Located
44 km / 27 miles south of Urfa
near the Syrian border in the middle of an
arid plain, the village of Harran is one of
the oldest (5,000 years old) Mesopotamian
settlements where Abraham
is believed to have spent several years of
his life. The name of Harran, which is mentioned
in the Old Testament, was first encountered
on cuneiform tablets from the early 2nd millenium
BC. According to Ibn Jübeyr, a traveler who
visited the region in 1184, the plain had
been well watered and irrigated by rivers
and canals, and Harran was a rich city full
of trees and shady, but a long period of drought
had laid it waste.
Harran in the 12th Century - Painting by Mehmet Inci
The
particularity of Harran resides in its old brick
and pisé houses called beehive-houses because
of their most surprising cone-shaped roofs (kovan
evler in Turkish). These houses, built approximately
in the early nineteenth century on the Harran ruins,
are still inhabited.
In the vicinity of the village lay the ruins of
the ancient city with the remains of a fortified
wall and seven gates. It was built on the site of
a very old pagan temple dedicated to the Moon God
Sin, given that Harran was a center of Mesopotamian
idolatry during centuries. The whorship of the moon,
sun and planets (see Sumatar below) continued until
the 9th century AD, a long time after the Omeyyad
Caliph Merwan II made Harran its capital and the
Grand Mosque was built (744-750). For this reason,
the science of astronomy was quite advanced here
and under the rule of the Abbassids, Harran became
famous for its Islamic university, founded by Harun
Rashid, where many theologians, scholars and scientists
studied. The Mongols destroyed the city and university
in 1270 and Harran never regained its past splendour.
The great Sin Temple was most probably located under
the Grand Mosque because stelas erected by neobabylonian
King Nabonid's order in the 6C BC and symbolyzing
Moon God and Sun God, were found here. According
to another source the temple might have been locted
under the 22 m / 72 ft high Tumulus in the middle
of the city.
The foundations of numerous vestiges from different
period can be seen within the city walls. The most
important remains are: The Fortified Castle was probably built in
the preislamic period was restored a couple of times. The monumental Grand Mosque, first built
in the 8th century with its 33 m / 108 ft high square
minaret made of stone and brick, was restored and
enlarged in the 12th century and bears both Omeyyad
and Seljuk style ornements. A small mosque near Raqqa Gate. A church located north-east of the Grand
Mosque.
Findings from Harran excavations are displaid in
Urfa Museum.
Other places of interest
in the surroundings of Harran:
The Mosque of Imam
Bakir, the grandson of Fatima (Prophet Mohammed's
daughter) who was believed to have had his fingers
cut off in this spot while he was making war to
conquer Harran, is located 3 km / 1.9 miles away.
The Mosque and
Tomb of Cabir El Ensar, who was Prophet Mohammed's
companion, are located 20 km / 12.5 miles north
of Harran.
Han El Ba'rur
is an early 12th century Seljuk Caravanserai located
20 km / 12.5 east of Harran in the village of Göktaş.
The city of Şuayb
(Jethro) is located 45 km / 28 miles east of Harran.
A cave dwelling located among the extensive ruins
is believed to be the place were the Prophet Jethro
lived.
SUMATAR
Sumatar, located 60 km / 37 miles north-east of
Harran, is a 2C AD pagan sanctuary consacrated by
the Sabians whose strange religion was a
mixture of Babylonian astrology and neo-Platonic
philosophy. The Sabians worshipped the supreme divinity
which was the Moon God Sin, whose main temple was
located in Harran, and Marilaha who ruled the universe
through the intermediary of the planetary divinities.
The most important remain in Sumatar is Moon
God Sin Temple which has writings on its walls
and reliefs of human figures representing the planets.
Similar writings and reliefs representing the gods
can be seen on the rocks of the hill to the west
of the castle.
In Sumatar, there are numerous rock tombs from the
Roman period and three monumental tombs atop the
holy hill north-west of the village.
Remains of cylindrical temples (Temples of Saturn,
Jupiter, Venus...) and cubic temples (Temples of
Sun, Mercury...), a tumulus surmounted by the walls
and watchtowers of a 2nd century castle, as well
as a double cave with reliefs of real size human
figures and inscriptions in Syriac language, can
be found on the archaeological site.
HALFETİ
Halfeti is located
30 kms/ 19 miles north of Birecik, on the
left bank of the Euphrates
river at the bottom of a picturesque canyon.
The rise of the water of the Birecik dam submerged
the whole valley where once gardens lay.
From Halfeti, a nice boat ride which approximately
lasts 1 ½ hours, is a good opportunity to see the
canyon and the Rumkale fortress whose ruins
reveal different periods of settlements as the Hittites,
the Assyrians, the Persians, the Romans and the
Arabs succeeded one another in the region. On the
opposite bank, there are remains of cave-dwellings.
The Apostle John
is believed to have founded a Christian center in
Rumkale for the evangelization
of the region of Gaziantep.
Halfeti
Rumkale
BİRECİK
Birecik
is a small town rising in tiers on hillside on the
left bank of the Euphrates.
The ancient city of Birtha controlled the compulsery
crossing on the river. During the Crusades,
Birecik maintained vital communications between
the principality of Antioch
and the County of Edesse.
The remains of the medieval fortress overlook the
town and the river. A beautiful migratory bird called
"kelaynak" (Ibis) comes
to reproduce in the region. However the species
being endangered, the birds are kept in a farm to
facilitate their breeding and they are set free
again. They can be seen at the "Kelaynak
Üretim Çiftliği" located on the bank of
the river. Kelaynak birds are the symbol of Birecik
and they give rise to a festival every year.
BELKIS - ZEUGMA
Located a few kilometres in the north of Nizip,
the ancient city of Zeugma was identified at the
beginning of the 20th century by F. Cumont. However
the first excavations only took place from 1987
onward, and in 1992 the discovery of a Roman villa
brought to light marvels such as mosaics, frescoes,
sculptures... which are exhibited in Gaziantep
Archaeoligical Museum.
After the construction of the Birecik Dam, which
is the GAP's
last construction on the Euphrates
river, the Turco-French Zeugma Mission was created
in 1995 to urgently explore two major ancient cities,
Seleucia-Zeugma and Apameia, located
on the opposite bank of the Euphrates, and doomed
to be submerged. Unfortunately Apameia has been
completely submerged. As soon as the water accumulating
process in the dam is completed, 1/5 of the archaeoligical
site of Zeugma will remain under water.
Founded around 300 BC by Seleucos
I Nicator who was one of the generals of Alexander
the Great, Seleucia was located on the "southern
silk road" which linked the Mediterranean to
India and Chinia. The city was included in the Roman
Empire in 64 BC. During this period this place,
with Apameia which is located on the opposite bank
of the river, became the most famous crossing spot
on the Euphrates, because a floating bridge constructed
here allowed almost permanently the caravans and
the military convoys to cross the river on their
way to or from Mesopotamia. The name of Seleucia
was then amended as Zeugma, meaning "the bridge".
The city was considerably rich because there was
an important customs where border trade developed,
and also because it became the center of the 4th
Roman Legion. Zeugma was also famous for its sanctuary
dedicated to Tyche. In 256 AD Seleucia was destroyed
by the Sassanid Persians. In the 4th century, it
was ruled over by late Roman domination and after
by the Byzantines.
As a result of the Arab raids, Zeugma was abandoned
in the 7th century. In the 10th and in the 12th
century, there was a small Abassid settlement, and
finally a village called Belkıs was founded here
in the 17th century.
This part of Zeugma is now under water
The site after the rise of the water
Non-submersible area
KARKAMIŞ
(KARKEMISH)
The archaeoligical site of Karkemish is located
at Barak on the Syrian border in a military
zone. From this ancient city's brillant past almost
nothing has survived, and an authorization for
the visit has to be delivered by military authorities.
However one should not miss the numerous reliefs
found in Karkemish which are displaid in Ankara
Anatolian Civilization Museum.
From 1800 till 1200 BC, the major preoccupation
of the sovereigns of Hattuşa
was to possess the two key-cities of their empire,
Aleppo and Karkemish, that controlled the access
routes to the Fertile Crescent. Around 1200, after
the Hittite Empire
collapsed, like a few other south-eastern Hittite
cities, Karkemish survived as an independant state
for about 500 years. This period is called Neo-Hittite.
It was devastated many times by the Assyrians
whose aim was to progress towards the Valley of
the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea. Around
717 BC, Karkemish was finally united to Assyria
by Sargon II.
The ancient city was protected by outer walls
(today located on the Syrian side) and inner walls
(today located on the Turkish side), and the citadel
was built 40m/ 132 ft above the level of the Euphrates
River.
.
GAZIANTEP
The
city has very old origins but essentially developed
during the Hittite
and Assyrian periods.
In turn, it came under the domination of the Persians,
the Greeks,
the Romans, the Byzantines,
the Abbassids, the Seljuks
and the Crusaders.
Gaziantep finally became Ottoman
in the 16th century. The city, known under the
Arabic name Aintab, took the Turkish name Antep.
As it was occupied by the British in 1919 and
by the French until 1921, the city became a center
of nationalist resistance. The Turkish
Grand Assembly granted Antep the title of
"Gazi" for
having victoriously fought during the War
of Independence, and since then the city has
been called Gaziantep.
Gaziantep is Turkey's sixth largest city. It is
linked by daily flights to Istanbul and Ankara.
The three specialities of Gaziantep are the "baklava"(a
flaky pastry stuffed with pistachio nut), the
"lahmacun" (a kind of very thin
pizza) and copper -ware products.
Places
of interest:
The Fortress,
of very old origins, was rebuilt by the Byzantines
in the 6th century, and later renovated by the
Seljuks. It played an important role during the
War of Independence.
The old quarters, the mosques
and the bazaars.
The Ethnographical Museum
is housed in the renovated late 19th century Suzer
House.
The Archaeological Museum<
: here are exhibited artifacts from different
periods found in the region. Are also exhibited
the exceptional findings excavated on the site
of Zeugma (Belkıs), a Roman
city which is beeing submerged little by little
by the waters of the Birecik Dam on the Euphrates
River. Beautiful Roman mosaics, frescoes, sculptures
are on display( and all what will be saved in
time by the archaeologists) in the museum.
Eros and Psyche
Achilles in Skyros Island
2C-3C AD mosaics, discovered in the "House of Poseidon" - Zeugma
The region of Gaziantep is the center of pistachio
nut cultivation (it is the first producer in Turkey).
It is also reputed for the red pepper, vine,
olive, cultivation and cotton mills.
Pistachio gathering
Cotton field
Red pepper gathering
Red pepper drying
Spice shop
YESEMEK
Yesemek,
which is an open-air museum, is located 23 kms/
14 miles to İslahiye in the province of Gaziantep.
This site is the largest known ancient open-air
sculpture workshop in the Near-East. It lies
on the slope of the village of the same name,
below a basalt stone quarry. The workshop was
active between the 14C and 12C BC, at the time
of the Hittite Empire
which brutally came to an end as a result of the
"Sea Peoples" invasion. Late,r Yesemek
belonged to Sam'al (Zincirlik), which was one
of the independent Neo-Hittite
states that formed in south-eastern Anatolia.
The workshops reopened and remained active until
the place was abandoned, following Assyrian invasions
around 700 BC. The site has been discovered in
1890, and the excavations led between 1958 and
1961 brought to light some 300 sculpted blocks
of basalt with various rough-outs of motifs, with
for example the "bear man", sphinxes,
lions, gods, a battle chariot.....