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GROUP
JOURNAL FOR
Kathy Kline’s Notes on |
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9/10 Day Four Overnight sleeper train to Ankara. Left at 10 pm. Our group had the whole car. Really fun. Arrived on time at 8:04 am.
Meli gave
us an overall introduction: The first city state in Anatolia found so far is Catalhoyuk. It is from the Neolithic era. They designed their own environments, had seals (shows sense of ownership), and a pyramid of social structure. At the top was the divinity = mother goddess. People evolved similarly all over the world. Some became more powerful based on availability of resources. City-states grew into kingdoms and empires. The Hittites came from Ham, son of Noah. The daughter of Egyptian Ramses II was married to a Hittite. 1785 BC was the first written treaty. After the Hittites came kingdoms. Gordion (near Ankara) was the capitol of the Freg Cag kingdom. King Midas 900 BC – 500 BC turned everything to gold because of his greed. He turned his own daughter into gold and then asked the gods to forgive him. Midas took the Phoenician alphabet and made it into Greek letters. Before there had been cuneiform symbols. They worked in wood and metal. A second kingdom St Paul and Luke headed west. Hannibal of Cartage took elephants to Gibraltar and then to the Alps on his way to Rome. He was given a city. A third kingdom was Troy. Fourth kingdom was Lydia “as rich as Croesus” who was the king. Sardis was the capitol built on the Paktolos River with gold. He was obsessed by it.
Paleolithic Era 2,300,000 – 10,000 BC Houses were built of adobe with no gates. You entered through holes in the ceilings. Elevated spaces in the houses were due to the burial of bones of the dead. When the space was full, they filled in earth. Bull was the symbol of power. Had graphic designs – polychromatic 10,000 BC. Had a city plan. First woven materials were found. A goddess was found in Georgia. Worshipped goddess related to desire for fertility and prosperity. Sense of ownership evolved. Seal designs 10,000 BC. Used in kilims, wooden blocks, red pots through burnishing before firing. In 7,000 BC, learned about making colored pottery. Developed shiny black pottery through double firings. Developed a spindle; had metal work (made a crown, code of arms and scepter). Had a symbol which later the Nazis used which is of two rivers meandering and crossing at the center (prosperity). See evidence of a dam. Made gold jewelry, bronze axes as weapons indicating a turning to war. Also had trading between the Assyrians and Hittites (caravans, markets, required writing in 2,200 BC and had installment payments). Hittites forbid a trader from acquiring a second wife in his travels.
Hittite
fresco indicates musicians with guitars, tightrope walkers, blowing fire, a
king and queen; “angora” is from Ankara goats; a sphinx; a high level person
offered a rose; killing and soldiers uprising; mother goddess comes back
holding a pomegranate during the period of city states. there is a man
killing a snake in Capadocia which later becomes St. George. Used chariots
for hunting; buried their possessions 2,700 years ago. Stopped to see the Mausoleum of Ataturk. Saw his tomb but not the museum. Began a 4.5 hour bus trip (with Hasan as our driver in a smaller bus) to Capadoccia. Stopped after 3.5 hours. Meli gave each of us special Turkish spicy pizza. During the Ottoman Empire, an honest man was chosen “big brother” to keep the census and to collect produce tax. He would also get some for his work on behalf of 30 villages. Rulers of Kuwait selected by 1740s. The system became corrupted and it became a hazard for democracy. Post 1923, 1962 Land Reform became a problem for big brothers using claim as deeds to land. Government bought land from them at the declared value of the land from the past 5 years. Land was sold to people living on it via the Agricultural Bank. Result is no starving people or homeless people. Clustered housing to free up arable land. Also had agricultural reform which emphasized cooperatives eg olive oil coop. Anti-monopoly law so that there are no big farms. Tradition of parents building houses for their children.
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Went to
the Museum of Anatolian Cultures. Ankara means “deep gorge” where the oldest
settlement was. Meli says that this is the best archeological museum in the
world. It was built in the 15th century where caravans came to
market their goods. It reflects 28 civilizations. There was no Ice Age,
inner sea, floods, etc to wipe out earlier civilizations.
