Daily Reports

Papers, reports, presentations:

Patricia Cockrell Wood: Katal Huyuk (Word)

Rosalee Glass: Library of Celsus (Word)

Bibliography and Internet resources about Hagia Sophia (compiled by Diane Gates)

Chris Glass: Hagia Sophia, presentation notes (Word format)

Reflections on a trip to Turkey (four papers)

Day 2 or is it day 1 ½? (Shirl)

Our early beginnings were just that -- early.  A 12:30 A.M. check in to the Grand Antalya Hotel. 

Turkish baths may be world famous but their showers are complicated.  After thoroughly spraying the bathroom ceiling, I showered, slept and then another beginning at 10:00 A.M.

Antioch, is own beginning around 300 BC, found itself in the first century to be a habitat to new philosophies and preachers including Peter, Paul and Barnabas.  The actual word "Christian" found its beginnings in Antioch.

The great purple bus carried us to St. Peter's Grotto - a church/cave of early Christians and a fine place for our singing.

After lunch Lucy guided us thru a collection of mosaics at the museum and explained the Triclinium dining customs -- perhaps an excellent idea for a new restaurant in Portland.

Day's end: Seleucia.  While the group hiked to the site, Rosemary and I enjoyed a stunning sunset and chatted with a boy still in his school uniform.  In practicing his charming English, he sold homemade Daphne soap and told us he "studied, studied, studied the English".

Dinner, more bathroom ceiling spraying and then to bed.

Wednesday January 8 (Michael Huddy)

From Antioch to Cappadocia via Tarsus

After breakfast we got in the bus and headed to Tarsus. On the way we heard about some battles, and then read about Saul’s conversion as recorded in Acts 9. Tarsus is an old city, and at one point was part of the Hittite Empire. During Paul's time, Tarsus was a University City surpassing Athens and Alexandria. Cicero was governor here in 51- 50 BC. The famous romantic meeting between Cleopatra and Mark Anthony took place in Tarsus. Alexander the Great visited Tarsus as well, but poor Alexander took a dip in the river to bathe and came out with a cramp and a fever. He took a purge and was cured.

(The air conditioning is on in the bus! It’s warm out!)

In Tarsus we visited the so-called St. Paul’s well, which now looks like something more out of "Better Homes and Gardens" with the addition of a terrace, garden, and a sheltering structure over the well itself. As luck would have it, a TV reporter and camera were at the site, so Mehmet, David, and Bill, got interviewed. Some groups of school kids walked by and engaged various members of our group in conversation.

We walked to the Roman Road, which was in a big pit in the middle of the town. Although we weren’t able to get down inside, we were able to see the remains of ancient storefronts, as well as the actual road itself (and heard about the sewer system underneath). It was interesting to note the contrast of the ancient Roman road with the not-very-different street of modern Tarsus above it. We then proceeded to Cleopatra’s Gate, and headed off to lunch at the restaurant by the waterfall. I had fish for the first time this trip, and it was very good. We then boarded the bus and napped, knit, read, or at chocolate while Ismet took us to the Perissa Hotel in Urgüp, Cappadocia.

Observation of the day: You know you’re a busy traveler when you get in the elevator of the hotel - and push the button for the floor of the room you had 2 nights ago!

Quote of the day: Shirley, to Sharon, on Sharon asking about the appropriateness of referring to Turkish carpets as "Oriental": "You’re in Asia, honey!"

Here endeth the report.

January 9th (Sharon)

Someone made the comment later in the trip that if a person gave us chocolate and let us shop, then we would be happy campers. And this is the day that these traditions started.

We began the day in the Cappadocia area and this was our first full day of activities. We stopped to view the Three Graces on our way to the Valley of the Churches. It was a quiet restful place where we enjoyed the nuns singing in one of the chapels. Then we had the chance to shop on the way to the bus.

Next we viewed the Fairy Chimneys and shopped on the way back to the bus. About this time Michael Huddy became the chocolate man by passing out chocolate pieces to all who wanted one. He did this a couple of times throughout the day! Then we viewed Uchisar Castle, saw a camel and looked at another shop before climbing back onto the bus. After lunch we went through the underground city in Kaymakli and once again shopped on the way back to the bus.

Then we had plenty of time to look and learn about making pottery and rugs before we contently shopped away at each location. So far we have made seven stops and we were able to shop at six of them! We are quite content!

Our evening ended with a performance by the Whirling Dervished where we almost left Judith behind. It’s a good thing she runs fast!

FOOTSTEPS OF PAUL January 10, 2003 5th Day of the Journey (Art)

A typical American tourist would say, "It’s Friday; it must be Konya! In order to get all the adventures of this day into three brief paragraphs, I will either write everything about a little or nothing about everything.

The day began with Bible Study and David’s comparison of Acts and Paul’s letters and the discrepancies between the two. The bus departed for Konya, capital of the Seljuk sultanate of Rum, with a picture stop at Derdenc; and on to Sultanhani to visit the large caravanserai where Persian caravans ‘camped’. In Konya – "Iconium" when Paul and Barnabas evangelized there – the Mevlani Museum, with its green dome and tomb of Celaleddini, who founded the Dervish brotherhood, was fascinating. I strained to see if read the epitaph read, like that of W. C. Fields, "On the whole I would rather be in Philadelphia"

We next toured the Caltal Huyuk excavation – 9000 years old – older than Jericho, where Patricia explained the archeological techniques and the way this first agricultural society lived. On to the hotel and Turkish baths (and the Ladies Choir in the bath).

TROBISCH TURKEY TRIP – JANUARY 11, 2003 (Anne)

            Although we loved Konya itself, the fog/smog presented a challenge to our respiratory systems.  Therefore, we were glad to leave and set our sights for Pisidia Antioch and Pamukkale.  Before we left, however, we had our morning Bible Study which concluded a Bahai prayer which Lucy offered.  She chose well, reading a prayer of peace for all humanity, her selection motivated by concern about the hate demonstration scheduled to held in Lewiston today.

            As Ismet turned the purple bus toward Pisidia Antioch, we caught a quick view of the mountain peak attributed to St. Thecla, a sighting which would figure in one of the day’s readings – more on that later.

            The first stop was, indeed, at Pisidia Antioch, a wonderful, ancient city.  What a sense of connection we felt to the people of the first century as we walked on the road, viewed the columns, capitals and reliefs, stood in Tiberius Square and climbed over the Temple to Cybele, later converted to the Caesar!  With awe, we wandered through the Church of St. Paul – 325 C.E. – (after rolling down the hill to get there!) and the early synagogue on which it partially stood.  It was fun to watch Chris and Patricia share their respective expertise (architecture and archaeology) with each other.  Our visit here concluded with tea and Turkish Delight – and it was delightful!

            As we continued on our journey, Patricia treated us with reading – she did it so well in spite of the fact that she had to read from David’s computer screen! – the Acts of Paul and Thecla, which is much more about the latter than the former.  Her reading was interrupted by lunch in a restaurant on the beautiful, turquoise-green Lake Egirdir.  (Some of us bought rose hand-cream here.)  After lunch, Patricia resumed reading the Acts, although she renamed it "As the Martyr Burns."

            We still had more time on the bus – and a few naps, accompanied with an occasional snore!- before getting to our Pamukkale destination.  Mehmet gave us a chance to ask questions about Turkey.  The question of the "Turkish/Kurd" problem was proposed and, in jest, he responded, "There is no problem."  Then he did his best to explain the intricacies and complexities of the situation. 

            Just before arriving at Pamukkale, we made a brief stop at Collasae where Mehmet cautioned us to watch out for the sheep droppings, and invited us to take home a pottery sherd as a souvenir.

            Finally, the Lycus River Thermal Hotel – home for two nights.  Our debriefing session before dinner was powerfully moving.  It was obvious that the trip is touching people in many ways and that it truly is a spiritual journey.

            After dinner, most of us enjoyed swimming in the thermal pool.  Imagine swimming outdoors in January!  What luxury!  We felt the long day wash away and were ready for sleep.  And so to bed.

Account of the Day, Pamukkale, Turkey; The Lord’s Day January 12, 2003 anno domini (Patricia)

This is the day God has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

This is The Lord’s Day. And we rejoice for on this day

we remember that God raised Jesus from the dead.

No alarm clocks. No wake-up call. We slowly gathered ‘round the breakfast table, expressing, almost endlessly, our gratitude for release from reville. There was much discussion of bread, The Supper and shaping community, our favorite Broadway musicals among other things. One by one we drifted from the table to the Jacuzzi or the hot mineral pool or bird watching or simply being in the spirit of sabbath and the enjoyment of creation.

One by one we gathered in the hotel lobby. Then it was onto the Great Purple Bus and our next destination. This afternoon it is Laodicea and worship among the ancient Roman stones. Under the blessed rain, rain that was, I suspect, more welcomed by the farmers of the area than by us, and under umbrellas, we gathered in one of our ungainly circles. First we heard the words of judgment written to the church in Laodicea by John in the Revelation (3:14-22). We were blessed with Mehmet’s recitation (in Turkish) and commentary (in English) on verses from The Koran, the graceful verses of Psalm 100, the voices of our company as one by one we read scripture and prayed. The famous Women’s Chorus of the Turkish Bath led us in songs of praise, and we gave an offering for the Church in Antioch (Katolik Kilisesi, and Father Domenico Bertogli Parroco where some us visited). It was a time of full hearts, grace notes and songs, wisdom, and desire to know ourselves and one another better and The Holy One more. The last "amen" pronounced, we were back to climbing over the Roman remains of the ancient city.

The Great Purple Bus piloted by Ismet carried us safely down the hill and on to the Necropolis of Hieropolis. [Surely there is a limerick there for Michael.] used for generations of the city’s dead. There were cist burials, and Roman sarcophagi holding down the roofs of homes for the dead where there were, perhaps, three or more floors for yet more burials inside. There were strange, round, stone burial boxes roofed with earth and spring green grass. We walked to the city’s remains, entering through the Arch of Domitian, to gaze and gaggle at the defense towers, the cardo, the marble public latrine, and other great buildings tumbled by earthquake, conquest and time. It is a marvel for eyes accustomed to 250 year old historical buildings. As the light faded our company waded barefoot onto the great calcified falls shaped by the hot mineral springs. Over the millennia, the springs have been as curious, attractive, and beckoning to generations of others as to us. With warm, salty feet, we boarded The Great Purple Bus for our hotel, dinner, visits to the thermal pools, the Jacuzzi, and quiet evenings in our rooms.

As we packed our baggage for an early (7:30 A.M.) departure, I suspect each one regrets, just a little, that we must leave the soothing springs, roses and palm trees filling the world with color and light. Our Sabbath day, melding past and present, worship and delight, comes to an end, with the pilgrim road beckoning us into tomorrow.

Patricia Cockrell Wood, Scribe

January 13, 2003, Monday (Michael Denney)

We started the day in a fog – in our minds because of the early morning wakeup call and in the morning air. Mehmet described what we might have seen as we drove along towards Aphrodisias. After an early rest stop where we met the duck and learned of the demise of the parrots, we made it to Aphrodisias where we spent the morning.

All of us, including those of us who had been there before, were blown away by the magnitude of that ancient city. David helped capture the moment by telling the story of "the women caught in adultery" from the Gospel According to John 8:1-11. His telling of the story was most moving because he told it without notes and from the stage of the Theatre (I peddled hot dogs). The way that David told the story helped me to realize how the Gospel stories were first heard. The museum at the site was filled with statues found on the site. The corridor of Zoilos struck me in that Zoilos had been a slave to Octavian. Octavian freed him and he became a great benefactor to his native Aphrodisias. He was responsible for the construction of the Theatre stage. His story is inspiring and tells something of the institution of slavery in the Roman Empire.

We then went to Priene. The air was crisp and we were the only people at the site. This was probably the most peaceful stop for me. Built on the knee of a mountain, it was a beautiful city that used to overlook the harbor. The harbor had been filled in with silt from the runoff from the mountains into the Meander River.

From Priene it was a short ride to Miletus. During the ride we heard the account of Alexander’s victory over Darius in a sea battle. Like Priene, Miletus is now far from the shore – another ancient city that is now inhabited by sheep, sheepdogs, and shepherds. The city was abandoned when the harbor turned to marshland and malaria decimated the population. The ancient baths remain – complete with the statues from which hot and cold water used to pour.

After such a full day we were glad to pull into our hotel where we found good food and a warm bed.

More information can be found concerning these cities at this site which is maintained by the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture:

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003 (Owen)

We are at the Viking Hotel in Kusadasi. Judith and I walk down the beach after breakfast. Species include black-headed gull and cormorant. We are back in time for morning Bible study. It is my morning to do the prayers.

Our first stop of the day is the House of the Virgin Mary, where she may have spent her last years on the planet. The location is a beautiful mountain pine forest. It seems unlikely that an elderly woman would have lived up here in this isolated spot, as opposed to down in the town, but who knows? Several jays greet us in the parking lot and the trees are full of chickadees. I find a song thrush eating berries in one of the bushes. The men’s WC is remarkable for the scenic mountain view to be had through the open picture window while doing one’s business.

We next drive to Ephesus, amazingly well preserved. Rosalee gives a presentation on the library of Celsus. Anne reads Acts 19: 23-41 while we are all seated in the very theater described in the text. We see the probable house of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9), and walk to the Church of St. Mary, site of historic church council meetings in 431 and 439. There is too much to absorb.

We have a bit of a mishap. We are halfway down the driveway leaving Ephesus when it is noticed that Maryann is missing! We circle back to fetch her; she didn’t know we had left!

Next stop is the ruins of the Basilica of St. John, and the possible burial spot of the apostle. Nearby is a small historic mosque and we are invited by the Imam to participate in a worship service. The townspeople are surprised and delighted to see Americans, and so many of them, interested in the mosque. I find a greenfinch and black redstart in the trees outside. Then it is to the site of the Temple of Artemis, where I give my presentation. Finally, we are taken on two shopping trips, to a leather goods factory and a Turkish Delight shop.

Our hotel and restaurant in Izmir are the most luxurious of the trip so far.

(from Owen Buck)

January 15  

This morning after breakfast, drive to Sardis whose history dates back to l2th cent. B.C. Sardis felt the influence of Christianity very early and was included in the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse. During the Byzantine times, it was the seat of a bishopric. Highlights to be visited are a Synagogue, Gymnasium, Byzantine Church and the Temple of Artemis. Proceed to Thyateria or Akhisar, another town where Christianity spread quickly and the site for one of the Churches of Revelation. Continue onto hauntingly beautiful Pergamon, which rises high on a hill as one, nears the city of Bergama. Being one of the richest and most powerful of kingdoms of the ancient world, you will see that it still retains its past grandeur even in its shattered yet dignified present state. Highlights will include the Altar of Zeus, Temple of Trojan and the Theater. Coming down the mountain, stop by Asclepion, a leading health center of the ancient world where methods of treatment included music therapy and barefoot walking. Dinner at the hotel and overnight in Pergamon.

16 January 2003 Thursday Bergama – Canakkale (Lucy)

      After a cold night in the Berksoy Hotel in Bergama we warmed ourselves at the breakfast table around a tall mushroom shaped heater.  But our morning Bible study in the chilly upstairs triclinium of the Bergama Rotary Club braced us for the day’s adventures.

      Up high on the mountain of Pergamon’s acropolis white marble columns of the Temple of Trajan pierced the turquoise sky above us as we huddled together out of the wind in a sunny spot on the square below.  Sharon told the story of the Kingdom of Pergamon, how power and wealth passed from father to son, sometimes peacefully, sometimes through greed and treachery.  Her humorous style and signboard cue cards helped us keep the rulers’ names and dates in line.  We regretted the loss to history of Mark Anthony’s love gift to Cleopatra—the contents of Pergamon’s library—although some remarked that if the books hadn’t burned in Alexandria, David would have required us to read all of them.  I ran down the steep steps of the theater that barely clings to the hillside, and then ran back up again, to register the angle of inclination in my bones and muscles, rather than just with my eyes.  Sharon and I lingered at the Temple of Zeus, feeling the mystical spiritual connection there more intensely because of the huge living pine trees growing around and up through the silent stones.  In the valley below we basked in the frail winter warmth of the sun at the Aesclepion.  As Mehmet spoke to us about the healing powers and practices of the ancient health spa and hospital, we heard muffled explosions coming from artillery gunfire practice at the army base next door.  What better example of the complex forces of life we must learn to balance?  We must be compassionate and caring, searching for ways to heal each other’s wounds, both physical and spiritual, and yet we must be vigilant and prepared to defend each other against the attacks of those who would cause us harm.  I see this balance in the tender way Turkish boys place a hand or just a finger on their younger sibling’s shoulder to keep them from stepping into the road as our huge bus zooms past, and in the loving yet totally unselfconscious way Turkish men greet their dear male friends with a kiss on each cheek or walk arm in arm along the road, and again in the sweet faces of the young soldiers, who are trained to be the toughest fighting force in the world.

      Just as some of us were feeling too cold and road weary to get off the bus for another stop, Mehmet treated us to a surprise indoor picnic lunch at his friend’s rest stop.  A warm stove and beautifully laid table of delicacies greeted us:  hazelnut butter, walnuts, olives, “cheese cigarettes,” bread, olive oil and honey, along with the usual tomatoes and cucumbers.  Mehmet and others got a surprise, too, when they bit into some super-hot green peppers….too hot even for Maria, but David didn’t bat an eyelash.

      The bus bumped and twisted along the winding road over Mt. Ida while we listened to a taped reading of the opening scenes of the Illiad and looked out over Edremit Bay to the island of Lesvos.  Women in colorful pantaloons and headscarves stooped to pick olives off the green orchard floors, and men in somber wool caps and jackets sat dozing in the sun at their roadside produce stands.  As the sun was setting we arrived in Aleksandria Troas, strolling first along the beach where Paul and his companions walked.  It was almost balmy, and a few of us waded in the cold Aegean Sea before gathering to hear the words of Acts related to this spot.  A bit further inland the remains of the city lie scattered and mostly unexcavated throughout the fields.  A local security guard or caretaker accompanied us to the sites of the bath and the Temple of Augustus, currently being excavated by a team from the University of Munich.  I think Mehmet was disappointed that he couldn’t climb up on “his arch,” as he called it, at the bath, the way he did last time we were here.  Just as well, since we all worried then that he’d come crashing down along with the stones!  When we arrived at our hotel in Canakkale a warm fire and fine food awaited us.  We’ve reached the Dardanelles and are on the homeward stretch now, bound for Istanbul tomorrow to complete the circle of our journey here.  But many of us have found a spiritual home here in Turkey and are not anxious to leave.  We pray that the end of this circle will blend into the beginning of a new circle of friendships and connections to this land and her people, bringing us back again and again in ever deepening bonds of love.  

Troas

The last day in Turkey  - Saturday  January 18 – Christopher Glass  

For our last day on the Purple People Mover, Mehmet the Magician had rearranged our schedule to allow us to visit the Kariye Camii or Chora Church and - he thought - the Miramah mosque of  Mimar (Architect) Sinan.  The mosque was locked, so we went to Kariye. It was built around 300, shortly after the Council of Nicea, outside the walls of the city. 80 years later the city was enlarged and it was inside the walls.  It was expanded in the 11th century, with mosaics of the life of Mary and the life of Jesus added around 1320. Mosaics of peter and Paul glare at each other from opposite side of the main doorway. In the side nave are frescoes, the most dramatic of which is the "Harrowing of Hell", depicting the tradition of what Jesus did between Good Friday and Easter - descended to hell and raised the dead as represented by Adam and Eve.

After Kariye we went back to the mosque - still locked. So instead we swent to Sinan’s most important mosque in Istanbul the Süleymaniye, built for Süleyman the Magnificant (the Lawgiver) between 1550 and 1557. It has great similarities to Hagia Sophia but shows Sinan’s adaptation of the form to the needs of a mosque - more open and less hierarchically oriented. It serves as a good introduction to our next destination - Hagia Sophia itself.

The architect of our group gave a highly technically and largely incomprehensible description of the structural problems that had led to the collapse of the dome only 21 years after it was completed. The huge space, with a higher dome, smaller windows, scaffolding filling one quarter of the space, and 1500 years of oil lamp smoke darkening the originally brilliant marble surfaces, does not give the impression it originally did of a space that compels the viewer to envision the God who said "let there be Light".  But it is still a magnificent space.

We proceeded to Topkapi Palace, with its collections of the trophies of empire. Most impressive were the relics of the Caliphs and the Prophet himself, although we are not used to the idea of religious leaders wielding some serious swords. Less convincing were the staff of Moses and the turban of Joseph.

Then we dispersed on a final round of the inevitable business of American pilgrims - shopping! Afterwards we returned to the hotel for a final dinner and celebration.