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Day 6: Hattusas, Amasya Travelling By Bus We piled onto the bus, ready and eager to go, but had to wait. Sebnem was late. But she had good reason. As sources later revealed, Sebnem was feeling a little threatened by her tourists on the trip. A goodly number knew more about the history of parts of Turkey than she did, and being a dedicated guide, she was trying to catch up to give value for money. She stayed up late studying her special guide book, trying to absorb the history of where we were going today, and she stayed up so late that she slept in. She couldn't win. Never mind. She did a marvelous job making sure that we were always housed and fed (bathed was sometimes a problem), and always escorted to and from where we had to go. Knowing more than the knowledgeable was not a requirement. She apologised profusely over the bus intercom and said that we could get our revenge later. Mustafa drove us to Hattusas. It was on this part of the bus trip that I started to notice the bizarre building arrangements of rural Turkey. Houses were generally unfinished. They were mostly single story, squatty and ugly concrete or block buildings. But often, a second story had started to be built but never finished. Parts of the walls were built on the second story, and that was it. And there were lots of houses that had started to be built, and never finished. And they did look primitive. Except for the satellite dishes on top of most houses. And the solar water heating units. This incongruence was startling. High-tech facilities built on top of very primitive dwellings. The farmers also had some incongruities. They drove these lovely little tractors, mini-tractors. I was very taken with these little tractors and wouldn't mind one of my own. They drove them everywhere, like the utes in Australia. But they usually wore suits. And were frequently seen talking on their mobile phones. Turkey, a land of contrasts. The trip to Hattusas was only 200 kilometers, but it was long enough for me to discover the most delightful Tofita of the entire tour. I read this one out to the entire bus, and it drew much laughter. An optimist is happy about the forming of a crust over his wound. A pessimist is worrying about the wound under the crust. Attributed to Ernst Schroder. The History of the Region We arrived at Hattusas, Bogazkoy, Bogazkale. There are a number of names to describe this location. The present-day town is called Bogazkale. This is the modern name in official use. It used to be called Bogazkoy. This little town is right next to the ancient city, and this city is ancient. The region was originally settled in Paleolithic times by the Hatti, about 2,500 BC. A city grew here around 1900 BC, called Hattush. It was the capital of the region, the seat of a dynasty of the kings of the region. The city included a colony of Assyrian merchants and they left behind many documents and much that has been excavated. Hattush came to an end around 1720 BC, when Anitta, king of Kushar and Nesha, took it. He destroyed it and cursed it so that it would never be inhabitated again. He didn't get his wish. Sometime between 1720 BC and 1600 BC, a king of the Kushar, a Hittite dynasty, decided to make the city his capital. The new city was planned, and then built on the ruins of the old. The move meant that the Hittite language was introduced to the region. Thus the name of the city, Hattush, was Hittitized to Hattusha or Hattusas. The first Hittite king to take residence here called himself Hattusili, the one from Hattusha. Over the next few hundred years, Hattusas remained the capital of the Hittite empire. It suffered periods of insurgence and invasion by enemies from surrounding regions. From the north, the Kashka people of the Pontic area reached the city around 1400 BC during the reign of Tudhilaya III, and they burned the city down. It was flourishing again in the reign of Tudhilaya's successor, Suppiluliuma I (ca 1370 - 1335 BC). A hundred years later, there was threat of invasion again from the north, and King Muwatalli II (ca 1305 - 1282 BC) moved the capital from Hattusas to Dattassa in Kummanni. He left behind an administrator, who looked after Huttusha very well. Muwatalli's son, Mursili III, moved the capital back to Hattusas. A family struggle took place, and Mursili II's uncle, Hattusili III, ousted him and bcame Great King. He and his successor, Tudhiliya IV (ca 1250 - 1220 BC), rebuilt the city into the form we know today. At this time, Hattusas was a very large, sprawling city. When we got to the top and looked down over all the ruins, I was amazed at just how extensive the city was. There was a huge rocky citadel for the king, called Buyukkale. And a king's palace. And a huge temple to the storm-god Teshuba and the sun-goddess Hebut. And 7 other temples. Water cisterns, aqueducts, staorage magazines. This was a large city. And naturally, it was very well fortified, with kilometers of huge walls and towers. And it was up a hill, with great views to check if anyone was coming. Around 1200 BC, the Kashka of the Pontic area tried invasion again and succeeded again, and Hattusas was destroyed. For a time, small settlements were made on the site, including a Phrygian settlement. A new city grew on the site between about 650 BC and 500 BC, called Bogazkoy. Although the houses were much richer than the ancient city, the size of the new city was much smaller. In the 3rd century BC, the region lost importance as power shifted west. The area was invaded by the Galatians, and they made their capital southwest of of the ancient city, and Bogazkoy declined and became a village. It's still there. Yazilikaya Mustafa drove us up to our first stop, the ancient religious site of Yazilikaya. This name means "inscribed rock", and that's exactly what we saw. The bus drove up the hill, and we got out and brushed past a few well-mannered (at this stage) Turkish artifact salesmen. We walked up the hill, past a small kiosk selling books about Hattusas. We walked further up the hill and came to a pile of old carved rocks. This was Yazilikaya, an open-air religious sanctuary. It had started as just a natural rock gallery, but huge gates and some temple structures had been added. Not much remains. All that was left was the carvings on the rocks. This was the start of the second of our running jokes, about framed photographs. I'm not sure how it got started, but framed photographs were all the go from this point on. I managed a nice framed photograph of Chris attempting to get a photograph. We had a little look around, and then headed back down to the bus. Elizabeth twisted her ankle, clambering over the rocks. I was surprised that more of us didn't twist our ankles, as we had to climb over lots of loose rocks, and climb through crevices, and stand on very uneven surfaces to see the carvings. On the way back to the bus, Anne pushed me forward to help Elizabeth. I did the polite balancing act for a short while until honour was satisfied and her embarrassed protests that she she could manage by herself could be heeded. When we passed the book-sellers kiosk, my book-collecting mania aserted itself. Jenny already had the main book about Hattusas, and I was envious. It was Guide to Bogazkoy by Kurt Bittel, the German archaeologist who has been director of the excavations at Bogazkale since 1931. It's got lots of photos of the artifacts and excavations, and a lot of detail and history. The kiosk only had a few English copies left, so I made sure I got mine and that it was in English. One of the others bought a copy too, but got the German version, and had to rush back and exchange it. Before we got back to the bus, we had to get past the stalls set up by the Turkish artifact salesmen. There were more of them this time, alerted by the sight of the bus. They had lots of carvings for sale. These weren't ancient carvings, but stuff they carved themselves from the local stone as souvenirs. Their work looked pretty good too. Anne bought a large flat carving on a piece of slate with Hittite figures on it. I bought a little bull carved from some loose porous rock that smelt burnt. I don't if it was the carving method that made it smell burnt, or the rock itself, but it still has a dark burning smell to it. Many of us bought souvenirs here, little realising that this was just the first wave of salesmen we would be dealing with. Hattusas The bus took as down from Yazilikaya and then up to the city of Hattusas. En route, our bus was overtaken by a number of old beat-up cars, stuffed full of people. These were the carvings salesmen getting up to the top so they could push their wares in our faces again. Wherever the bus went, they would get there ahead of us and pester us. Our first stop was at the top of the hill where we could look down over the entire sprawling city of Hattusas. The bus made a number of stops on the hillside, so we could see the main gates. There are 6 gateways still standing. Three of them have names. They are the Lion Gate, the King's Gate and the Sphinx Gate. The Lion Gate has two stone lions to defend the city. The walls of the city on both sides of this gate have been reconstructed to give an idea of the size of the city and its fortifications. The King's Gate has been partially reconstructed, and this includes a large concrete block showing a carving of a king. Actually, despite the name of the gate, it isn't a king on the carving but a Hittite war god. The original carving is in the Ankara Museum. The Sphinx Gate used to have two large sphinxes defending the entrance, but these are in the Istanbul and Berlin museums. An amazing amount of stuff from Turkey ended up in German and British museums, and just a little bit ended up staying in Turkey. This is looking back through the Sphinx Gate, with the bus in a framed photo. Behind the Sphinx gate is a long tunnel. We wandered through the tunnel, only to meet the salesmen again who had rushed around to meet us. We then climbed up the wall and headed back to the Sphinx gate, where the salesmen were ready for us again. Here, the wall isn't a ruin. It's been reconstructed, and they've done a pretty good job. Anne and I were overcome by the persistence of the salesmen, and we bought more stuff. I bought a lovely little lion, carved from a soft green stone. This poor lion came to a sad end, and although I still have him, he's in very poor condition. Anne bought a smaller piece of slate with carved Hittite reliefs. Both her pieces survived the trip home, but both mine suffered damage from an accident at the Istanbul airport. The bull was superglued back, but the lion kept breaking up. Every time we touched him, he would fragment. It became clear that he wasn't a solid piece of stone. He had split several times during carving, and had been superglued back together. After the fall, he just kept splitting and fragmenting. he's almost as much superglue as stone now. Still, in a dark cabinet and hidden behind the bull, he looks pretty good. But I don't dare handle him any more. Back on the bus, and we drove down to the ruins of a large temple complex. We wandered about the ruins, followed by the vendors who kept trying to sell us stuff. One guy was trying to buy US dollars from us. We walked a fair way, and finally only the most persistent vendors kept with us. The rest went back to the bus and waited to catch us there. There was plenty for us to see here. Storerooms with amphoras. A large cube of oily, silky green stone. Richard finds his purpose Hattusas was where Richard decided that ancient history didn't hold much interest, but he soon found something else to keep his attention. Lunch in Bogazkale After a long wander, we got back on the bus and drove a short way down to the modern village of Bogazkale for lunch. This was a very poor little village. Lunch was at a large cantina that obviously catered to the tourist trade. Sebnem told us the arrangements: choose two dishes, a dessert and a drink and go back outside and eat it. It was very pleasant. Nice weather, nice scenery and nice food. It was a chance to have a bit of a rest after scrambling up and down over the ruins. The only down-side was the toilets, which were pretty smelly and well-used. There was a little shop selling postcards and books, and it got a bit of trade from us. They also had the book Guide to Bogazkoy, but it was more expensive here. After lunch, we did a little wandering around and we met the schoolkids coming home for lunch. Some of them were learning English and we were frequently greeted with "Hello, my name is xxx, how are you?" Amasya After lunch, we piled back onto the bus for our 200 km trip to Amasya. I had read about Amasya in Colleen McCullough's novels of Rome. Amasya had been the capital of the kingdom of Pontus, the home of Mithridates whom Gaius Marius and Sulla had both faced down. Her books had described Amasya and Pontus, but now I had the opportunity to see it for myself. Amasya is a small town in a river valley surrounded by mountain cliffs. The valley is small and the cliffs are high and there are large tombs carved into some of the cliffs. It's a spectacular sight. History of Amasya Amasya started as a Hittite town, and was conquered by Alexander the Great. When his empire broke up, Amasya became the capital of the kings of Pontus, a kingdom ruled by a family of Persian satraps. By the time of King Mithridates II (281 BC), the kingdom of Pontus was entering its golden age and it dominated a large part of Anatolia. The Pontic kingdom reached its zenith under Mithridates VI Eupator (ca 115 - 63 BC) whose program of expansion brought him into conflict with Rome. Mithridates was finally defeated by Pompey in 63 BC, and Amasya became the Roman administrative capital of the area. In the 2nd century AD, Amasya received the titles metropolis and first city under the Romans. Amasya was the capital of the Turkmen Danismend emirs until it was annexed by the Seljuks around 1075 AD. It became a major centre of learning in Anatolia after being incorporated into the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Bayezid I (reigned 1389 - 1402). The Ottomans also used Amasya as an important military base when the sultans led campaigns into Persia. A tradition developed that the Ottoman Crown prince should be taught statecraft in Amasya and test his knowledge and skill as governor of the province. Shopping in Amasya We were well ahead of the itinerary when we arrived at Amasya, and the shops were still open, so we had time to do a bit of shopping and banking. The bus dropped us off near a small bridge over the River Yesilirmak. Right nearby was a Post Office, so this was our first stop. Sebnem took our orders for stamps, and I went inside and watched her buy them. The Post Office was packed and noisy and it seemed chaotic. Sebnem asked about the postcard rate, was told it was 100,000 TL, and she bought several sheets. We later found out that it should have been 125,000 TL, but with inflation running at 100% a year, I suppose it was hard for the smaller Post Offices to keep up with the various rates. Then again, it might have been 100,000 when we bought them, and it jumped to 125,000 a week later. We didn't know. It didn't matter because all the postcards that I sent with only a 100,000 stamp on them made it back to Australia without any problems. After the Post Office, we scattered, after deciding to meet back at the bridge so that we could go and see the Ottoman House and then have a climb up to the tombs. Some headed for the banks to try and do things with traveller's cheques, and others just wanted to wander the town and look around. I wanted to find a chemist and get something for my cold. Sebnem came with us to the chemist and did the translating. We sat down and the chemist asked me to describe my symptoms, and I described them for him with Sebnem translating. He then recommended antibiotics. I was quite surprised at this, as colds are viral and antibiotics don't touch viruses. I didn't want to refuse outright, so I demurred and ignored the offer of antibiotics and had a look at what they did have to offer for colds to see if I could recognize anything. I found some sort of cold tablets and a nasal decongestant spray. I've never used a spray, and I never used the spray we bought in Amasya and it's still sitting unused in my medicine cabinet. I think I bought it because they were trying to be so helpful and I was refusing their recommendation. Later, I found that the cold tablets didn't really work very well, so it was all a bit of a wasted visit. I had a chat to Jenny about this later, and she said that the level of medical knowledge in Australia was high because of women's magazines. Thye might waffle on about the royals, but they generally gave a fair amount of medical information. Turkey hadn't reached that stage. Sebnem left us then to go and do some shopping for herself, so Anne and I went back to the bridge to wait for everyone else. While we were waiting, we looked around and spotted the restored Ottoman House across the river, a large building, painted a brilliant white. The others came back in dribs and drabs. The people who arrived last were those who had gone to the banks. Banks were not very good if you were in a hurry. When nearly all of us had arrived, we walked across the bridge and over to the Ottoman House. Hazeranlar Konagi This is Hazeranlar Konagi, a wooden Ottoman House built in 1865. It was restored in the early 1980s, and is now an ethnology museum and a gallery for travelling exhibits. The time was late, it was close to closing time, and they were reluctant to let us in. Sebnem sweet-talked them, and they reluctantly let us in to have a look round on the understanding that we would make it a quick visit. After these negotiations, Jenny headed back to the bridge to pick up the last stragglers. We wandered through the old house and it was a lovely old building. High ceilings, steep high staircases, and rooms furnished in the original style with worn carpets. After climbing up to the top and then climbing down part of the way, I came across a level that had been made into half-levels with very low ceilings. I don't know if these were servants quarters or were for children, but it reminded me of climbing through the Endeavour replica ship. Jenny reappeared with the stragglers and they did a quick tour of the house too, despite the disgruntled officials. When we finished and went outside the house, we found the gallery entrance. The gallery had rooms underneath the house. Today, there was an exhibition of Turkish modern art, with the pieces for sale. To my ill-educated prejudices, it was like most modern art - brightly coloured rubbish. Beautifully done of course, and very pretty, but I just loathe modern art. Tombs of the Pontic Kings After looking at a fairly recent building, it was time for some ancient history. We started walking up the hill toward the tombs of the Pontic Kings. We were walking through the laneways and houses, climbing high. Near the top, there was an old woman sitting on the side of the steps who was asking for alms. She didn't get anything while we were on the way up, but she certainly got plenty while we were on the way down. Our first stop was the ticket office. Sebnem paid, and we went up to Kizlar Sarayi, the Palace of the Maidens. This wasn't a harem, but the palace of the kings of Pontus, and later of the Ottoman governors. It was a ruin of a palace. We climbed higher and came to the cliffs and the tombs. We were pretty high by this stage and had a great view of Amasya and the valley. Those of us who weren't worried about heights, wandered around and found that some of the entrances were padlocked. Some were not, so we wandered in and had a look. There wasn't much to see, just large rocks inside large caves. Lots of rubbish and the strong smell of urine, too. I climbed further around and up to see if there was anything else to be seen. There wasn't, just a young Turkish couple having a cuddle in privacy. I climbed back down and joined the others. We climbed down again, past the ruined palace, and past the old woman. Anne gave her some money, as did some others. And then we climbed right back down and walked to the hotel where the bus was parked. We booked in, had a quiet dinner and crashed. All that walking and climbing had worn me out.