Date: 4/15/07
Partners for the day: Ben (text) Ray (images)
Site(s): Ephesus
Museum(s): Selcuk Museum
Principal Buildings/Monuments: Library of Celsus, Greco-Roman Theater, Artemision (Temple of Artemis), Basilica of St. John
Time Spent on Each Site: from ca. 9:00 to ca. 5:00 [8 hours]
Weather: sunny, hot
If it is not too clichéd or obvious to say, we have seen many facets of Turkey already in our fairly brief stay here, from the Turkey of the sultans (at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul) to the Turkey of the urban middle class (in the clothes and accessories bazaars that are satellites of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar). Today more than any other day, arguably, we have seen the Turkey of the tourists, a relatively recent and welcome manifestation of the Turkish paradigm. It is perhaps the face of Turkey most emblematic of the country’s desire for and hesitance about making the leap from fledgling republic to developed nation.
Istanbul is a city attractive to would-be cultured travelers looking for a dip into an exotic but not threateningly alien land; the Kusadasi/Ephesus/Selcuk area attracts a more complicated cross-section of wayfarers. It is the site of the most extensive Roman settlement in the Aegean, but also the site of one of the most-frequented cruise ship ports-of-call in the Aegean, so eager students (no, not just us) and fanny-pack-clad Germans alike vie for photo ops in front of this column or that inscription. This is perhaps the best place to understand how modern Turkey is choosing to present itself to the interested world at large and what we, the visitors, in turn want to get out of Turkey.
Kusadasi, as a cruise ship stop, would usually be the only area in Turkey an Aegean or Mediterranean passenger would see, and only for a day. The human traffic here, then, is more intense than at any site or monument in Istanbul and certainly more so than comparatively out-of-the-way Miletus or Pergamon. The archaeological sites in this area, as a result, present a bizarre mix of the informative, the expedient, and the tacky. Ephesus, for example, is arranged such that visitors follow a very obvious thoroughfare through the site, beginning at the State Agora and following an L-shaped route past the Greco-Roman Theater; clustered around the entrance and exit are throngs of assertive but polite postcard-hawkers, veil salesmen, and dealers in “Genuine Fake Watches.”
Our group followed this same route, and took our information about the site in the same way most other tour groups did: from a guide. Turkish law requires that every group of tourists over a certain size must have a licensed Turkish guide at any cultural site. Ours, Yilderim, works in tandem with Professor Rutter to demystify Turkey’s archaeological heritage for us FSPers, as each will draw attention to the elements of a site most notable to him. Usually this results in relaxed and even meandering site visits, but the crowds at Ephesus today necessitated that we all stick together and talk over the dull roar around us.
We began at the State Agora and Bouleuterion-like building (a council meeting chamber), around which the buildings associated with the administration of the 200,000-strong city were grouped, and learned about the city’s early foundations, Hellenistic and Roman high times, and subsequent struggles. We passed the Monument of Caius Memmius, a tomb inside the city limits where its Greek and Roman counterparts would have been relegated to cemeteries outside the city walls, and paused to figure out what original name was on a building’s inscription, before being marred by the damnatio memoriae (this happened to unpopular emperors: all statues of them were smashed and all inscriptions with their names were scratched out). Not entirely successful, we nonetheless moved on past the ornate façade of the Temple of Hadrian, past the Baths of Scholastica, and past a brothel/latrine complex to the Library of Celsus, the monumental exterior of which graces the cover of every guidebook and postcard of Ephesus. Here the informative, expedient, and tacky once again collided: signs in three languages explained the iconography on the façade and the building’s construction techniques, a flat and open area off the site’s main thoroughfare but still in front of the Library allowed tour groups to congregate comfortably enough, and safari-hat-wearing tourists literally squawked at us whenever we wandered into the frame of their pictures. We ended our visit at the enormous theater, where Kristina and Gahl sang, Kyle delivered a monologue, and several of the guys shouted the Dartmouth Alma Mater.
Next we got the rare experience of seeing one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but, unfortunately, someone else had gotten there first. Only a few scattered foundation stones and one re-erected column remained of the Artemision (Temple of Artemis). This temple, even larger than the one we visited at Didyma yesterday, was 115 x 55 meters, and built in a similar 4th c. BC style with massive Ionic columns and a central cella to hold the cult statue of Artemis, a goddess especially dear to the Ephesians. This site was not quite so well presented to tourists as Ephesus itself. No signs explain the significant history or architecture of the scant remains, and a small lot for buses allowed cruise passengers to gander at the column, say they saw one of the Seven Wonders, and get back to their ships. Among the other depressing features of the site: a Turkish toddler running around unsupervised holding a knife and a tortoise that pooped on Chris when he picked it up.
After a cafeteria-style lunch, we paid a brief visit to the Selcuk Museum to see the more delicate finds of Ephesus, including a reconstructed wall fresco and floor mosaic and several statues of the Ephesian Artemis, whose strange ovoid chest protuberances have been called breasts, eggs, grapes, and bull testicles—the last, believe or not, was not from anyone on the trip but someone who studies such things for pay. Among the highlights of the museum was an exhibit on gladiators, perhaps a ploy to pull in more visitors from among the many tourists in the area, as museums are generally considered to be a snooze compared to ruins and monuments.
Our day ended at the Basilica of St. John, an AD 6th c. Byzantine basilica built over the tomb of (you guessed it) St. John, though this one is John the Evangelist, author of Revelation, rather than John the Baptist. After a brief spell of lecturing, we were let loose to clamber over the ruins, study the cruciform plan of the building, and pay our respects to John, whose tomb is still marked in the nave.
By this time, we had managed to lose the most strident of the crowds and shared the basilica with only two or three other groups. Most of the tourists left were the notoriously hardy Germans, but at the outset of our day at Ephesus, I noticed all types from adolescent Americans to shutterbug Japanese to Turkish kids wearing, of all things, Space Camp t-shirts. The pool of tourists in Turkey is as multiethnic as any place in France or the UK now, since this destination is convenient for Western Europeans and of increasing interest to the world-curious in general. The tourism revenue for the country must be a great boon to its economy, but the opening of the tourist floodgates is not entirely positive. Kusadasi is overrun with cheesy restaurants advertising “authentic Turkish food” in the same breath as hamburgers, sites like the Temple of Artemis and the Basilica of St. John are completely unprotected from the feet of thousands of trampling visitors, and the average day-tripper would probably have the chance to interact with few, if any, Turkish people except for the often-annoying trinket peddlers all around these sites. Ultimately, though, the size of the crowds in this area surely points to the fact that the Turkish people have become adept at introducing their beautiful country to a world of travelers that, fifty, or perhaps even twenty, years ago would never have thought to visit.
This rather large bouleuterion was our first sight upon entering Ephesus. It set the tone for the day – big sights.
Ephesus itself is a large site, stretching over a wide area. As Gahl aptly pointed out, “You know a site’s huge when the building numbers go up to 171.”
Kyle, Nick, and Liz violate Turkish custom by wearing shorts. It was very hot on the site today – they weren’t the only tourists wandering around in shorts. Liz is clearly more flexible than Kyle and Nick.
This was a main road in Ephesus that ran through the Roman political forum. It was lined on both sides by a colonnade. We must mentally reconstruct shops lining the road with the columns supporting the roofs.
Liz was terrified by this sculpture of Emperor Domitian, which Professor Rutter calls “the most horrendous piece of Classical sculpture I have ever seen.” This enormous statue would have stood in the Temple of Domitian in the Roman political forum.
Walking down the main road, the group stopped to play a game: Professor Rutter had us decode the inscription on this building fragment and then we had figure out whose name would have filled in the blank in the inscription.
Ben (sadly a little too tall) poses heraldically in the doorway of a Roman bath.
Johann prepares to sit down next to the rest of the group, as we took a little bathroom break at this Roman communal latrine. Unfortunately they were out of toilet paper.
This is one of the most impressive buildings in Ephesus. It is known as the Library of Celsus and was celebrated more for its architectural beauty than its collection of literature. It doubled as a mausoleum for Celsus, who was buried in a crypt below the main structure. The building looks so well preserved today, because it was repaired and reconstructed by archaeologists in the 1970s.
This is one of the largest theatres that we will see on the trip. It boasted a seating capacity of 25,000 along with great acoustics. Many people put on impromptu performances at the theatre for the entertainment of the other visitors…
…And this is exactly what Josh, Pete, Nick, Gahl, and Chris did. They treated everyone to a rousing rendition of the Alma Mater. It nearly brought a tear to my eye.
Kyle, not wanting to be outdone, put on a small flute concert afterwards. The enormous theatre can be seen in the background.
Passing the bathrooms after leaving the theatre, Pete all of a sudden began to feel “the magic atmosphere.”
This is what the massive Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (the Artemision) would have looked like…
…And this is what the site looks like today. The temple, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, would have measured 115m in length (For Americans, it was over one football field long!). I know it doesn’t look like much now, but I promise it would have been amazing two thousand years ago.
Here the group mourns the sad state of the temple. Gahl appears especially distraught over the loss of this amazing building.
Nick prepares to lift a section of lead pipe that would have delivered water to the Artemision. We’re hoping that the ancient Greeks realized not to use that water for drinking…
In the museum at Ephesus, Gahl and Josh play a game of backgammon on this block of stone, which is identified as an ancient Roman backgammon table.
Far atop a hill at Ephesus sits the ancient Church of St. John. It, like many other buildings at Ephesus, is a very large structure and would have been especially impressive when standing to its full height.
Here is a mosaic that was partially uncovered thanks to some excavation by the group. It was archaeological work at its finest.
Final Comments:
Professor Rutter has discovered a cheap way to feed the ever-hungry group of sixteen FSPers in a region of the world where portions are not exactly American-sized, to say the least. The Turkish variants of the “All U Can Eat Buffet,” or Bufe, here, appear surprisingly often at rest stops, outside major sites, and wherever else fat tourists may be found. Though we were all initially overjoyed at the prospect of eating all we could, for once, we have since become wary of the cold vegetables, pasta salads, and lukewarm sort-of-vegetables that typically populate the buffet tables at these places.
