ANATOLIA - LAND OF TURKS

	A New World for the Turks : Anatolia.
	Anatolia : The Last Ten Thousand Years.
	Historical Ages of the Works Displayed.

A New World For The Turks : Anatolia 

Anatolia has given rise to many civilizations in the course of history. Although not as advanced as Egypt or Mesopotamia, the Hatti, who spoke a language characterized by prefixes,were nevertheless one of the more advanced societies of their age(3000-2000B.C.). The objects on display at the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations constitute the finest Bronze Age collection in the world next to the Ur Treasure in the British Museum. The Ankara collection, dated at 2000-1900B.C., comes from tumuli at Alacahoyuk, Horoztepe and Mahmatlar, and includes artifacts in gold silver, electrum bronze and ceramic.

An Outpost Against Invasion From The Balkans : Troy

During the time of the Hatti, Troy I (3000-2500) and Troy II (2500-2200) represented the Bronze Age in northwestern Anatolia, that is to say at Canakkale.Both fell within the sphere of Aegean culture, and Troy II had a particularly brilliant age. The gold vessels unearthed by Heinrich Schliemann, and kept in the Berlin Völkerkunde Museum, unfortunately vanished during World War II. The riches of Troy are now represented by the gold jewellery on display in the Istanbul museum of Archaelogy. Troy III-V (2200-1800B.C.) is a continuation of Troy II.

Migration Of Indo-European Peoples Into Anatolia

The Hatti-Hittite Princedoms

The Indo-European migrations, which took place over a vast territory extending from Western Europe to India, brought some peoples over the Caucasus into Anatolia. The Nesi people settled in Central Anatolia, the Pala in Paphlygonia, and the Luwians in Southern Anatolia. In the course of these migrations the new arrivals gradually captured the Hatti princedoms to form first the Old Hittite Kingdom (1660-1460 B.C.), and than the Great Hittite Kingdom(1460-1190 B.C.).  

The Hittite Empire (1660-1190 B.C.)

The Hittites founded a federative feudal state, and during their final two centuries constituted one of the two superpowers of the age, the other being Egypt. Indo-European in origin, the Hittites recognized equality between men and women,and indeed their law incoporated rights even for slaves. No other legal system in the world at that time was so advanced. Although the monarchy passed from father to son, this was a kingship based on the idea of "primus inter pares",first among equals, for the ruler was required to bring many matters before the senate, which was made up of aristocrats known as the Pankus class.

 At a time in the Near East when the flaying and impaling of enemies was the rule, when heads and hands would be lopped off and pyramids made of them, the Hittites were astonishingly humane, almost like civilized of nations today.

The Hittites adopted the Hatti religion, mythology, language and customs, as well as their names for places, mountains, rivers and persons. Because the Mesopotamians called Anatolia "the Land of the Hatti", the newcomers were mistakenly given the name "Hittite".

Hittite architecture was highly original, and included the strongest city walls of the Near East in the second millenium B.C. They also built the most magnificent temples, and developed a figurative art that was to be widespread in Anatolia.

The Ilium of Homer's Iliad

Troy VI (1800-1275 B.C.)

As the Hittites were settling in Central Anatolia, another Indo-European people were flourishing in the Canakkale region at Troy VI, which today is one of Turkey's finest ruins, with a city wall preserved to a height of four meters, and a number of well preserved megaron type houses.

The Ilium of King Priam, in Homer's epic, corresponds to layer VIh(1325-1275 B.C.), and was destroyed in an earthquake, while the city captured by the Achaeans was Troy VIIe (1275-1240/1200 B.C.). When Troy VIh was destroyed in an earthquake in 1275 B.C., followed by the pillaging of Troy VIIa in 1240/1200 at the hands of The Achaeans, a staunch outpost against incursions from the nortwest- an outpost which had stood for two thousand years was gone. And indeed, the crude hand-made pottery discovered in Troy VIIb2 / 1240-1190 B.C.),like the Buckelceramic pots found in Troy VIIb2 (1190-110), are of Balkan Origin. Having captured Troy in 1200, the Balkan peoples proceeded to occupy Anatolia in waves; around 1190 they destroyed the Hittite capital of Hattusas and penetrated as far south as the Assyrian border.

Civilizations, Which Influenced The Hellens

The Urartu Kingdom(860-580 B.C.) and The Phrygians(750-300 B.C.)

In southeastern and eastern Anatolia, which seem not to have been much affected by the migrations of the Balkan peoples, the Late Hittite Princedoms(1200-700 B.C.) and the Urartu Kingdom (860-580 B.C.)produced a high level of culture.

In the 8th century B.C. the Hellenes came in contact with the rich two-thousand-year-old heritage of Mesopotamia through the intermediary of the Late Hittite Princedoms living in southeastern Anatolia. The Hellenes acquired the Phoenician alphabet from Al Mina, and the mythology and figurative art which we see in Homer and Hesiod, from such Late Hittite cities as Kargamish and Malatya. The helmet of a Hellene in the 8th century, along with his shield, various belts and different hair styles, were just like Those of the Hittites. Hellenic figurative and decorative art in the 8th and 7th centuries followed Hittite styles and iconography.

Although the Urartus were strongly influenced in their art by Assyrian and Late Hittite example, they produced fine artifacts which they were able to export to Hellas and Etruscan cities.

The Phrygians were among the Balkan peoples who came into Anatolia around the year 1200 B.C., but they first appear on the scene as a political entitiyafter the year 750 B.C. The Hellenic world knew of the Phrygian King Midas as a legendary figure with long ears who turned to gold everything that the touched. The Assyrians, on the other hand , record that he qas king in 717, 715, 712 and 709 B.C. Although the powerful kingdom which Midas founded was swept away by the Cimmerians in the First quarter of the 7th century, scattered groupings of the Phrygians continued to evolve their civilization in Central Anatolia though the 6th century B.C. The Phrygian rock temples and treasures in the vicinity of Eskisehir and Afyon are quite well preserved, and among the finest works produced by their age.

Three Intriguing Anatolian Peoples:

Lydia, Caria and Lycia

The Lydians and Lycians spoke languages that were fundamentally Indo-European, but both languages had acquired non-Indo-European elements prior to the Hittite and Hellenic periods. Both alphabets closely resembled that of the Hellenes. During the reign of Creosus, fabled for his wealth (575-545 B.C.) the Lydian capital of Sardes was one of the most brilliant cities of the ancient world.

Although the Carian alphabet resembles the Lycian, the Carian language has not been deciphered to date. Herodotus says that according to a cretan legend the Carians were called Leleges and lived on the islands during the time of the Minoan Kingdom, that is, in the mid-2nd millenium B.C. The Carians themselves, however, claimed to be native Anatolians, related to the Lydians and Mysians.

The archaelogical finds pertaining to all three cultures show strong Hellenic influence. Of the three, the Lycians best kept their own character. Their monuments hollowed out of the rock are among the most interesting works of art in ancient Anatolia.

The Ionian Civilization (1050-1030 B.C.)

Following the destruction of Troy, the Hellenes established cities all along the Western Anatolian shore. In the 9th century B.C. they produced the first masterpiece of Western Civilization, the Iliad of Homer.

During the era of the natural philosophers, i.e. 600-545 B.C., Anatolian culture was of a brilliance unmatched in the world of its time, superceding Egypt and Mesopotamia Rejecting the idea of djinns, fairies and mythological causes, the natural philosophers investigated natural phenomena in a free spirit; Thales, son of the Carian Hexamyes, using the same methods we would today, predicted an eclipse of the sun for May 28, 585 B.C. This was the first prediction of a natural event in history.

During the occupation of the Persians (545-333 B.C.), Anatolia relinguished its leadership, but regained it in the

Hellenistic Age (333-30 B.C.).

Throughout these centuries, Milletus, Priene, Ephesus and Teos were among the finest cities in the world, and the Anatolian architecture of this era greatly influenced Rome.  

Bluffer's Guide to the Anatolian Iron Age By Roger Norman- Turkish Daily News

The Roman Age (30 B.C. - 595 A.D.)

The Romans developed the technique of mortaring bricks together, thereby producing arches, vaults and domes of large volume. These were the first major feats of enineering in history, and although the very first were at Rome, it soon became the turn of Anatolia Fine cities sprang up not only in the south and west of the peninsula, but also in its heartland. In all of these cities there were such monumental works as an agora, gymnasium, stadium, theater, baths and foundations, and many of them were of marble. The roads, too, were paved with marble and lined with colonnades, thus protecting the citizens from sun and dust in the summer, and from cold and mud in the winter. Water channeledinto the cities via aquedects sprang from the fountains, and a fine, well maintained network of roads and stone bridges connected the cities on the peninsula. Dozens of ancient cities in Western and Southern Anatolia, portions of them almost as they were in Roman times, fill visitors with awe.

The First Christian State in the World

The Byzantine Empire (330-1453 A.D.)

Byzantine art was born in Anatolia at the end of the Roman era. As the Roman art of sculpture and architectural decoration entered a period of decline toward the end of the 3rd century, new life was breathed into them by early Christian practitioners of both arts. One might say that early Christian and Byzantine art were an expressionistics rendering of Roman themes; where architectural space was concerned, they represented a whole new approach.

For two and a half centuries, from 300 to 565 A.D., Constantinople (Istanbul) was the leading city of the world in art and culture. The most brilliant time for the early Christian era was the reign of Justinian (527-565). Hagia Sophia, a centrally domed basilica, was built perior to this (532-539), and is the masterpiece of Byzantine art, one of the most famous works in the entire world.

The best preserved Byzantine religious buildings are Hagia Irini Church (6th and 8th centuries), the Basilica of St. John (Justinian's reign) and the Church of Mary (4th and 6th centuries), both in Ephesus, and the Alahan Church (5th and 6th centuries) in Southeastern Anatolia. From the Late Byzantine era the best preserved and finest works are St. Mary Pammakaristos (1310) next to Fethiye Mosque, and Kariye Mosque, that is to say the Chora Church, both in Istanbul. In the latter two buildings, the multidomed ceiling harmonizes beautifully with the walls and their three-staged arches.

The first people to dwell in all of Anatolia were the Turks. The Hittites, Phrygians and Greeks lived in only part of the peninsula.

The Turks arrived in Anatolia from Central Asia by way of continual migrations and incursions, and through their policy of tolerance in government earned the love of the Indo-European peoples living on the peninsula.It was the Turks who adopted Islam, and on this basis mingled with the local peoples starting in 1071. The passage of nine centuries has resulted in present-day Turkey.

Until recently it was thought that contemporary Western civilization was based on the Greeks, but archaelogy and history now show that it goes back rather to beginnings in western and south-western Anatolia.

Anatolia: the last ten thousand years

The Hellenistic Age (330-30 B.C.)

Classical Culture before the Hellenistic Age

During the Greco -Persian Period, which began with the Persian occupation of Anatolia and its subjection to their Empire, Gordium, Ephesus, Sardis, Miletus, Phocaea, Sinope, and a great many other cities scattered about Anatolia continued the tradition of ancient Anatolian art. Nevertheless, as a result of the adaptation of the Middle Eastern culture brought by the Persians with these local cultures, a new thesis -called "Greco-Persian"- emerged and it showed itself in jewelry, as it did in all other branches of the arts.

While this development was taking place in Anatolia, Classical Culture was born in mainland Greece (5th Century B.C.) in which Athens played a leading role. In the fields of thought and art, a bright period of development was created based upon an observational dialectic and idealism. The source of this Classical Culture was that of ancient Mediterranean cultures. Bracelets with animals head at their extremities, which were very popular in such Middle Eastern cultures as the Assyrian and Late Hittite, were also adopted during the Classical Age, a fact which is an example of this influence. In bracelet designs, granule-decorated cones and spherical beads decorated with filigree were also common during the Classical Age.

From the Macedonian Kingdom to the Empire of Alexander the Great (Hellenistic Age)

Founded in the 7th Century B.C., the Kingdom of Macedonia came under the influence of Greek language and culture in the 5th Century B.C. During the reign of Philip, Alexander's father, the gold mines in western Thrace began to be worked, and Greece came under Macedonian hegemony. As a result of the expeditions of his son, Alexander the Great in Anatolia, the Persian Empire was destroyed, and in its place was founded the Empire of Alexander the Great, which extended from India to North Africa. As a result of this fusion of Greek culture with the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean and in the Middle East, Hellenistic culture arose as a result of the poly-national empire thus created.

Nevertheless, with the death of Alexander at an early age, the empire was unable to maintain its integrity, and following long disputes and civil wars, independent Hellenistic kingdoms emerged. Among these, the Kingdom of Pergamon in western Anatolia and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt grew as the rivals of their age in a climate of uninterrupted cultural and artistic competition.

The Kingdom of Pergamon took over 5th Century Classical Culture from Athens and kept it alive. The largest school of sculpture of the Hellenistic Age was founded at Pergamon, which subsequently influenced Roman Sculpture Cites such as Ephesus, Tralleis (modern Aydin), Aphrodesias, and Miletus which won their independence during this period, are also among the leaders in the cultural and artistic activities of the Hellenistic Age.

Although the Kingdom of Pergamon became part of the Roman Empire in 30 B.C. as a result of a bequest and the Hellenistic Age thus came to a close, this culture was predominant in Anatolia until the end of the its Century A.D.

The Entry of Gold Jewelry into Daily Life

In the earlier Archaic and Classical Ages, gold jewelry was generally made to be left as votive offerings in temples or in graves. During the Hellenistic Age however with the capture of the Persian treasury on the one hand and the operation of the gold mines of western Thrace on the other, the use of gold jewelry in daily life became widespread. The upper classes and the increasingly wealthier class of merchants copied the Persians in their excessive demand for artistically produced jewelry, a rich output was produced which was decorated with extremely fine workmanship. The most important jewelry-manufacturing centers of the age were Antioch (modern Antakya), Lapsakos (modern Lapseki), and Alexandria (in Egypt).

Rich, Exciting, Colorful Jewelry

The variety of forms of jewelry increased during the Hellenistic Age, most of which were excessively complex arrangements. As is the case in sculpture and the other plastic arts, these striking, effective features are also to be observed in jewelry.

An important innovation during this period was the entry of color into the art of jewelry. Although semi-precious stones were rarely employed in Classical Greek jewelry, the use of colored stone, glass, and enamelling in Hellenistic Age jewelry gains for it a bright and sparkling appearance. The most popular stones were carnelians, garnets, chalcedony, quartz, amethysts, and emeralds, which were used together with pearls, fired ceramics and enamel. This development is a product of the influence of Anatolian, Middle Eastern, and Egyptian cultures. The technology of jewelry was quite superior. Filigree and granulation adornments reached the delicacy of Late Etruscan art.

The motif known as the Knot of Hercules, consisting of two intertwined loops, is rarely encountered in ancient Egyptian and Minoan jewelry, but during the Hellenistic Age jewelry it began to be widely used as a symbol of health and happiness.

The Use of Animal and Human Figures in Jewelry

During the Hellenistic Age the forms of earrings changed entirely. Crescent and boat-shaped earrings, which were quite popular throughout the long period from the Bronze Age to the Classical Age, began to be abandoned in the 4th Century B.C. The most characteristic earring forms of this period are ring-shaped with human or animal heads (bulls, wild goats, lions, etc.) on their extremities.

The circular parts of these earrings are made of three or four gold wires twisted together with their ends beaten together and drawn out. The extremity of the ring fits into a smaller ring located below the head. The figures of animal or human heads were made in two parts using a beating technique and joined. Between them was placed a filler which prevented them from being damaged. This type of earring was further enriched at the beginning of the 1st Century B.C. with the addition of pendants and colored stone beads, and dolphins were added to the animals whose heads were employed.

Another new type of earring were those in the form of rosettes and pendants. Pendants have motifs such as the heads of Nikes, Eros, and Bacchantes as well as amphorae. Knot-shaped earrings enjoyed a brief popularity but disappeared by the end of the 3rd Century B.C. Crowns made of golden laurel or oak leaves were ceremonial jewelry from men which was popular during the Classical Period. These were enriched in the Hellenistic Age with figures of Nikes and Eros and with the addition of colored stones. Diadems with relief figures were quite common during the early periods of the Hellenistic Age. Under a strong Persian influence in the 2nd Century B.C., rich diadems decorated with Knots of Hercules, pendants, and colored stones became popular.

During the classical period, necklaces were used which consisted of pendants attached to woven bands of gold wire. These were given a more effective appearance with the addition in the Hellenistic Age of cone motifs together with pendants consisting of human and animal heads and colored stones. In addition to this, new types of necklaces also emerged; necklaces in the form of chains with animal heads attached were a popular type of jewelry in this period.

Necklaces manufactured by joining together geometrically designed parts decorated with colored stones also became widespread during the Late Hellenistic period, and continued into Ramon times.

Bracelets were either hinged and had clasps or else were in one piece in the form of rings. The serpentine bracelets of the Classical Age also continued into the Hellenistic period. In some examples of these, the upper portion of the figure of the snake is in the form of a Triton (a mythological sea creature), while their tails were given the shape of Knots of Hercules.

Rings were designed and produced in various forms, and the use of stones became increasingly more widespread. Stone seal rings engraved with figures make up an important group.

A number of Greek colonies adapted pins and fibulae, the first examples of which are observed in the Bronze Age, to Hellenistic styles.

Developing Gem Technology and the Blue Lady of Pergamon

The Hellenistic Age is a period in which empires changed hands, rose, and fell, but in which local cultures preserved their unique natures. The Hellenistic kingdoms which were established as the empires fell returned to the regional characteristics now melded the Hellenistic crucible. Gem working, a heritage from much earlier periods in Anatolia, continued its existence in the Hellenistic period as well. The heritage of the master craftsmen who produced their Sardian seals, scarabs, and rings stones of such hard gems as chalcedony, carnelian, and opal during the Greco-Persian phase was now taken over in the Kingdom of Pergamon. These important works remaining from this period are proof that the technology was developed to the utmost.

The first of these in a miniature spherical agate vase small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand and which is also hollowed out around the opening. The second work is a chalcedony brooch, stemming from a journey of a thousand years which began in Mesopotamia spreading to the civilisations of Anatolia, Egypt and Greece, and which may serve as a symbol of the summit at Pergamon of such techniques as engraved rings stones, and brooches with their figures carved in relief. This piece, which we propose here be called the "Blue Lady of Pergamon", like the previous small vase is in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.

It is a pity that we lack more Anatolian examples from this period in which such superior works were produced. For as we know from the book on the subject of gems by the natural historian Theophrastus, who was born on the Island of Lesbos in 372 B.C. and was a student of the Platonic School and of Aristotle, sards, sardonyx, and a host of other gems took their names from their presence and artistic production in Anatolia.

 Source: Antika; The Turkish Journal of Collectable Art, March 1986, Issue: 12

By M.Yilmaz Savascin-Altan Ture

Anatolia: The Last Ten Thousand Years

Bluffer's Guide to the Anatolian Iron Age

By Roger Norman / Turkish Daily News

This is the second Bluffer's Guide, and takes over more or less where the first one ended, at the close of the Anatolian Bronze Age and the time of the upheavals of the 13th and 12th centuries B.C. caused by largescale migrations in the Aegean region. The end of the 13th century saw the end of the Hittite Empire that had dominated Anatolian history for 500 years.
When to date the end of the Iron Age is a matter of taste, since in some ways it can be said to be still continuing. For the purposes of this guide, the end of the 6th century B.C. has been somewhat arbitrarily taken as the terminal date, on the grounds that the 5th century onwards can better be considered under the heading of Anatolia in classical times. We are thus dealing approximately with the period 1200 to 500 B.C. As in the Bronze Age, the center of power in the region remains the Near East, first in the shape of the vast Assyrian Empire of Sargon II, afterwards with the emergence of the Medes and Persians. Phrygia, and then Lydia, were the dominant Anatolian powers, and Greek cities were starting to appear on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, and, later, on the Black Sea. Cyrus the Great died in 530 B.C. and Croesus of Lydia around the same time.

ARMENIANS -- A tribe, possibly of PHRYGIAN origin, which gradually occupied the region of URARTIA towards the end of the 7th century. The position of a kingdom sandwiched between the MEDES, the ASSYRIANS and whoever was the dominant power in Anatolia proper guaranteed a chequered career for the first Armenians, and for most of their successors. Armenia was to be ruled successively by Medes, Persians, Seleucids, Romans etc. etc.

ASSYRIANS -- After a period of relative decline in the 12th and 11th centuries, the Assyrian Empire not only recovered but expanded rapidly, especially during the reign of Sargon II (722-706), so that by the end of the 8th century B.C., Assyria comprised the whole of present day Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Palestine and extensive territories in present day Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Assyrian kings even ruled in Egypt for 20 years in the mid 7th century. The empire collapsed with impressive speed, however, during the final decades of the 7th century, defeated by a coalition of MEDES and Babylonians. The Assyrian capital Nineveh fell in 612.

CIMMERIANS -- One of the "destroyers" of historical record and, like others before and after them, originating from somewhere in the broad steppes of southern Russia. Swept into Anatolian history at the end of the 8th century, first harrying the URARTIANS, then destroying the Phrygian capital GORDIUM in 695 and burning Lydian SARDIS 50 years later. Always described as historians as advancing in "hordes", technically an anachronism, since the word horde comes from the Turkish <ITALIK ordu ITALIK> meaning army.

CROESUS -- Lydian king who reigned c. 560 to 547 B.C. Like the Phrygian Midas, a byword for great wealth, possibly because the LYDIANS were the first to mint coins. Croesus was the subject of the famous dialogue with Solon related by Herodotus. In reply to Croesus' leading question "Who is the most fortunate of men?", Solon irritatingly replied by naming various unknown and defunct Greeks, making the point that no man could be called happy until he was dead. It was also Croesus who was fooled by the ambiguous reply of the Delphic oracle -- "If you attack, you will destroy a great nation". It turned out to be his own, and Croesus became an (honored) captive of the Persian king Cyrus. Croesus has come down to us as a very human and rather sympathetic character, thanks largely to Herodotus. History proper starts somewhere here, one might say.

CYBELE -- The chief Phrygian divinity and their version of the Anatolian mother goddess. She was suckled by wild creatures as an infant, ministered to as a deity by castrated priests and her cult was apparently characterized by frenzied orgies. A symbol of fertility, often depicted as pregnant, sometimes many-breasted. Atys was her omprehensively defeated (although somewhat unfairly, some would say, because Cyrus apparently used the smell of his pack camels to deter the Lydian cavalry) in 547 B.C. Sardis was taken and Lydia became a Persian satrapy.

MEDES -- An Iranian tribe who first appear as the Mada and start threatening the power of Assyria in the 7th century. Together with Babylonian forces they destroyed Nineveh in 612 and soon afterwards took control of URARTIA. They were later defeated by the Persian King Cyrus and were incorporated into the empire of the PERSIANS. The Greeks tended to refer to the Persians as Medes and Cyrus as "the Mede". In the later Persian Empire, the Medes were associated with the Magi, a sacerdotal caste who followed the teachings of Zoroaster (Zarathustra).

MIDAS -- Known as Mita to the Assyrians and Egyptians. Famous in legend for the "Midas touch" which turned everything, even his food, to gold. Yet oddly there was no gold found in the immense burial mound near GORDIUM that has come to be known as Midas' tomb. There were however, a large number of wonderful bronze cauldrons and other vessels which can now be seen in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. Actually, there is a second so-called Tomb of Midas, an intriguing temple, possibly dedicated to CYBELE and to be found some 60 kilometers southeast of Eskisehir. It consists of a huge facade sculptured on the living rock. Midas himself was probably the last of the independent PHRYGIAN kings and is said to have committed suicide after the defeat by the CIMMERIANS.

MOPSUS -- A Greek by the name of Mopsus has the honor of being the very first figure of Greek legend to be authenticated as a historical personality. (Remember that there is still no <ITALIK proof ITALIK> that there were ever such people as Agamemnon or Achilles.) Legend said that one Mopsus wandered the Anatolian peninsula after the fall of Troy and ended up founding Greek colonies in Pamphylia and Cilicia (on the Mediterranean coast). He appears in a Hittite document with the unappealing name of Mukshush and also in an inscription at Karatepe in Cilicia. He is said to have founded Aspendus, Phaselis and Mopsuestia.

NEO-HITTITES -- Remnants of the Hittites, mixed with Hurrians, Hattians and others, who occupied a series of city states in the northern regions of present day Syria and southern Turkey. The art and architecture of the Neo-Hittite cities owe a good deal to Hittite traditions. Carchemish and Zincirli, close to the present day Turco-Syrian border are the best known of these.

PERSIANS -- An Iranian people who probably arrived in the region of present day Iran during the 8th century B.C., a little later than the MEDES, whom they later defeated and assimilated. It was under Cyrus the Great that the Persians began to build the great empire that was to be the dominant power of the Near East on and off for nearly a millennium. The early period of Persian glory is usually referred to by the name of its ruling dynasty, the Achaemenids, who were overthrown by Alexander. (They were succeeded in turn by the Seleucids -- named after Alexander's general Seleucus, the Parthians -- who fought the Romans over three centuries, and the Sassanians -- who were finally defeated by the Arabs.) Cyrus took Lydia and Babylonia; his son Cambyses occupied Egypt; and Darius I, who became king in 486 B.C., was responsible for introducing a gold coinage, building a huge network of roads -- including the Royal Road from SARDIS to Susa and fostering commerce throughout the empire.

PHRYGIANS -- Federation of tribes who moved into Anatolia from Eastern Europe during the last century of the Bronze Age and who established a powerful kingdom centered on GORDIUM which included Troy and Hierapolis. Replaced the Hittite Empire as the dominant force in central Anatolia, building modest walled towns on the ruins of the old Hittite cities -- at Bogazkoy, Alaca Hoyuk, Kultepe and elsewhere. Came up against Sargon II of ASSYRIA in the 8th century and were wiped out by the fierce CIMMERIANS at the beginning of the 7th century. Phrygian inscriptions remain unintelligible and the reputation the Phrygian people have left behind them makes strange reading. Stubborn, effeminate, servile and voluptuous according to various Greek readers, they were famous as makers of grave and solemn music and also for the wearing of a peculiar conical cap which was later worn by freed Roman slaves and thus became a symbol of liberty to the French revolutionaries of 1789. Phrygia was also known among Greeks as a land of fabulous wealth (see MIDAS).Their Chief divinity was CYBELE.

SARDIS -- Lydian capital, situated in the broad and fertile valley of the Gediz Cayi. There's not much left now of the Lydian city, although American excavators claim to have found the remains of the first ever mint (see CROESUS). Ten kilometers to the north lies Bin Tepe, the Lydian necropolis, where there are scores of burial mounds dating from the great age of the Lydian kingdom. The largest of these, the Tomb of Alyattes (father of Croesus), took ten minutes to ride around according to the nineteenth century traveller W.J. Hamilton.

URARTIANS -- Possibly a Hurrian people, since their language is closely related. Settled the area around Lake Van and established a kingdom that included Mt. Ararat and the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates. First mentioned in ASSYRIAN texts in the 13th century B.C., reached their zenith three or four centuries later when they built a characteristic series of massive hill fortresses in the region. Came into conflict with the Assyrian Empire in the 8th century B.C. and disappeared from history somewhat mysteriously in the 6th century at which period they were replaced by the ARMENIANS. Urartia is sometimes known as the Kingdom of Van, or the Vannic kingdom.

31.10.1996 15:25:34

Historical Ages of the Works Displayed

Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Ages

During these ages between 600000-8000 B.C. and also named as the Old Stone Age and the Middle Stone Age, man survived by gathering and they Middle Stone Age, man survived by gathering and they made tools and weapons of stone. Important finds related to this period are in the settlement centers in Karain, Kadiini, Okuzini, Beldibi and Belbasi in Antalya region and in Sehremuz near Adiyaman, in Duluk near Gaziantep.

Neolithic Age

The distinguishing characteristic of this age between 8000-5000 B.C. is the start of production, farming and animal husbandry. Man in this age, left the caves and began to live in stone and mudbrick dwellings. The most important finds related to the Neolithic Age in Anatolia are in Catalhoyuk.

Chalcolithic Age

In this age covering the years between 5000-3000 B.C., man started to make pottery of baked clay and to decorate the ceramics. This is understood from the excavation finds in settlement centers such as Hacilar, Can Hasan, Yumuktepe, Gozlukule, Beycesultan, Alisar, Alacahoyuk. Relations with Mesopotamia developed by way of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates.

Early Bronze Age

The people who lived in Anatolia between 3000-2000 B.C. acquired the knowledge to produce bronze by combining copper and tin, and they started to produce weapons, pots and pans and ornaments from this alloy. The most important finds of this period are in Troy and Alacahoyuk. During this era when the pottery wheel was put into use, the Anatolian man learned to make statuettes of baked clay, marble, alabaster, bronze and gold with both religious and decorative purposes.

Middle and Late Bronze Ages

This age covering the period between 2000-1200 B.C. is the era when trading was prevalent and the first written records were made in Anatolia. The trade relations with various Mesopotamian states and especially with Assyria, caused cultural and artistic interaction and as the result of this interaction an Anatolian style with characteristics of its own was created. The political power dominating this age was the Hittite Emire. The typical characteristics of the age can be understood from the excavation finds in Bogazkoy-Hattusa in Central Anatolia, and the ceramics found in Troy, Western Anatolia prove the relations with the Mycenaean civilisation.

Late Hittite City States

Small kingdoms who were the inheritors of the Hittite Empire between 1200-700 B.C. carried on the Hittite tradition for a while. However, this tradition gradually lost its own characteristics and began to take new forms under the influence of the Aramaean's who moved into the region, the Assyrians in the south, the Phrygians in the west and the Urartians in the east.

The Urartian Kingdom

The Urartion Kingdom (900-600 B.C. which established a developed civilisation on the area between the lakes of Van, Urmiye, Gokcegol and Cildir, on the one hand left many documents written in cuneiform and hieroglyph and on the other hand they contributed a great deal to the Near Eastern art in architecture and engineering fields. The Urartians who knew how to make use of natural forces by constructing dams and water channels, also made a great development in the field of metallurgy.

The Phrygian Kingdom

During the Phrygian Kingdom (700-550 B.C.) founded in the area between the northern Kizilirmak and Sakarya rivers, woodworks, ceramic production and the objects made both for daily use and for artistic purposes showed a great development. The capital of the Phrygian Kingdom was Gordian, their chief goddess was Kybele and their most famous king was Midas.

The Lydian Kingdom

The most important historical characteristic of the Lydian Kingdom which was founded in Western Anatolia (700-550 B.C. was the coining of the first metal coin in the world.

Ionian City States

The settlement centers founded in Western Anatolia since 3000-2000 B.C. carried on relations with the Aegean world on one hand and Anatolia on the other. The resulting cultural and artistic interaction created the Orientalising style during the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. This development, influenced the art of the following Archaic and Classical ages.

The Persian Period and Graeco-Persian Style

After the Lydian Kingdom was defeated by the Persian king Cyrus, Anatolia came under the control of the Persians. The most important works remaining from this period which lasted between 546-334 B.C. are the famous Royal Road and the Halicarnassus Mausoleum.

The Hellenistic Period

This period which started by the defeat of Persian dominance by Alexander the Great lasted between 330-30 B.C. A major part of Anatolia came under the power of Pergamon after Alexander's death. Pergamon contributed a great deal to the world history of culture and art in the field of sculpture and by using parchment as a writing material.

The Roman Period

When the last king of Pergamon bequeathed his kingdom to Rome, Anatolia came under the sovereignty of Rome. In the beginning of this era which laster between 30 B.C.-330 A.D. the influence of the Hellenistic style preserved its being in the Anatolian art and culture. Although the influence of Roman art and culture was later imposed, the traditional culture nevertheless survived and regional characteristics in art developed. The most important cultural and artistic centers of the period were Aphrodisian and Perge.

The Byzantine Period

The Byzantine era which lasted for nearly a thousand years between 330-1453 A.D. was greatly influenced by the former civilisation accumulation. When regional characteristics were combined with the influences of Christianity, new styles were created. Istanbul renowned worldwide as a cultural and artistic center, played an important role in turning over the art of the archaic ages to the medieval age. The Byzantine architecture which reached its summit with Hagia Sofia, gave its most beautiful examples with fortresses, water archways and cisterns, bridges and places. The Byzantine era also witnessed great developments in sculpture, mosaic, gilding and ornaments.

Seljuk Period

This period which started by Alpaslan's victory (the nephew of Seljuk Bey, founder of the Seljuk dynasty) in 1071, laster until 1300 A.D. After the collapse of the Great Seljuk Empire in 1157, the Anatolian Seljuks centred their state in Konya. This state which had its most glorious period during Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat's reign, gained supremacy over Anatolia. Roads, bridges, caravanserais were built during this period. The Seljuks, while having close links with Persian maintained their own art and culture brought from Central Asia by the Turkish migrations. They created the Turkish-Islamic culture by the synthesis, of the Anatolian cultural accumulation and other cultural influences. The mosques, medreses, baths formed the finest examples of the period in architecture. Developments in various fields of art was so great as to influence the following ages. One of the greatest contributions of the Seljuks to the Anatoian civilisation was the introduction of knotted-carpet making.

The Ottoman Period

This period which lasted between 1299-1923, is the era when not only Anatolia but also the land on the European side was attached to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman art based on the Turkish-Islamic and Anatolian artistic synthesis created during the Seljuk period, developed further under the direction of the palace by adopting the new techniques of the age and created a characteristic Ottoman style. However, the Westernisation trend of the 18th century, gave way to the Western influence and consequently the traditional Ottoman art gradually lost its impact. The Ottomans, besides all the other fields of art also proved their superiority in architecture by mosques, tombs, medreses, libraries, covered bazaars, baths, places, caravanserais, kiosks, mansions, aqueducts and bridges. The most famous architect of the Ottoman period was Sinan and the finest example of his work is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. 

Source: Antika; The Turkish Journal of Collectable Art, September 1985, Issue: 6

An Outline of Turkish History from its Inception to 1923

Throughout history the Turks have established numerous states in different geographical areas on the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. Therefore, they encountered different cultures, they influenced these cultures and were influenced by them.

The Chinese records reported that the first appearance of the Turks in history was in the Kö¤men Mountains, where the most ancient remains were found. The culture referred to as Tagar, featuring remains found on the Tagar Island at the Yenisei River on the northern foot of the Kö?men Mountains and dating back to the seventh century B.C., is attributed to the ancient Turks. The Tagar Culture, however, originated from another ancient culture called the Karasuk which flourished on the same shores, which dates back to two thousand B.C.

Portrait head of Kul Tegin, Göktürk Khan,  Museum at Ulaanbaatur, capital of Mongolia.

After the collapse of the Asian Hun State, a new state called the Göktürk was founded by the Turkish tribes who adopted the traditions and administrative experiences of the Huns. The Göktürk State (552-740) is the second great state established by the Turks. Unlike the Huns, the Göktürks attached particular importance to urbanization, realized agricultural reforms and seed improvement and "sagacity" was the foremost concept. 

Bilge Khan and Kultegin took their place in history as the wisest and most heroic figures among Turkish statesmen. They asserted that the state could not be ruled only by fighting and bravery and the Khanate should also require wisdom. It was because of this that both the Khans and Tonyukuk, another Göktürk Khan, immortalized their accomplishments with inscriptions. These inscriptions are the first written texts of the Turkish language.

The Göktürk State collapsed after struggles with the Chinese, on the one hand, and with the Turkish tribes within the state, such as the Dokuz O¤uzlar, Karluks and Basm›ls, on the other hand. The Uigur Turks, who were the native tribes of the Orhun and Selenge valleys, founded the third great Turkish state. The Uigur State (741-840) attached importance to trade and continued the traditions and customs of the Göktürks. The trade developed and the Manichean temples were turned into bazaar temples in time due to the influence of Manicheism, the official religion. 

The warlike aspects of the Uigurs gradually grew weaker in time as they developed culturally and commercially. The Kyrgyz Turks living to the northwest, took advantage of this situation and planned a surprise attack on the Uigur capital city, which resulted in a war and at the end the Uigur state collapsed.

The Western Turks. A group of Huns who migrated towards the West first settled in a region to the north of the Black Sea extending to the Danube River. First the Huns made raids on Iran and Anatolia via the Caucasia, and then they attacked the territories of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. They fought with the Franks in 428, and two years later, reached the areas which are presently the Netherlands and Denmark. The Western Huns, who were known as the first Turkish state founded in Europe, became a great state with territories extending from the banks of the Rhine to the Volga River, under the leadership of Attila the Hun. This state played an important role in transmitting Eastern civilization to the West, and organized campaigns to Italy, the Balkans and Gaul in the reign of Attila. The Western Hun State collapsed a short time after Attila passed away (470).

During the collapse of the Hun Empire in Europe, a new wave of tribal migrations started in Central Asia. The north of the Black Sea was confronted with a new wave of Turkish migration. The first tribes to arrive were the Sabirs, Sarogurs and Onogurs. These Ogur tribes, who settled to the north of the Caucasus, raided the Byzantine territories from Macedonia to Thessaly. It is known that the Bulgarian Turks also came to this region along side the Ogur Turks. Byzantine sources refer to the name "Bulgarian" for the first time in 482. In fact, the Avars, with the Bulgarian Turks under their sovereignty, sieged the Byzantine capital at the beginning of the seventh century. The Avars , who left their homeland in Central Asia and who escaped towards the West when the Göktürk State was founded in 552, had an important place in the history of Europe. They first came to Caucasia and the north of the Black Sea, made an agreement with the Byzantines and fought against, and defeated, Turkish tribes such as the Sabirs and Onogurs on behalf of the Byzantines. They expanded to the banks of the Danube River, over the lands of the Ants, a Slavic tribe. From time to time, they made raids throughout the Balkans and even as far as the Peloponnese in Greece. They sieged Istanbul in 626 together with the Bulgarian Turks. The borders of the Avar Empire extended from the Dnieper to the Elbe River and from the North Sea to the Adriatic Sea during the reign of their famous ruler Bayan Khan. The Avar Empire collapsed between 776-803 due to the concurrent attacks of Kurum Khan, the leader of the Bulgarian Turks and Charlemagne (Charles the Great). Present excavations and research in Hungary and Central Europe reveal that the Avars had an exemplary organization within the state and the army and attained a high level of civilization.

During the period of disintegration of the Sabir State in the east of Europe, a new Turkish state called the Khazars came into existence. The Khazars, who were considered to be the continuation of the Western Göktürks, took over their military and civilian organizations. This state, which ruled for over 300  years bears the name of "Turk" in Arabian, Syrian and Byzantine sources. The Khazars acted as an allied force of the Byzantines in the war between Byzantium and Iran. It is observed that the Arabs who occupied Azerbaijan around the beginning of the eighth century, also raided Khazar territories and occupied their capital city Belencer (in Dagestan). 

The war between the Khazars and the Caliphate continued for almost 25 years. The Khazar armies once again went to the south of the Caucasus from 762 AD and occupied all of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and Ras Tarhan, the Khazar commander advanced up to Georgia. The Khazars were threatened afterwards by other Turkish tribes, and especially by the Russians. Their state collapsed towards the end of the tenth century due to their long lasting wars against the Pechenegs.

Another Turkish tribe living in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Balkans was the Pechenegs. The Pechenegs, an Oghuz tribe, whose initial settlement around Balkhash Lake moved on to the nearby Aral Sea during the fight between the Göktürks and Uigurs. Then they moved further towards the West and fought against the Khazars. They occupied the Cuman plains and expelled the Hungarians ruling the lands between the Don and Dnieper Rivers towards the West. Giving assistance to the Russians in their fights with the Khazars, they played a role in the founding of this state. The Pechenegs, who ruled a territory extending from the Don River to the Danube River in the tenth century, made raids on Byzantine territories from the middle of the eleventh century. However, they were decisively defeated by the joint forces of the Cumans and Byzantines beside the Lower Maritsa River in 1091. Some of the separate Pecheneg groups who could not represent a political existence after this defeat were settled in the territories of the Byzantine Empire. Those who stayed in the Balkans and Hungary settled there and were assimilated. Turkish History in the Islamic Period. After the decline of the Uigur State, the Karahanid State was founded in 840 by the Turkish tribes such as the Karluks, Çiğils and Arguls. The reign of the Karahanids is considered to be a turning point in Turkish history, because Islam was accepted as the official religion during the reign of Satuk Bu?ra Khan, the Karahanid leader. Being the first Muslim Turkish state established in Central Asia, they laid the foundations of an historical development called Turkish-Islamic culture and civilization.

The Karahanids, whose first city of governance was Kashgar and second was Balasagun to the north, was divided between two brothers in 1042: the Eastern Karahanids and the Western Karahanids. The Eastern Karahanid State survived until 1211 and then accepted the sovereignty of the Great Seljuk State. Islamic-Turkish literature was developed during the rule of the Karahanid State which was customarily governed by just, religious, and culture loving Khans and Kashgar and Balasagun became important cultural centers.

At the time of the rule of the Karahanids, there was another Turkish state of which the capital city was Ghazna in Afghanistan. The most powerful period of the Ghaznavid State (936-1187) was the reign of Mahmud of Ghazna who used the title of "Sultan" for the first time. Sultan Mahmud, who organized many campaigns to India, took these places under Turkish rule, Islamized them and laid the foundation for today's State of Pakistan. The rulers succeeding Sultan Mahmud could not maintain this brilliant period. The Ghaznavids had to retreat to India after the Dandanakan War with the Seljuks in 1040 and finally came under the sovereignty of the Seljuks.

Another great Turkish state was the Seljuk State (1040-1157) founded by the Seljuk Bey who was a member of the Kınık tribe of the Oghuz Turks. The borders of the state covered an area from the Marmara Sea to the Balkhash Lake in Central Asia and from the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea to the borders of India and Yemen. Therefore, it was named the Great Seljuk State. At the time of Seljuk rule, there were also two other great and strong Turkish states, namely the Karahanids and Ghaznavids. The Seljuks entered into a struggle of hegemony with these two Turkish states and were successful in establishing Turkish unity. Togrul Bey, the Sultan of the Seljuks, entered Baghdad, the Abbasid Caliphate capital and ended the domination of the Buwayhids, a Persian Shiite dynasty, in 1055. Therefore, the Caliph bestowed on Togrul Bey the title of "Ruler of the World". During the reign of Sultan Alp Arslan, the successor of Togrul Bey, the territories of the country expanded significantly.