Behramkale (Assos)

Day 4 we were up early and on the road.  The only negative thing about our trip was the amount of time we spent on the bus.  Probably an average of 8 hours daily.  Bathroom stops (with 90 people) are quite interesting.  As you can imagine the women's line is usually a little slower moving.  Every field trip I thank God I am male.  This little town at the base of Assos had 4 stalls  for the whole town.  A bathroom guide for field trips would probably sell well or maybe male disguises would work.

Ruins of Temple of Athena in Assos

 

 After leaving Plato, Aristotle came to Assos and opened the Academy of Assos, marrying Pythias, King Hermia's (also a student of Plato) daughter.  When the Persians invaded and killed the king, Aristotle escaped to Macedonia where he became Alexander the Great's tutor.

View of Isle of Lesbos from Assos

Assos, on the Aegean coast, has a harbour where Paul met his companions and sailed to Mitylene on the Island of Lesbos, to Samos and then on to Miletus

 Reconstructed Temple of Trajan (the original is in Berlin, Germany).

 Pergamum is located 16 mi from the Aegean Sea.  The Attalids (descendents for Attalus) were supporters of Rome against Phillip V of Macedon.  They remodeled the acropolis after the Acropolis in Athens. 

Theater

It sits next to the library which housed 200,000 volumes and was the second largest in the ancient world after Alexandria.  Parchment was invented in Pergamum after relations with Egypt soured and papyrus became difficult to obtain.

This theater is one of the steepest ones preserved in Turkey today.  It sits on the edge of the city's acropolis.  It was built in the Hellenistic period and altered in the Roman period.  

Seating capacity of this theater is estimated at 10,000 people.

Great Altar of Hercules

The Book of Revelation describes Pergamum as the place "where Satan's throne is" (2:13).  While discussing John's statement several students noticed ticks and spiders on their skin...interesting.  We quickly shook the dust (and the spiders) off our feet and left.

Jenessa Duffy and Erica Clark (Bus Docs entrance to Aesclipium

We have been blessed to have bus docs or people interested in medicine to help me and Christine with our responsibilities.  We teach them how to give the students two aspirin and call us in the morning.

Aesclepium

The god of healing, Aesclepius received worship in cultic centers around the Greek and Roman world.  This large complex at Pergamum was originally constructed in the 4th century B.C. and became an official center in the the 3rd c.  

In the 2nd c. A.D., Hadrian further developed the center and it was added to the list of "wonders of the world."

Serapeum

The Temple of Isis or Serapisis also called the Red Basilica is about 1 mile south of the acropolis in Pergamum.

A temple to the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld was erected in the lower city of Pergamum.  The Serapis cult was founded by Ptolemy I and was centered in Alexandria.  

Held to be a god of healing, particularly of blindness,  Serapis was one of a number of Egyptian deities worshiped in ancient Greece and Rome.

Converted to a church in 1st Century AD and was one of the 7 Churches that the Book of Revelation was addressed. (Rev 2:12)

Turkey/Troy

Hotel Cartoon Istanbul

Country European Turkey (East Thrace)

Day 3 :following an interesting night in the Cartoon Hotel (air conditioners not working and the windows open directly onto Taksim Square--where they party all night) in Istanbul, 

We headed into Turkish Thrace which is European Turkey.  This is beautiful country with rolling hills bordering the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles.

Peninsula of Gallipoli

The Peninsula of Gallipoli is located in East Thrace.  With the Aegean sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east.  In early 1915 the Battle of Gallipoli pitted the Allied Forces and most notably the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps) vs the Turks (part of the Axis).  The landing went wrong allowing Ottoman Turks to reinforce their positions.  They were never dislodged from the heights.  Churchill gave up on the idea of a quick defeat of the Ottomans.

Trojan Horse  Troy

 According to Virgil's Aeneid, after a 10-year siege the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse and hid 30 elite men inside.  The Greeks pretended to sail away and the Trojans pulled the horse inside the previously impenetrable walls (see below).  Of course we were fortunate to be able to see the actual Trojan Horse and were amazed at how well it has held up since 1200 BC.

 Homer's Iliad immortalized the Trojan War, thought for many years to be a myth, Heinrich Schliemann, a pioneer in archeology used the Homeric poem to locate the site and excavate what ended up being nine separate periods or layers(from 3000 BC to 100 BC) of settlement including a temple and theater and of course the horse (seen above).

Portion of the legendary walls of Troy (VII),  site of the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BC)

Temple of Athena Troy

According to Acts 16:8, the Apostle Paul visited Troas in the same area as Troy during his second missionary journey.  He had a vision of a man of Macedonia imploring him "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9)and in response he and his companions set sail to Macedonia








 



Acts 20:6 in his third mission he sailed from Philippi to Troas after the days of unleavened bread (passover) where he stayed for 7 days.  The Acts account tells of Paul engaged in a lengthy discussion in an upstairs room at Troas.  Paul was rather long-winded, continuing his talk until midnight.  A young man, Eutychus, sitting in a window dozed off and fell out the window.  Having fallen three stories, the young man was believed to be dead.  Paul, however picked him up, indicating he was alive and returned upstairs continuing his discussion until dawn, at which point he left for Assos.  Acts does not indicate if he took photos with the Trojan Horse or not.

Nine Archeological Layers of Troy

Dardanelles from Truvaotel in Canakkale

Prior to our visit to Troy we took a ferry ride across the Dardanelles straits to arrive in Asian Turkey.  Canakkale is the city closest to Troy and hotel (Truvaotel) had big windows that opened up to a view of the Dardanelles (right).  A little different atmosphere than the Hotel Cartoon in Istanbul... of course we were now on a different continent.

Turkey/Istanbul

Sunset Istanbul

Due to the conflicts in Egypt, the BYU-JC students went to the land of the New Testament and the Apostle Paul.  TURKEY.  We flew from Ben Gurion Airport via Turkish Airlines to Istanbul

Yeni Mosque Istanbul

Istanbul, historically known as Byzantium and then Constantinople. Constantine I defeated Licinius in the Battle of Chrysopolis in September 324 AD. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country.  Sultan Mehmed II defeated Constantine XI in May 1453 changing the name to Istanbul

Golden Horn of Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey with  a population of over 13 million.  Over 90% are Muslim and there are over 2,500 active mosques.

Taksim Square Istanbul

Taksim Square in the European section of Istanbul is considered the heart of modern Istanbul and is famous for its restaurants, shops and hotels.  We stayed in the Cartoon Hotel with a definite Disney flavor including statues of Donald Duck.  Following a dinner featuring traditional Turkish salads and grill and fried mozzarella (heavenly) I went with Frank Judd to McDonalds and had a McFlurry and walked the main street with all the shops.  The tattoo parlors were awful tempting

  Imperial Gate Topkapi Palace Istabul

 Topkapi Palace was home to Ottoman Sultans from 1465-1865.  Located on Sergalio point overlooking the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara.  The palace complex has over 100 rooms including the Harem.

The First Courtyard

One of the central tenets of the imperial courts was strict silence.  Needless to say, when our 80 students arrived there was no silence.

The large Gate of Salutation  also known as the Middle Gate  leads into the palace and the Second Courtyard.No one apart for official purpose and foreign dignitaries were allowed passage through the gate. All visitors had to dismount by the Middle Gate, since only the sultan was allowed to enter the gate on horseback. We were allowed to pass along with the other 5,000 visitors that morning

The Tower of Justice next to the Imperial Council hall

The tower symbolizes the eternal vigilance of the sultan against injustice. Everyone from afar was supposed to be able to see the tower to feel assured about the sultan's presence. The tower was also used by the sultan for viewing pleasures

The Sultan's bedroom.  It is hard to get an idea of how big the bed is.  It would definitely hold our entire extended family while we were watching TV.  Christine believes that the Sultan would sleep here alone and visit his wives in the Harem in separate quarters.  You can see my reflection in the glass

From Topkapi Palace overlooking downtown Istanbul

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles on the interior, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the largest mosque in Turkey.  It has 6 minarets on the exterior

Interior of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque which is still a functioning mosque.  Men are allowed in the large prayer women have a much smaller secluded spot.  This is so they don't think about other things during prayers

Minor ablutions before prayer

"O you who believe! when you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you are under an obligation to perform a total ablution, then wash (yourselves) and if you are sick or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy, or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth and wipe your faces and your hands therewith, Allah does not desire to put on you any difficulty, but He wishes to purify you and that He may complete His favor on you, so that you may be grateful."  Quran

Obelisk ofTutmoses III in Hippodrome Istanbul

Theodosius the Great in 390 AD brought the Obelisk of Tutmoses III from the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor (Thebes) Egypt and placed it in the center of the Hippodrome race track.  This looks huge but is only the top third of the original obelisk as the knucklehead cut the obelisk into 3 pieces.

Hippodrome with Blue Mosque in background

The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting (horse racing and chariot racing) and social centre of Byzantium.  Today it is known as Sultanahmet Meydani.

Basilica Cistern Istanbul

The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the old city of Istanbul (Constantinople).  Built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian I

Medusa Head Pillar Basilica Cistern

In the northwest corner of the Basilica are two columns with Medusa Heads carved in at the base.  The origin of the two heads is unknown, though it is thought that the heads were brought to the cistern after being removed from a building of the late Roman period

Yeni Mosque seen from Bosphorus strait

Following our visit to Old Istanbul we took a cruise along the beautiful Bosphorus, a narrow strait between the continents of Europe and Asia connecting the Black Sea in the north to the Sea of Marmara in the south.

Modern Istanbul from Bosphorus

We finished up at the northern end of the Bosphorus

Strait near the entrance to the Black Sea where we had a great fish dinner.

Northern Bosphorus Stait entrace to Black Sea

Valens Aquaduct Istanbul

Completed by Roman Emperor Valens in the late 4th century AD, it was restored by several Ottoman Sultans, and is one of the most important landmarks of the city.