History of Anatolian
History of Anatolian Civilaztions - History of Turks
Throughout the history of the world, Anatolia has brought forth many civilizations of vast historical significance. The Old Testament makes several references to the Anatolian region and to its inhabitants. For example, Abraham came from Urfa and later dwelled in Harran, and Noah is said to have rested his ark on the side of Mount Ararat. From Paleolithic times to the Ottoman Sultans, Anatolia has played a major role in world history.
THE PALEOLITHIC AGE
Recent discoveries in Turkey have provided great insight into the Paleolithic Age. In 1987, tools were found twenty miles from Istanbul dating as far back as one million years - the oldest findings outside of Africa. In addition, archeologist have discovered bones and hunting objects inside the painted caves Belbası and Beldibi near Antalya. These bones date back to 10000 years ago.
THE NEOLITHIC AGE
One of the most well known cultures from the Neolithic Age is that of Catalhoyuk dated to 6250 BC. Situated in present day Konya, Catalhoyuk had a population of 5000 people, and was the first city to use irrigation, to domesticate animals and to cultivate crops. The people built connected houses in which they entered through the roofs. The incredible findings at Catalhoyuk display an advanced and thriving culture. Archeologists excavated shrines, clay fertility goddesses, wall decorations, depicting hunting scenes, everyday tools and textiles. Catalhoyuk also traded steadily with distant nations, for example the flint found there is of Syrian origin. Around 5400 BC; the residents of Catalhoyuk abandoned the city for unknown reasons. Most of the findings in Catalhoyuk are located in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.
BRONZE AGE
Troy, one of the most famous ancient cities, has nine levels, over 2 which originated in the Bronze Age. Founded circa 3000 BC, Troy I is the original city excavated at the multi - layered Troy site. A city far more advanced than previous Anatolian Civilizations, Troy I had sophisticated housing, foundries, pottery shops and extensive trade connections. Troy II was re-discovered by the German Heinrich Schliemann. This 2nd level bears evidence to an even more impressive city. The sixteen hoards of gold and jewelry which were excavated show that Troy experienced vast wealth. Schliemann removed the treasures from Turkey causing a dispute which is still being debated in archeological circles today. Troy II was eventually invaded by various tribes from the northwest. The Hattites destroyed Troy I-II between 2999-2000 BC.The Hattites reigned until their own destruction by the Hittites.
THE HITTITES
Ruling from 1800 through 1200 BC, the Hittites created an empire that stretched from the Aegean coast to Mesopotamia. Based on a feudal system, the Hittites had an advanced administrative system that initiated and oversaw the building of great monuments all over Anatolia. The capital city of the Hittites Kings was Hattusas, known today as Bogazkale near Ankara. The discovery of cuneiform and hieroglyphic tablets at Bogazkale and Yazılıkaya was a major breakthrough for researchers. The Hittite language was an Indo-European mixture and was quite easy to decipher. Surprisingly, it is closely related to modern English. For example, the Hittite word for water is "watar" and daughter is "dohter".
THE PHYRGIANS
Originally from Thrace, the Phyrgrians conquered the Hittite capital of Bogazkale as well as Troy VII circa 1250 BC. The destruction of Troy, culminating in the Trojan War, is thought to be the source of Homer's Iliad, 400 years after the event. The Phyrgians set up a new kingdom that covered most of western and central Anatolia. They used the Phoenician alphabet and their script can be seen today on monuments at Midas City south of Eskisehir. Midas City (Gordion) was the Phyrgian capital, named after King Midas and his father Gordius. The legend of King Midas and his "golden touch" originated here in reference to his great wealth. In 695 BC, the Phyrgians were defeated in Gordius and Cimmerian War. Although the empire was taken over by the Lydians, the Phyrgian language was spoken until 300 AD. The area strived to preserve their Phyrgian culture well into Roman times.
THE LYDIANS, PERSIANS AND GREEKS
The Lydian kings established their capital at Sardis, dominated Western Turkey from about 650 through 545 BC. The Persians, led by King Cyrus in 546 BC, invaded Lydia and claimed victory. Sardis became the center of one of four Persian states. Under the leadership of Alexander the Great in 334 BC, the Greeks conquered the Persian state. The Greek Empire spread throughout Anatolia and East into Syria and Palestine. Anatolia flourished during the Hellenistic Period under Alexander the Great. He instituted Greek language and literature. The city states comprising Anatolia built grand city walls, gymnasiums to educate the young, theatres and stadiums.
THE ROMANS
In 279 BC, bands of Celtic Gauls stormed across Anatolia, weakening the Greek city states. This provided a perfect opportunity for Roman armies to advance. When King Attalus I of Pergamum stopped the Gauls in 230 BC, Romans were already crossing the Aegean into Anatolia. Pergamum sided which the Romans. Attalus III, the last king of Pergamum, gave his kingdom to Rome in 133 BC. A series of Roman campaigns into Anatolia ensued. Pompeii The Great defeated King Mithradites, ruler of Pontus on the Black Sea, in 63 BC. From the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC through the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD, the Anatolian life - style continued to profoundly influence the Romans. Over the centuries Latin Romans, originally pagans and republicans, evolved into Greek speaking, imperial and Christian Byzantines. However, they continued to call themselves Romans. Even today the Greeks of Anatolia and Cyprus are known as "Rum" in Turkish. The first few centuries under Roman rule were prosperous. By the 3rdcentury, 2 factors where threatening the empire : Christianity and Barbaric invaders. Bands of Goths raided Anatolia in 258 AD from Ankara to some of the remote Cappadocian Villages.
THE ADVENT OF CHRISTIANITY
Roman Emperor Constantine the Great decided to use the force of Christianity in a last effort to unify the weakening empire. He introduced the cross as the symbol for the Empire. Constantine, desiring a capital centrally located with access to land and sea routes, moved the headquarters to the city of Byzantium (Istanbul). Renamed Contantinople, it was officially proclaimed to be the capital of the Roman Empire admist great fanfare in 330 AD.
BYZANTIUM
The Roman Empire officially split into Eastern and Western branches in 395 AD. This was a political split, but the Christian church still remained unified. While Rome in the West was under repeated invasion by the Goths and slowly collapsed in the 5th century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, thrived. Greek began to replace Latin as the language of religious, administrative and academic concerns.
CHRISTIANITY IN ASIA MINOR
Very few people realize the integral role Turkey played in the history of Christianity. Although born in Roman Palestine, Christianity first became firmly established and began to spread throughout Anatolia through the words and movement of St. Paul and other apostles. Born in Tarsus, St. Paul traveled extensively through southern and western Anatolia spreading the word of Christ between 45 and 58 A.D. Many of these travels are recorded in the Bible's "Acts of the Apostles". St. Paul preached his first sermon in Perge. Other cities his reached include : Ephesus, Antalya, Konya, Antioch, Miletus and Assos. Some of Anatolia's more famous Christians inhabitants include the Virgin Mary and St. John who both resided in Ephesus. In the mids of the many external problems which threatened its existence, Christianity was beset by inner turmoil as well. Among wide cultural divisions and influences, Christianity had to decide on the basic principles necessary to unify its different factions. Church counsils were held to solidify the doctrine of the church between 325 and 787 AD, in Anatolia. Christianity became the state religion in 330 AD, when Constantine moved the capital of Holy Roman Empire from Rome to a small city on the Bosphorus known as Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Christianity thrived under such famous emperors as Theodosious I and II and Justinian I. By the end of the 6th century, the empire began to weaken as a result of plague and increasing number of invasions through the East and West. However it was the Arab invasions in the 7th century which began to force Christianity to go literally underground in Cappadocia well into the 11th century. The constant onslaught by the Muslim increasingly diminished the status, power and unity of Christianity. There was a brief revival under emperor Basil I for 200 years during which time Christianity and the empire expanded. However, it then fell into a spiral of intrigue and finally collapsed under the attact of Mehmet II on May 29, 1453. Islam became the state religion that day at noon when Mehmet II had the muezzins call the Muslims to prayer from St. Sophia. (St. Sophia was turned into a museum during the first years of the Turkish Republic.)
THE SELJUKS
Turkish people are descendants of Nomadic tribes that ventured across Central Asia, and did not actually convert to Islam until the 10th century. One of the strongest Turkish tribes, the Seljuk tribe, established a state in Iran in the 11th century. The Seljuks quickly became known for their military prowess. Eventually, the Seljuks were hired as mercenaries for Byzantium and as private troops for Armenian - Byzantine landowners. In 1071, Byzantine Christian troops under Diogenes crossed the Euphrates to meet the Seljuks and battled in Malazgirt, south of Lake Van. The Byzantine were forced to relinquish many of their city states. Konya became the political and spiritual center for Seljuk Turks. Eventually, the Seljuk armies were defeated by the Mongols.
THE OTTOMANS
The Mongol invasions across Anatolia weakend the shirking Byzantine state, making it particularly vulnerable for the advancement of Ottoman Turks a branch of the Seljuks.The Ottomans, after successfully converting most of Anatolia from a Christian to a Muslim state, looked toward Constantinople to attain total victory. Mehmet the Conqueror captured the city in 1453.Constantinople was re-named Istamboul, City of Islam.
JUDAISM IN ANATOLIA : 500 YEARS OF HARMONY
In 1492, the Ottoman Empire opened its borders to Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition.These communities of Sephardic Jews, settled in todays Turkey, grew to view the land as their home, living peacefully and prosperously admist the many other cultures. As far back as the 4th century, there have been Jewish communities in the Aegean region. Synagogue ruins dating from 220 B.C. have been found in Izmir. Other ruins of Judaism have been found throughout Turkey from the southeast to the Mediterranean and Black Sea coastlines. Synagogue such as the Ahrida in the Balat area of Istanbul are still use today. With the rise of the Ottoman Empire, Judaism found added protection under Islamic philosophy.The Islamic practice of supporting the rights of other monotheistic religions allowed Jewish society to continue unimpeded. In 1492, Sultan Beyazit II ordered wide spread acceptance and welcome of immigrating Jews from Spain throughout the Ottoman Kingdom. The influx of Sephardic Jews permanently changed the Romaniat Jews domination in Istanbul - absorbing them in the process. Sephardic Jewry became centered in Izmir, Istanbul and Thessalonica. Following the Inquisition, Jews thrived in the accepting Turkish climate. Printing was brought from Europe by Jews and many of the Ottoman diplomats and court physicians were Jews. The first Hebrew printing press commenced operation in Istanbul 1493 by David and Samuel Ibn Nahmias. The major false messianic movement in Jewish history also occured during the Ottoman Empire. It was originated by Sabetay Savi in Izmir in the 17th century. The families of his numerous followers, who at the time of the disintegration of the movement had converted to Istanbul, are still identifiable. Turkey maintained neutrality throughout World War II, once again providing a shelter when Jews most needed one. For instance, many prominent Jewish professors were able to flee Nazi Germany and settle in Turkey. Today, the Jewish Community in Turkey is numbered between 23000 and 25000. Although the majority is made up of Sephardis, Ashkenazi and Karaite communities also exist. There are Jewish communities in Izmir, Adana, Ankara, Canakkale, and Bursa, as well. Turkish is the language spoken by most Jews living in Turkey, while many older Jews still speak French or Latino. The Jewish community schools in Istanbul and Izmir are taught in Turkish with Hebrew instruction 3-5 hours a week.
DECLINE OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND FOUNDATION OF TURKISH REPUBLIC
Suleyman the Magnificent, who reigned from 1520 - 1566AD, was father of the Ottoman Renaissance. Suleyman encouraged Ottoman art and literature to thrive. Through the following centuries, the Ottoman Empire flourished, but after the European Industrial Revolution in the 1880's, the Ottoman Empire weakened. In 1875, the Ottoman Empire declared bankruptcy and came under Western financial control. A federal attempt to save the Ottoman Empire led to the first Ottoman constitution of 1876. World War I brought disaster for the Ottomans. More than 40 percent of Eastern Turkey's population perished in the war. Most of the Ottoman Empire was divided among the European allies in the Treaty of Versailles. The Empire ended officially in 1918, and the last Sultan, Mehmet VI, fled Turkey under the protection of Britain in 1922. At this most defining moment of out history, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Turkish nation waged the War of Independence, against the foreign powers to be able to live as a free, sovereign and independent country. The War of Independence started on May 19th, 1919 and ended by the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on October 23rd, 1923. The Turkish Grand National Assembly abolished the Sultanate on November 1st, 1922, thus ending over six centuries of the reign of Ottoman Empire. The Lausanne Peace Treaty, which was signed on July 24th, 1923, the following long negotiations certified and legalised the victory won in the Turkish War of Independence.
The revolutionary reforms that Great Atatürk put into force during his presidency of fifteen years following the founding of our Republic were aimed at transforming the country into a constitutional, modern state. These reforms laid the fundamentals of the new Republic. The Republic has introduced universal principles of law to Turkey. In this context, the idea that all citizens are equal and free without any discrimination based on race, language, and religion, establishes the basis of the Republican Covenant, which ensures social unity. Secularism, which brings under guarantee the freedom of religion and belief; democracy, which enables citizens to express their thoughts freely and to participate in political process; and the rule of law, which makes it possible for them to live free from fear and oppression, are products of the social contract of the Republic. The constitutional democracy in Turkey is established on this sound basis. In retrospect, the experience of 80 years proves that the Turkish people have taken hold of this new beginning to reach the level of modern civilization.
TURKEY AND ISLAM
Born in today's Saudi Arabia, Islam is the dominant religion in Turkey today and is practiced by Muslims.The word Islam means "Submission to Allah's Will". Devout Muslims recite "Shahidah", the creed of faith : "There is one God-Allah, Muhammed is His Prophet". There are five duties of Islam : embracing the creed, praying five times a day facing Mecca, making a pilgrimage to Mecca if feasible, fasting from dawn to dusk the month of Ramadan, and giving and to the poor. The prophet Muhammed was born in Mecca around 570 AD. His belief in God, "Allah", instead of the Christian Trinity, resulted in his flight to Medina in 622 AD. This marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Muhammed returned to his native Mecca to conquer it in 630 AD. The Islamic faith rests on the Koran which is the divine word revealed by Muhammed. The Koran was written while Muhammed was alive. He died two years later. Islam was brought to Anatolia by the Turks, and became a prominent religion during the Seljuks reign. For the Ottomans, Islam was the unifying force among a diverse empire of Muslim followers. The transition from a Christian state to a Muslim one in Turkey was greatly aided by the division between the Western and Eastern factions of the Christian empire. Such worldly concerns as the Dhimmi tax which required non- Muslims to pay 50 percent of their incomes was also a contributing factor. Islam soon came to form ethical, moral and legal structure for the vast Ottoman Empire. The population of Turkey is mostly Muslim, but the state is secular. So, for non- Muslim there is freedom of religion. When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, father of the Turks, transferred the capital to Ankara in 1923, he began an intense policy of secularization which resulted in the separation of state and religious affairs. Latin characters replaced Arab script, and a civil code replaced the law of the Koran. Atatürk also outlawed the traditional Islamic veils worn by women. Men were not permitted to were the traditional fez hats. St. Sophia is a monument which bears witness to the changes in Turkey and reflects the tolerance of Muslims for the sacredness of other religions. Originally a church which housed incomparable golden mosaics of Christianity, St. Sophia was converted into a mosque under Ottoman rule. Rather than destroying the human forms forbidden inside mosques, the Muslims covered them in plaster and preserved them in the process. Under Atatürk, St.Sophia became a museum, and the mosaics were revealed for all to share.
Today, Turks are lenient in comparison to other Muslim countries. There are several dietary and moral codes that are strictly followed by most Islamic countries concerning women, prayer, alcohol and pork. These rules are not as formally followed by Turkish Muslims. Women are banned in most Islamic countries to enter a mosque. However, in Turkey, there is a special prayer section provided for them to worship. All types of alcohol can be consumed. In an effort to share Islam with non-muslims, anyone is permitted to visit a Turkish mosque.
