Southeast Turkey - Day 5

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Bald Ibis Sanctuary

Leaving Sanliurfa, we approached the Birecik Dam, another of the GAP dams, this one also on the Euphrates (Firat) River, like the larger Ataturk Dam of an earlier post. Stopping at the back of the dam, we visited a wildlife refuge constructed to protect and, increase the population of the nearly extinct Bald Ibis. Today, there are about 100 birds left in captivity, an increase from the 30 birds known only a few years ago. The hope is to increase the numbers to the point where they can be released and once again allowed to migrate to Africa for their winter habitation, in hopes that they will thrive and continue to return to this area in the warmer months. A few dozen nests attached to the back of the dam enabled us to get close enough to see the birds in, on, or approaching their temporary homes. One bird, sitting on top of the winter cage that prevents them from leaving during migration season, was close enough that we got a good look at its size and distinctive profile.

Rumkale – Traveling to the other side of the dam, where the water has accumulated into a large lake, we boarded a boat in the village of Halfeti. Cruising along the waters, we made a brief stop in front of an inundated village, where it is said that only three or four people continue to live. The village’s mosque roof can be seen just below the water’s surface; its minaret rises eerily out of the water.

The highlight of the boat trip was a longer stop at Rumkale, the Hellenist/Roman strategic fortress that looms over the waters and, before the dam project, over the mighty Euphrates River. Wikipedia says "the site was occupied by various Byzantine and Armenian warlords during the Middle Ages," which would explain the church ruins in some spots. The word "Rumkale" means "Roman fortress" although "Rum" generally refers to both Greeks and Romans.

We disembarked and climbed a fairly steep, winding path up to the fortress, where, looking down, we could see why this particular location was such an important strategic location during the area’s long history of clashes throughout its long history. It goes without saying that it also provides a gorgeous view.

Returning to Halfeti, we decided to have lunch on the boat, where I had some type of fish kebap, with a marinade that was terrific. But I forgot to ask the cook what was in the sauce, darn! I’ll have to experiment on my own when I get home.

Zeugma

The city of Zeugma (meaning "bridge passage" or "bridge of boats") was once a thriving city of 80,000, the largest easternmost city of the Roman Empire, and bigger than the city of Pompeii. Originally founded by an officer of Alexander the Great, it was located on the Euphrates at a point where merchants thrived from the movement of goods along the Silk Road between Antioch (Antakya) and China. Evidence of the wealth of some of the inhabitants includes ruins of villas spilling down a hillside to the Euphrates.

Alas, the GAP project, and specifically the construction of the Birecik Dam mentioned above, threatened the inundation of this historically important site. So, beginning as recently as 1992, an international group of archaeologists, led by a team from the Gaziantep Museum, began an emergency rescue project to excavate as much of the site as humanly possible before the rise of the dam’s waters. The excavation staff, worked feverishly, even under harsh conditions during the winter months, so as not to leave partially renovated finds to the mercy of looters. Several dozen large mosaics, even more spectacular than the ones we saw in Antakya, were removed to the museum before resumption of the dam construction project, which was temporarily halted to allow for the excavations.

One team found a very large, complex mosaic depicting the marriage of Dionysus. After covering the mosaic overnight, the excavation team returned the very next day only to find a large chunk of it had been stolen during the night. The remaining mosaic, displayed on a wall in the Gaziantep Museum, has a large question mark in the middle of it, with an appeal for the return of the missing chunk.

Today, we watched as construction workers erected supports that will ultimately create an "in-situ" museum, covering select villas that remain above water. The plan is to partially reconstruct the villas and reinstall some of the mosaics, so they can be viewed in their proper context. We’ll have to come back in a few years to see the finished museum.

Looming over the excavation is a very large "huyuk," on top of which can be seen a little bump of a hill. My photographs did not catch the "bump" on top. One of the Zeugma excavators, looking up, wondered if the huyuk, with its bump, was somehow related to a very old coin he had seen either onsite or elsewhere (I can’t remember where he saw the coin), depicting a hilltop temple to the god Tyche. Curious, he and a few others partially excavated the "bump" to find, to his amazement, that it was the very temple depicted on the ancient coin! Our guide said that he had seen the coin in the Gaziantep Museum, but it was among hundreds of others, so he was doubtful he would be able to find it again to show to us.

It is speculated that there are many more miles of ruins underground. But the area is inhabited today and covered by miles and miles of pistachio trees, some of the highest quality found in Turkey. Despite the loss of so much of Zeugma to the waters of the GAP project, there is likely much more to be done to revive the history of this formerly prosperous region.