Ephesus Tour Turkey

30/05/2019

Siz de denizden çıkınca çoook acıkanlardan mısınız buyrunuz :)

17/02/2016

ROMAN MEALS..

BREAKFAST Lower class Romans would breakfast on bread with maybe some cheese or olives added.  The bread was dipped in wine to soften it.  If a workman

08/02/2016

Archaeology makes use of laser technology

Digital models of artifacts unearthed during excavations in the ancient city of Kibyra are being created with the use of laser technology, within the scope of a project initiated by the Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) in the southern province of Burdur.

MAKU Technical Sciences Vocational School Director Serkan Öktem said the project had been initiated with deputy director Sualp Deniz and the support of the West Mediterranean Development Agency (BAKA).

He said that as part of the project, they scanned artifacts that had been unearthed from the ancient city of Kibyra and delivered to the Burdur Archaeology Museum using the laser technology. The ancient city is located in the Gölhisar district and is known as the city of gladiators.

Öktem said the university’s goal was to turn the artifacts into digital models so people would be able to “visit” them on the Internet.

A virtual museum

By the end of the project, which will be finished in about two months, Öktrm said they would make a virtual museum. He said, “The unearthed artifacts are being displayed in parallel at the museum but as these [physical] opportunities are limited, thousands of artifacts are being kept in the museum’s storage and cannot be displayed. We scan these artifacts with the laser scanning technology and model them on a computer. Then we transfer them to the Internet so that people can see [them]. Archaeology and history aficionados can see these centuries-old artifacts easily on the Internet.”

Öktem said the project had two stages. First the objects will be scanned one by one. Then the stadium, agora and the assembly building in the ancient city of Kibyra would be scanned.

He said the laser tools used were imported from abroad and were used in the industrial, automotive, machine, construction and restoration sectors.

“We use these tools for archaeological purposes. They are brand new technologies. Technology is progressing very fast. Maybe we will have opportunity to make 3-D prints of these artifacts in the future,” he said.

04/02/2016

THE TURKISH COFFE

The English word 'coffee' is derived from the Turkish word 'kahve'. In Turkey the public coffeehouse is also called 'Kahve' or in old way; 'Kahvehane' or very-very old way 'Kiraathane' and it continues to be the meeting place of the traditionalist throughout the Eastern Mediterranean.
In small towns the coffeehouse spills over to the downtown square and the song of the waiter's, for example;
"SEKERLI BIR !" (make one order -sweet-),
or calling the cook inside like this: "Agabeylerime iki tane sade yap bakayim" (Prepare two orders of plain coffee for my brothers... )
Yes, this type of order calls rises above the traffic noise, as he passes his orders to the cook indoor...
Turkish coffee is a real symbol of abiding friendship. In spite of the advent of the Martini, coffee still persists as the symbol of friendly exchange in Turkish culture.
Whether calling on friends or acquaintances, for business or pleasure, one is always offered a cup of KAHVE (coffee). No serious conversation can begin until coffee starts the flow of words...
That is why, according to the famous Turkish proverb,
A SINGLE CUP OF COFFEE IS REMEMBERED FOR 40 YEARS.
Turkish Coffee symbolizes many more things of course. For one thing, it is not a drink for minors! Since only adults are served coffee, drinking it is a sign of one's maturity.
More signs can be read from the coffee grounds left in the cup, hence Turkish Coffee's key place in fortunetelling.
Also this is important to note that; Turkish Coffee is not a breakfast drink or one that goes with meals. That is way the Turkish word for breakfast KAHVALTI, implies that coffee follows the breakfast. Turks usually like to drink coffee right after a good meal... especially when they enjoy the time being together with friends.
One also has to remember that, contrary to custom in the U.S. for many beverages, by no way, there is no refills or take out service in anywhere.
Ironically, coffee is not grown in Turkey (Turkiye):
Yes, there is not a single coffee tree in the country. The climate is unsuited for growing coffee and Turks have always imported it from various countries since the year 1540, when it first appeared in the OTTOMAN LANDS. That is why Turkish Coffee is not a particular bean or blend. What made Turkish Coffee famous around the world is it's ritual of preparation and it's service.
Good Turkish Coffee is made of medium to dark roasted coffee beans with no other flavors added.
In recent, commercialized versions, sometimes garbanzo or cardamom is also added.

Preparation of Turkish Coffee also requires pulverizing the beans to a fine powder in a proper coffee grinder. It is not possible to make good Turkish Coffee with coarsely ground beans! If you want to prepare Turkish coffee and already have properly roasted and ground beans, you will need a CEZVE(jezveh), which is a cylindrical pot of copper or brass with a long handle and which is sold in the US at some Greek and Middle Eastern food stores. It comes in ONE, TWO or FOUR-CUP sizes, but the one-cup size is preferable.
PREPARATION:
Measure room temperature water in the CEZVE and place on medium to low-heat. Btw; never use warm or hot water! Once the water is warmed slightly, stir in the coffee (one heaping teaspoon per demitasse cup), then add the amount of sugar desired and stir well. Let the coffee come almost to a boil on very low heat hence it should be removed from the heat and stir once more. Turn the heat until the coffee begins to foam and starts rising. NEVER STIR THE COFFEE or LET IT BOIL. Remove and serve just as the coffee comes to the point of overflowing from the pot.
As you noticed, preparation of Turkish Coffee requires the close personal attention of the preparer because if the coffee is allowed to boil over and lose it's foam, it is nor longer drinkable. The coffee must especially be prepared using medium , medium-low heat as the coffee cooks faster at a higher temperature it will not have enough time to develop the full flavor and aroma of good Turkish Coffee.
The best traditional way of serving Turkish Coffee is to fill the cups from the CEZVE in front of the guest. When doing this, CEZVE should be handled properly and in two steps the liquid and its foam must be distributed evenly into two cups.
Well-prepared Turkish Coffee always has rich foam on the top. Lack of foam indicates bad preparation and/or bad quality of beans. Some believe that when the foam is absent on the surface, the host loses face. Traditionally, Turkish Coffee is also served with a glass of water on the side.
We hope you find this information interesting and helpful. We Turks say 'AFIYET OLSUN' (Good appetite to you) when the guest compliments the host; Literally: 'enjoy it !'.
When you visit Turkey, perhaps you might be served Turkish Coffee in a different way than what we explained above. Well... like everything else, the things are changing everyday, everywhere and unfortunately we can't stop it. What we explained is the traditional way of Turkish Coffee preparation.

26/01/2016

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A path to Göbeklitepe, a 12 000 years old cite located in the southeastern province of Sanlıurfa often referred as the ‘’point  zero of history’’

25/01/2016

TIK-TAC-TOE WAS PLAYED IN ROMAN PERIOD IN ANATOLIA

The ancients might not have had Candy Crush to while away their time while waiting about, but they did have everyone’s favorite Xs and Os game, tick-tac-toe, according to archaeological findings from Assos on the Aegean Sea.

“There are towers next to the gates. We saw that the square in front of both towers was marked by cleanly cut stone blocks. There were also benches for people who were waiting in front of the city gates,” Onsekiz Mart University Archaeology Department Professor Nurettn Arslan said. “Shapes were carved on the stones here for people to play tick-tac-toe. We see in the Roman world that similar games were played there, too.”

People who came to the city in modern-day Çanakkale 2,300 years ago for the purpose of trade or visiting needed to play games to kill time while waiting, Arslan said.

The main gates of the city were made of wood, the professor also said. “Generally, gates were closed when it is dark and people had to wait for the sunshine to enter the city. This was a general rule. We can still see the traces of big wood blocks to keep the gates closed.”

24/01/2016

5,000-YEARS OLD THRONE FOUND IN TURKEY

The remains of a 5,000-year-old adobe basament of a possible “throne” have been unearthed during excavations in Turkey, revealing the origins of the secularization of power and one of the first evidence of the birth of the state system.

Discovered in Aslantepe in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya, the structure consists of an adobe platform, raised by three steps above the floor, on top of which burnt wooden pieces were found.

“The burnt wooden fragments are likely the remains of a chair or throne,” excavation director Marcella Frangipane of La Sapienza University in Rome, told Discovery News.

Mysterious 2,000-Year-Old Podium Found in Jerusalem

Frangipane, who has long been digging at the site, is working to bring to light a huge complex dating to the fourth millennium B.C. (3350-3100 A.C.)

“It’s the world’s first evidence of a real palace and it is extremely well preserved, with walls standing two meters high,” Frangipane said.

The complex features two temples, storage rooms, various buildings and a large entrance corridor. Some walls are decorated with red and black motifs and with geometrical impressed patterns.

“In the past two campaigns we found a large courtyard which can be reached through the corridor. On the courtyard stands a monumental building,” Frangipane said.

Within such building, the archaeologists unearthed the adobe platform. It stood in a small room which opened into the courtyard.

Frangipane believes the chief or king appeared in the throne room to give audience to the public, gathered in the large courtyard.

Oldest Gaming Tokens Found in Turkey

In front of the platform where the throne likely stood, the archaeologists also unearthed two small and low adobe platforms, probably made for people to stand on while they appeared before the king.

“This reception courtyard and building were not a temple complex, they rather appear as the heart of the palace. We do not have religious rites here, but a ceremony showing the power of the ‘king’ and the state,” Frangipane said.

She noted the remains are the first evidence of a change in the exercise of power, which from theocratic becomes non-religious. Usually exerted in temples, power now happens in the throne room.

“The state governing system was already in progress here,” Frangipane said.

23/01/2016

ROMAN MAKEUP
Both men and women used beauty products in ancient Rome. People used these products to make themselves seem healthier and more beautiful, but also to show that they were rich, or that they were from a certain province, or that they did a certain kind of work.
Rich women had whiter skin than poor women, because they stayed inside instead of working in the fields as farmers. So women used whitening creams to make themselves look paler, and therefore richer. One Roman whitening cream from London in the 100s AD was made of cow or sheep fat, starch, and tin oxide. Other whitening creams used lead, even though lead was poisonous.

23/01/2016

ROMAN CUSTOMS LAWS AT EPHESUS

This long inscription, which was found in Ephesus in 1976, contains regulations issued by the Roman government at various times to control the taxes on imports and exports from the province of Asia. The inscription is written in Greek, although the original regulations were no doubt in Latin, and the regulations are arranged in chronological order. A full edition of the inscription, with translation, notes and some explanatory essays, was published in 2008 ("The Customs Law of Asia", M.Cottier et al.).

See key to translations for an explanation of the format of this translation. The line number at the start of each paragraph is shown in red.

[1] When [Quintus Manlius Tarquitius] Saturninus and Publius Petronius Niger were consuls {62 A.D.}, on the 9th day of July, [this was written out and examined at Rome . . .] of the Basilica Julia, in the record-office of the superintendents of the public revenues, from the tablets [of the superintendents of the public revenues, in which was inscribed] what is written below.

[3] When Aulus Pompeius Paullinus, Lucius Calpurnius Piso and Aulus Ducinius [Geminus were superintendents of the public revenues, this was extracted from the laws] on contract-leases, in the first year, in the first revenue period, in the first tablet; by authority of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus [Germanicus, pontifex maximus, consul for the 4th time, holding tribunician power] for the 8th time, imperator for the 9th time, pater patriae, and by decree of the senate; the permanent regulations for the taxes of Asia [were extracted from the documents . . .] of these superintendents on 14th day of April; from the permanent regulations of Titus Domitius Decidianus, [the quaestor of the treasury, in the first year of the revenue period, and years] 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the revenue period.

{ Although this is not stated explicitly in the inscription, it appears that the first group of tax regulations (lines 8-71) are derived directly or indirectly from a law on the taxation of the province, passed by Gaius Gracchus in 123/2 B.C. }

[7] The tax law of Asia, for imports and exports by land and sea; [including the coastal districts of Asia, and where the borders] of Cappadocia, Galatia and Bithynia surround Asia, and the territories of Chalcedon and Byzantium within [these borders which have tax-stations for the purpose of collecting tax] on sea-borne imports and exports at the mouth of the Euxine Sea, and those places where by decree of the senate or by law [of the people . . .] a contract has been let for collecting taxes; in these places, whatever is imported or exported overseas, [and whatever is imported or brought in by land], and whatever is exported or driven out or brought out by land, on all of these a portion of one-fortieth shall be given to the tax-collector.

* * *

[22] If anyone imports or exports anything by sea, he shall register it with the tax-collector in [all the following places: Hieron by the Euxine] Sea, Chalcedon, Dascyleium, Apollonia by the mouth of the Rhyndacus, Cyzicus, Priapus, Parium, Lampsacus, [Abydus, Dardanus, Sigeium, Alexandreia, Hamaxitus], Assus, Gargarus, Poroselene, Antandrus, Astyria, Adramyteium, Atarnea, Pitane, Elaea, Myrine, the old [. . ., Cyme, Phocaea, Erythrae, Smyrna], Colophon, Teos, Ephesus, Priene by the mouth of the Maeander, Miletus, Iasus, Bargylia, Ceramus, [Halicarnassus, Myndus, Cnidus, Physcus, Attaleia, Aspendus], Perge, Magydus, Phaselis, Side "Coryphe".

* * *

[67] As for the buildings and royal stations which king Attalus, son of Eumenes, maintained for the purpose of collecting taxes, let the tax-farmer raise money from them in a similar manner; and whichever of them he takes over, let him pass them on to [the subsequent] tax-farmer, according to the judgement of an upright man.

[69] Whichever cities or peoples were not subject to king Attalus, son of Eumenes, in those cities or [regions of Asia] where according to the revenue law it is necessary to register or declare to the tax-collector, in each coastal city in these areas, for the purpose of making declarations or registering, let there be a building, 40 feet long and 40 feet wide, in a public place which is neither on temple property nor in a sacred precinct nor [on consecrated ground]; and the tax-collector shall be permitted to build there.

[72] In whatever matter it is necessary to give to the tax-farmer a tenth of the crops produced by the plough or a fifth of wine or oil . . . and this tax-collector collects the taxes on the terms set forth by the consuls Lucius Octavius and Gaius Aurelius Cotta {75 B.C.}; [whatever is imported or] exported from Asia into Asia, as long at the transportation is not for the sake of avoiding tax rather than the stated purpose, for this no tax shall be given.

[74] Whatever persons [or goods] the tax-farmer imports or exports from Asia into Asia, for which the consuls Lucius Octavius and Gaius Aurelius leased out the tax, for these no tax shall be [given].

[76] And as regards the boat and the fittings of the boat and the slaves and everyone (male or female) whom they bring or summon from home; and as regards the books [and all tablets] that contain writing, and all provisions; and as regards the animals that anyone brings from home, for the sake of the journey; for all of these [things], no tax shall be given.

[78] Whatever minerals are exported from Asia to Rome according to the law on mining, as regards these minerals and the vessels in which they are contained, let them give [to the tax collector] four asses per one hundred pounds. Apart from this, they shall not owe any tax. If anyone [holds back the vessels] with malicious intent, contrary to these provisions, so that the minerals cannot be transported, then however much is held back, the tax-collector shall be made to pay twice that amount to the transporter, and the partners who have leased the mining rights shall be able to take a surety [for this matter].

[81] In any territory which is held under the discretion or authority of the Roman people, [whatever people or goods anyone] exports from this territory or from their home for their private use, or imports into this territory or to their home for their private use, no tax [shall be paid] for this import and [export].

[83] Whoever has been granted exemption from paying tax on the export or import of certain items by a treaty with the Romans, they shall [not] give [tax to the tax-farmer] for these items.

[84] The consuls Lucius Gellius and Gnaeus Lentulus {72 B.C.} added: whatever anyone imports or brings in while travelling to the country or city [of which he is a citizen], for his own private use, he shall not give any tax for this. And whatever he [either imports] or brings in from that country or city of which he is not a citizen, this shall be registered and he be obliged to pay tax for it. And for this matter, similarly as for the other matters, [it is permitted] to confiscate or [take] a surety.

[87] Whatever anyone registers under the terms under the terms of this law, he shall pay the tax on it to the tax-collector according to the valuation of the item; if he does not do this, he shall give double the amount [of tax], and for this matter the tax-collector is permitted to confiscate or take a surety.

21/01/2016

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/details/Safety/should_i_go.html

Should you go to Turkey now? Protests, civil war in Syria & Iraq, & safe travel to Istanbul & Turkey, by Tom Brosnahan

21/01/2016

http://www.ephesustourturkey.com/ephesus-tours/easy-ephesus-tour/