Visual allegory Day 119

Makes me laugh, this image. Their expressions. Incidentally caught when out of boredom I shot through the window during the long car journey from Mardin to Urfa.

Visual allegory of how we were, driving around, covering long distances, looking forward to the destination and trying not to feel too exhausted. =P

Mt Nemrut Day 118

2,134 m high mountain in SE Turkey, carrying the royal tomb / sanctuary of Antiochus I. of Commagene kingdom build in 62 BC.

Wiki says "a tomb-sanctuary flanked by huge statues (8–9 m/26–30 ft high) of himself, two lions, two eagles and various Greek, and Armenian gods, such as Hercules-Vahagn, Zeus-Aramazd or Oromasdes (associated with the Iranic god Ahura Mazda), Tyche, and Apollo-Mithras. These statues were once seated, with names of each god inscribed on them. The heads of the statues have at some stage been removed from their bodies, and they are now scattered throughout the site. /.../ The site also preserves stone slabs with bas-relief figures that are thought to have formed a large frieze. These slabs display the ancestors of Antiochus, who included both Macedonians and Persians."

The road takes you all the way to the summit and only the last 500m or so need to be "climbed" - actually it's an uphill walk, slightly harsh on the lungs but well worth the effect. The place is open whenever the weather conditions permit. Usually April/May to October/November.

In colour


I'm going to upload only this one today, sorry. Internet is a pain. Took me forever to upload this one. Hours really.

Stonemason's fantasy embodied in a city of Mardin Day 117 Part 3 of 3

A couple of kilometers from Syria, the city overlooking fertile Mesopotamian plain is an embodied fantasy of master stonemason.
Did I mention we're close to Syria here ;-P



The final resting place with a fab view

A show house, inner courtyard (entrance)

Upper courtyard view

Interior of a room

The view from a room

Deyrulzafran Day 117 Part 2 of 3

The monastery of Mor Hananyo or Deyrulzafran (Saffron Monastery). Founded in 493 AD, it was, from 1160 until 1932 the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. Overlooking the Mesopotamian plain its location is fantastic. The area of Mardin and Midyat has several Christian monasteries (many in ruins) and in some the prayers are still spoken in Aramaic, the original language of Christ.

The setting is amazing, beautiful and peaceful.




High ISO, low quality, ah, well...

Göbekli Tepe Day 117 Part 1 of 3

Phenomenal discovery which I'd invite you to read about. Make the journey if you feel like taking a walk in nice surroundings. Come and see it if you're in vicinity. Just don't travel this far only to visit this place, not yet. Hopefully, one day, there will be an open air museum displaying this according to its worth, at the moment it's only a (deserted?) excavation site open to public, so fenced that it's difficult to see anything.

This seems to be the world's oldest (discovered) shrine. The massive mostly T-shaped slabs weighing 7-10 tons full of reliefs are arranged in a circular fashion and estimated to be between 11 to 13 thousand years old. This predates Stonehenge for about 6 millennia!! The era of these megaliths knew no metal tools or pottery yet as far as we're aware. Please read about it here.

The images on stones show boars, ducks, hunting and game, lions, snakes, crayfish... To date, 45 of these stones have been dug out - they are arranged in circles from five to ten yards across - but there are indications that much more is to come. Geomagnetic surveys imply that there are hundreds more standing stones, just waiting to be excavated.

This site was only found in 1994 by a shepherd. Amazing how many things we still don't know about our own history! The stones were entombed under thousands of tons of earth, creating artificial hills. Apparently entombment happened a few millennia after it's creation.

There are theories that this is a temple of Eden (yes, Paradise). "In the Book of Genesis, it is indicated that Eden is west of Assyria. Sure enough, this is where Göbekli is situated. Likewise, biblical Eden is by four rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates. And Göbekli lies between both of these. In ancient Assyrian texts, there is mention of a 'Beth Eden' - a house of Eden. This minor kingdom was 50 miles from Göbekli Tepe. Another book in the Old Testament talks of 'the children of Eden which were in Thelasar', a town in northern Syria, near Göbekli. The very word 'Eden' comes from the Sumerian for 'plain'; Göbekli lies on the plains of Harran. Thus, when you put it all together, the evidence is persuasive. Göbekli Tepe is, indeed, a 'temple in Eden', built by our leisured and fortunate ancestors" more here.

From the road to Eden


The site as it is now


Central monolith with carving of a fox


Another detail (lower part of stone is not visible from the observation area)


The official photo of the same monolith (at night using light painting technique)


I so wish I could have taken this pic ;-P