Alacahoyuk and back!

Good morning!

Up around 8 to a clear but crisp winter day.  According to the weather forecast, it’s 19 degrees (F) outside here in Corum, and feels like 19 … great! 

Part of the breakfast buffet at hotel

R's breakfast; simit bread in front!

It is supposed to get up to 30 degrees at some point today.  It looks like when we head south tomorrow, toward Kayseri, we will run into precipitation – hopefully rain, but possibly snow.  We will also run into COLD weather – as Kayseri, our next destination is now 15 degrees and feels like 7!  UGH!  And that’s Fahrenheit, not Centigrade!  Looks like our time in Cappadocia will be chilly indeed!

Today, after breakfast, we will actually walk across the street and down a block or so to the Corum museum. 

Corum museum

Mock-up of Hattian Royal grave

Sun discs explained!

We have been there before, and it’s really lovely.  But first, down to breakfast.  Traditional Turkish, but not as elaborate as some we have had. 

Large Hittite pot

Pilgrim flask with illustration

Metal sword

Good cheeses, an omelet bar and a variety of cold cuts and olives (of course!)  Certainly enough to eat, and I did spot a huge bowl of what looked like Nutella … maybe I’ll try it tomorrow, but not sure what to put it on!  Certainly not cereal or eggs! 

Back up to the room, and collected coats and my ear muffs and gloves. 

Hittite saw blade!

Hittite portable hearth!

Mock-up of Alacahoyuk under the Hittites

(R has his winter gloves in his pocket, but I don’t think they’ve been worn yet, and he certainly disdains all head wear!)   It only took five minutes or so to walk to the Museum, and I have to admit, the one problem that I’m seeing by visiting in the winter is that not only are the museum shops closed up tight, but there is absolutely NO merchandise at all anywhere to be seen!  As R says, definitely a way to save money, but still … where’s the fun in that?

The Corum museum is a really lovely place.  The only problem, though, is that it is set up to be a bit interactive – and trying to work some of the computer screens in Turkish is really a challenge!  Also, the lighting only goes on when someone walks near it – and with my relationship with electricity, is it any wonder that when I tend to walk near something, it tends to go off instead of on?  Very trying, especially as R was trying to take photographs, and mid-pose, the lights would go off leaving us in the relative dark! 

Hattian Royal Sun Disc

Main gate into Alacahoyuk under the Hittites

King and Queen in royal procession

We did see a few new or unnoticed until now things.  The first is something from the Hittite period called the “pilgrim flask.”  It’s actually a fairly large, but narrow, terra cotta vessel that was has handles and was carried on the back by means of a rope.  Very interesting – the first backpacks!  And then, there were what are called “portable hearths” – the first Weber BBQ grills!  Where is REI when we need it?! 

Spent an hour or so at the museum, and enjoyed it very much.  Need I say that we had the place to ourselves?

Back to the hotel then, to collect the car, the GPS and our maps for our trip to Alacahoyuk, which is about 50 km away.  Nice drive, although it is more than a bit hazy.  Robert says he recognizes the smell as coal, and we were wondering if the haze is what happened to London in the olden days before coal fires were outlawed.  Pulled up in front of the excavation/museum and again, had the place all to ourselves!

Went through the museum first, which has a wonderful 3-D model of the site as archeologists think it appeared.  Amazing place!  First of all, when the Hittites first entered into this area of Anatolia, they integrated and eventually replaced the native people, the Hattians.  However, at Alacahoyuk, twenty ancient tombs were unearthed and six of them, lying right next to the Alacahoyuk mound, were determined to be kings and queens and monks and nuns of the Hattian people.  These tombs were where the majority of the sun discs and stylized bulls and deer (that we saw in Ankara) were discovered, along with the bodies of the deceased.  

We have had a request to clarify exactly what sun discs were, so here goes.  (Notes collected from several different web sites lifted whole or in part!)  From what is now known and surmised, the Sun Disks were found in a group of 13 tombs at Alacahöyük, known as the Royal Tombs and dating from the Early Bronze Age, between the middle and end of the third millennium BC.  A circle with a plus in it (Tengri in Old Turkish) represents the god, birds on Hattian sun disc represents the soul is being taken to god, in Turkish there is a philosophical thought system with dead: Soul/spirit is flying to god.

Me and Sphinx!  (Guess which is which...)

Six of the excavated Hattian royal tombs

One royal tomb

The warriors who are dead always have birds in their hands.  It is thought that the discs themselves, as well as the stylized deer and bulls, were put on top of posts or sticks, and then the priests would carry these sticks at the front of a religious procession. 

Hattian royal tomb with bull skulls and bones

Inside a Hattian royal grave

Overview of Hittite city Alacahoyuk

After a funeral, there would be a ritual feast, and the actual discs used were then interred with the bodies as a way to help the body in the afterlife. Skulls and bones from the bulls sacrificed were then included on the top of the grave sites.   So … that’s about as good as I can do, although I can see in my mind a very solemn procession with royalty and priests and others carrying the sun discs.  Hope that helps?!

We figure that Alacahoyuk is at a much higher elevation than Hattusas, because the snow was much deeper and all over the ground.  Made walking more than a bit tricky, and makes looking at archeological sites very interesting, that’s for sure!  I don’t think I ever considered that in my trip planning … I will definitely have to note that for future use!

From Alacahoyuk, we decided to head back toward Corum and see if we could find a place for lunch (although it was past 2 pm).  As we were driving towards our hotel, I noticed a brand-new HUGE shopping mall just a couple of blocks away!  Who put that there??  It certainly wasn’t here the last time we came through.  So, we dropped off the car at our hotel, and then walked the short distance to the new Ahl-Park mall!  It is so new that construction work and landscaping are still taking place, but people seemed to be coming from every direction!  Robert’s theory is that Turkish shopping malls all have food courts on their top floor – and sure enough, there it was! 

Overview of Alacahoyuk with hills in the distance

Huge sun disc outside Alacahoyuk!

There were mostly Turkish places, along with a Burger King, Sbarro Pizza and Popeye’s Chicken.  I opted for a Whopper from BK, and R went to one of the Turkish places for a kafta kebap served as a wrap in a large piece of pita bread.  Very interesting, and he very much enjoyed it!  Sorry no photos, though, as we didn’t have the camera with us!  At any rate, it sufficed for lunch, and we are now back in the hotel.  Dinner here again tonight upstairs in their lovely restaurant!  Maybe tonight I won’t even have to wear my cashmere sweater to keep warm!  Wow!  That a thought!

More later!

m

Back again!  Up to dinner about 7 pm and we had a “reserved” table by the window!  How fun!  The restaurant was much more crowded tonight, which was nice – especially as I forgot to write about the entertainment!  Both last night and tonight, there was a gal singing, accompanied by some traditional instruments; really wonderful (albeit loud…) Would love to find if they have a CD for sale, but unfortunately, my Turkish is very, very limited!

Tonight, I had an interesting new dish – little dumplings stuffed with ground beef, in a sauce of mint. 

My starter -- pasta stuffed with beef; excellent!

Musical entertainment!

R's beef dish for tonight!

Really came out like a soup, and was fabulous!  R had the tomato soup that I had last night.  For mains, R had something that looked very fajita-like – strips of beef with chiles and onions; he loved it!  It came with chips.  I had what R had had last night, the Anitta special – beef and veggies (including whole cloves of garlic!) in a nice sauce.  Excellent!  We were both so full that we couldn’t even contemplate dessert, and everything washed down by a dry red wine from Turkey, with Angora on the label.  Highly recommended!  Back to our room about 8:30 pm and getting ready for the drive to Kayseri tomorrow!

Lots of love,

m
 

xxx

I did also want to add the map of Turkey that I sent out originally, just so you know where we are!  We are not staying in Bogazkoy, but rather in Corum, which is about 60 km away!
 m
xxx