History Lesson for Me

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May 19th 2007

Published: May 19th 2007

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xmingf

Lıbrary at Ephesus

I began the trip expecting major history lessons in Egypt, but not a great deal ın Turkey. My tours on the Aegean coast is correcting my ignorance. In the town of Selcuk (situated directly south of Istanbul), I planned to just visit Ephesus, the best preserved Greek city after Pompeii. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed by the stunning architecture and city planning at Ephesus. However, I had no idea other important history lessons are in store for me.

Randomly walking around town after taking a grueling 10 hour over night bus ride from İstanbul, I stumbled upon three ruins near the outskirts of town. I came across a lone pillar ın the fields, which turns out to be the only remain of Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the world. It was destroyed by arson, as the culprit thought (rightly so) his name will be immortalized by such act. Then walking on a hill to track a castle in the town's background, I walked through tomb of St. Paul, the deciple who went to Asia Minor with Virgin Mary after Jesus died. Later, after touring Ephesus, the guide brought the group to the house that

Theater at Ephesus

The walk way beyond the theater leads to the harbor, whıch ıs now receeded (far away) due to land erosıon. The house on the mountaın top ın the background was St. Paul's prıson when he fırst trıed to spread Chrıstıanıty ın Ephesus

Virgin Mary lived and died, after she moved out of Jerusalem. Touring these three sites back to back unexpectedly, what I thought was to be a laid back stroll in an ancient city turned out to be an awe inspiring, humbling, and eye opening experience.

After getting a much needed dose of ancient history, I changed my plan of visiting Pergammon and stayed in Selcuk. Today I toured three more sites, with historical significance dating back to Alexander the Great. One of the cities, Priene, sits on top of a hill
garrisoning the ancient silk road. Another, Didimas, houses the world's largest Apollo temple.

Even though I have only witnessed a fragment of Turkey's rich history, I began to realize and appreciate the land's importance in human civilızation. As the crossing point of 3 continents, it holds strategic significance geographically, which direcly impacted world economy, culture, and religion. I found this to be interesting, as Turkey today is going through two junctions. Internationally, Turkey is applying to be part of EU. Domestically, Turkey's current ruling party (AK) is slowly shifting the country towards a more conservative Islamic state, which is met with significant resistance from the natives. I

Temple of Artemıs

...or what's left of ıt. The empty fıeld ıs where the temple used to be. The castle ın the background ıs from Byzantıne tıme. The columns between the castle and Artemıs Temple mark Stç Paul's tomb.

spoke to several local and they are afraid the movement will be the making of a second Iran (I'll avoid lengthy political discussions, especially those that I know little off). People back at home should follow the situation here when possible. Turkey has, is, and will play an important role in the stability of Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

(This blog is short. I'm still tryıng to get used the Turkısh keyboard)

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