Comprendere Hamas

The conflict raging in Gaza is different this time.

While Hamas' rocket attacks and Israel's military actions may look familiar, they're taking place against a whole new backdrop.

"This is unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict," says CNN's Ali Younes, an analyst who has covered the region for decades. "Most Arab states are actively supporting Israel against the Palestinians -- and not even shy about it or doing it discreetly."

It's a "joint Arab-Israeli war consisting of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia against other Arabs -- the Palestinians as represented by Hamas."

As the New York Times put it, "Arab leaders, viewing Hamas as worse than Israel, stay silent."

(CNN) --
If the Gaza truce holds and Israel's Operation Protective Edge comes to its conclusion, some things are certain.

Both Israel and Hamas will declare military victory 

-- Israel pointing to the destruction of militants' tunnels and depletion of Hamas' rocket supply; 

-- Hamas pointing to dozens of dead Israeli troops and the survival of Hamas leadership in Gaza.

But unlike in previous conflicts, when Hamas had the support of many Arab nations, things have changed. This time, as CNN has reported, the fighting between Israel and Hamas has been a proxy war for the Mideast.

Key regional players Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have their own reasons to want to fend off the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is part, experts say. And Europe, like the United States, lists Hamas as a terrorist organization for its numerous attacks on civilians.

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But the group does have the support of some countries.

"It's no longer the Muslims against the Jews," said Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. "Now it's the extremists -- the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers Iran, Qatar and Turkey -- against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia."

A look at some key Hamas supporters:

Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly supports Hamas.

"Erdogan has tried to use the cause of the Brotherhood to bolster his own Islamist credentials at home," says Eric Trager, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Turkey also has "more of an ideological sympathy with the Brotherhood," Trager says.

Qatar

Qatar supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt -- which was toppled from power in a coup last year. Qatar funds many Muslim Brotherhood figures in exile, including Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal, who is believed to have orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks.

"Qatar has a long history of providing shelter to Islamist groups, amongst them the Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban," Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute tells Time.

Advocating for Hamas is beneficial to Turkey and Qatar in their political objectives because the cause draws popular support at home, says world affairs writer Frida Ghitis in a CNN.com column.

It's no longer the Muslims against the Jews. 

Now it's the extremists -- the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers Iran, Qatar and Turkey -- against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute

But some question whether Qatar's support still is for Hamas is still strong. The country's financial support to the group "largely dried up" as Qatar sought "to mend ties with its neighbors, with whom it had fallen out in part for backing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt," the Council on Foreign Relations said.

While Qatar and Turkey are powerful allies, "Hamas might wish for more support given the breadth of the Arab world," Time reported.

Iran and Syria

In the past, Iran and Syria supported Hamas. Iran supplied the group with weapons; Syria was home to Meshaal.

But Meshaal did not support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war. 

In 2012, Meshaal left for Qatar, causing a breakdown in his relationship with both Syria and its ally Iran, says Firas Abi Ali, head of Middle East and North Africa Country Risk and Forecasting at the global information company IHS.

And while Iran still professes to support Hamas, such claims "are more ostentatious, showy, exaggerated and theatrical rather than genuine and practical," writes Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American scholar at Harvard University, in a column for al Arabiya.

Iran, which is a Muslim but not an Arab nation, "uses Hamas (as well as Tehran's support for the Palestinian cause) as a tool to project its power and influence in the Arab world," he argues.

The Council on Foreign Relations says Iran, while cutting its funding to Hamas in recent years, "sought to bolster its ties to other resistance groups in the region, such as Islamic Jihad."

Hezbollah

The Lebanese militant group based in Lebanon is aligned with al-Assad's regime in Syria. During the conflict, Hezbollah reached out to Hamas, praising its "steadfastness."

This does not mean the relationship is repaired to where it stood before Syria's civil war, but "a new realignment might happen," Farwaz Gerges of the London School of Economics told Time.

Popular support

Hamas' greatest support in the wake of the conflict with Israel may be from the public in Gaza and other parts of the Arab world.

"Hamas is not a monolith, nor is it only a terrorist group," Ed Husain of the Council on Foreign Relations writes on CNN.com. "It is a social movement, with a mass membership, a popular message of resistance that resonates across the Muslim world, and a political party with which we must negotiate."

Some analysts believe Hamas will emerge stronger from the fight with Israel. The conflict "will only further radicalize the Palestinian population -- and alienate frustrated friends in the United States," Mark Perry of Foreign Policy argues.

Before Operation Protective Edge, a poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy found that most Palestinians in Gaza oppose a two-state solution and want to work toward abolishing Israel -- a goal that is in line with Hamas' charter.

But the poll also found most Palestinians support nonviolent methods of achieving their goals.

Support could affect arms supply

While Hamas' recruitment might soar now, militarily the group "is on the ropes," with tunnels destroyed and much of its rocket supply depleted, writes Rick Francona, retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and CNN military analyst.

"After similar conflicts in the past, Hamas has been rearmed and resupplied by its supporters, primarily Iran and to some extent Syria. The most efficient method for the rearming and resupply effort has been via the large number of smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

"That is not likely to be the case this time -- another blow to Hamas, which it must factor in to its assessment of this conflict as well as its future planning."

Gli Sredetti ribelli, che nessuno poté sconfiggere.

gli invincibili guerrieri Sredetti

Lucio Cassio Dione Cocceiano aka Dione Cassio,

storico, console e senatore romano di lingua greca 

(malgrado la madre greca  il padre romano e senatore gli dava diritto alla cittadinanza), nato a Nicea in Bitinia, odierna Turchia, nel 150 d.C. circa, 

ci racconta (Storia romana, LI, 25.4, un’opera monumentale in 80 libri, che scrisse in 22 anni e che copre un periodo che va dall’arrivo di Enea al 229 d.C. Ci sono rimasti frammenti dei primi 36, quelli dal 56 al 60 e l’ottantesimo) con dovizia di particolari che 

Serdica (o forse addirittura Sardica) fu un oppidum dei Traci: il nome deriva forse dal nome celtico della tribù dei Serdi. La città si chiama oggi Sofia (dal greco, saggezza divina), sita in Bulgaria.

La città fece parte nel IV secolo, del regno di Filippo II il Macedone e poi di suo figlio Alessandro Magno. Nel 29 a. C. fu poi conquistata dai romani (governatore Marco Licinio Crasso) e fu carissima a Diocleziano, che ne fece la capitale della Dacia Mediterranea e sede del governo imperiale.

In questa città, Imperatore Galerio, fu riconosciuto il Cristianesimo come religione ufficiale dell'Impero, con l'editto del 30 Aprile 323. Costantino il Grande la definì: "la mia Roma".

Perché scrivere questo? 

Per non scrivere di attualità nazionale.

Desclaimer: non si assumono responsabilità per l'utilizzazione impropria che di queste notizie sarà eventualmente fatta in fururo dai guerrieri dell' #armatabrancaleoneshardariana e dalle improprie ed infondate connessioni che essi troveranno tra Serdica e ipotetici imbattibili guerrieri d'origine isolana. (Anzi, a prevenzione di ciò, si comunica la notizia suppletiva che un più antico nome di Sofia fu 'Sredets', come attestato anche dal fatto che la zona centrale della cità porti ancora quel nome: ove si volessero fare giochi di derivazione etimologica del tipo Sardica/ Sardi, si tenga anche presente in mente la possibilità statisticamente altrettanto probabile Sredets/Sredetti, così ci si diverte)

Scoperto un palazzo Ittita del 1500 a.C.

Palace from Hittite era discovered in Sivas

A grand piece of Hittite legacy has been uncovered in Sivas’ Yildizeli district, with a palace being the latest discovery at the “Kayalipinar Excavation Site”.

The newly discovered palace, estimated to have been built in 1500 B.C., has been classified
as a protected site by local authorities in Sivas [Credit: Hurriyet]

The palace, estimated to have been built in 1500 B.C., has been classified as a protected site by local authorities.

Archaeologists plan to conduct further excavations of the site to shed further light on the palace.

German-based Academic Vuslat Muller Karpe said this year the Kayalipinar excavations ended relatively quick as the team assigned to the excavation had completed all necessary excavation work.

Noting that Kayalipinar was home to four different civilizations in the past, Karpe said the 40-plus room palace has yielded many artifacts from the Hittite era.

“We have unearthed more than 100 pieces of military equipment in the palace’s storage area alone,” she said.

Tablets written in cuneiform Hittite, mostly religious in theme, were also found at the site, Karpe added.

Karpe said that the palace had been completely burned down at least once and subsequently rebuilt.

The Hittite empire ruled over most of the Anatolian Peninsula until its disintegration in 1178 B.C.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [November 19, 2013]

4.500 a.C.: Kultepe, Turchia

Rinvenuta residenza di 4.500 anni fa a 

Kultepe.

Apparteneva probabilmente ad un regnante di rango. Si tratta della più recente notizia proveniente dagli scavi della 'collina di Kultepe' (Significa 'collina di cenere' in Turco), nel distretto di Kayseri, nella Turchia centrale. 

"Non esiste un edificio così grande in tutta l'Anatolia e neppure nel Medio Oriente. Per il momento ne è stata scoperta solo una certa parte. Quando sarà portata interamente alla luce, sarà veramente enorme. Non si tratta di una casa privata: probabilmente è un ufficio amministrativo: più probabilmente quello da cui il regnante governa il suo regno, vivendoci per la maggior parte del tempo". 

Questo è il pensiero del professor Fikri Kuloglu, che conduce la spedizione archeologica per l'Università di Ankara. 

Secondo gli archeologi, le migliaia di sigilli rinvenuti nel sito (tutti probabilmente della Siria settentrionale) parlano di commerci sistematici internazionali dei quali i futuri scavi sveleranno più precisi dettagli. Kultepe è un'antica collina che copre la città dell'Età del Bronzo di KANESH, che fu abitata continuativamente dal periodo calcolitico fino a quello romano. Si trova nella Turchia centrale. Un antico documento del 1400 a.C. riporta l'episodio di un antico atto di ribellione contro il potente re Accadico Naram Sin (2254-2218 aC) cita tra i 17 re ribelli anche  Zipani, re di Kanesh. Kanesh è anche il luogo in cui sono state trovate le più antiche tracce della lingua Ittita, la cui più antica definizione è infatti 'Neshili', o 'Lingua di Nesha' (che è l'antico nome di Kanesh).

Kultepe è un sito conosciuto già dal XIX secolo all'archeologia, ma ha iniziato a focalizzare in sé l'attenzione da quando è diventata la sospetta sede di provenienza delle 'Tavolette della Cappadocia' in antico cuneiforme Assiro ed in lingua assira (furono trafugate da scavatori clandestini e clandestinamente vendute, nel 1881). Della città sono stati contati fino a 18 livelli differenti, corrispondenti a periodi storici diversi.

Kultepe, ancient mound covering the Bronze Age city of Kanesh, is in central Turkey. Kultepe was known to archaeologists during the 19th century, but it began to attract particular attention as the reputed source of so-called Cappadocian tablets in Old Assyrian cuneiform writing and language.

4,500 year-old dwelling found at Kultepe

A four and half-thousand year-old dwelling belonging to an important ruler is the latest find from an archaeological dig referred to as the Kultepe mound, in a district of Kayseri, in central Turkey.

Part of the excavation site at Kultepe [Credit: World Bulletin]

“There is no such a huge building like this in Anatolia and Middle East. We are only at the certain part of the building right now. We will see an enormous structure once we discover it all. This is not a private house. It is most probably an administrative body. We believe that this is a building where Kanis King lives or governs his kingdom,” Prof. Fikri Kuloglu, Ankara University archaeologist and head of the Kultepe archaeological excavation, told an AA reporter.

The archaeologist says the thousands of seals found (probably from Northern Syria) tell that there was "international and systematical trade" in those times and the archaeological excavations in coming years will give further evidence of those trade activities.

Kultepe, ancient mound covering the Bronze Age city of Kanesh, is in central Turkey. Kultepe was known to archaeologists during the 19th century, but it began to attract particular attention as the reputed source of so-called Cappadocian tablets in Old Assyrian cuneiform writing and language.

Source: World Bulletin [November 06, 2013]

Abelmoschus esculentus

Un baccello verde di nome okra

Il gombo, conosciuto sotto molti altri nomi (ocra, okra, bamia) è assai usato nella cucina cajun.(*) È presente anche nella cucina greca (bamies), bosniaca (bamije), in quella albanese (bamje), nella cucina brasiliana (quiabo), nella turca (bamya) , nella cucina giapponese ed in quella rumena (bame). Attualmente viene coltivato anche in Italia (per es. nella Provincia di Latina) e venduto nei mercati delle grandi città italiane, data la domanda di questo prodotto da parte delle varie comunità di immigrati che ne fanno uso nella propria cucina.

In Egitto (bamiya) ha il medesimo nome dell'ibisco, a cui il fiore assomiglia.

La Sicilia è la regione italiana maggiore produttrice di questo un ortaggio della famiglia delle malvacee, originario dell'Africa nord-occidentale, con il 90% di superficie coltivata. Nel nostro Paese il consumo non è considerevole, ma recentemente è in crescita a causa della richiesta degli immigrati.

L'okra o gombo è coltivato in altri paesi europei, soprattutto in Grecia e in Turchia, ma dal Messico viene importata la parte più consistente destinata all'Europa. E' diffuso anche nella fascia tropicale dell'Africa, dell'America e dell'Asia.

E' un baccello verde di circa otto centimetri, costoluto, tenero. Il sapore è simile a quello degli asparagi. E' un ortaggio dai notevoli benefici nutrizionali (contiene, infatti, vitamina A e C).

E' spesso abbinato alla carne, intero o affettato, dopo una non breve cottura. I cuochi lo usano nelle minestre e negli stufati: l'okra, infatti, produce un liquido appiccicoso che funziona come coagulante naturale. Il gombo può inoltre essere servito grezzo oppure marinato nelle insalate oppure impanato e fritto.

(*) I cajun (in francese acadiens) sono un gruppo etnico costituito dai discendenti dei canadesi francofoni originari dell'Acadia e deportati in Louisiana a seguito dell'espulsione avvenuta nella seconda metà del XVIII secolo, e cui si sono aggiunti nel corso dell'Ottocento un certo numero di immigrati (in massima parte di origine spagnola e tedesca) che hanno adottato la cultura e la lingua francese ampiamente diffuse nello Stato. Tale popolazione parla una particolare varietà di francese, denominata appunto francese cajun.

Antico naufragio.

Ancient shipwrecks found off Turkish coast

Work has begun to unearth and exhibit ship remains from different eras that were discovered during an underwater excavation in the ancient town of Limantepe (Greek Klazomenai) on Turkey’s western coast.

Remains of a vessel dating from the seventh-century B.C.
[Credit: AA]

It has been 13 years since the underwater excavations started in Limantepe, a site that attracted the interest of researchers when they could not initially identify areas in the sea on aerial photographs of the İskele neighborhood in the district of Urla.

Twenty underwater archaeologists are taking part in the
excavations in Limantepe [Credit: AA]

Twenty underwater archaeologists, under the direction of Professor Hayat Erkanal, are taking part in the excavations in Limantepe, the site of a prehistoric settlement which witnessed humanity’s passage from being hunter-gatherers to farmers. 

The team has discovered many ship remains from different eras and items
that came out of these ships, which have been desalinated in a 
laboratory in preparation for exhibition [Credit: AA]

Klazomenai or Clazomenae was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia and a member of the Ionian League. It is thought that an earthquake or other cataclysmic event that took place in the sixth-century B.C. submerged the port.

The unearthed items have to be desalinated before they could be exhibited, 
otherwise items could break to pieces [Credit: AA]

The excavations, coordinated by the Ankara University Underwater Research and Application Center (ANKÜSAM), are continuing on the base of the port that dates back to the seventh-century B.C. Erkanal has reported that they discovered many ship remains from different eras and items that came out of these ships, which have been desalinated in a laboratory in preparation for exhibition. 

Greek perfume vase in the form of a head of a helmeted
warrior [Credit: AA]

The harbour of ancient Klazomenai encompasses a vast region underwater, meaning excavations are likely to continue in the upcoming years, said Erkanal.

Of the many ship remains found, a vessel from the seventh-century B.C. and an 18th-century Ottoman warship were taken into complete preservation underwater, according to Erkanal. Another ship was also discovered by fishermen 400 meters from the excavation site at a depth of 17 meters.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [August 22, 2013]

Il Tempio più antico: dedicato a Sirio?

GOBEKLI  TEPE (la "collina rotonda")

World's oldest temple built to worship the dog star?

Il più antico tempio del Mondo, Göbekli Tepe, potrebbe essere stato costruito per adorare la stella del Cane, Sirio.

The world's oldest temple, Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, may have been built to worship the dog star, Sirius.

The original star sign? [Credit: Vincent J. Musi/National Geographic]

Il sito, vecchio di 11.000 anni (preesistente quindi alle Piramidi Egizie, alle Ziqqurat Mesopotamiche e a Stonehenge), consiste di una serie di almeno 20 recinzioni rotonde, anche se solamente alcune di esse sono state scoperte da quando (nella metà degli anni '90) sono cominciati gli scavi (il sito era in realtà noto anche da prima).  ciascuna area è delimitata da un anello di enormi colonne di pietra a forma di T, decorate con incisioni di animali selvatici o aggressivi (volpi, anatre, bovini, cicogne, coccodrilli etc), alcune scolpite a tutto tondo. Altri due megaliti stanno paralleli uno all'altro al centro di ciascun cerchio.
The 11,000-year-old site consists of a series of at least 20 circular enclosures, although only a few have been uncovered since excavations began in the mid-1990s. Each one is surrounded by a ring of huge, T-shaped stone pillars, some of which are decorated with carvings of fierce animals. Two more megaliths stand parallel to each other at the centre of each ring.

Gobelki Tepe ha indebolito l'idea di Rivoluzione Neolitica (secondo la quale fu l'invenzione dell'agricoltura a spingere l'umanità a costruire città e sviluppare civiltà, arte e religione. Presso questo tempio non v'è traccia di agricoltura, e questo dà l'impressione che - per prima - venne la religione.
Göbekli Tepe put a dent in the idea of the Neolithic revolution, which said that the invention of agriculture spurred humans to build settlements and develop civilisation, art and religion. There is no evidence of agriculture near the temple, hinting that religion came first in this instance.

Intorno, anzi, è presente una serie di siti coevi che erano allora abitati da cacciatori raccoglitori. Gobelki Tepe ne era il santuario, secondo il Direttore del progetto dell'Istituto Archeologico Tedesco a berlino, Klaus Schmidt, che ha diretto gli scavi. 
"We have a lot of contemporaneous sites which are settlements of hunter-gatherers. Göbekli Tepe was a sanctuary site for people living in these settlements," says Klaus Schmidt, chief archaeologist for the project at the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin.

E' ancora da scoprire per quale religione esattamente servisse il Tempio. Giulio Magli, archeoastronomo presso il Politecnico Universitario di  Milano ha cercato la risposta nel cielo notturno. D'altro canto, per analogia, la sistemazione delle colonne di Stonehenge, in Inghilterra, depone per una possibile funzione di osservatorio lunare.
But it is still anybody's guess what type of religion the temple served. Giulio Magli, an archaeoastronomer at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy, looked to the night sky for an answer. After all, the arrangement of the pillars at Stonehenge in the UK suggests it could have been built as an astronomical observatory, maybe even to worship the moon.

Simulando l'aspetto del cielo notturno sopra la Turchia all'epoca dell'edificazione di Gobekli Tepe, Magli avrebbe trovato la risposta. Si deve tenere conto della precessione degli equinozi e del conseguente spostamento delle stelle nei millenni.  Il sorgere ed il tramontare all'orizzonte di alcune stelle avvengono in punti differenti: alcune stelle possono anche scomparire alla vista, per ricomparire solamente  migliaia di anni dopo.
Magli simulated what the sky would have looked like from Turkey when Göbekli Tepe was built. Over millennia, the positions of the stars change due to Earth wobbling as it spins on its axis. Stars that are near the horizon will rise and set at different points, and they can even disappear completely, only to reappear thousands of years later.

Pillars at Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey seem to align with the rising of Sirius, hinting that the bright star may have triggered a frenzy of religious construction [Crediy: NewScientist]

Oggi, Sirio può vedersi da quasi tutto il mondo come la stella più luminosa nel cielo - escludendo il Sole - e la quarta fonte più luminosa di luce del cielo notturno (dopo Luna, Venere e Giove). Sirio è così evidente che era usata come riferimento di base nel calendario Egiziano. Alla latitudine di Gobekli Tepe (situata ai margini di quella che fu la 'Mezzaluna Fertile' un tempo) Sirio sarebbe stata al di sotto della linea dell'orizzonte fino a circa il 9300 a.C. epoca nella quale avrebbe fatto la sua prima, improvvisa comparsa.
Today, Sirius can be seen almost worldwide as the brightest star in the sky – excluding the sun – and the fourth brightest night-sky object after the moon, Venus and Jupiter. Sirius is so noticeable that its rising and setting was used as the basis for the ancient Egyptian calendar, says Magli. At the latitude of Göbekli Tepe, Sirius would have been below the horizon until around 9300 BC, when it would have suddenly popped into view.

L'idea di Magli è che il Tempio sia stato costruito proprio in occasione della 'nascita' della nuova stella. E' possibile, in fondo, che l'apparire di un nuovo corpo celeste abbia dato vita ad una nuova religione.
"I propose that the temple was built to follow the 'birth' of this star," says Magli. "You can imagine that the appearance of a new object in the sky could even have triggered a new religion."

Usando le mappe esistenti di Gobekli Tepe e le immagini della regione ottenute da satellite, Magli ha tracciato una linea immaginaria che corre tra i due megaliti che si trovano dentro a ciascun ambiente del Tempio. Tre degli anelli scavati sembrano essere mirati verso i punti nei quali Sirio sarebbe sorta nel 9100 aC, nel 8750 aC e nel 8300 aC, rispettivamente.
Using existing maps of Göbekli Tepe and satellite images of the region, Magli drew an imaginary line running between and parallel to the two megaliths inside each enclosure. Three of the excavated rings seem to be aligned with the points on the horizon where Sirius would have risen in 9100 BC, 8750 BC and 8300 BC, respectively.

Si tratta d'ipotesi suggestive, ma basate su risultati preliminari soltanto. Prima di potere trarre conclusioni, saranno necessari calcoli più accurati (misurazione precisa con teodolite di angoli orizzontali e verticali) ed accertamenti circa la sequenzialità dell'edificazione del Tempio. 
The results are preliminary, Magli stresses. More accurate calculations will need a full survey using instruments such as a theodolite, a device for measuring horizontal and vertical angles. Also, the sequence in which the structures were built is unclear, so it is hard to say if rings were built to follow Sirius as it rose at different points along the horizon.

Gli scvi in corso potrebbero infatti escludere totalmente qualsiasi significato  astronomico del Tempio, secondo quanto riferisce Jens Notroff dell'Istituto Archeologico Berlinese. Si sta infatti ancora discutendo sulla possibilità che il Tempio di Gobekli Tepe avesse una copertura o fosse a cielo aperto. Nel caso in cui si trovassero prove dell'esistenza di un tetto, qualsiasi osservazione stellare sarebbe stata impossibile.
Ongoing excavations might rule out any astronomical significance, says Jens Notroff, also at DAI. "We are still discussing whether the monumental enclosures at Göbekli Tepe were open or roofed," he says. "In the latter case, any activity regarding monitoring the sky would, of course, have been rather difficult."

Author: Anil Ananthaswamy | Source: NewScientist/Magazine issue 2930 [August 16, 2013]

Turchia, 3500 anni fa.

3,500-year-old house unearthed in central Turkey 

The remains of a house dating back 3,500 years have been uncovered during excavations in the central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale's Karakeçili district.

Japanese archaeologist Kimiyashi Matsumura explains the recent
finds to Turkish officials [Credit: HaberMonitor]

Headed by Kimiyashi Matsumura, a Japanese archaeology professor at Kırşehir University, the excavations have been unearthing antiquities and ancient settlements since 2009. The area has been declared a protected site, and the police and gendarmerie provide security. Kırıkkale officials are planning to turn the site into an open museum after the digs are finished.

Stone houses were discovered during the excavations. Matsumura told reporters this week that the ancient settlements at the site date back to the Hittite civilization. “This is part of one of their big cities. Kızılırmak [River] passes by it. All kinds of commercial routes were built around Kızılırmak at the time. This city was established along a very important commercial route. I believe this research will culminate in important results,” the archaeologist said.

Kırıkkale Governor Ali Kolat and the city's police chief, Kadri Kartal, visited the archaeological site this week with their wives. Kolat ordered a group of officials accompanying him, including Karakeçili Governor Mesut Gazi Ambarcı and Mayor Salih Avan, to clean rocks near the site that have colorful writing on them.

Kolat vowed to protect the ancient structures. Noting that Karakeçili is the site of much ancient history, Kolat added: “We also have Çeşnigir Bridge here. The Çeşnigir Bridge is from Seljuk times. If we unearth more ancient artifacts, our city can make a name for itself in terms of tourism. These [archaeological] works require labor and time.”

Source: Todays Zaman [June 14, 2013]