Our tour was organized by Ayshe Nur Yilmazer, who started Arsan, central Turkey's first travel agency. She was a student of Dianne's at Gaziantep Koleji, 1972-74.
The two of us started in Gaziantep when Ali Bekir, our driver and guide, arrived in a small, white four-person Renault. It turned out to be perfect for navigating serpentine streets in heavy traffic coming from all directions. We visited Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Kahta, Mt. Nemrut, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, and other sites.
Our first stop was the Zeugma Mosaic Museum. Zeugma was a Roman-era city on the Euphrates a short distance from Gaziantep. A dam has flooded the Zeugma site. Other dams will submerge important sites, as well. Many ancient cities were located on rivers, so it is clear that hydroelectric development will submerge history forever. The Zeugma museum is a very large structure of three stories with the room needed to properly display the very large mosaics excavated before the dam was finished.
Oceanos and Tethys, gods of the ocean and the fresh waters. Zeugma is on the Euphrates River.
The Gypsy Girl (more probably a Dionysian cult member. Dionysus was the god of wine, ectasy and intoxication. His name has long been widely used and today is carried on as Dennis.)
Mars.
Mt. Nemrut: since it became a World Heritage Site, the way has been paved. The tumulus is at the summit.
Mt. Nemrut statues
Ali Bekir and Dianne enjoying a banquet, and Dianne is trying to translate a message.
Karakus Tumulus
Sanliurfa at night. Magical in the lights from the colonnade, with the citadel hovering over it all.
The birthplace of Abraham
Sacred carp in Abraham's Pool.
Beehive Houses in Harran
Göbekli Tepe12,000 years before the present, before Stonehenge, before the pyramids.
We found the excavation here strangely evocative of human evolution from a most ancient time.
Turkey is flooding out the valleys, and building housing higher up. These units seem comfortable, but not in character with traditional housing.
Ataturk Dam
Family style dinner at the Cercis Murat Restaurant in Mardin. This was a spectacular starter for our dinner.
Wedding photo taken at the Fountain of Life: birth as the water comes from the fountain, middle age in the pool, a narrow stream of old age, and finally the infinity of eternity.
Castle of Hasankyef, soon to be flooded.
Minaret and medieval (or Roman?) bridge, soon to be flooded. New housing in distance.
The walled city of Diyarbakir. Black basalt makes for a long-lasting wall.
Two hours and half, and we are back in Gaziantep by the direct, non-touristic, route.