Turkey!!

I didn't just call you a name -Turkey- that's the name of the country I'm in. 

 Merhaba - hello in Turkish.  

 I'm sitting in front of the town of Ephesus, well, the ruins of the town that are being excavated.  This is the showplace of  Aegean archaeology.  It was established in the 10th century B.C. and became one of the wealthiest cities in the Mediterrranean world. The ceremonial gates are behind me.

I'm sitting on clay pipes that have been collected and stacked. They are important because they demonstrate that the  culture here had running water in their homes. Did you know that there are MANY areas of the world without running water?  Not only in their homes, but also their villages don't have accesss to fresh water.

I am sitting on slabs of marble that have been unearthed here and I thought it was important because when this city was established, they didn't have iron tools. Guess what they used to cut the rock??? Silk strands from the silkworm. No kidding. They sawed the silk back and forth with silica sand as an abrasive. The pretty paterns were carved later when the culture developed iron tools.

This is an example of a statue that would line the pedestrian streets. There's no head on the body because if you were wealthy, you could buy a replica of your face and have it placed on the statue. When your friends walked down the street, they would recognize you and admire your great status. Is this a good idea?

The city of Ephesus is going to take a loooooooooooooong time to reconstruct. This is the dining room inside a home and the walls were covered with marble. On the tables are pieces of the marble they have found and are piecing back together. When they complete a section, they plaster it back on the wall.

Do you like to do jigsaw puzzles?? Then the archeologists here could use your help. These blue crates are filled with pieces of marble and tile they have to put back together. They love volunteers- wanna help?? Good, because this is just part of their collection needing to be reassembled.

The Library of Celsus is one of the most recognizable sites in Turkey.  It was restored in the 1970's and reinforced with steel to protect it from damage.  When Ephasus was a thriving community, this library held several thousand scrolls, the books of their time, and contained much of all the knowledge in their world.

A moose on the loose who just loves school! Here I am sitting in front of the "playground" of the time.   Directly behind me are benches where students would sit until it was their turn to go onto the field. Their " play " was actually learning to use swords and how to defend the city.  

  Over my shoulder you can see lines of rocks. They have been placed here as a storage site until an expert can decide where they belong. Each slab is weighed and measured and the location is recorded. When an archeologist identifies a need,  they can come get just the right piece of stone.

This used to be the arch looking into the school building.  Both boys and girls went to school together where they learned to read and write. In many cultures girls are not allowed to go to school.

I'm tucked in the bushes enjoying the beautiful view from our lunch spot. We also visited a Turkish bazaar. It isn't much like our malls. There were many signs that read "Genuine Fake watches" or "Genuine Fake purses".  People were buying Rolex and Gucci products that were genuine fakes.  Also, the shop owners stand outside and try very hard to get you to walk into their stores. It's fun and very different from home.

Gijlegule - Turkish for goodby