Egypt

I’m going to Egypt for Christmas with some friends. Its my 4th continent this year. What a blessed year. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. I’ll post plenty when I get back.

Its Christmas in Tarlabasi

Christmas in Tarlabasi (pronounced TAR-LA-BASH-UGH)

Its Christmas in Tarlabasi

but no one seems to care.

No caroling in the background,

wood fires fill the air.

 

Its Christmas in Tarlabasi

no lights up anywhere.

No church bells ringing in this slum,

just the call to prayer.

 

At the vegetable stand alone

can reds and greens be seen.

Everything else is gray and brown,

no snowy white pristine.

 

A man walks past, his Winston lit

orange tip ember gleams.

He doesn't know its Christmas Day,

doesn't know what it means.

 

Laundry hangs like boughs of holly

drenched in the alley's rain.

The few saved souls walk underneath

where street cats share their pain.

 

There's nothing merry down this road

there's nothing to be gained.

Just joyfully discarded trash,

a bloody Kurban stain.

 

Once inside, over mulled red wine

the saved can laugh and drink.

As they fill up with Christmas cheer,

of home is where they think.

 

The tales come out from Christmas past

every one fond, distinct.

A puppy dog, a skiing trip,

an outdoor skating rink.

 

Outside the melancholy thrives

but here it is safe and light.

Warm and jovial moods take hold

and make the spirits bright.

 

They'll drink and smoke, enjoy the glow

to get to feeling right.

Tarlabasi is not so bad,

on this holiest of nights.

 

Its Christmas in Tarlabasi

but no one seems to care.

Except for a few wandering souls

and the spirit that they share.

 

Its Christmas in Tarlabasi

no carols anywhere.

Except for the laughs of gentle souls,

which ring out like a prayer.

 

 

Off the beaten path: Camel Wrestling

“How many children do you have?” I asked him as he handed me my second double raki. My Turkish, usually sluggish and stumbling was clicking this morning. When I am excited, as I was about this camel wrestling tournament, I didn’t bother to think, I only spoke.

Fatih was short and stocky with a forward facing newsies cap and the kind of smile that only comes from drinking in the morning. As I walked by, I had wished him a happy holiday and he had responded by offering me a drink and a meal. The camel sausage he gave me wasn’t tough and chewy, as I guessed it would be, instead it was spiced and juicy like a bratwurst. The raki helped it down, at least better than the turnip juice Fatih’s brother was drinking.

“I only have one son. He’s young and small.” I understood him somehow, and it was probably the most complicated Turkish sentence I had comprehended in three months. Until his next one. “But it is no problem, he is small, but has a cock like a mule and balls the size of a camel’s.” He stuck his arm into the air and cupped his other hand under his elbow, just to make sure I had the full picture.

Sometimes, the Gods of Travel give you a moment so strange and surreal that you hardly believe it, even as it goes on around you. After the few morning glasses of raki, my sudden ability to understand Turkish, and the two hundred camels decorated like bollywood dancers, this was becoming one of them.

The morning had started off normal enough. Taylor, her parents and myself left the hotel in Kusadasi early to make the three hour drive to see the ruins of Aphrodisias. About a half hour into the drive, with no signs of civilization, except for a few abandoned buildings, we see two fabulously dressed camels strutting down the road. Maybe a kilometer further, there are two more in the back of a flatbed truck. After our guide, Tamer, leaned out the window to talk with the truck driver, he popped back in with his signature grin, he couldn’t have caught me more off-guard with his question:

“So, would you like to see some camel wrestling?”

As we followed the camel truck, which would later be cleaned of its shit-piles and used as seating, we pulled off the pavement and onto a dirt road; a town rose out of the dust. Though this town was only a few square blocks, it had seen more camels in one day than all the ashtrays in all of Turkey. Each one was dressed like it was going to an Indian wedding. Bridles, saddles, blankets and ornaments of shells and beads covered the animals in bright greens, blues, reds and yellows. Some had their names sewn on silk blankets that hung over their ass end. One had been bought from, what I can only imagine is a camel dealer, in Iran for $110,000 and trotted around the town with blue and green crocheted over nearly every inch of it like a clown’s custom-made fishnet stocking.

Our van may have passed through the town quickly, but there was no passing the caravan of camels trudging along the road that led to the dusty field of sand where the event would take place. It wasn’t until we arrived at the field, where the security fence separating man from beast was made up of construction cones and caution tape, where the front row was made of pickup trucks and tractors and flatbeds were used behind them to create stadium seating, that I realized I had forgotten to ask one very important question. Amidst all the exoticism and allure of the idea of camel wrestling, I still wasn’t sure…

How, exactly, does camel wrestling work?

Camel wrestling takes place during the mating season of the camels, late November and December of every year. Originally it is from Saudi Arabia, but can be seen in small towns on the Aegean coast of Turkey, near Izmir, every year as well. The tradition began with nomadic tribes, probably beginning with the words: “I bet my camel can beat up your camel.” See, this is not a man versus beast activity, but pure camel on camel action. And, since the first time two men let their camels push each other around with their necks the sport has evolved into…. Well, no, it hasn’t really evolved. Its still two big, dumb slow and clumsy animals trying to knock one another over with their front legs and necks.

Camel wrestling could be described as the NASCAR of the Aegean Coast: It takes place away from civilization, with more fanfare and spectacle in the build up than in the action and is mostly used as an excuse for backwoods boys to have a few drinks before noon.

The matches are judged to determine a winner, which sometimes may simply be the animal who doesn’t run away. They matches end after ten minutes, after an animal shows an unwillingness to fight, or a camel has his head pinned to the ground by his opponent. Prior to the fight, females are paraded by the athletes, to get them hard in the harness and foaming at the mouth for either a mate, or an ass to kick. Sometimes a camel can fight up to ten times in a day and may receive up to $25,000 for winning the day’s tournament. On this day, though, the victor won only $2,000 and a carpet. All proceeds for this event were going to charity. Every scarf or sausage sold, every ten lira ticket was going to build a new school for this tiny town on a dirt road in the middle of Nowhere, Turkey.

Camel wrestling may be strange, it may be slow, but, its also a hell of a lot of fun. As the only tourists, and probably the only out-of-towners at the event, we had a front row seat to the kind of cultural event most people never get the chance, or take the chance to see. With the morning raki, the camel sausage, the musicians and the families lining the field, this was one hundred percent rural Turkey and I am glad I got to see it.

The House of the Virgin Mary

The House of the Virgin Mary is on a forested hillside a few kilometers from the city of Ephesus. It is one of many sites in Turkey vital the history of Christianity. As you walk onto the premises, signs remind you that this is a religious site full of pilgrims and that you should be very respectful. Just past these signs, you are bombarded with the same souvenir tents, with the same loud, pushy salesmen, selling the same blue evil eyes, Turkish tea sets and silk scarves that line the entrance to every tourist site in the country. So much for respecting the religious pilgrims.

At first being at the House of the Virgin Mary was extremely uncomfortable for me. Mostly, because it isn’t her actual house. There is evidence to suggest that following the crucifixion of Christ, Mary followed St. John to Ephesus. And by evidence, I mean Bible verses. But, there is no specification as to how long she stayed there, where she lived, or what happened to her after she arrived there. Instead, the basis of this religious site is the vivid dream of a 19^th century nun. After seeing a vision of Mary`s house in her sleep, she came to Ephesus to search for it. When she came upon the foundation of a small, two-room, ancient house on a hillside, she decreed that this was in fact the House of the Virgin Mary. The Vatican agreed, rebuilt the house, and now people come from everywhere to visit and light candles.

For the most of the time I was at this site, I couldn’t shake the discomfort. I didn’t find it to be a peaceful place, like most seemed to. Instead, this place was a microcosm of all of the issues I take with organized religion: It has no factual basis, but instead is founded on the hearsay and whims of a few zealots, substantiated by larger, more powerful groups of people with financial and political motivation to convince mass amounts of people of its indisputable truth. For Turkey, the money that the pilgrims bring in is certainly no reason to dispute its accuracy. For the Vatican, finding Mary’s house can only help affirm and fuel the faith that believers already have. There is no motivation from either party to find objectivity about this stone foundation in the woods.

I sat for a while, watching people file through the house, light candles, and weep. I wondered how they could believe so wholeheartedly, unquestioningly, that this was where Mary lived. Then, I realized, this was not the most ridiculous idea they held. Most also believed the woman had been impregnated by a giant omnipotent man in the sky. And that the Vatican is motivated by benevolence. As I contemplated all this, my fire for logic and reason burned hotter with every candle that was lit.

That is, until I saw the wall. Down the hillside from the house, passed the wells where worshipers wash themselves, there is a stone wall covered in tissues, ribbons and clothing scraps, each with a different prayer written on it. As visitors walk toward the exit, they put down their most important hopes on to these scraps and leave them, believing that the significance of this house will help them come true. I watched elderly women and young boys, covered Muslims and devout Catholics, write their prayers here. This wall, was the single most concentrated forum for positive thinking I have ever seen. While I may not be a man of faith, I am a man who knows the power of positivity. I realized then, that though I take many issues with religion, this should not be one of them. This is not a place that divides people or fills them with hatred and anger. This is some of the good that faith does. This place, holy or not, unites people. Even if I don’t agree with the means, I sure like that result. So, if Muslims, Christians and Jews can all share their dreams with this wall, then hell, why not a Godless heathen like me.

I took my time to think of just the right phrase to post on this mass message board to the universe. Unable to find a pen, I traced the words onto a tissue and tied it to the wall. A small drop in the sea of hope for humanity. On it, I wrote: May we all see the good we have in common and see how to act for the common good.

My note, like all the rest will be burned soon, to make room for the next few weeks worth of prayers. While I still don’t think the house actually belonged to Mary or plan to attend mass anytime soon, maybe in some small way this place converted me. After all, I came in patronizing and divisive and left at peace; and, finding peace, however small, is the purpose of faith in the first place, right?

The tomb of St. John at St. John`s Church, also located near Ephesus.

Lesser Known Notes

Last weekend, Taylor, her parents and myself spent a few days wandering the ruins of ancient man’s achievements. We saw some of the more famous and popular sites that this country offers: Troy and Ephesus. To learn more about these sites, refer to the previous post. I found, though, that while Ephesus was a magnificent glimpse of ancient life, the lesser traveled sites of Pergamon, Aphrodisias and Hierapolis to be much more fulfilling, if only for the lack of crowds.

The theatre on the mountainside of Pergamon.

At Pergamon, there are two remaining sites worth seeing. The first is the acropolis, where the governors and nobles lived and convened. Situated on top of a small mountain, you can get a view not only of the ruins, but of the surrounding modern town as well. The ruins here are not as well preserved as what you can find at Ephesus, but as the saying goes: location, location, location. With a few well preserved pillars still standing and a theatre built directly into the mountainside, all it takes is a little imagination to see how stunning this place once was to incoming visitors.

The other spot at Pergamon that once attracted visitors from across the world is the Askplepion, the world’s first mental hospital. Here, in the valley below the acropolis, is where the wealthy brought their insane from Greece, Anatolia and Mesopotamia. At this hospital, where a few buildings, tunnels, and patient rooms can still be seen, people were treated by hearing the relaxing sounds of running water and positive reinforcement. Oh, and by having baskets of snakes and scorpions poured over them.

A pillar with snake designs at the Asklepion in Pergamon.

Further southeast of Pergamon on a grassy plain is the ancient city of Aphrodesias. Here, the remains of a sculpting school provide photo opportunities at every turn. Like the other cities there is an enormous theatre and columned streets. But, the real pleasure of seeing this city is its stadium. Lying short and long outside the city, it looks like a 2500 year old version of the Rose Bowl, where athletes convened in front of 60,000 people to wrestle, run, jump and throw. The last thing to see before you leave Aphrodisias is the gate to the temple of Aphrodite. This structure stands in an open grassy field and towers over visitors. We were fortunate to see it just as the sun was setting, lighting up its marble with yellows, oranges, purples and reds.

The stadium at Aphrodisias. Photo taken by Sandy Smith.

The entrance to the Temple of Aphrodite at Aprodisias. Photo taken by Sandy Smith.

The last ancient city we visited was Hierapolis. Located in the modern Turkish town of Pamukkale, the most impressive thing about this site is its location. It was built on the ridge of thermal white calcium deposits. From the distance, the ridge looks like a snow covered mountain. From up close, it is rock solid white calcium with hot thermal springs and pools running down its face. The ancients believed that these springs had medicinal healing powers and travelers would come from around the world to soak in them. And, I guess, still do. The ruins here are not as impressive as the other sites, but seeing them on the top of the calcium deposits helps visitors realize how unique this city was. Now, the most well-preserved aspect of the city is the necropolis, or cemetery. If you walk through the necropolis, you can see gravesites and tombs that stretch for kilometers along a hillside and cover three different civilizations.

A tomb from the necropolis of Hierapolis.

The calcium deposits at Pamukkale make the ridge look like a snow-covered hill.

Troy and Ephesus

A statue of Hercules at Ephesus.

Over the last weekend, Taylor, her parents and I wondered throughout Western Turkey, mostly taking in the religious and historical sites of antiquity. The sites we saw can easily be categorized into two groups: the famous and popular sites of Troy and Ephesus, and there superior but lesser known counterparts of Pergamon, Aphrodisias and Heirapolis. Today, I’ll discuss the former.

The most eye-opening part of exploring the sites of antiquity was how inaccurate my preconceived notions were. I am the only person who thinks of these ancient cities as being in dry and barren landscapes. Of all the ancient cities we visited, not one fit this profile. Instead they stand in picturesque places with rolling fields and forested hills, where poplar trees once lined their marble streets. We also tend to think of these places as being far less advanced than they actually were. Rather, they were much better city planners than many places today, complete with functioning water delivery systems, sewage systems and strategically placed marketplaces, libraries, government buildings and brothels.

The first of the cities we visited was Troy, where nine distinct civilizations have been built, one on top of the other. The most important thing to know if you are going to visit Troy is this: Go here first, or don’t go here at all. The preservation of buildings and artifacts at Ephesus and the other cities make Troy look like a caveman’s garage sale. If you make this your last archaeological adventure, you will find the most exciting thing here are the kittens. There are some wall foundations and many columns that now lie in pieces on the ground, but the rest has been ransacked by a 19^th century German treasure hunter. If this is the first archaeological site that you see, as it was for me, the age of the place makes these scraps impressive. But after viewing the other sites Turkey has to offer, it will not be worth the trip or the ticket price.

The most exciting thing about Troy may be the kittens.

Moreover, many people (read: historically ignorant tourists) may expect to see the remains of a wooden horse or the grave markers of Helen, Hector or Achilles. But, like most other books from its age, Homer’s Iliad is nothing but spectacular fiction, without a shred of evidence to be found here or anywhere else.

Ephesus, Efes in Turkish, by comparison will leave anyone breathless. In addition to giving a full picture of life 2000 years ago, it gives you a respect for the ancient ingenuity in architecture and art. To build a city of its size – 750,000 at one point – covered in marble with every inch detailed in sculptures of heroes, governors and gods would have taken more wealth and will power than is easily conceivable. It would require armies of artisans working around the clock from every corner of its conquered lands.

The library of Ephesus

The highlights of Ephesus are its theatre, its library, and its ongoing excavation of wealthy homes. The theatre, which we were told held up to 30,000 people, is the best way to see the transformation of the city from city-state origins through the Roman Empire. As with most of the theatres in antiquity, it began in the Greek style: only three stairways with a full 360 degree stage. When the Romans conquered, they added more staircases and cut the stage to a semi-circle, among other aesthetic changes. The library, one of the three most important in antiquity is a three-story achievement of beauty and detail. Every inch is covered with a carved design, inscription or statue. Now, only the front of the building remains, leaving it like the facade of a western movie set. Still, it looms large over the hoards of tourists, begging them to wonder what kind of knowledge was kept behind this shrine. Also, if you are willing to pay the extra 15 lira to explore it, the homes of the nobility is the best view you can find of the lifestyles of the rich. The frescoes, mosaics and courtyard here are as well fresh as you’ll find without a time machine.

A mosaic of Medusa from the home of an ancient Ephesus aristocrat.

Beyond its big attractions, much of Ephesus’ charm lies in the details which can only a careful exploration or a guide can help you find. You can find the nooks used to chain up criminals along the main street, or iron rings along the ground used to hold down the torches which lit the path at night. The latrines here are in tact enough to be used in case of a tourist’s emergency (though it may get you kicked out) and some of the earliest board games and advertisements are scattered on marble across the site.

The only downside to Ephesus are the crowds of people that it attracts. We were fortunate to visit in the off-season, but Taylor’s parents and our guide Tamer shared stories of bumper to bumper human traffic from previous visits. With the amount of people they described, getting a good picture could have been impossible. If you are concerned with the crowds, Aphrodisias, can give you as complete a picture of ancient life  of the masses without the actual masses.

Seeing Ephesus, Troy and the other sites will also certainly get a visitor asking large questions about civilization and humanity, though the questions and revelations will certainly be different for each person. For me, everywhere I looked I was reminded of mankind’s constant hubris. Of our belief that our way of life, our achievements, or even ourselves will last forever. It is clear to me that the majority of us still think this way. Ancient sites are a reminder that this simply isn’t true, and maybe it’s time we stopped fooling ourselves into thinking that it is, before our cities lie in ruins too.

The theatre of Ephesus, viewed from the street leading to the port.

An inscribed wall with the library of Ephesus in the backround.

Gelibolu

The Gallipoli Peninsula , or Gelibolu in Turkish, is now a pristine national park in Turkey squeezed thinly between the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles Straits. Here, the trees are plentiful, but just sparse enough to make out the lay of the rolling hillsides that support them. The sun sets past this park in stunning yellows, oranges and purples into the Greek Islands offshore. To date, this peninsula is the most peaceful place I have been in all of Turkey. With all the natural wonder on display, it is easy to forget that Gelibolu, sadly, is also the small strip of land on which 1.5 million people from around the world gathered nearly 100 years ago with the ghastly conviction that against all else, they must murder one another. And this thought, despite whole-hearted efforts to understand it, would not leave me for our stay there.

Exploring Gelibolu, like much of Turkey, is a case study in paradox and juxtaposition. It is more beautiful and serene than Pearl Harbor, with a more violent past than Normandy. The scapegoat of the lost battle here, Winston Churchill, became one of the greatest leaders the Western World has known, while the winner, the Ottoman Empire, collapsed only a few years later. Here, you can walk through actual World War I trenches, where Ottomans and ANZACs – Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – happily exchanged tobacco and paper, only moments before they exchanged gunfire and grenades.

A memorial gravesite at Gelibolu.

A short historical segment. The battle of Gallipoli lasted approximately 8 months in 1915. It began shortly after the Ottoman Empire entered the first world war. The Allies, knowing the strategic importance of the waterway chain made up of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus Straight, and the Black Sea, first attempted to conquer it by sea. After the Ottomans sank 7 Allied battleships, the fastest and strongest in the world at the time, in 25 minutes and less than a kilometer into the waterway, they were forced to rethink their strategy. A month later, on 25 April, they landed soldiers on the southwestern edge of the peninsula in an attempt to march north to Istanbul. On the day the Allies landed, they made it 50 meters up the beach. Eight months later, as the battle came to an end, they had made it only five kilometers inland. Like the majority of battles fought in WWI, this was trench warfare. Soldiers huddled together sometimes only 10 meters from their enemy. At the battle’s most violent point, each side had close to 750,000 troops, about 450,000 of whom lost their lives here. Winston Churchill, who was the First Lord of the Admiralty at the time, called his order to send his battleships through the straights his greatest blunder. While an unknown Colonel, Mustafa Kemal, parlayed his success defending the Ottoman Empire on land into the founding of the modern Turkish Republic.

The Lone Pine Memorial at Gelibolu, marking the furthest advance the Allies made during the 8-month battle.

But, as all this was explained to myself, Taylor and her parents in great detail, I couldn’t escape this nagging question: How do you convince one and a half million men to kill one another? Why exactly, does this beautiful scene have to be strewn with monuments, graves and bullet shells instead of campsites and hiking trails? Even a week after leaving Gelibolu. I cannot find a sufficient answer. None of the ever-present justification for war – religion, nationalism, mass hysteria, blind hatred – can sufficiently explain what went on at Gelibolu or at countless other battlefields throughout the world and throughout world history.

Every year, Australians and New Zealanders (who made up the bulk of the Allied fighting force), come together with Turks to commemorate this battle. They now admire and respect one another for their strength, grit and determination. They consider each other gentlemen. Gentlemen, because they exchanged food for water, tobacco for paper, because they never shot one another in the back and because the Ottomans let the Allies retreat peacefully. Yet, they were at Gelibolu to do the most un-gentlemanly thing of all: Kill other human beings.

Beyond the serenity, beyond the history, this is why you should visit Gelibolu: Because everyone should, from time to time, be humbly reminded that war and violence of this scale isn’t human and it isn`t noble, its downright animalistic.

From a memorial statue outside the Gelibolu Museum.

Vacation Breakdown

With the Kurban Bayram break over at our English School, it means it is time to return to work. Taylor and I got back in from our vacation with her parents, Sandy and Linda, late last night. The parents, unfortunately, had to leave this morning to get back to a real world of their own back in the USA.

Despite the sadness of separating from them yesterday, we had a great vacation.  We were guided by what I can only imagine is the greatest tour guide the universe has to offer, Tamer Teoman. Please keep in mind as I sing his praises that I am receiving no free trip or anything like that, only the pleasure of sharing a positive experience. Tamer is Turkish, but spent his high school years living in Pasedena, California and speaks nearly flawless English as well as some pretty good Spanish and German. He has an undergraduate degree in English Lit and a Masters and Ph.D. in achaeology. If you want to experience the wealth of history this country has to offer, he is your man. When he is not shuttling tourists around Turkey and Europe, he teaches classes as prestigious American universities, which in his modesty, he wishes I wouldn’t name. His website is here: www.teoworldculturetours.com

With Tamer, we went to Galipoli, site of the historic and rechidly violent WWI battle. We saw some famous ancient sites such as Troy and Ephesus. We saw some less famous but more impressive ancient sites: Pergamon, Aphrodesias and Sardis. We looked at a bit of biblical history, saw the supposed House of the Virgin Mary, the Church of St. John (where he is assumed to be buried) and saw or slowed the van down for 6 of the 7 Churches of St. Paul in the book of Revelation. Amidst all this, we even found time to throw out the itinerary and see some camel wrestling.

The thing isn`t that we couldn`t have seen all this without Tamer, its that we couldn`t have done it in that short of a time and wouldn`t have understood half of what we were really seeing.

I will be posting  many pieces on the sights and experiences we saw and had. Hopefully one every day or at worst every other day, starting with Galipoli tomorrow. Enjoy.

İyi Bayramlar!

Well, it is time for a holiday feast, both in America and here in Turkey.

Thursday, the same day as Thanksgiving in America, begins the Kurban Bayram celebration here in Turkey. This  four day Islamic holiday is where an animal — usually a cow or sheep — is sacrificed to God. Then food is distributed amongst the family who provided the animal and the local impoverished community. Usually, communities or large families come together to purchase a large animal and celebrate together.

Because the holidays coincide this year, I was asked by a beginner level student to describe Thanksgiving when it came up in class discussion. The best I could do was to say this:

“Well, it is kind of like Kurban Bayram, except instead of killing a sheep, we kill a turkey. We sit around with our family and eat delicous food and drink wine. If you are religious, you thank God for all your blessings: your health, your home, your family and friends. And then you kill a bird. If you are not religious, you count and celebrate of all your blessings and spend time with loved ones. And, you kill a bird.”

Of course, you are saying, we do not always kill a bird, we only eat it. Well, somebody killed it for you, I retort. Which leads to this: here in Turkey not everyone handles there own sacrifice either. You can, in fact buy and select a sheep ahead of time, knowing it will be sacrificed on Thursday at a designated sacrificial site. Then you can pick up the butchered meat to feast on and distribute the poor. All for only 250 lira.  Not as cheap as a Butterball turkey, but the concept seems similar.

My point is simply this: These two holidays halfway around the world, like the people who celebrate them, are as similar or as different as you choose to see them.

Happy Thanksgiving and İyi Bayramlar!

 

 

The Istanbul Archaeological Museum

For the last few days my girlfriend (Taylor) and I have been hosting her parents  here in Istanbul. More than giving us a chance to spend time with family, it has given us to take a look at our city through a fresh set of eyes.  Sandy and Linda (Tay`s Parents) are well traveled and can operate independently in the city, but it has been good to be a tourist with them when my work schedule permits.

One of things that frustrates travelers and foreigners when they get here is the ticket price to many of the Palaces. Topkapı Palace, for instance, is a 20 lira entrance fee. Standard for the palaces and museums. However, if you want to see the Harem of the Palace, they will take an extra 20 lira to see only the 3 or 4 rooms (!) on exhibit at the time. Or, two see Dolmabahçe Palace you must take two separate tours, each with its own 20 lira entry fee.

However, a few days before Sandy and Linda came, Taylor and I took a look what I now believe is the best value and the most rewarding place in the city — the Archaeological Museum. With only a 10 lira entry fee, nobody should leave the city without seeing it. In fact, it was so interesting that we came back today with Sandy, Linda and assorted crew.

One of the reasons it was worth a trip back, was our guide, Tamer, who will take us through parts of Turkey this weekend. Turkish born, but having lived in America, this encyclopedia of both history and wit has a Ph.D. in archaeology and lectures at Columbia University when he is not taking tourists around his native country. With him at the helm today we learned far more about the treasures we discovered last week and even found some things we missed.

But, even if you can`t schedule Tamer to be your guide, do not miss this museum. The museum began at the end of the Ottoman Empire around 1890 as a place to collect the historical treasures of the lands they held. Now, it is divided into three separate buildings.

The first building is the History of the Ancient Orient and houses treasures from the Fertile Crescent, ranging from Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. Since Taylor, myself and our amigos will be taking a trip to Egypt in the next month it was a great place to wet the palate. Some of the treasures include an original cuneiform document of Hamurabi`s Code, the first known peace treaty in world history and a mummified Egyptian priest. Along with these were countless statues, stone wall carvings and assorted artifacts from as far back as 3000-25000 BC.

Part of the mummified Egyptian priest`s tomb.

The second and main building of the museum houses a little bit of everything including Greek, Anatolian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman artifacts. The most impressive displays are the museum`s collection of sarcophagi and of Roman sculptures.

The sarcophagi included one known as the “Alexander the Great” sarcophagus, though it can`t be proved that he rested in it. This tomb had ornate hunting and battle scenes jutting out at the viewer and wrapping all around it. There was also the Tabnit Sarcophagus, which had a strong Egyptian influence.

The Tabnit Sarcophagus.

In the Roman sculpture section of the museum, there were some treasures as well. But my favorite were the statues of Alexander the Great and the Roman emperors, philosophers and poets. These included Sappho, Epicurius and Caesar Augustus.

The third building is a converted mosque now containing a tile museum.

I assure you my photos do not bring the grandeur that these treasures deserve, nor can I display every item that caught my interest here on this page. All the more reason to buy a ticket and explore this museum for yourself.

Alexander the Great