Photo safari Aladag Mountains

Photo safari in the Aladag ains with thrilling summit approachig four thousand meters, the Aladag

1 Timber give approach to daisies above 2,000 meters.

2 Delicate species of carnation might be discovered within the Hacer Forest environs.

We by no means hesitate when the invitation to affix a photograph safari in the Aladag Mountains is obtainable yearly on the finish of July. Greater than making the summit, our objective is to get gorgeous pictures. The very best level to which we’ll climb is Yedigoller Highland at three,100 meters. With nationwide park standing since 1995, theAladag vary is residence to fox, lynx, wolf and bear. The vary lies primarily in Kayseri province, the remaining spreading into Nigde and Adana, and the area is flooded with 1000’s of nature buffs and mountaineers Turkish and international alike yearly.

From Kapuzbasi to Hacer

Our photograph safari begins at Kapuzbasi Falls close to the Kayseri city of Yahyali, the place a mighty river seems to have been minimize off by steep rocks. The rainbow created by one of many waterfalls dazzles the attention. A bit additional forward at Elif Falls, the move is rather less. In accordance with others, this cascade, the place the water falls from the next elevation, is used to function a mill. The native individuals come right here with sacks of wheat and depart with freshly floor flour. The world across the falls are a veritable nation fairground. Braziers are arrange alongside the banks of the icy stream, watermelons are chilled, and kids play fortunately.

It’s not straightforward to tear oneself away from this breathtaking sight. However the Aladag Mountains await us with all their surprises, and we nonetheless must climb a great thousand meters to achieve our night campsite. We hand our heavy gear over to muleteers ready for us simply exterior the village of Ulupmar and set off. On the primary leg, we take a nice highway that runs from from Hacer Forest to the campsite at Soguksu. Large cedars and colourful butterflies are our companions alongside the best way. In the direction of night the bushes skinny out and an impressive view spreads earlier than our eyes. The solar’s final rays stain the rugged mountain slopes myriad shades of gold and crimson, and we now respect even higher why the Ala (which means variegated) Mountains are so named.

Camping on the mountain

The tenting enjoyable begins when the solar goes down. Throughout us the mountains are utterly enveloped in darkness. Lined up aspect by aspect, our tents await us. Regardless of their heavy masses the mules have arrived far forward of us, and our camp mates have even lit a fireplace and made tea. We’re too drained to take one other step. Those that know the route say that tomorrow’s leg can be much more tough. I sigh inwardly and ask myself if I ought to flip again. Remembering that if all else fails I can at all times journey on the again of a mule, I calm down once more and drift off right into a restorative sleep within the overpowering silence of the good mountains…

The subsequent morning we’re up earlier than dawn. Right this moment we’re going to cross Hacer Go and climb precisely 1,400 meters. The primary two kilometers run over nearly flat floor terrain via fabulous vegetation. Then the valley regularly narrows and mountains appear to bear down on us from all sides. On the finish of the valley the vast majority of our group select a zigzag path over a steep slag heap. The others select a path on the south slope. Lastly the final bushes have been left behind and we’re left going through rocky terrain and the deep blue sky. The flowers peeking out from between the rocks are astonishingly good in colour. The snow and ice-covered areas that at the beginning appeared solely sporadic are regularly greater now.

An individual can’t assist however really feel awed by the splendor of nature. Finishing our exhausting climb close to sunset with our final shred of energy, we attain the Yedigoller (Seven Lakes). Like a large wall, the Direktas is mirrored within the waters of Buzul Gold, a glacier lake. Actually, the lakes massive and small within the environs quantity greater than seven. Already dozens of tents have been pitched on these lake-dotted highlands. After a deep sleep now we have breakfast and start our descent. Our path runs alongside the shores of quite a few lakes, every extra stunning than the final. After we attain our campsite on the fringe of the forest, we will resist shouting: “Farewell, Oh nice Aladag Mountains! ”

Source: https://travel.docappadocia.com/photo-safari-aladag-mountains/

Wartime Austerity

The Jabur tribe, who were our neighbors, had the most liberal ideas about private ownership and there was usually a good deal of shooting during the night. It was a period of wartime austerity: so the tires of our car for instance were worth something over a hundred pounds apiece in the market, and anything else valuable had to be kept chained to our beds.

In addition, there were curious weather

conditions. One night there was a freak storm of wind, of the sort for which

the district is well known; and the next morning the whole contents of our

kitchen, including heavy cooking pots, were recovered from a corn field almost

a quarter of a mile away. It can be imagined that these conditions were not

ideal for patient and methodical work. However, this was certainly, what was

required.

The conformation of the Hassuna mound was

an extraordinarily interesting one, since it perfectly illustrated the

phenomenon, which we have previously described as a “shift in the focus of

occupation.” It was possible to understand this before starting to excavate.

Judging from the preponderance of “Ninevite I” pottery on the surface, the

earliest occupation of the site was on the east side at the apex of the

triangle formed by the convergence of the two little river beds, and it

extended from there up to the summit of the mound.

Latest inhabitants

However, the lower slopes of the mound on the west side were covered with polychrome sherds of Tell Halaf ware, which one assumed to be considerably later in date. One could see therefore that, restricted by the enclosing banks of the two streams, the village had in later times expanded westwards and that traces of its latest inhabitants would be found low down on the western flank. Moreover, this was in fact exactly how it proved when we came to excavate.

The “Ninevite I” occupation had first

created a tiny mound at the apex of the triangle: but the Tell Halaf village,

which was bigger, had spread westwards down onto the level ground behind. On

the west side therefore, the earliest remains were deeply buried: but to the

east, they lay directly beneath the surface.

Therefore, it was to the east that we began

excavating: and here we ran straight into some of the most difficult wall

tracing that we had ever experienced. There was a cluster of small primitive

houses, but they were built of pies clay, without plastering, and the material

of which the walls were made proved almost indistinguishable from the fallen

debris, which filled the rooms. It needed all the ingenuity of our best wall

tracers to recover the plan.

Summit of the Mound

The result seemed at the time almost too good to be true. Here indeed was a temple platform: but the walls which we found ourselves tracing at the summit of the mound were not the platform itself but those of the temple which stood upon it, and this in places clearly remained standing to a height of over six feet.

Furthermore, having already outlined its

plan on the surface, we were able in tracing the walls, to enter the building

in an orderly manner through the main entrance door. In addition, as we reached

the inside of the first vestibule, to our complete astonishment we discovered

that the inner wall faces were covered with painted frescoes. Work on the other

side of the hill meanwhile had revealed the source of the mosaic cones, which

formed an ornamental band along the parapet of the platform.

So the temple with which we were dealing

was not, as at AL ‘Ubaid, of the Sumerian Dynastic period, but of the earlier

and little known proto literate, corresponding to the stone foundations which I

had discovered under the later platform at AL ‘Ubaid itself.

As for the wall paintings, one began to

see, first of all a dado of plum  colored

paint, exactly matching that used in the proto literate painted pottery of

Jemdet Nasr. Then a band of elaborate geometric ornament, and above this the

feet and legs of men and animals, evidently forming part of a mythical scene of

the sort one sees in cylinder seals of the period.

Period of great anxiety

Now for ourselves came a period of great anxiety. For we found that what our wall tracers were cutting into, was not the ordinary soft “fill” inside a room, but very hard and carefully laid mud brick. Now we could understand why the part of the building, which had survived, was so remarkably well preserved.

The whole of it had at some time been

filled up solid with brickwork, converting it into an upper story for the

platform, upon which a yet higher temple could be built. This was desperately

serious, since the wall paintings were found to adhere more strongly to the

filling than to the plaster on which they were painted; and when this filling

was removed, they came away with it. Now was the time at which, under different

circumstances one would have closed down the excavation and awaited the advice

of European experts. However, this was the first year of the war and no such

help could possibly be obtained.

Importance of Anatolia

Importance of Anatolia and Yalvac in the Development of Religions

Anatolia’s generous heart and warm embrace were the tolerant setting for historical events related to the birth and spread of religions.

The development of Christianity and many of the elements crucial to it make up an important part of Anatolia’s cultural treasures.

In Palestine, the place of its birth, the new Christian faith was unable to make much progress and its adherents headed in the direction of Asia Minor-Anatolia-instead. In the next

Christianity began to spread and organize itself in Anatolia; and four cities-Antioch, Ephesus, Tarsus, and Antiocheia (Antiocheia in Pisidia, ie Yalvac) were targeted for this.

Development of Christianity in Yalvac St Paul undertook three important missions to propagate the new faith in Anatolia. Choosing this city of Antiocheia as his center, it was here that he proclaimed the new religion to all who would listen. It was from Yalvac (Antiocheia) that Christianity began to radiate all over the world.

Christian religion

One of the first four apostles of the Christian religion, Paul was also its first theoretician. His knowledge of religion was deep. An eloquent speaker with the ability to command respect and enormous drive, he played a crucial role in the spreading of the new faith.

At the time, Yalvac (Antiocheia) was a city where one could find living side by side the devotees of oriental mysteries, Jews, idolaters, and pagans. There was also, however, a class of well-off people for whom monotheism, the belief in a single, all-powerful supreme being, had a strong appeal.

This was the setting that Paul found himself in when he arrived here to preach the new religion. Paul was driven by the love for God that he bore in his heart to teach it to others and believed it was his duty to do so. And his conviction gave him the strength to travel great distances under the most difficult conditions, preaching and making converts.

When he first arrived in a new city, he would sit at a loom and weave tent-cloth not just to support himself but also as a way of meeting people, with whom he strove to establish communication and get to know them and understand their feelings. Reflecting the purity and clarity of his heart in whatever he did, he also wove a web of love and friendship as he sat at his loom.

Paul’s stay in Antiocheia

Paul’s stay in Antiocheia is described thus in Acts 13: Now when Paul and his company set sailed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antiocheia in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down and prayed..

And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

As the above passage tells us, Paul continued to preach and in a short idolaters, and pagans. There was also, however, a class of well-off people for whom monotheism, the belief in a single, all-powerful supreme being, had a strong appeal. This was the setting that Paul found himself in when he arrived here to preach the new religion. Paul was driven by the love for God that he bore in his heart to teach it to others and believed it was his duty to do so. And his conviction gave him the strength to travel great distances under the most difficult conditions, preaching and making converts.

Reflecting the purity

When he first arrived in a new city, he would sit at a loom and weave tent-cloth not just to support himself but also as a way of meeting people, with whom he strove to establish communication and get to know them and understand their feelings. Reflecting the purity and clarity of his heart in whatever he did, he also wove a web of love and friendship as he sat at his loom.

Under the Edict of Milan, early in AD 311, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great declared that the Christian worship was henceforth to be tolerated throughout the Empire. An organized church was gradually being developed, councils were held, and metropolitan sees were established.

Antiocheia was present in the First Council of Nicaea (iznik) in AD 325 and was also prominently represented in the Council of Chalcedon (Kadikoy 451), the Second (553) and Third (680-681) councils of Constantinople (istanbul), and the Second Council of Nicaea (787). In the course of time, Christianity became firmly entrenched in Antiocheia as elsewhere and the city became something of a place of pilgrimage that attracted a heavy traffic of visiting believers.

Source: https://www.ensartourguide.com/importance-of-anatolia/

Flood Pit

And if, in his so called “Flood Pit”,

identical traces of the “huts in the marshes” appeared above and below what was

called the “Flood deposit”, these terms were only meant for publicity purposes:

and for archaeologists his section already envisaged an interesting sub

division of his Al’Ubaid period into distinct.

So here were the two sides of Woolley’s

work: an appeal to the public by means of interpretation and presentation of

his results (with undoubted educational advantages in addition to their

practical purpose of obtaining funds); and behind this the patient and

meticulous work of a research scholar. The results of twelve seasons of arduous

digging at Ur alone can be seen in his publications. First, annually came the

admirable preliminary reports, written often on board ship on the way home,

when the whole fabric of his discoveries was still fresh in his mind. And then,

in the years before his death, sixteen heavy volumes of final publication as

Mallowan has called them “a mine of information, a deep repository which will

grow richer as the years pass and the common store of knowledge is continually

pooled.”

But now, to examine Woolley’s place in the

new forum of archaeological Methodism. By all the most recently devised codes

of procedure and disciplinary generalizations, Woolley was an unconventional

excavator, to say the least of it. To begin with, during the whole of his

twelve campaigns at Ur, he never employed more than five assistants an

astonishingly small number considering that they had to control the activities

of a labor gang consisting of from two hundred to two hundred and fifty men.

Partial extenuation

And that during that time more than twenty

thousand small but valuable objects were in the process of being found. One partial

extenuation of this idiosyncrasy was that he tended to depend

largely and increasingly on his Arab staff. A great deal of practical

responsibility was taken off his shoulders by his supervisor, Sheikh Hamoudi

Ibrahim.

Hamoudi was a Syrian of strong character

and remarkable talents, which afterwards acquired for him the position of

Deputy in the Syrian Mejlis. Woolley had acquired his services before the First

War, when he was excavating Car  chemish

on the Turco Syrian frontier, and Hamoudi had at one time saved the life of T.

E. Lawrence who was also a member of the excavating party.

By the time Woolley came to excavate the

Royal Cemetery at Ur, Hamoudi had been joined by his three sons, Jahya, Ibrahim

and Alawi, all of whom were brilliant archaeological craftsmen, and the first

of whom, Jahya, completely took charge of Woolley’s photography.

Bulgaria Vacations.

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Bulgaria is the Thracians – great warriors and horsemen that were feared and outsiders respected them. It is also the country of accomplished artists and farmers who grew wealthy from trading jewelry, copper and gold. Their fierce weaponry is in archaeological museums around the country. Anyone who likes to see it, can do it there. Many tombs, discovered mainly in central Bulgaria – the region of Kazanlak and Shipka, reveal the Thracians’ rituals, their beliefs. A gold mask and a bronze head of a Thracian King have been found there.

Interesting Bulgaria

Places to see and things to do on Bulgaria vacations are waiting you to discover them. These are Rila Mountain that gave home to the Rila Monastery, the magnificent holy cloister, unity of spirituality, culture and nature. Then Rupite – a source of energy. Also the medieval archaeological complex Perperikon – the ancient monumental megalithic structures. Certainly the ‘Kukeri’ Festival – costumed men who perform rituals intending to scare the evil away and to announce the coming of spring. Another one is Nestinarstvo – a fire ritual that barefoot men and women (nestinari) perform on zharava (smouldering embers)… Visit Bulgaria and experience these places and take more mystical Bulgaria tours!

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Substantially correct

And finally Delougaz applied himself to the problem of what lay beneath the oval. He then discovered that the findings obtained from Preusser’s trench were substantially correct. The entire temple complex, up to the periphery of the outer enclosure wall, was founded on a bed of clean sand having a depth of over fifteen feet.

He was by now aware that this could not be

a natural deposit, since, in a neighboring part of the site to which I shall

presently refer, he had continued to encounter occupational levels right down

to the water table, twenty seven feet beneath the surface. He was able to check

this situation by cutting a careful section through the outer enclosure wall.

This showed very clearly how the horizontal strata of occupation levels,

(previous to the temple period), stopped dead against the sand deposit, of

which the outer face could be traced sloping sharply inwards as it descended.

For some reason perhaps for some ritual

purpose, about which there is much speculation in Delougaz’ report the site on

which the temple was built must have been excavated, perhaps down to the clean

soil beneath, and then filled with uncontaminated sand brought from outside the

city. He estimated that the cubic capacity of the excavation made to receive

the sand and therefore of the sand itself was sixty four thousand cubic meters.

To us this may seem an unreasonable and pointless task for a builder to have deliberately set himself. But the impulse to seek a basis of clean soil for the foundations of a monumental building is something quite frequently found in other periods of Mesopotamian history. An even more striking example is for instance Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.

There, as is today fairly well known, the

king applied this principle to the whole vast structure of the famous Ishtar Gate

and the walls of the so called Procession Street behind it. Modem visitors to

the site of Babylon see the walls of these enormous buildings still perfectly

preserved to a height of about thirty feet, and ornamented with heraldic

devices of dragons and bulls, modelled in relief on the brickwork. And it is

difficult for them to realize that these are in fact not the walls at all, but

merely the foundations.

The gateway and walls themselves, which

were identically ornamented but in brilliantly colored glazed brickwork, stood

on top of the present ruins and have now almost completely disappeared. In

order to reach union  contaminated soil,

Nebuchadnezzar had cut deep trenches down through the remains of earlier

cities, and built in them these foundation walls, whose decoration was never

meant to be seen by human eyes. In fact, the relief figures had been carefully

plastered over with a protecting coat of clay before the trenches were filled

in.

Secondary and subsidiary purpose

This then accounts for the primary theme of

the book. However, it has a secondary and subsidiary purpose, which I am also

most anxious to make effective. For, in the category already mentioned, of

handbooks dealing with the subject of archaeological method and sometimes with

the history of its evolution.

Due to the writers’ efforts to draw an

effective contrast between the orderly progress of efficiency in Europe and the

misguided vandalism in the past of untrained diggers in other parts of the

world, less than justice has been done to some of the great figures in Near

Eastern archaeology during our own time.

A secondary purpose of the book then, is to

recall that, in the Near East also, there have been great and methodically

brilliant archaeologists since the time of General Pitt Rivers. 

Mound Formation and Excavation

In the Near East, even a peasant mentality

sees in the familiar aspect of its mounds some dim relationship to the

elementary principles of life and death. Alternatively, their summits may accommodate

the activities of village life or provide dignified isolation for a graveyard.

For more sophisticated western travelers on

the other hand, their silhouettes become the emblems of prolonged human

survival. If their character is to be properly understood, it will be necessary

first to consider how they come to exist at all; and secondly why they are to

be found only in this particular part of the world. For this purpose it is

momentarily essential to adapt one’s mind to the peculiar conditions of life in

these antique lands.

It is of course in the nature of human

habitations that their prolonged occupation results in the accumulation of

debris, and that, particularly if they are repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, an

elevation is gradually created which did not previously exist.

However, the speed and degree of this

process seems to be governed by two regionally distinctive factors. One is the

habits and traditions of the inhabitants and the other the form of building

material which they habitually employ.

Here in England for instance, many dwelling

houses have been occupied without interruption for a score or so of

generations. A large part of my own home was built of stone in the fourteenth

century and remained unchanged for more than four hundred years. But when, in

about eighteen hundred, it was added to and largely rebuilt, as much care was

taken to remove the resulting debris as has been taken ever since to dispose of

domestic refuse.

Empirical Schliemann

In speaking of the system by which this

technique was developed in its early stages, I have used the word “empirical”,

for it would seem to be an appropriate one. The Oxford Dictionary defines it

as—“based or acting on observation and experiment rather than theory”; and that

in this case seems exactly applicable.

One might perhaps alternatively use the

phrase, “trial and error”; but in that case one would claim that

such errors as there were, occurred in the early stages only and were soon

corrected. For it is necessary to bear in mind the general situation in field

archaeology at the end of the second decade of the present century. It was not

possible in those days to leam how to excavate a mound from textbooks or

university courses. One could profit to some extent from the mistakes made by

one’s predecessors in the field, as far back as Schliemann or even Layard.

One could leam something from the

meticulous reports of the German excavators at Babylon and Ashur, (strangely

inarticulate as these were when any explanation of practical expedients was

concerned). One could, in addition to the Germans, visit and see excavations

which had been started since the first German War by British, French and

American archaeologists, each with its own complement of improvised expedients.

American expeditions

There were the American expeditions, with

their multiple card indexes and photographic kite balloons, often seeming to be

involved in trying to apply a kind of prefabricated methodism under obstinately

unsuitable circumstances: British expeditions, usually under subsidised and

dependent on the popular interpretation of their finds to obtain funds for the

continuation of their work and French missions, still curiously intransigent,

inspired by Champollion but clinging to the methodical dogma evolved by de

Morgan at Susa.

There was a limit to the amount one could

leam from all these. Admittedly it was possible at some sites even for an

inexperienced eye to see how the technical inadequacies of the actual digging

could impair the logic of the excavator’s conclusions. But at others, little

could be leamt at all, either about technique or about logic, since both the

strategy and the purpose of the various operations seemed to be an esoteric

mystery, whose understanding was the exclusive prerogative of the mind

directing the excavations. The field staff were then mere acolytes, each with his

appointed routine of practical duties.

Certain rich man

I heard of a certain rich man, who was as

notorious for parsimony as Hatim Tai for liberality. His external form was

adorned with wealth, but the meanness of his disposition was so radiated, that

he never gave even a loaf of bread to any one: he would not have bestowed a

scrap on the cat of Abu Horiera, nor thrown a bone to the dog of companions of

the cave. In short, no one ever saw his door open nor his table spread. A

Durwesh never knew his victuals, excepting by the smell; no bird ever picked up

any crumbs that fell from his table. I heard that he was sailing on the

Mediterranean Sea towards Egypt, with all the pride of Pharaoh in his

imagination, according to the word of God, ‘Until the time that he was

drowned.’ Suddenly a contrary wind assailed the ship, in the manner as they

have said, ‘What can the heart do that it may not record with your sorrowful disposition;

the north wind is not always favourable for the ship.’ He lifted up the hands

of imploration, and uttered ineffectual lamentations. God hath said, ‘“When you

embark on ships offer up your prayers unto the Lord.’

Of what benefit will it be to the servant

in the time of need, to lift up his hands in imploration, which are extended

during prayers, but when any favour is wanted are folded under his arms?

‘Bestow comfort on others with silver and gold, and from thence derive also

benefit yourself. Know thou, that this edifice of yours will remain, use

therefore bricks of gold and bricks of silver.’

They have related, that he had poor

relations in Egypt, who were enriched with the remainder of his wealth. At his

death they rent their old garments and made up silks and damask. In that same

week I saw one of them riding a fleet horse, with an angelic youth running

after him. I said, “Alas if the dead man should return amongst his tribe and

relations, the heirs would feel more sorrow in restoring him his estate than

they suffered on account of his death.” On the strength of the acquaintance

which had formerly subsisted between us, I pulled his sleeve, and said, “Enjoy

thou, 0 good man of happy endowments, that wealth which the late possessor

accumulated to no purpose.”

Debilitated fisherman

A powerful fish fell into the net of a debilitated

fisherman, who not being able to hold it, the fish got the

better of him, snatched the net out of his hand, and escaped. A boy went to

fetch water from the river: the flood tide came in and carried him away. The

net had hitherto always taken the fish, but this time the fish escaped and

carried away the net. The other fisherman grieved at the loss, and reproached

him, that having such a fish in his net, he had not been able to hold it. He

replied, “Alas, my brethren what could be done, seeing it was not my lucky day,

and the fish had yet a day remaining? A fisherman without luck cachet not fish

in the Tigris, neither will the fish without fate expire on the dry ground.

Killed a millipede

One who had neither hands nor feet having killed

a millipede, a pious man passing by said, “Holy God, although

this had a thousand feet, yet when fate overtook him he could not escape from

one destitute of hands and feet. When the enemy who seizes the soul comes

behind, fate ties the feet of the swift man. At that moment when the enemy

attacks us behind, it is needless to draw the Ivianyan bow.”

Fat blockhead clad

I saw a fat blockhead clad in

a rich dress and mounted on an Arab horse, with fine Egyptian linen round his

head. Someone said, “0 Sady, what is your opinion of this notable dress on this

ignorant brute?” I replied, “It is like bad writing executed in water-gold. In

truth, amongst men he is an ass with the form and bleating of a calf. You

cannot say this brute resembles a man excepting in his garment, his turban, and

external form: of all his property, estate, and bodily faculties, it is not

lawful to take anything but his blood. If a man oi noble birth should happen to

be poor, imagine not that his dignity will be thereby lessened; but should a

Jew be so rich as to drive a gold nail into his silver threshold, do not on

that account esteem him noble.”

Obtain a grain of silver

A thief said to a mendicant, “Are you not

ashamed to hold out your hand to every sordid wretch to obtain a grain of silver?”

He replied, “It is better to stretch out the hand for a grain of silver than to

have it cut off for having stolen a dang and a half.”

Certain rich man

I heard of a certain rich man, who was as

notorious for parsimony as Hatim Tai for liberality. His external form was

adorned with wealth, but the meanness of his disposition was so radiated, that

he never gave even a loaf of bread to any one: he would not have bestowed a

scrap on the cat of Abu Horiera, nor thrown a bone to the dog of companions of

the cave. In short, no one ever saw his door open nor his table spread. A

Durwesh never knew his victuals, excepting by the smell; no bird ever picked up

any crumbs that fell from his table. I heard that he was sailing on the

Mediterranean Sea towards Egypt, with all the pride of Pharaoh in his

imagination, according to the word of God, ‘Until the time that he was

drowned.’ Suddenly a contrary wind assailed the ship, in the manner as they

have said, ‘What can the heart do that it may not record with your sorrowful disposition;

the north wind is not always favourable for the ship.’ He lifted up the hands

of imploration, and uttered ineffectual lamentations. God hath said, ‘“When you

embark on ships offer up your prayers unto the Lord.’

Of what benefit will it be to the servant

in the time of need, to lift up his hands in imploration, which are extended

during prayers, but when any favour is wanted are folded under his arms?

‘Bestow comfort on others with silver and gold, and from thence derive also

benefit yourself. Know thou, that this edifice of yours will remain, use

therefore bricks of gold and bricks of silver.’

They have related, that he had poor

relations in Egypt, who were enriched with the remainder of his wealth. At his

death they rent their old garments and made up silks and damask. In that same

week I saw one of them riding a fleet horse, with an angelic youth running

after him. I said, “Alas if the dead man should return amongst his tribe and

relations, the heirs would feel more sorrow in restoring him his estate than

they suffered on account of his death.” On the strength of the acquaintance

which had formerly subsisted between us, I pulled his sleeve, and said, “Enjoy

thou, 0 good man of happy endowments, that wealth which the late possessor

accumulated to no purpose.”

Romania Clayton

Thomas J. Clayton who visited many

countries passed through Bulgaria also. Going from Varna to Ruse and then on to

Romania

Clayton was “surprised” to discover that both Bulgaria and

Romania were “such fertile countries.” He wrote that he “never saw better

pasture lands or wheat fields” anywhere else in the world. These lands reminded

him of the prairie lands of Illinois. He was also surprised to find that there

were no farm houses like in America. The lands, he stated, were “tilled by

peasants who live in miserable little huts, or in villagesOur route lay through

a spur of the Balkan Mountains and was very picturesque very beautiful and

entertainingThe scenery of these mountains is soft and has a soothing rather

than a stirring influence upon the beholder.” The author believed that if peace

prevailed in these parts of the world, Bulgaria and Romania “will soon become

rich and prosperous.”

There are few more accounts by Americans on

Bulgaria. However, they are not much more different than those presented. Many

a time what Americans said about the Bulgarians or for that matter about other

peoples, reflected on their own personal character or how they valued American

culture and way of life. The descriptions presented by these travelers on a

variety of topics, like national character and even the history of Bulgaria are

hardly scientific or correct accounts.

Bulgarian personality

Almost all of these travelers present

nothing but clichés. They did not have the necessary expertise to carefully

analyze the Bulgarian

personality, their ethnic typicalness in terms of common

national cultural values. The frame of reference these travelers used was

founded on their perspective of American history and culture as the

repositories of values of liberty, freedom, democracy, justice, religion,

discipline, industry and progress.

Almost all of the authors sympathized with

the plight of the Bulgarian people under Ottoman domination. They all condemned

the alien system of despotism and many a time showed their preference for

republicanism. The Ottoman system did not permit the development of the

individual, the arts and crafts as well as agriculture and industry. The

authors were aware that the Ottoman state was in its stages of disintegration.

Those who visited Bulgaria before 1878 believed that the Bulgarians would

become free and those who travelled after the liberation of the country praised

the attempts of the Bulgarians to preserve their independence.

Process Mesopotamia

We must now consider more closely the

manner in which these artificial hills come to be created. Any of the mounds

which we have mentioned in the preceding paragraphs would probably serve to

illustrate the broad lines of this process: but those in Mesopotamia will

perhaps serve our purpose best, since they are uncomplicated by the presence of

large stone buildings and at the same time provide examples of some anatomical

eccentricities seldom found elsewhere. This process, then, by which in

antiquity the repeated rebuilding’s of human habitations on a single site

created a perpetually increasing elevation, is by no means difficult to

understand.

The average life of a mud brick building

today seldom exceeds the span of a single generation: and in earlier times,

military conquest or localized raiding on a smaller scale would certainly have

accounted for demolitions that are more frequent. Roofs would be burnt or

collapse and the upper parts of the walls subside, filling the rooms to about a

third of their height with brick debris. Before rebuilding, the site would

usually be systematically levelled, the stumps of the old walls being used as

foundations for the new.

Prehistoric fortresses at Mersin

Thus, after a time, the town or village

would find itself occupying the summit of a rising eminence; a situation, which

had the double advantage of being easily defensible and of affording an

expansive view of the surrounding countryside. One remembers in a connection

how the walls of the little prehistoric fortresses at Mersin in Cilicia were

lined with identical small dwellings for the garrison; and each was provided

with a pair of slit openings from which a watch could be kept on the approaches

to the mound.

What, then, an excavator is concerned with

is the stratified accumulation of archaeological remains, unconsciously created

by the activities of these early builders. By reversing the process and

examining each successive phase of occupation, from the latest (and therefore

uppermost) downwards, he obtains a chronological cross section of the mound’s history,

and can, if circumstances are favorable, reconstruct a remarkably clear picture

of the cultural and political vicissitudes through which its occupants have

passed.

However, it must be remembered that the

procedure, which he adopts, itself involves a new form of demolition. For as

the architectural remains associated with each phase of occupation are cleared,

examined and recorded, they must in turn be removed in order to attend to the

phase beneath. In a Near Eastern mound, the product of an operation of this

sort is often a deep hole in the ground and very little else that could

interest a subsequent visitor to the site of the excavation.

Museum of Pennsylvania

This road of course prolonged itself

through the Taurus passes, where the mounds are rare. However, once the

Anatolian plateau is reached, they start again and increase in size at the

approach to the great cities of Phrygia. The crossing of the Sangarius River is

marked by a colossal mound representing the remains of the old Phrygian

capital, Gordion, and a wide area around it is studded with tumuli covering the

graves of the Phrygian kings.

Excavations by the University Museum of

Pennsylvania in the side of the hill have revealed a gigantic stone gateway,

from which travelers on the Royal Road must have set out on their journey

northward. Half a mile further on, a stretch of the road itself is exposed,

where it passes between the tumuli; and its fifteen foot width of stone

pavement is still perfectly preserved.

(1) A. H. Layard, Nineveh and its Remains.

(2) Published in “Iraq”,

(3) Happening to visit the excavations when

this section of the road had just been located. I found the pavement newly

cleared and, standing in the center of it, the American director, a volume of

Herodotus in his hand, from which he was declaiming the passage in praise of

the Persian couriers who carried the royal dispatches from Sardis to Susa.

Anatolia or Kurdistan

However, it is not only on great highways

of this sort that the purpose of mounds can be identified. In every major

highland valley of Anatolia or Kurdistan, there, probably at a river crossing

or road junction, is a substantial mound; the market town or administrative center

of an agricultural district, which may still be crowned by the ruined castle of

a feudal landlord—the “derebey” of Ottoman times. Scattered elsewhere over the

face of the valley are smaller mounds, which were mere villages or farmsteads.

There are mounds making obvious frontier

posts, and lines of mounds sketching in the communications, which served

military defense systems of the remote past: and there are skeins of more

recent defenses, like the fortresses of Diocletian’s Hines.1 and finally, there

are tiny, insignificant looking mounds standing no more than a few feet above

the level of the plain. In addition, sometimes these prove to be the most

important of all: for they have not been occupied for many thousands of years,

and the relics of their prehistoric occupants lie directly beneath the surface.

Fourteenth century caravanserai

As a result, the actual level of occupation

remains precisely where it was six centuries ago. Seeking a full contrast in

regional conditions, my mind turns to mediaeval Baghdad. There, in 19411 was

concerned with the repair and restoration of a magnificent fourteenth century

caravanserai in the center of the town. Inside the building, occupational

debris had accumulated until only the tops of the main arches were any longer

visible; and this had to be removed before it could again be put into use.

When the task was finished the fine

proportions of the vaulted hall became apparent; but the pavement upon which

one stood was now found to be exactly nine feet beneath the level of the street

outside, and a stairway had to be built in order to reach it.

In a town built largely of mud brick and

subjected during the past centuries to a series of appalling political and

natural disasters, the level of habitation had risen at the rate of eighteen

inches per hundred years. So here at once is a first clue to the regional

character of mound formation; two central factors which have been conducive to

their creation in the countries of the Near East.

One is the almost universal employment in

those countries of sun-dried brick as a building material; the other,

historical insecurity, coupled with the extraordinary conservatism, which makes

eastern peoples, cling tenaciously to a site once occupied by their ancestors

and obstinately return to it however often they are ejected.

Visit to Egypt

It is interesting to recollect that even

Herodotus, during his visit to Egypt, was already able to observe a

phenomen22on caused by the accumulation of occupational debris in an Egyptian

city, though his conclusion regarding its explanation was understandably at

fault. In his description of Bubastis he says—“The temple stands in the middle

of the city, and is visible on all sides as one walks round it; for as the city

has been raised up by embankment, while the temple has been left untouched in

its original condition, you look down upon it whosesoever you are.

“I In fact, as one sees today at Luxor and

elsewhere, the temples, with their massive stone walls and pillars, have mostly

survived at the original level of their foundation. while the surrounding

dwelling houses and other buildings of the city, whose mud and reed walls have

continually been demolished and renewed, rose gradually above them, leaving

them in a deep hollow, like the Forum of Trajan at Rome.

Certain characteristics

Interesting as this illustration is of how

strati graphical formations can be created, this early mention of Egypt must

serve as an occasion to introduce certain reservations regarding that country,

in relation to the subject under discussion. For it should be said at once that

Egypt has certain characteristics which make it less suitable than others do

for the study of mounds.

This is perhaps partly to be attributed to

the abundant supply and general use of building stone, which greatly prolonged

the survival of Egyptian buildings. But it is also partly due to the fact that,

in the narrow valley of Upper Egypt, land is too valuable to allow large ruin

fields of brick buildings to remain derelict; and the fellahin have long since

discovered that the occupational debris with which such ruins are Hide, when

spread over their fields, makes the finest fertilizer available.

Burin any case, those who have approached

the subject of Egyptology will know that archaeology in Egypt, when it took the

form of actual excavation, has always been concerned almost exclusively with

stone temples, tombs and cemeteries. Mounds in Egypt are confined for the most

part to the Delta of the Nile; and, with so much else to attend to, their

excavation has till now been very considerably neglected.

So let us glance once again at the pattern

of countries in which mounds are everywhere found and have been more generally

excavated. From Egypt they spread northward through the Levant and westward

through Anatolia to the Balkans. Eastward they follow the curve of Breasted’s

“crescent” through the rich farmlands in the foothills of the Armenian

mountains to Iraq and Persia and so, southward of the Elburz range, to

Afghanistan and the Indus valley.

Mesopotamia

But the focal point of the whole area,

where mounds are so plentiful that they become the most characteristic feature

of the landscape, is the twin river valley of Mesopotamia which is in fact not

a valley at all but a vast province of partially irrigated alluvial desert. It

is a habit of thought to apply the name Mesopotamia to this basin of alluvium,

which represents half of modem Iraq. But it has come to be known to our own

generation that the first human settlers in this province, the ancestors of the

later Sumerians, were themselves comparative latecomers, and that the

undulating hill country of northern Iraq had a much earlier record of Neolithic

farming communities.

This may help to explain the impression,

which has grown upon one, after long periods of travel in those parts, that the

Assyrian uplands around Mosul and their westward extension through the valleys

of the Khabur and Balik rivers into North Syria must have been the most thickly

populated area of the completely ancient world. Certainly today, they are more

thickly studded with ancient mounds than any other part of the Near East.

Bulgarian Language

The majority of Americans who wrote on

Bulgaria or visited the country showed energy, curiosity, sense of wonder, and

faith in the future of Bulgaria and mankind even when they were disappointed in

some particular aspect of their travel experience. They considered knowledge,

and their travel experiences important, their individual responses and

reactions significant and worth preserving. Although they were usually

unfamiliar with the Bulgarian language, history and customs, their

comments on the Bulgarian character were generally positive.

It was difficult for the American traveler,

who knew little about the country, to come to terms with the complex cultural

milieu of Bulgarians, Greeks, Turks, etc. and to resolve the difference

sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant between the Balkan mind cushioned on a

multi-layered rich past and a modern American mind formed in the New World free

from the burden of the past.  The

Bulgarians, busy with their struggle to free themselves and maintain their

independence, thought little about and did even less to attract tourists.

American tourists in Balkans

For the American tourists the Balkans were

on the periphery of their travel plans. Most of those who visited the country

went there as passers-by and caught only a glimpse of Bulgaria. Bulgaria in the

view of the American traveler was either a peasant society or a society in

transition with many Oriental traits still present.

The Bulgarians were described as simple,

natural, methodological, disciplined, and diligent. There were, of course, some

descriptions which were tendentious and even misleading. The Orthodox Church

was criticized, in part, in the belief that this would make Americans come to

the support of the American missionaries working in Bulgaria.

However, the commentaries of these pioneer

American travelers are not without merit. Through sharing their travel

experiences with their countrymen, the American travelers contributed toward

making Bulgaria known to Americans. Although most of the descriptions were brief,

they nonetheless were good enough to create an image of a country with a long

history, a relatively heroic past and a people struggling to free itself, and

modernize its country.

Archaeological monument

An alternative situation arises, when an

important building or civic lay out is encountered, of the sort which may

afterwards need to be preserved as an archaeological monument. In this case,

the excavation will merely be extended to cover as much as is required of the

stratum concerned, and if a strati graphical sounding to a greater depth is

required, it will be made elsewhere.

However, to return to the creation and

development of mounds themselves, it would be a mistake to think that the

process is always as simple and straightforward as that already described. A

wide variety of circumstances may serve to disrupt their symmetry and

complicate their stratification.

For instance, the diminishing living space

at the summit or a sudden increase in the settlement’s population may cause the

focus of occupation to move away from its original center. In order to make

this clear, we may at this point enumerate some of the principal variations of

the theme of anatomical development, which are to be found, particularly in

Mesopotamian mounds.

Orthodox sequence

As a point of departure then, let us take

the orthodox sequence of developments illustrated in the upper part of Fig. 1.

This diagram represents the habitation of a village community with a static

population. The superimposed remains of five principal occupations have

gradually created a small artificial hill: but as the site of the village rose

in level, the building space on the summit became more and more restricted by

the sloping sides of the mound.

It may well have been for this reason that

the place was eventually abandoned. In any case, after the inhabitants of the

fifth settlement had departed, the ruins of their houses were molded by the

weather to form the peak of a symmetrical tumulus. Vegetation started to grow

upon it, and soon all traces of occupation had disappeared beneath a shallow

mantle of humus soil.

The second and third diagrams in Fig. I

both illustrate cases where the focus of occupation has shifted. The former

represents a phenomenon, which we shall later have an opportunity of studying

in detail at a particular site tell Hassuna in northern Iraq, which will

provide a perfect example.

I in the diagram, after five principal

periods of occupation, a small mound has been formed in a maimed exactly

similar to that in the previous instance. However, from this point onwards,

occupation has continued, not on the summit of the mound, since that had become

inadequate, but terraced into its sloping flank and spreading over an extended

area of new ground beneath.

Anti Russian and pro German

He was surprised to see in the Eiffel

Restaurant the waiters “puffed tobacco smoke as they took the guests’ orders,

and reclined at full length on a bench in the lull of business.” He tried to

explain this by making a sarcastic comment that democracy seemed to have made

some headway since the liberation of the country. However, the author liked the

friendliness and great hospitality of the Bulgarian people he met along the

Danube.

Bigelow was anti-Russian and pro-German.

He was very critical of Russia’s policy in Bulgaria and thought that Germany

ought to have the final say in Southeastern Europe. He attempted to explain

Bulgarian politics by quoting an unnamed Bulgarian diplomat critical of Russian

policy toward his country, and hoping that not the Russian Tsar but the German

Emperor would become the “Protector of the Danube.”

James M. Buckley travelled through Bulgaria

in 1888. He believed that each traveler saw “what he took with him,” and for

this reason he thought that his experiences were worth recording because

“several views are more illuminating than one.” In his books Travels in Three

Continents: Europe, Africa, Asia he described his trip through Eastern Rumelia

and Bulgaria.

 “The

view as we rode along was wonderfully beautiful. Villages and towns are far

apart, and one might easily have fancied himself travelling through a

succession of parks connected with some ancestral estate, his only perplexity

that he saw no house or castle, and few persons.” He was impressed by the

“immense masses of granite” that surround and underlie Plovdiv. He praised the

political “independent existence” of Eastern Rumelia which gave “it much more

interest to Western travelers than would have if still a province of Turkey.”

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

He took part in a convention in Sofia of

the Bulgarian Protestants and was impressed with their work. However, like

Mutchmore, he was very critical of the Bulgarian Orthodox

Church. In his view the Bulgarian Church “was a very low form of

Christianity,” for which the principles of the Gospel were “concealed under the

mask of superstitions; no intelligible instruction is given; pomp, ceremony,

priest craft, support the religion, which exerts little influence over the

daily lives of the people, and can afford little or no comfort in their

experience of privation and toil.”

Sofia, the capital city, did not impress

him much. Were it not for the palace, one or two elaborate hotels of an Eastern

style, and the Bulgarian letters on the signs, he wrote, it would be easy to

“mistake the place for an American prairie town already endeavoring to put on

the airs of a city.” He was more impressed by the fertility of the land, the

number of rivers which flew into the Danube and with the herds of cattle and

flocks of sheep. Many Bulgarians, he wrote, were very “striking-looking men.”

However, the general aspect of the country was “not one of prosperity, and a

primitive scene was that of buffaloes drawing carts.”

State of the Matharas

The most important of them is the state of

the Matharas, who are also called Pitribhaktas. At the peak of their power they

dominated the area between the Mahanadi and the Krishna. Their contemporaries

and neighbors were the Vasisthas, the Nalas and the Manas.

The Vasisthas ruled on the borders of

Andhra m south Kalmga, the Nalas in the forest area of Mahakantara, and the

Manas in the coastal area m the north beyond the Mahanadi. Each state developed

its system of taxation, administration and military organization.

 The

Nalas, and probably the Manas, also evolved their system of coinage. Each

kingdom favored the brahmanas with land grants and even invited them from

outside, and most kings performed Vedic sacrifices not only for spiritual merit

but also for power, prestige and legitimacy.

Elements of advanced culture

In this period elements of advanced culture

were not confined to the coastal belt known as Kalmga, but appeared in the

other parts of Orissa. The find of the Nala gold coins in the tribal Bastar

area in Madhya Pradesh is significant. It presupposes an economic system in

which gold money was used in large transactions and served as medium of payment

to high functionaries. Similarly the Manas seemed to have issued copper coins,

which implies the use of metallic money even by artisans and peasants.

The various states added to their income by

forming new fiscal units in rural areas. The Matharas created a district called

Mahendrabhoga in the area of the Mahendra Mountains. They also ruled over a

district called Dantayavagubhoga, which apparently supplied ivory and no gruel

to its administrators and had thus been created in a backward area.

The Matharas made endowments called

agroharas, which consisted of land and income from villages and were meant for

supporting religious and educational activities of the brahmanas. Some

agraharas had to pay taxes although elsewhere in the, country they were tax-free.

The induction of the brahmanas through land grants in tribal, forest and red

soil areas brought new lands under cultivation and introduced better methods of

agriculture, based on improved knowledge of weather conditions.

Formerly the year was divided into three

units, each consisting of four months, and time was reckoned on the basis of

three seasons. Under the Matharas, in the middle of the fifth century began the

practice of dividing the year into twelve lunar months. This implied a detailed

idea of weather conditions, which was useful for agricultural operations.

Religious purposes

For a century from A D 432-33 we notice a

series of land sale documents recorded on copperplates Pundravardhanabhukti,

which covered almost the whole of north Bengal, now mostly in Bangladesh, Most

land grants indicate that land was purchased with gold coins called dinara. But

once land was given for religious purposes, the dunes did

not have to pay any tax. The land transactions show the involvement of leading

scribes, merchants, artisans landed classes, etc.’., in local administration,

which was manned by the governors appointed by the Gupta emperors.

The land sale documents not only .indicate

the existence of different’ social groups and local functionaries but also shed

valuable light on the expansion of agriculture Mostly land purchased for

religious endowments is described as fallow, uncultivated, and therefore imitated

Without doubt the effect of the grants was to bring plots of land within the

purview of cultivation and settlement.

The deltaic portion of Bengal formed by the

Brahmaputra and called Samatata was made to acknowledge the authority of

Samudragupta It covered southeast Bengal. A portion of this territory may have

been populated and important enough to attract the attention of the Gupta

conqueror.

But possibly it was not ruled by brahmamsed

princes, and consequently it neither used Sanskrit nor adopted the varna

system, as was the case in north Bengal. From about A D. 525 the area came to

have a fairly organized state covering Samatata and a portion of Vanga which

lay on the western boundary of Samatata. It issued a good number of gold coins

in the second half of the sixth century.

Dacca area

In addition to this state, m the seventh

century we come across the state of the Khadgas, literally swordsmen, in the Dacca

area. We also notice the kingdom of a brahmana feudatory

called Lokanatha and that of the Rates, both in the Comilla area all these

princes of southeast and central Bengal issued land grants in the sixth and

seventh centuries.

Like the Orissa n kings they also created

agraharas. The land charters show cultivation of Sanskrit, leading to the use

of some sophisticated meters in the second half of the seventh century. At the

same time they attest the expansion of cultivation and rural settlements. A

fiscal and administrative unit called Daudabhukti was formed in the border

areas lying between Bengal and Orissa. Danda means punishment, and bhakti enjoyment.

Apparently the unit was created for taming and punishing the tribal inhabitants

of that region. It may have promoted Sanskrit and other elements of culture in

tribal areas.

Finally compiled in Gupta

The Puranas follow the lines of the epics,

and the earlier ones were finally compiled in Gupta times. They are full of

myths, legends, sermons, etc., which were meant for the education and

edification of the common people. The period also saw the compilation of

various Smritis or the law books written in verse. The phase of writing

commentaries on the Smritis begins after the Gupta period.

The Gupta period also saw the development

of Sanskrit grammar based on Panini and Patanjali. This period is particularly

memorable for the compilation of the Amarakosa by Amara Sinha, who was a

luminary in the court of Chandragupta II. This lexicon is learnt by heart by

students taught Sanskrit in the traditional fashion.

On the whole the Gupta period was a bright

phase in the history of classical literature. It developed an ornate style,

which was different from the old simple Sanskrit. From this period onwards we

find greater emphasis on verse than on prose. We also come across a few corner tarries.

There is no doubt that Sanskrit was the court language of the Guptas. Although

we get a good deal of brahmanical religious literature, the period’ also

produced some of the earliest pieces of secular literature.

Science and Technology

In the field of mathematics we come across

during this period a work; called Aryabhatiya written by Aryabhata, who

belonged to Patali porta It seems that this mathematician was | well versed in

various kinds of calculations. A Gupta inscription of 448 from Allahabad

district suggests that the decimal system was known in India at the beginning

of the fifth century AD In the fields of astronomy a book called Romaka

Sidhanta was compiled It was influenced by Greek ideas, as can be inferred from

its name.

The Gupta craftsmen distinguished

themselves by their work in iron and bronze. We know of several bronze images

of the Buddha, which began to be produced on a considerable scale because of

the knowledge of advanced iron technology In the case of iron objects the best

example is the iron pillar found at Delhi near Mehraub.

Manufactured m the fourth century A.D., the

pillar1 has not gathered any ’ rust m the subsequent 15 centuries, which is a

great tribute to the technological skill of the craftsmen It was impossible to

produce such a pillar in any iron foundry m the West Until about a century ago.

It is a pity that the later craftsmen could not develop this knowledge further

Appeared in Prakrit

In the coastal Orissa writing was certainly

known from the third century B C., and inscriptions up to the middle of the

fourth century A. D. appeared in Prakrit. But from about A.D. 350 Sanskrit

began to be used. What is more significant, charters in this language appear

outside the coastal belt beyond the Mahanadi in the north.

Thus the art of writing and Sanskrit

language spread over a good portion of Orissa, and some of the finest Sanskrit

verses are found in the epigraphs of the period. Sanskrit served as the vehicle

of not only brahmanical religion and culture but also of property laws and

social regulations in new areas. Verses from the Puranas and Dharmasastras are

quoted in Sanskrit charters, and kings claim to be the preservers of the Varna

system. The affiliation of the people to the culture of the Gangetic basin is

emphasized. A dip in the Ganga at Prying at the confluence of the Ganga and the

Yamuna is considered holy, and victorious kings visit Pitaya

Bengal

As regards Bengal, portions of north Bengal,

now in Bogra district, give evidence of the prevalence of writing in the time

of Asoka. An inscription indicates several settlements maintaining a storehouse

filled with coins and food grains for the upkeep of Buddhist monks. Clearly the

local peasants were m a position to spare a part of their produce for paying

taxes and making gifts.

Further, people of this area knew Prakrit

and professed Buddhism, Similarly an inscription found in the coastal district

of Noakhali in southeast Bengal shows that people knew Prakrit and Brahmi

script in that area in the second century B.C. But for the greater part of

Bengal we do not hear anything till we come to the fourth .century A.D In about

the middle of the fourth century a king with the title of maharaja ruled in

Pokharna on the Damodara in Bankura district. He knew Sanskrit and was a

devotee of Vishnu, to whom he possibly granted a village.

The area lying between the Ganga and the

Brahmaputra now covering Bangladesh emerged as a settled and fairly Sanskrit educated

area in the fifth and sixth centuries The Gupta governors seem to have become

independent after about A.D. 550, and occupied north Bengal, a portion may have

been seized by the rulers of Kamarupa Local vassal princes called Samantha

maharajas had created their own administrative apparatus and built their

military organization consisting of horses, elephants and foot soldiers and

boats to fight their rivals and collect taxes from the local peasantry. By A.D.

600 the area came to be known as Gaudi with its independent state ruled by

Sasanka, the adversary of Harsha

Turkish girls attend foreign schools in Constantinople

But after all, these changes are

interesting chiefly as indications of the fact that the spirit of Turkish women

has come, to some degree, under the influence of new ideas. Polygamy is on the

decline. Greater attention is now paid to the education of girls among all

classes of the community.

In wealthy families it is common for the

daughters to have English or French or German governesses, and to be instructed

in the ordinary branches of education, even to the extent of doing something so

foreign as to learn to ride. In a few instances, Turkish girls attend foreign schools,

and it is a most significant sign of the times to see the female relatives of

such girls present at the public proceedings of these institutions. Periodicals

providing special literature for ladies have appeared, and there are Turkish

authoresses, some of whom enjoy a great reputation among their countrywomen.

As might be expected, this upward movement

meets with opposition, as upward movements always meet wherever they occur.

Such a thing has been known as an imperial irade, commanding all foreign

governesses to be dismissed from Turkish homes, because teachers of pernicious

ideas. On the eve of Ramadan it is usual to issue strict orders for Turkish

ladies to keep their veils down.

Upon gentleman

A Turkish lady once attended, with her

husband, an “At Home” in a foreign house. Shortly thereafter, the police called

upon the

gentleman, late in the evening, as the custom is in this part

of the world, and informed him that he was wanted at the police-court next

morning on important business.

What that business was the police did not

condescend to say, preferring to make night uncomfortable for the couple, by

keeping them in suspense. Upon appearing at the court, the husband learned that

the visit of his wife to a foreign house, on the occasion referred to, had been

noticed and duly reported to the authorities, and he was warned (under threat

of severe penalty) not to allow the offence to be repeated.

At public gatherings at the Sweet Waters of

Europe and Asia, the police watch the behavior of Turkish ladies as though so

many naughty or helpless children were abroad. One has seen a policeman order a

lady to put up the window of her carriage, because she attracted too much

admiration. At another time, one has seen a company of respectable Turkish

ladies, who were enjoying a moonlight row on the Bosporus, packed home by the

police. The life of educated Turkish women is rendered hard and humiliating by

such restrictions.

Suburbs on the Bosporus

The time-tables of the steamers which ply

between the city and the suburbs on the Bosporus and

the Sea of Marmora, adopt “Turkish time,” and require you to convert the hour

indicated into the corresponding hour from the European or “Frank” standpoint;

and the same two-fold way of thinking on the subject is imposed upon all

persons having dealings with the Government and the native population in

general A similar diversity exists in regard to the length of the year. The

Turkish year consists of twelve lunar months, a thirteenth being added from

time to time to settle accounts with the sun. The question when Ramadan, the

month of fasting by day and of feasting at night begins, or when the festival

of Bagram commences is determined, at least formally, by the appearance of the

new moon, upon the testimony of two Moslem witnesses before a judge in any part

of the Empire.

Different localities

Thus these religious seasons might commence

on different days in different localities, the

moon not being visible in some places, on account of the state of the weather.

The formula in which the approach of these seasons is now announced to the

public, since the increase of astronomical knowledge in Turkish circles, is a

curious compromise between former uncertainty and actual assurance on that

point “Ramadan begins (say) on Tuesday next, provided the new moon is visible.

If not, the Fast will date from Wednesday.” Alongside the

Turkish mode of measuring the year, there

is the method introduced into the Roman world by Julius Caesar, the “Old

Style,” followed by Greeks and Armenians, and also the “New Style,” the mode of

reckoning inaugurated by Pope Gregory XIII., now thirteen days in advance of

the Julian calendar. Accordingly, to prevent mistakes in regard to a date,

letters and newspapers are often dated according to both styles.

With some the year begins in March, with

the advent of spring; with others it commences in September, when autumn

gathers in the fruits of the earth; others make January, in midwinter, their

starting- point The difference between the “Old Style” and the “New Style”

involves two celebrations, as a rule, of Easter, two observances of New Year’s Day,

while Christmas is celebrated three times, the Armenian Church having combined

the commemoration of that festival with the more ancient festival of the

Epiphany. For one section of the community, moreover, the day of rest is

Sunday, for another Saturday, for yet another the day of special religious

services is Friday.

Rule of Constantine

The very geography of the place offers a

wide outlook. As a part of his everyday experience, a resident of

Constantinople lives within sight of Europe and Asia. Every day of his life, he

sees the waterway that runs between the two great continents thronged with

vessels of every nation, hurrying to and fro to bring the ends of the earth

together. Then, how much human power has been enthroned here the dominion of

Byzantium for one thousand years; the rule of Constantine and his successors for

eleven centuries; the sway of the Ottoman Sultans through four hundred and

fifty years. If what we see ought to do with what we are, here is a mound in

which to fashion a large life. But Europe and Asia are present in more than

their physical aspects, or in long periods of their history. Their

civilizations also meet here.

On every side there is the pressure of a

dominant Oriental society and polity, with its theocratic government,

autocracy, the creed of Islam, polygamy, slavery, eunuchs, secluded and veiled

womanhood, men in long robes and turbans, sluggishness, repose, the speech of

Central Asia softened by the accents of Persia and Arabia, minarets, domes

surmounted by the Crescent, graceful but strange salutations, festivals which

celebrate events in a course of history not your own, and express joys which

have never gladdened your soul And mingling, but not blended, with this world

of Asiatic thought and sentiment and manner, is a European world, partly

native, partly foreign, with ideas of freedom, science, education, bustle,

various languages, railroads, tramways, ladies in the latest Parisian fashions,

church bells, the banner of the Cross, newspapers and periodicals from every

European and American capital, knitting scattered children to the life of their

fatherland.

Foreign communities in Istanbul

The members of the foreign communities in the

City of the Sultan do not forget the lands of their birth, or of their race and

allegiance. Though circumstances have carried them far from their native shores

and skies, physical separation does not sever them from the spirit of their

peoples. Nay, as if to make patriotic sentiment easier, foreigners are placed

under the peculiar arrangements embodied in what are termed the Capitulations,

whereby, in virtue of old treaties, they enjoy the privilege of living to a

great extent under the laws of their respective countries, with little

interference on the part of the Ottoman Government.

When your house is your castle, in the

sense that no Turkish policeman dares enter it without the authorization of

your Consulate or Embassy, when legal differences between yourself and your

fellow-countrymen are submitted to judges, and argued by barristers, bred in

the law which rules in your own land, when your church and school can be what

they are at home, and when you can forward your letters, not only to foreign

countries but even to some parts of the Turkish Empire, with a stamp bearing

the badge of your own Government, it is natural that European residents in

Constantinople should be able to preserve their special character, both after

living here for many years, and also from generation to generation.

Istanbul - European world

A Mohammedan polity is opposed to the

assimilation of strangers, unless the aliens become converts to Islam. Whatever

process of assimilation goes on in Constantinople appears in the slow changes

of the East towards some likeness to the West Otherwise, the European

world is as present to the view as the Asiatic, and together

they spread a wide vista before the mind.

Furthermore, what a broad outlook does the

heterogeneous population afford! Whether you walk the streets or stay at home,

on the mart of business, at all large social gatherings, in all public

enterprises, you deal with diverse nationalities and races. Everywhere and

always a cosmopolitan atmosphere pervades your life. One servant in your

household will be a Greek, another an Armenian, a third a German or an

Englishman. Your gardener is a Croat, as tender to flowers as he is fierce

against his foes. The boatmen of your cacique are Turks.

In building a house, the foundations are

excavated by Lazes; the quarrymen must be Croats; the masons and carpenters are

Greeks and Armenians; the hodmen, Kurds; the hamals, Turks; the plumbers,

Italians; the architect is an Englishman, American, or a foreigner of some

other kind; the glaziers must be Jews. Fourteen nationalities are represented

by the students and professors of an international college.

Pilgrimages comes round

When the season of pilgrimages comes round,

the streets are thronged by Tartars, Circassia’s, Persians, Turcoman, on their

way to Mecca and Medina, wild-looking fellows in rough but picturesque garb,

staring with the wonder and simplicity of children at the novelties they see,

purchasing trifles as though treasures, yet stopping to give altos to a beggar,

and groping for the higher life.

Nor is it only in great matters that this wideness of human life comes home to the mind in Constantinople. It is pressed upon the attention by the diversity that prevails, likewise, in matters of comparatively slight importance; in such an affair, for example, as the calculation of time. For some, the pivotal event of history is the birth of Christ; for others, it is the Flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, and accordingly, two systems of the world’s chronology are in vogue.

One large part of the populations still adheres to the primitive idea that a new day commences at sunset, while another part of the community defers that event until the moment after midnight. Hence in your move-mints and engagements you have constantly to calculate the precise time of day according to both views upon the subject.

Gentleman from Istanbul

On the occasion of a visit to a Turkish

gentleman in his garden, it so happened that two of his

nieces, not knowing that any one was calling, came to greet their uncle.

Surprised at seeing a man with him, the young ladies started back, as gazelles

might start at the sight of a hunter. Their uncle, however, summoned them to

return, and with extreme courtesy introduced them to his visitor, with the

information that one of the young ladies could speak English. Conversation in

that language had not gone far, when another gentleman was announced. Instantly

the girls sprang to their feet and darted away as for dear life. “See,” said

the uncle in tones of mingled vexation and sorrow, “See what it is to be an

educated Turkish lady!”

A Turkish gentleman of high rank wishing

his daughters to enjoy the advantage of a European education, but anxious to

spare them as much as possible the chagrin and ennui of being educated above

the station of a Turkish lady, hoped to attain his object by having his girls

learn to speak French without being able to read in that language. Such

experiences are disheartening. But, as the pale flowers which come ere winter

has wholly gone herald the spring and foretell the glory of summer, so the

recent improvements in the lot of Turkish women, however slight they may appear

meantime, warrant the hope of further progress and final emancipation.

EPILOGUE

To live in Constantinople is to live in a

very wide world. The city, it is true, is not a seat of lofty intellectual

thought. Upon none of its hills have the Muses come to dwell. It is not a center

of literary activity; it is not a home of Art Here is no civic life to share,

no far-reaching public works of philanthropy to enlarge the heart, no

comprehensive national life to inspire patriotism, no common religious

institutions to awaken the sense of a vast brotherhood enfolded within the same

great and gracious heavens. If one is so inclined, it is easy for life here to

be exceedingly petty. And yet, it is certain that to live in Constantinople is

to live in a wide world. It is not for any lack of incentive that a resident

here fails “to think imperially” or to feel on an imperial scale.

When a man possessed by the genius of the

place quits the city to reside elsewhere, the horizon of his life contracts and

dwindles, as when a man descends from the wide views of a mountain peak to the

life pent within the walls of a valley. For nowhere else is the mind not only

confronted, but, if one may thus express it, assailed by so many varied

subjects demanding consideration, or the heart appealed to by so many interests

for its sympathy.

Spiritual guide

A pupil complained to his spiritual

guide of being much disturbed by impertinent visitors, who broke in

upon his valuable time, and he asked, How he could get rid of them? The

superior replied, “To such of them as are poor, lend money, and from those that

are rich ask something, when you may depend upon not seeing one of them again.”

If a beggar was the leader of the army of Islamism, the infidels would flee to

China through fear of his importunity.

Actions correspond

A lawyer said to his father, “Those fine

speeches of the declaimers make no impression on me, because 1 do not see that

their actions correspond with their precepts: they teach

people, to forsake the world, whilst themselves accumulate property. A wise

man, who preaches without practicing, will not impress others. That person is

wise who abstained from sin, not he who teaches well to others whilst himself committee

evil.

The wise man who indulges in sensual

gratifications, being himself bewildered, how can he guide others? ” The father

replied, “0 my son you ought not, merely from this vain opinion, to reject the

doctrines of the preacher, thus pursuing the paths of vanity, by imputing

errors to the learned; and whilst you are searching for an immaculate teacher,

are deprived of the benefits of learning; like the blind man, who one night

falling into the mud, cried out, ‘  Moslems bring a lamp to show me the way ? ’ An

impudent woman, who heard him, said, ‘You cannot see a lamp, what then can it

show you? ’

Moreover, the society of the preacher

resembles the shop of a trader, where, until you pay money, you cannot carry

away the goods; and here, unless you come with good inclination, you will not

derive any benefit. Listen to the discourse of the learned man with the utmost

attention, although his actions may not correspond with his doctrine. It is a

futile objection of gainsayers that, ‘How can he who is asleep awaken others? ’

It behooved a man to receive instruction, although the advice be written on a

wall.”

Certain holy man

A certain holy man having

quitted a monastery and the society of religious men, became a member of a

college. I asked, what was the difference between being a learned and a

religious man that could induce him to change his society? He replied, “The

devotee saves his own blanket out of the waves, and the learned man endeavors to

rescue others from drowning.”

Necessary perform conditions

The following story will exemplify what has been said above:—A King, having some weighty affairs in agitation, made a vow that, in case of success, he would distribute a certain sum of money amongst men dedicated to religion. When, on his wish being accomplished, it was necessary to perform the conditions of his vow, he gave a purse of dimers to one of his favorite servants, to distribute amongst the Zahids. It was said that the youth was wise and prudent.

The whole day he wandered about, and at night, when he returned, he kissed the money, and laid it before the King, saying that he had not found any Zahids. The King replied, “What a story is this since I myself know four hundred Zahids in this city.” lie replied, “0 lord of the world those who are Zfihids will not accept of money, and they who take it are not Zahids.” The King laughed, and said to his courtiers, “So much as I want to favor this body of men, the worshippers of God, this saucy fellow thwarts my inclination, and he has justice on his side. If a Zahid accepts direms and dinars, you .must seek somewhere else for a religious man.”

Consecrated bread

They asked a certain wise man, what was his

opinion of consecrated bread? He replied, “If

they receive it in order to compose their minds and to promote their devotions,

it is lawful; but if they want nothing but bread, it is illegal. Men of piety

receive bread to enjoy religious retirement, but enter not into the cell of

devotion for the sake of obtaining bread.”

Durwesh

A Durwesh came to a place where the master of the house was of a hospitable disposition. The company consisted of persons of understanding and eloquence, who separately delivered a joke or pleasantry, in a manner becoming men of wit. The Durwesh having travelled over the desert, was fatigued, and had not eaten anything. One of the company observed to him merrily, that he also must say something.

The Durwesh replied, that he did not possess writ and eloquence like the rest, and neither being learned, he hoped they would be satisfied with his reciting a single distich. They one and all eagerly desired him to speak, when he said, “ I aiii a hungry man, in whom a table covered with food excites strong appetite, like a youth at the door of the female bath.” They all applauded, and ordered the table to be laid for him. The host said, “ 0 my friend, stop a little, as my servants are preparing some minced meat.” The Durwesh raised up his head, and said, “ Forbid them to put forced-meat on my table, for to the hungry, plain bread is a savory dish.”

Marriageable

A certain lawyer had a very ugly daughter

who was marriageable; but although he

offered a considerable dower and other valuables, no one was inclined to wed

her. Brocade and damask will appear disgusting on a bride who is ugly. In

short, through necessity, he married her to a blind man. It is said that, in

the same year there arrived from Ceylon a physician who could restore sight to

the blind. They asked the father, Why lie would not have his son-in-law cured? He

said, ‘‘ Bee: Use he was afraid that if lie should recover his sight, he would

divorce his wife. It is best that the husband of an ugly woman should be

blind.”

Conqueror of kingdoms

A certain King regarded with contempt the

society of Durweshcs; which one of them having the penetration to discover,

said, “O king in this world you have the advantages of us in external grandeur,

but with regard to the comforts of life we are your superiors : at the time of

death we shall be your equals ; and at the resurrection our state will be

preferable to yours ”

Although the conqueror of kingdoms enjoyed absolute sway at the same time that the Durwesh may be in want of bread, yet in that hour when both shall die, they will cany nothing with them but their winding-sheets. When you wish to make up your burthens for quitting this world, the state of the beggar will be preferable to that of the monarch. The Durwesh exhibits a patched garment and shaved hair, but in truth his heart is alive and his passions subdued. He is not a person that will advance his pretensions among mankind; and if men oppose his inclination, he will not engage in strife. If a mill-stone should roll down from a mountain, he has but little faith who gets out of the way of it.

The Durwcsh’s course of duty consists in invoking and praising God, in obeying and worshipping him in giving alms, in being content, in believing the unity of the Deity, and in reliance on God with patient resignation to His will. Whosoever is endowed with these qualities is a Durwesh indeed, although he be arrayed in a robe; and, on the contrary, an idle prater who neglects his prayers and is a slave to his passions, who turns day into night in sensual gratifications, and night into day in drowsy indolence, eating anything that falls in his way, and saying whatever comes uppermost, such an one is a profligate, although he wears nothing but a blanket. 0 thou, whose inward parts are void of piety and whose outside beareth the garb of hypocrisy, hang not a gorgeous curtain before the door of a house constructed of reeds.

Inquired the cause

A holy man saw a wrestler distracted and

foaming at the mouth with rage: he inquired the cause,

and was told someone had given him -abuse. He said, “This paltry fellow, who

can lift a stone of a thousand pounds’ weight, is not able to bear a single

word. Resign your boasting pretensions to strength and fortitude; you

weak-spirited Vetch what is the difference between such a man and a woman? Show

your power by engaging others to speak kindly to you; it is not courage to

drive your fist against another man’s mouth, if you are able to tear the front

of an elephant; he is no man who hath not humanity. The sons of Adam are formed

of humble earth; if you possess not humility, neither are you a man.”

Character of his brethren

They interrogated a learned man concerning

the character

of his brethren, the Soofees. He answered, “The meanest of

their excellences is, that they prefer gratifying the desire of their friends

to attending to their own affairs; and the sages have said, ‘The brother who is

intent upon his own affairs, is neither brother nor relation:’ your fellow-traveler,

if he walks faster than yourself, is not your companion; place not your

affections on any one who is not attached to you. If there be not religion and

piety amongst relatives, it is best to break off connections with our kindred.”

I recollected that an adversary objected to

the sentiment in the above distich, and said, that in the Koran the highest God

has forbidden that we should break off connection with relatives, and has

commanded us to prefer friendship with relations to that of others; and that

what I had said above was contrary to this precept. I replied, “You are

mistaken, it agrees with the Koran.

 ‘If

your parents insist that you should join as partners with me those things of

which you are ignorant, then do not obey them.’ A thousand relations, who are

ignorant of God, ought to he sacrifices for one stranger who acknowledges him.”

Merry fellow of Bughdad

A merry fellow of Bughdad married

his daughter to a shoe-maker. The little man having a flinty heart, bit the

girl’s lips in such a manner that they trickled with blood. In the morning her

father, beholding her in such plight, went to his son-in-law and said to him, “0

you worthless fellow what kind of teeth have you got thus to chew her lips, as

if they were made of leather? I am not speaking in jest; leave off’ your jokes,

and have your legal enjoyment.” When bad manners become habitual, they cannot

be got rid of until death.