Sojourn in Turkey, Day 5: Priene, Didyma, and Miletus
Our journeys today took us southward down the Aegean coast to some excavated sites that have excellent examples of some of the things we can study less well in Ephesus. First thing in the morning, we boarded the bus and went to a town called Priene, which is situated on an acropolis. There, we got a look at how terracing worked as a strategy to create the grid city planners were looking for, particularly the famous one, Hippodamus, who lived just one town over in Melitus. Anyway, this terracing technique creates some crazy awesome views!
Three cool things we got to see: 1) the temple for Aphrodite. It was sweet, and we blocked out the altar, temenos, and courtyard with colonnades. 2) A house converted into a Jewish synagogue, complete with Torah shrine. We found a menorah inscription! 3) I hiked up to the temple for Demeter with Drs. Walters and Knust, Krista, Rob, Lauren, Elizabeth, and Brian. It was really high up and sooooo awesome! There was a sacrifice pit, a secret passageway, and a ritual closet. Fun times thinking out loud with my professors and TA!
Next we drove to Didyma and stopped for some yummy food. I had some very interesting foods, including a type of sweet potato topped with coconut. Then we went to the ancient temple, which was for Apollo, and was also an oracular temple. It was humongous! The walls alone were 82 feet high... and to even get into the sanctuary-type area, we had to go through tunnels. It was so interesting to learn how oracles worked and how they functioned religiously within the culture. We saw a turtle too- from the very tall to the very small, I guess.
On our way back to Selcuk, we stopped at Miletus, which is technically closed because of German archaeological excavation... but our guide, Cjengis, is one of the leading Turkish archaeologists and an expert on Ephesus, so he got us in for free! We got to see some assembly work in progress, including a beautiful mosaic and some very rare column parts from the Byzantine era. Then we toured the site, most of which right now is comprised of the largest Roman theater in the world. Holy crap, that is gigantic! We got to see an inscription that shows that “Christians and god-fearers” had box seats for the gladiators, plays, and other events. That disproves the theories that Christians were prudes and didn't participate in Roman popular culture. Next we saw the Agora, which is currently halfway underwater, and Drs. Walters and Knust gave us a mini-lecture on the Acts account of Paul's activities, which include his stop in Miletus.
On our way home, Cjengis stopped the bus to pick up something he found on the side of the road: a ceramic pipe used to construct an aquaduct! Drs. Walters and Knust helped to secure it in the bus, so they would be a part of the archaeological find... and Kelly took a video on her camera to record the event! We stopped to see the Pollio Aqueduct on the way home too, but since it was so late, we didn't get to hike into the valley to see it up close. That was a major bummer for me, because it's part of my site presentation. Once home, it was the dinner and homework routine. Quick note: we stopped into our usual bakery for baklava, and there was a rally for a local (Selcuk) election going on right outside. We tried to ask the shopkeeper what it was about, and we couldn't communicate well. Finally he said, "Obama!" Delighted to understand one another, we all shouted, "Obama!" and high-fived the shopkeeper one by one. Hehe, it seems that body language, facial expression, and Obama are all universal languages.
I'm getting really homesick for Stephen right now. I stayed up late waiting for him to get online, but I'm getting sleepy and I need to just go to bed... alone. :o( Overall, though, I'm totally jazzed about how much I'm learning and how quickly I'm picking it up! This is the best class ever. I can't begin to communicate all the things I'm learning and how fascinating they are without sounding like a geek and boring you all. Perhaps I'll find the words tomorrow on our next daytrip. :o)
Coming soon: pictures! I just need to upload them...