Büyükada is the largest of the nine Princes’ Islands located in the Sea of Marmara, so close to the city of Istanbul that they are considered its neighborhoods. Its barely 5 square kilometers, where motorized vehicles are prohibited, boast some historical monuments, Byzantine churches and monasteries, along with a mosque, an abandoned amusement park, and […]
Turkey
Posted inAntiquity, Archaeology
Roman Mosaic with Lions Discovered at the Konuralp Theater, Ancient Prusias ad Hypium
Ongoing archaeological excavations in Konuralp, Turkey, revealed a unique mosaic in a chamber atop the city’s Ancient Theater. Presumed related to Dionysian worship, it further stirs local hopes for future tourism growth.
Posted inAntiquity, Archaeology
Archaeologists Unearth Archive of Ancient City of Doliche, Founded in 300 B.C., Revealing Over 2,000 Clay Seals
Researchers from the Asia Minor Research Center have discovered over 2,000 seal impressions in the former municipal archive of the ancient city of Doliche, providing insights into ancient administration and culture.
Posted inArchaeology
Unveiling Splendor: Ancient Sadacora Reveals a Roman Villa Adorned with 600 Square Meters of Mesmerizing Mosaics
In the province of Kayseri, located in central Turkey, impressive mosaics dating from the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD have been unearthed during recent archaeological excavations in the village of Incesu, identified with the ancient city of Sadacora or Sadogora. The mosaics, spanning an area of up to 600 square meters, are exceptionally well-preserved […]
Posted inAntiquity, Archaeology
The fantastic cargo of the Uluburun, a Bronze Age ship of uncertain origin
In 1982 an amateur diver searching for sponges off the coast of the city of Kaç in Turkey came across something spectacular. The wreck of a ship sunk with all its cargo at the end of the Bronze Age, in the 14th century BC. The wreck and the ship were named Uluburun, after the strip […]
Posted inAntiquity, Archaeology
How the Karatepe bilingual inscription from the 8th century B.C. led to the decipherment of Anatolian hieroglyphs
Just as the Rosetta Stone was fundamental in the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, other writing systems followed a similar process, sometimes more rugged and convoluted. Some contributed in part to the decipherment of the Anatolian hieroglyphs, in a sort of curious domino effect. In 1694, the Cippi of Melqart, two pedestals bearing bilingual inscriptions, in […]
Posted inAntiquity, Archaeology
How archaeologists found the origin of the legend of King Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold
One of the best-known legends of antiquity is that of the Phrygian king Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold. According to Aristotle, he died of starvation when it was impossible to touch any food without transforming it into the precious metal. The problem is that there are at least three kings with that […]
Posted inArchaeology, Prehistory
The inhabitants of Çatalhöyük were already experiencing typically urban problems 9,000 years ago
Around 9,000 years ago, the inhabitants of Çatalhöyük in central Turkey were among the earliest humans to experience some of the dangers of modern urban living. Çatalhöyük was one of the first large agricultural communities in the world and housed between 3,500 to 8,000 people at its peak. New research shows that residents faced overcrowding, […]
Posted inModern Era
The irreverent letter the Cossacks wrote to the Ottoman Sultan in 1676
Cossacks were a social and military group that by the 10th century settled in southern Russia and present-day Ukraine. They had a Turkic origin and had arrived with hordes of Mongol invasions in the area, settling there permanently. Famous for their combat skills and military strategy, they gradually integrated and mixed with other ethnic groups […]
Posted inAntiquity, Archaeology
The monumental rock relief excavated by the Hittites on Mount Sipylus more than 3,000 years ago
When he speaks of Laconia in the third book of his Description of Greece Pausanias comments that the inhabitants of Acriae boasted of having the oldest temple of the Mother Goddess in the Peloponnese. But immediately afterwards he mentions that the oldest image of that goddess is elsewhere: The people of Acriae say that this is the […]