A Grand Tour of the Hatay

For one of our days off, I went with Cricket and Angie on a tour of the region surrounding Antakya. We went to nearly every possible tourist attraction in the area. Thanks Cricket and Angie for such a wonderful excursion! 

Our first stop was a 1500-year-old tree.

This woman sells fruit and grilled corn at the base of the tree.

Cricket shows us the Mediterranean.

Next we went to the Titus Tunnel, a marvel of Roman engineering designed to 

divert the nearby river and prevent silt from accumulating in the harbor.  

Near the tunnel is a series of tombs built into this cave.

Food Etiquette

I've noticed that Turkish waiters seem to have a problem with messy plates during a meal. I've repeatedly had my plates inexplicably taken from me mid-meal and replaced with a clean plate. Sometimes this might be helpful, but it has also resulted in a good portion of my meal being wrestled from me against my will. Case in point:

We had lunch at a restaurant in Samandağ, with a nice view of the Mediterranean. The mezze was delicious, and the waiter highly attentive. I tend to make a mess of my plate, as you can see below. The waiter was clearly not satisfied with this. He took it away, leaving me confused and dismayed at all the delicious mezze I had lost, and brought me a fresh plate.

I naturally restocked my new plate with a fresh scoop of everything. 

This must have been the correct response, because he then saw me taking the above picture and insisted that I stop what I was doing and wait. No eating allowed. So I waited. And out he came with a plate containing artfully arranged leaves and a flower carved from a tomato. 

He scooped each pile neatly onto the plate like so:   

You'll notice that I went through three plates in the course of the meal, and from five types of food to four in the process, because the fifth didn't fit into the design scheme. You can't win them all. 


Maybe someone will share with me the appropriate way to eat mezze, so that I can stop frustrating waiters and having my food taken away.  

Çarşı (part 2)

More pictures from the market in Antakya.

This is a booth selling wool and assorted other things. 

They asked to pose for my picture.

The area is known for its soap, especially the laurel variety. Some of the soap varieties

smell fantastic, others I suspect would actively work against a pleasant smell.

There are a number of stores selling elaborate wedding dresses. This is 

actually one of the more restrained examples.

There is also an extraordinary array of outfits for circumcision ceremonies...

Çarşı

The market is easily my favorite place in Antakya. Its a covered network of narrow streets with shops selling most everything. Its modestly sized, and I'm starting to be able to find my way around now. 

Spices?

Turkey has the best and brightest scarves of anywhere I've been. 

Lots of stores sell these dyed baby chicks. I'm told its common in other places in the Middle East as well. 

I find it strange and cruel, but I also secretly want a hot pink baby chick. 

I have no idea what most of the food items actually are, this one included. 

Antakya

The dig is located near Antakya, in the far south of Turkey, near the Mediterranean and the Syrian border. Its a small city, built over the ancient city of Antioch. The city was important in early Christianity, and is famous for its Roman mosaics, many of which are now housed at the local Antakya Archaeological Museum. Here are assorted shots of the city.

I love that these guys yell the destination of the bus as they ride by, to inform waiting people at the bus stop. 

This guy is selling Ayran, a popular salty yogurt drink. I am not fond on this 

drink, but I like the straightforward nature of his sign. 

The Site

Tell Tayinat is a Bronze and Iron Age site, currently being excavated by the University of Toronto. Here is the official website. They've made some amazing discoveries in the last few years, including a group of finds in the Neo-Assyrian temple on the site, and this season a monumental stone lion (pictures coming soon!). 

A view of the entrance way to the Neo-Assyrian temple on the site.

Last season they recovered a very important cuneiform tablet and an 

Assyrian glazed vessel on this platform within the temple.

The view from the temple. On the right is a shelter covering exposed mudbrick that has been excavated for several seasons and needs protection. 

Turkey (Reprise)

Back in Turkey, and long overdue for a blog update (sorry everyone). Things have been busy around here.

But to get right down to it, I am working this summer at Tell Tayinat, an excavation in south-central Turkey, near the Syrian border. A brief introduction to the dig house:

The courtyard, where artifacts are processed.

There is a lot of pottery to be dealt with...

Drink station, and the big table where everyone eats in the background.

I don't really have an explanation for this one.

Behind the house is an orchard of olive trees. 

More to come soon...