Back in Turkey

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The way back to Gaziantep was not challenging as the way to Aleppo. Even crossing the border went smoothly. The taxi driver was a nice and honest. A real family man. He was living in Kilis and as work he was transporting people between Syria and Turkey. When we talked about the stay in Gaziantep he asked in which hotel we stayed. When I told him the name, he looked at me and said. "Sir, that is not really a hotel for you." I said that I already noticed that I saw some 'working ladies' over there. He said that there is a bar in the basement of the hotel, and asked if I wend down to the bar. I said no. "DON'T" was his answer. Then he told me that the bar in the basement was used as a 'meeting point' full of working ladies and with a price you could take them upstairs to your room. So in other words, we stayed 2 night in a bordello!

We entered Gaziantep and first we picked up our luggage which was still in this 'hotel' and the driver took us to a proper hotel in the city center. He even helped us with negotiating and we took the room for a good price. We went to the room and first thing we did is taking a shower and slowly it was time for dinner.

However we were not in the European areas of Turkey, we had the feeling that we were back in Europe. We realized again how modern and developed Turkey is compared to many other countries in this region.

We enjoyed of the delicious food of Gaziantep and the great baklava and went to a bar with live rock music. We didn't made it late as we were still tired of the bad night in Aleppo.

Day 5

Today we woke up completely rested. The hotel room was clean and isolated from loud noises. There is nothing else to wish when you are exhausted. Today we spent the day easy as tomorrow the organized GAP trip will start. We just walked in the city center, went shopping and bought souvenirs. Not to forget, Gaziantep is also famous because of their pistachio nuts. A reason to go to a grocery shop and buy some of these nuts and other products which are very tasty in this area. We spent the whole day by shopping, launching and after the dinner we went back to the hotel for our last night in Gaziantep.

Day 6

Waking up early in the morning was always a problem for me. Especially on holidays. Very sleepy we took a breakfast, checked out and went to the travel agency (meeting point). We met our tour guide. His name was Serif Kurt. A very professional man which outstanding communication skills. Becoming a travel guide was probably the best career move in his life. With our guide we were quite lucky. Our travel group was another story. There were 3 categories of people. The majority were old retired persons who were enjoying of their old days. Then there were some extremely religious persons, who even didn't listen to traditional Turkish music, because it might be a sin??? And there were some people which were on the same frequency as us. There were 4 women from Istanbul (3 sisters and 1 niece ) and a girl from Izmir. Within this group, we created our 'subgroup' with these persons.

Finally when everyone arrived, the tour started. The first stop was The Gaziantep Museum of Archeology. This museum is best known for its collection of mosaics, most of which were excavated from the ancient Roman city site of Zeugma. Other exhibits include a collection of paleolithic artifacts; items from a Bronze Age necropolis; Hittite, Persian, Roman, Hellenistic, and Commagene artworks and glassware; Ottoman and Islamic coins and medallions; and the skeleton of a mammoth. Attached to the museum is a garden containing a selection of stone artifacts, including pagan tombstones from Zeugma, Christian tombstones, and Hittite statuary.
The museum in its current form dates from 2005, when it was substantially enlarged to house the newly-discovered Zeugma mosaics.

The next point of the trip was the castle of Gaziantep. Gaziantep Castle is one of the most beautiful examples of castles which are still safe and sound in Turkey. It draws the attention of everybody with its real magnificence and grandeur and also with its mysterious history. Although there is no information about when and who constructed the castle, the first part was built as an observation tower during the Roman period and it was enlarged in time. It took its present appearance during Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century A.D. The castle plan was like a circle and the length is 1200 meter. The walls, which were constructed with big stones, were supported by 12 towers. Around the castle there was a ditch with a length of 30 meters and depth of 10 meters. Crossing to the castle was possible only by bridge. It is rumored that one of the north tower of the castle belonged to the Romans. the ones on the west were constructed during the Mameluke period according to inscriptions. As learned from the inscription, the two towers on each side of, the bridge were constructed during Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent.

Inside the castle there was a exhibition of the time when the Ottoman Empire was falling and the Turkish liberation war was ongoing. Together with the stories and explanations by our tour guide Serif, it was a very interesting visit. We learned how the local citizens of Gaziantep managed to keep the Brits and the French away during this hard period while Kemal Ataturk was fighting on the frontline on the European side of the country.

We finished the visit to the castle. On the foot of the hill where the castle is built, there was a copper handcrafts street. Nice shops for buying souvenirs and looking to the workers how they are making these products. Slowly it was time for lunch. We had a great lunch in Gaziantep and continued the journey to the next place.

About Zeugma:

Forty-five kilometers away from Gaziantep close to the town of Nizip on the Euphrates is the tiny village of Belkis. The village's real asset is the magnificent ruins of the ancient city of Zeugma, which has stayed buried beneath the pistachio groves for nearly two thousand years. Belkis/Zeugma is considered among the four most important settlement areas under the reign of the Kingdom of Commanage. In the Hellenistic Era the city was called “Seleukeia of Euphrates”. The ancient city of Zeugma, originally, was founded by Selevkos Nikador, one of the generals of the Alexander the Great, in 300 B.C. At that time the city was named after the general and called “ Selevkaya Euphrates.” And the population in the city was approximately 80 000. In 64 B.C. Zeugma was conquered and ruled by Roman Empire and with this shift the name of the city was changed into Zeugma to mean “bridge-passage.”
During the roman rule, the city became one of the attractions in the region, due to its commercial potential originating from geostrategic location. Because, the Zeugma city was on the silk road connecting Antioch to China with a quay on the river Euphrates. In 256 A.D.

Zeugma city experienced an invasion and it was fully destroyed by the Sassanian King, Sapur I. The invasion was so dramatic that Zeugma city was not able to recover and thrive for a long time. To make the situation even worse, a violent earthquake hit the city and buried it beneath rubble. Indeed, the city never gained the prosperity once achieved during the Roman rule. In 4th Century A.D. Zeugma settlement became a Late Roman territory. During the 5th and 6th Centuries the city was ruled over by the Early Byzantine domination. As a result of the ongoing Arab raids the city was abandoned once again. Later on, in the 10th and 12th centuries a small Abbasid residence settled in Zeugma. Finally a village called “Belkis” was founded in the 17th century. Later on Belkis/Zeugma became one of the four major attractions of the Kingdom of Commanage. During the Roman Era, troops called “Schythian Legion” consisting of Anatolian soldiers was positioned around Zeugma. For about two centuries the city was home to high ranking officials and officers of the Roman Empire, who transferred their cultural understanding and sophisticated life style into the region.

Thus the military formation acquired a Roman character and gave rise to an artistic trend of necropolis sculpture. In this respect, samples of beautiful art appeared in the form of steels, rock relieves, statues and altars. This unique trend in sculpture and art made the newly emerging Zeugma art well recognized in whole region. Zeugma became considerably rich, owing to the liveliness created by Legion formation. At that time, there was a wooden bridge connecting Zeugma to the city of Apemia on the other side of Euphrates, and current excavations revealed that there was a big customs and a considerable amount of border trade in the city.

The proof for this assumption came from the findings in the excavations carried out in “Iskele üstü.” In this site 65 000 seal imprints (in clay) called “Bulla”, were found in a place which is believed to serve as the archives for the customs of ancient Zeugma. The seal imprints used in sealing papyrus, parchment, moneybags and customs bales are good indication of volume of the trade and the density of transportation and communication network once established in the region.

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