This is being posted some days after-the-fact. As chance had it, we had a beautiful hotel in Selcuk, outside of Ephesus, for two days, one that even had decent internet connectivity. But for some reason, the network administrator made both blogspot.com, which hosts “Huntsmans in the Holy Land,” and YouTube, where I post my video clips.
Here are the video highlights from Wednesday's two sites:
We left our hotel outside of Çanakkale early, driving across the Troad (the region of the northwestern corner of Anatolia named for Troy) until we got to Assos. A rather minor Greek city in the Classical period, it nonetheless became famous in the fourth century B.C. when its tyrant, Hermias, invited to the philosopher Aristotle to come there to found a school of philosophy. Its acropolis sports the remains of a lovely little temple to Athena. But perhaps the best part of the site are the stunning views of the Aegean in three different directions.
My class "getting some depth" for a photo in the remains of the Hellenistic tower
The site plan
Remaining columns of the Athena temple
Artist's reconstruction of the Athena temple
When our guide, Fatih, had finished his historical and basic archaeological tour of the acropolis, I talked to the students about Paul’s visit to the area. Started with the account of the apostle’s visits to nearby Troas, in Acts 16:6–10 and 20:7–12 and then talked about Paul’s one known visit to this very site, Assos, in Acts 20:13–16. We then sang “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go, Dear Lord,” after discussing how we should go and serve wherever the Lord directs us.
Teaching on site about the apostle Paul
The students, hopefully listening!
Our group pic at the Athena Temple on the Assos acropolis
One of the stunning views out over the blue Aegean
Jarom posing
With my colleague, Jared Ludlow, and my boss, Eran Hayet
Our guide, Fatih Eraslan, poses with Kyle Miller
Ode to a Grecian Urn?
Wednesday was another day with a lot of bus time. Every time we board the bus, we always "count off" to make sure no one is missing. One of our classmates, Sterling May, who was number 28 in our count of 42, needed to leave the program early this semester to help his family. So now every time we count off, when we get to 28, everyone says the number for him, usually with a sad voice. Sterling was a wonderful young man, a real asset to the program, and one who was a blessing to many here in his short time with us. This is a video tribute to our friend:
After a two-plus hour drive, we arrived at Bergama, where we had lunch. This is the modern city around the ancient site of Pergamum. The seat of an important Hellenistic kingdom, Pergamum aspired to be both a new Athens and to rival Alexandria as a cultural center. It is also on of the "Seven Churches of Asia" mentioned in Revelation 1–4.
Ascending to the Pergamene acropolis
Our group picture, "with depth," at the Trajan Temple
GQ on site: Dan, Ethan, Travis, and Kyle
After viewing the Temple of Trajan (where we took some great group pics), we then pointed out the vaulting underneath the platform that supported the temple and its precinct. This was significant to us, because Herod extended the Temple Mount in Jerusalem with similar vaulting, so this gave us some idea of the engineering that was involved.
Reunion pic: former students Logan, Cameron, Abe, Tucker, Amanda, Vladi, and Daniel
The Trajan Temple, dark gray, stands upon a large platform supported by vaulting, light gray, that extended the natural hill top
A view of the vaulting
We then looked at the theater, the remains of the Temple of Athena and its library, and then ended at the site of the Hellenistic Altar of Zeus. The altar itself was moved, stone by stone, to Berlin, where it was reconstructed and still stands in a special museum named after it. Here we talked about the Lord’s message to the church in Pergamum in Revelation 2:12–17. Either that altar, or perhaps the temple to Augustus that preceded the Temple of Trajan, might have been the "seat of Satan" mentioned in Revelation. While we talked about the doctrinal and behavioral irregularities that challenged the young Christian church there, as well as discussing the blessings promised to the faithful, I chose to focus on the figure of Antipas, who was martyred for the faith. We talked about the importance of not just being willing to die for God and one’s belief but better how one should have the courage to live for him. We then sang “Faith of Our Fathers.”
Another reunion pic of former students
Looking out over the modern Turkish city of Bergama below
The theater at Pergamum is the world's steepest
The weather really favored us, for which we were grateful. It was rather cold in Istanbul, but at least it did not rain. Despite concerns about the forecast, things were fine in Troy the day before, and today we had quite beautiful weather, almost warm. What a contrast to last semester’s visit, when we were caught in a torrential downpour while at the Trajan Temple!
Today we started quite early so that we could get on our buses and get out of Istanbul before the traffic picked up too much. We then had a LONG drive from Istanbul through European Turkey in what was known anciently and today as Thrace. As we drove through rich farm lands and rolling hills, I thought of what a large country Turkey really is: on the map this seems like a tiny corner of the country, but it took us almost five hours to drive through Thrace and down the Gallipoli peninsula to the ferry crossing at Gelibolu so that we could head to the site of ancient Troy.
Here, at least, are the video highlights:
As we drove down the Gallipoli peninsula, I could not help but think of the bloody, prolonged battles that were fought here during World War I as the Allies (in this case largely represented by Australians and New Zelanders) tried to seize this strategic peninsula in an effort to gain control of the Dardanelles, capture Constantinople, and knock Ottoman Turkey out of the war. Though we did not have time to stop at any of the memorials this trip, I visited ANZAC Beach during my visit in 2010 and filmed this video clip.
The ferry ride turned out to be another fun experience for the students, even though the weather was quite cold.
What can one say about Troy? For centuries it was known best from Homer’s epic the Iliad, which spoke of a short 13 or so days of the legendary ten year war that the Greeks fought against the fabled city. In fact, the site itself was largely forgotten until the German adventurer Heinrich Schliemann discovered it in a not very scientific excavation. Some of the events of the Trojan War, like the Trojan Horse, are actually known from other literary accounts and not Homer. Of course no archaeological evidence of such a horse exists, but a large one has been constructed at the front of the site for fun . . . and our students had fun there!
Even the faculty and our director took their turns in the mock wooden horse. From left to right Eric Huntsman, Kent Jackson, Eran Hayet, Jared Ludlow, and Steve Harper
But it is always the students who have the most fun. Here they are gathering to make the outline of a Trojan Horse below where we were above in the wooden horse (see the video clip for the final formation and shout)
Like so many of other tells, or archaeological mounds, a number of habitation levels have been uncovered at Troy, beginning at the early Bronze Age, through the late Bronze Age (when the historical Trojan War would have happened, up to and including Hellenistic and then Roman cities on the site.
I was pressed into service to give an ad hoc lecture on Homer and the Trojan War, followed by a chant of the opening lines of the Iliad.
A group pic in the Hellenistic and Roman-era Odeon at Troy
A "reunion pic" with some of my OT students turned into a lunge pose
But Kyle, Abe, and Vladi were not to be outdone
We made much better time than we expected today, so we arrived at our hotel in the small town of Güzelyah much earlier than expected. Our hotel, the Ida Kale Resort, is right on the beach. While it was too bad it was too cold to swim, the students enjoyed spending time on the beach, looking at the mouth of the Dardanelles and across into the Aegean Sea.
Istanbul today is a thriving, vibrant "mega city" of some 12 million people straddling two continents. Historically it was first the Greek colony of Byzantium, then the Roman and Byzantine capital of Constantinople, and later the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Today is serves much the same commercial and cultural role to modern Turkey that New York City does for the United States.
Much of today was similar to our first full day in Istanbul last semester, with some minor variations. Enjoy this highlights video; even with this hotel's reasonable internet, it took way too long to upload. Video clips and perhaps some pictures for subsequent days will need to wait till I get home to Jerusalem, though I will always try to give a written summary and post at least a few pictures each day (this mostly for parents of students and a few of our more dedicated blog lurkers).
We stated by walking from our hotel in the Beyazıt neighborhood down to the historic center in Sultanahmet. We were in a much better location for the sites we wanted to see than we were last semester. Along the way, we walked around Istanbul University and saw several interesting street scenes until we arrived at our first major destination.
Students in front of the main gate of Istanbul University
Our El Torito boys. Mexican food is one of many things we do NOT have in Jerusalem
Memories from 2010!
The major historic districts of old Istanbul are named for the important mosques that dominate them. In what had been the center of the Byzantine capital the Ottoman Sultan Ahmet built a magnificent mosque named after himself though commonly called "The Blue Mosque." Before visiting that mosque itself, we walked in the large, open plaza that preserves the basic footprint of the old Roman hippodrome or race track. The tiered seating and the track are long gone, but some of the monuments, such as columns and an obelisk, which once adorned it remain.
In front of the remains of the Serpentine Column of Delphi with the Obelisk of Theodosius in the background
We then went into the beautiful Blue Mosque, which is a prime example of how Turkish architecture adopted, adapted, and in many ways perfected the style of Byzantine church architecture best exemplified by Hagia Sophia (which we will see on the last day of our trip).
The Blue Mosque
A few students pose with Hagia Sophia, the queen of Byzantine churches, in the background. This was the model for later Turkish mosques.
We then visited the Topkapı Palace, once the home of the sultans. There we went through the successive courtyards, viewed the imperial treasures and important Islamic relics, and walked through many of the halls, though we did not go through the Harem this time.
Our class in the Topkapi Palace
The Basilica Cistern was built by the emperor Justinian in the early 500's. It was probably called the "basilica" because it was built under an important public square and building, the Stoa Basilica, though its use of row after row of columns and arches makes the subterranean area look much like a great church.
Inside the Basilica Cistern
After lunch we visited the Grand Bazaar, after which we took a cruise up the Bosphorus, the important sea lane connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and then the Aegean and Mediterraneans Seas beyond. Last semester we cruised to within sight of the mouth of the Black Sea, had dinner, and bused back. This time we went half way up and boated back to Istanbul and ate in the city. This was just as well because IT WAS COLD!
One of the entrance gates to the Grand Bazaar
Inside the Grand Bazaar
With Kent Jackson and Stuart Bevin on the deck of our boat
