was documenting
Statue base of local elite woman in situ outside the council house
I had envisioned that I would be very separate from the project, wandering around on my own and meeting with people when possible. But to my much appreciated surprise, I was fully integrated into the group with amazing hospitality and friendliness. I ate all my meals with the team, joined them for tea breaks, and had access to the office space, internet, and resources of the excavation house. I was even able to play a little pick up football in front of the Temple of Aphrodite one evening, relax under the tetrapylon listening to music and drinking a few beers, and, another night, sit on a patio overlooking the Sebasteion. It was incredible. An amazing project that I was so happy to be a part of, however fleeting. The people were amazingly friendly, interested in my project, in Austin, and in my year in Istanbul. It made me miss field work. Other archaeologists will understand, but there is a sort of magical and instantaneous comradery that occurs on archaeological projects. It might be an effect of being so far from home, sometimes in a strange and new place; it may be that you are so far removed from the normalcies of daily life, such as television, consumerism, or anything to do; it may be that you are usually living under stressful circumstances of long, hot, demanding days with little sleep. For whatever reason, archaeology brings people together and it was nice to be brought into the fold so warmly.
Colonnaded hall of Late Antique basilica-structure
Standing columns of Temple of Aphrodite (later reused as a church)
Theater auditorium at Aphrodisias
stadium at Aphrodisias. Best preserved in Asia Minor
While
this was an incredible experience and my research went beyond well—all the
photos acquired, plus new perspectives on some of the evidence and new
confidence in my knowledge on the site and material, the most entertaining part
of the trip so far has been my interactions with locals, such as the employee
at the site café who saw my walking along the highway back to the hotel (I
wanted to shower and work on my computer before dinner and it’s only a 2km
walk)—he pulled over on his moped and took me there! I count this as officially hitch-hiking in
Turkey. Or the mini-bus driver who
picked me up early—I was waiting to head to the next village over, but he was
headed the over way first. If he had
left me there, I would have been on the side of the highway for about 45
minutes. So instead, I got a ride
through the village in the other direction, where we stopped for chai (since he
was ahead of schedule) at a local tea garden (and for those who don’t know
these are outdoor cafes where all the town med go and sit and smoke, a woman
there is a novelty). We sat down with a
town elder-type, had chai, smoked cigarettes, and I got to demonstrate at
length the poorness of my Turkish. Back
on the road, we finally make it to my destination at which point the driver
says the trip is free and wishes me luck on my studies!
Some of the inscriptions were a little harder to get to...they were reused in the city walls built in the 4th century
And they are a little overgrown these dats
The north wall, while standing tall also has a bit of overgrowth
Not the best circumstances for great photo-documentation :)
I
had ended up in Karacasu, the village (ca. 6000 people) about 20km from
Aphrodisias. The next day I was headed 4
hours southeast, but a friend of mine in Istanbul has family in Karacasu that
was willing to host me for the night. I
thought it would be better to get an early start on Saturday than deal with
night traveling in a region I haven’t been, so I accepted the kind offer. To make it all the more exciting, the family
does not speak English J
I arrive around 7:30pm and am taken to their lovely apartment, where
they show me every hospitality and we make small talk as best as I can…phrase
book in hand for part of it. It is a
husband and wife and their 5-year old son.
The parents are fasting as part of Ramazan, but she insists that I eat
and makes me a plate of French fries, bread, and a sweet. Delicious.
Their son and his friend return home—they are all energy and have no
interest in eating. Jumping, screaming,
and running away seem to be much more preferable. 8:30 rolls around and the fasting can
end. We sit down on the rug of their
balcony around a low round table, where Aynur (the wife) has prepared a
feast! Soup, beans with beef, salad,
rice, meatballs, fries, sweets, fresh watermelon, and two kinds of bread. They dig in.
I follow. Delicious!
Field where I played football one afternoon--I score a goal!
The tetrapylon, spent one night watching the stars from here--and there were tons stars!
The reconstruction of the Sebasteion (imperial cult temple complex)
We
clean up and now it is time to go out!
We change clothes and pile into the car with the upstairs neighbor
(Aynur’s best friend) and her husband. We drive about 20 minutes up a mountain to a
tea garden. Unlike a tea garden in the
city, this is the place to be—everyone is here with the family! Set in the side of the mountain, it is the
one place in the area with a cooling breeze.
We sit down and have chai. Of course, they know everyone there and I
feel like a guest of honor as they introduce me around. In fact, when we have to wait a few minutes
before our order is taken, they jokingly chide the waiter, saying they should
get special treatment for bringing the tourist here—I am all smiles and
laughter (that’s how I get through most conversations in Turkish). The men leave for the night prayer call and
the son runs around like mad. My new
Turkish vocabulary word, yaramaz: mischievous, rompy, impish. Everyone
described the boy as this…and he was—he threw a glass in the trash can, put
sunflower seed shells on a neighbor, and would fill his mouth with soda water
and drool in front of strangers. All the
while, different people would alternate between scolding him, laughing, and
threatening that the police were coming (all actions were ineffective). When he wasn’t distracting us, we chatted as
best we could about Istanbul, family, traveling, and I got a slideshow of
family photos on the cell phone. It was
sweet to see and hear the affection. After
a few hours, we head back home, mostly on my account because I had said I had a
long day (I think they could have stayed all night). I sleep so comfortably on the couch bed. In the morning they wake to make me
breakfast—they are already fasting, so it is all for me: boiled egg, olives,
cheese, organic tomatoes (grown in their garden), honey, jam, pistachio butter,
cake, and two kinds of bread. I eat what
I can. She packs up the cheese, olives,
cake, and bread and makes me a snack pack for my travels. Then they drive me to the bus station, wait
for the bus to come for me, and pay for my trip!
Statue of local benefactor displayed in Aphrodisias museum
The council house of Aphrodisias
Some less than wonderfully displayed statue bases
For
only having been able to exchange a few pleasantries, I know that they are two
of the sweetest, kindest, and most hospitable people. I am so glad I was able to stay with them and
have that experience. Well, back to
travelling for me. Hopefully, more to
come soon. I do want to close with a
general encouragement for people to travel in Turkey. I am sure everyone’s
experiences are different in this respect, but in my own extensive travels this
past year, and these past few days in particular traveling alone, I am so
amazed with the kindness of the people that meet along the way. They are excited to meet you and so eager to help
you on your way and make sure you end up where you mean to go. For me, there is nothing quite like a trip
the Turkish countryside to restore your faith in humanity J
On the road again
til next time...
