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The eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea Anatolia called Asia Minor or present-day Turkey. The year 1200 BC rubble and ruins are all that remain of the city of hot ash. The once magnificent capital of the Hittites one of the strongest civilizations in the ancient world, warriors known only as peoples of the
sea whose origin is unknown are responsible for the destruction their armies move on conquering Syria and
threatening Egypt Pharaoh Ramses.
The 3rd of the 12th dynasty said no country managed to put up resistance to their armies States suddenly disappeared and in a moment they were all destroyed. After almost a thousand years of splendor silence fell on the Anatolian highlands citizens of a once great civilization disbanded to the countryside leaving ruins of great cities to be buried for thousands of years.
An important testament to the power of the Hittite Empire before its demise is preserved in Egypt a land that was once its enemy the two pillars at the entrance to the temple of Luxor on the Nile are adorned with scenes of the battle fought between the Hittites and the Egyptians in 1295 BC at Kadesh in Syria.
The great ramses II the warrior pharaoh is seen fighting from his chariot and leaving behind victims among the ranks of the Hittite army led by King mo it as who won this epic conflict in this Barre relief at Luxor the Egyptians claimed a triumphant victory this version of the facts was never disputed until archaeological excavations.
In the first decades of the 20th century uncovered some ancient Hittites cities over 10,000 clay tablets engraved with cuneiform characters came to light in buildings at hotter Shosh the capital of the Empire.
one of these tablets preserved at the archeology museum in Istanbul bears the inscription Kadish peace treaty.
The Treaty lays down conditions imposed on the Egyptians including one to retreat inside their borders so more than 3,000 years after the event thanks to this tablet we now know that it was the Hittites and not the Egyptians who really won that conflict over the centuries Asia Minor has seen numerous civilizations flourish.
After the Hittites the country reached a high civil and cultural level thanks to populations of Greeks who had settled along its coasts later on during the period of Roman rule Asia Minor became one of the richest provinces of the Empire. Turkey was also the cradle of the great Byzantine Empire an evolution of
the equally famous Eastern Roman Empire. We will journey back in time starting in the 6th century AD and explore the great civilizations that flourished on the Turkish coasts and Highlands, Anchora is currently the capital of Turkey but for centuries the real capital of this part of the world was Byzantium later called Constantinople then renamed Istanbul.
Byzantium was full of dazzling monuments one of them was the karnak obelis erected at the city’s famous circus grounds in the first half of the fifth century AD. At the front of the base there are poor trails of family members of emperor theodosius ii along with court dignitaries watching circus chariot races from an elevated stand on one of the sides there is a depiction of the transport and direction of the obelisk itself. For centuries Byzantium or Constantinople was the preeminent city of the entire Byzantine Empire.
It boasted a modern plan and many infrastructures at the Hippodrome is the basilican cistern a gigantic underground tank constructed perhaps early in the fourth century AD by Emperor Constantine. It’s name derives from the fact that it was enlarged using the uncovered area of a nearby Basilica what is exceptional is its 336 columns. All supporting the masonry vault but certainly the most famous building of 6th century.
Byzantium is the Church of st. Sofia or Dome of hajji Sofia rebuilt as it appears today by Emperor Justinian its original appearance was altered after the ottomans invaded the city the church was turned into a mosque and four characteristic minarets were added beautiful Byzantine mosaics covered with plaster in 1700 were brought to light in the 20th century when the mosque was turned into the aya sofia or Hagia.
Sophia Museum Saint Sophia was known as the incarnation of divine wisdom praying to her in this divine basilica must have filled thousands of visitors over the years with a sense of spirituality and grace in the southwestern part of Turkey, is the city of Aphrodisias dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite or Venus to the Romans founded in the 5th century BC.
Aphrodisias became very important during the Greek Roman era worship of the goddess at the sanctuary here spread throughout the Mediterranean area. Important archaeological discoveries have been made here since the 1960s one of the most stunning sites.This gigantic stadium erected in the 1st century AD it was over 850 feet long and its original seats are still intact arranged neatly in 30 rows. It is one of the world’s best preserved ancient stadiums.
In the middle of Aphrodisias stood the Agora a rectangular market area surrounded on three sides by marvelous colonnades the columns were surmounted, by decorated capitals and architraveswhich can now be seen in the garden of the Aphrodisias Museum. The theatre here which dates back to the end of the second century AD is also in a superb state of preservation it has a capacity of 10,000 spectators built by Julius Zou.
Leo’s it was dedicated to Aphrodite and the city Zoli os– was a native of Aphrodisias and a former slave of Emperor Augustus he did the city a very important service by having it obtained the special status of autonomous City exempt from taxes. The most sacred site in the city of course was the sanctuary of Aphrodite. This is the tetrapylon the Gateway to the sanctuary the Tetrapylon was originally composed of
four rows of four columns.
Each many of the spiral fluted columns are still standing with their Gables still in place today the tetrapylon is an isolated monument, but in ancient times a compound and a road connected it with the temple of Aphrodite. The temple itself was rebuilt in the 1st century BC with 8 columns on the short sides and 15 on the long sides. The sanctuary was famous in ancient times for the practice of sacred prostitution that had its roots in ancient fertility and reproduction rights.
During the Christian Byzantine period, however to help the population forget these pagan practices the temple of Aphrodite was turned into a church. Aphrodisias was renamed Stavropoulos meaning city of the cross not far from Aphrodisias lies the present-day center of par Mukul, a famous for its natural
cliffs that are formed by basins of limestone arranged on sloping white terraces Pramook la.
The site of ancient hierapolis founded by the king of Pergamum in 190 BC it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. It reached the height of its development between the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad when it was inhabited by Greeks Romans and Jews by the 6th century in the Christian era. The city had become a bishopric however this did not prevent people from continuing to worship pluto the great pagan god of the underworld.
Pluto’s realm the house of Hades or a kingdom of the Dead was thought to be located beneath the earth worshipers part of a Chthonic cult perhaps thought that God had access to the kingdom ofthe Dead somewhere under the ground at Hierapolis.