Thursday, April 30, 2026
We began our day in Ankara at the Museum of Anatolian Civilization, which covered the history of this area from the neolithic period through the Roman Empire. It was fairly small, but very nicely done and with artifacts from each of the major periods.
This
standing stone from the neolithic period came from an early gathering site and
bears carvings of various animals. It
would have been placed in a circle with other similar stones, with two stones
in the center of the circle, as in the accompanying drawing. It was quite similar in that respect to the
standing stones of Great Britain.
The replica of a stone age house had been rebuilt as it was found. The entrance would have been from the roof, where most of the daytime activity would have taken place. Houses were built connected to one another so that the roofs formed a continuous open area.
There
were burial pits within the house itself.
Curiously, often the children buried were not related to the females
there. It was as if they swapped
children.
The
exhibits moved through the copper age to the bronze age. We wondered just how someone decided to add
tin to the copper to first make bronze.
Tin was not native to this region and so had to be imported. But by this time there was an extensive trade
network already. I thought that the
stone ax molds were particularly interesting.
There
were also numerous bronze, copper, and gold pins, clasps, and jewelry
pieces. And this huge bronze gumbo pot
(LOL!),
and
a collection of pots and pitchers.
Stone
tables depicted figures (Babylonian, Assyrian) and hieroglyphs as well as
cuneiform writing.
I’ve always found glasswork fascinating, and this collection of Roman glass wear was no exception.
Of course, no visit to Turkiye would be complete with the pilgrimage to the tomb of Ataturk. The word “pilgrimage” is used tongue-in-cheek because this man is almost revered in Turkiye. He is the founding father of the country, their George Washington. He led a revolt that did away with the Sultan and caliphate rule in favor of a democratic government, and also pushed for major reforms in religion, education, and equality. Turkish women had the right to vote before American women!
Before Ataturk, no one in Turkiye had surnames. They had a first name and some type of descriptor: Mehmet the Bald, or Ahmed Snake Eye, etc. He had everyone choose family names. Women were educated and were not forced to cover their heads unless they wanted to do so. He basically led the country from near collapse after WW1 to become a modern democratic state.
His
mausoleum is a military site in Ankara.
