Çanakkale
Turkey
11 November 2009

Dear DrMuscarella

Cc:  Family and friends
 
Thank you, Oscar, for encouraging me to travel to Çanakkale to visit the ruins of Troy.
 
The guidebooks praise the hilltop view to the valley and the Dardanelles – the strait that connects the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea.  And the ruins themselves, even for a non-professional, are impressive.  What is truly seductive is that when I gaze into the archeological dig, I look down into 5000 years of human settlement in this area.  (“Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”)
 

Bergama
(Pergamum)
Turkey

09 November 2009

My Dear Doctor Friends,

Cc: Family and Friends and my Fellow Patients

For Medicine in the Western World, is this where it all began? At the Asclepion in the North Aegean region of ancient Pergamum?

Here's a dose of Greek mythology:

The son of Apollo, Asclepius, the god of healing was a famous physician. His mother, Coronis, a princess of Thessaly, died when he was an infant. Apollo entrusted the child's education to Chiron, a centaur, who taught Asclepius the healing arts. Asclepius, when grown, became so skilled in surgery and the use of medicinal plants that he could even restore the dead back to life. Hades, ruler of the dead, became alarmed at this and complained to Zeus. How did Zeus handle the complaint?

{C}

Izmir
Turkey
08 November 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

I have decided on a final itinerary for my remaining time in Turkey: Selcuk – Izmir – Bergama – Canakkale – Edirne – Karacakoy – Istanbul. Now I need to pick up the pace and cut back a bit on my strolling and wandering.

The first decision is how much time to spend in Izmir (pop 2.6 mil). I decided, very little. Big cities have become less attractive to me. But Izmir, the ancient city of Smyrna, is known for its large Jewish community and I did want to see the old synagogues.

Selçuk
Turkey
06 November 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

After Ephesus, I took the day off to wander around Selçuk.

I found the Citadel, the Basilica of St John,* the remains of a Roman aqueduct and a colorful Market.

I took a bus to Çamlik to wander around the Steam Locomotive Museum.

Of course, I wandered into one or two pastry shops.

Ephesus
Turkey
06 November 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

The "usual suspects" and several "unusual" ones are associated with the ancient seaport known as Ephesus:

Anatolians, Ioanians, Lydians, Persians, and Romans, and historical figures Androclus, Croesus, Herostratus, Alexander, Nero, Hadrian, St John, Virgin Mary, St Paul (Letter to the Ephesians) and Emperor Justinian. Quite a group!

I don't know how many tens of thousands of tourists visit Ephesus each year. I assume that many come for the day from a cruise ship docked at Kuşadasi. They come in groups with a guide who points out the many historical influences on what the guidebook calls "the best preserved classical city in the Eastern Mediterranean." Greeks, Romans, Christians, Jews, Muslims - all played a role in the history here.

I do not dare to describe the ruins of Ephesus. They are extensive and of course include all the "usual suspects" to be found in a classical city: walkways, columns, gates, fountains, temples, a gymnasium and baths, and a grand theatre that seats 25,000 people: each successive range of seating up from the stage is pitched more steeply than the one below, thereby improving the view and acoustics for spectators in the upper seats.

{C}

Şanlıurfa

Turkey

October 24, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

The bus ride form Mardin to Şanlıurfa (178 km - 110 mi) was a straight shot from east to west across the agricultural plain of Upper Mesopotamia. Olive trees, pistachio trees, apricot trees, cotton and corn fields are all irrigated with the river waters of the Tigris and Euphrates. As I travel across "the land between the waters," my university course, Ancient History 101, comes alive.

The area around the city of Urfa (pop 463,000) has been a battleground for more than three thousand years: first the Hittites in c.1370 BCE, then the Assyrians, Alexander and the Macedonians, Aramaeans, Persians, Romans, Arabs, Turks, Armenians, Byzantines, Crusaders, Seljuk Turks, Saladin and the Kurdish Ayyubids, Mamluks, and finally the Ottoman Turks. Urfa was renamed Şanlıurfa (glorious Urfa) in 1984.

Şanlıurfa is a place of history and legend: