Taking every wrong turn wasn't so bad after all

Where in the world is Luther? He’s in the dark in more than one way. He’s driven batty by high pitched squeaks. It took some bouldering to get there.

If you guessed Zeus cave on Naxos Island, you’re correct. (I asked if Luther noticed that they spell it wrong in all their publications, "How embarrassing for the Greeks to spell Zeus as Zas." Luther slapped his furry forehead.)

I was hoping to find an ATM at the airport but came to find out that my house is bigger than the airport. I’m quite certain the lady that checks in bags, tells the two ground crew dudes with the ping pong paddles to wave in the plane and get the luggage, calls the local police to run the ex-ray machine for the next travelers, must also run up to the second story to be the air traffic controller. She was doing it all. The two brutes that pulled off our luggage a few feet away wouldn’t let us get them. We needed to walk off the fairway between two small buildings. There we found ourselves in a parking lot. On the other side of the small two story building was a single car garage with the label “Baggage Claim” above the door. Inside the five foot conveyer belt brought in our luggage from the same guys we saw moments ago a few feet from the turbo prop. Apparently they like to use their conveyer belt. And yet in the crowd of twenty people we managed to leave a suitcase behind.

A taxi took us to our house where the car rental place would drop off our car. The one straight and lonely road by the airport had a traffic light but no intersection. That’s when I realized when it turns red you better stop or you might get the roof of your vehicle taken off by some landing gear. No joke. I loved every second of that airport experience.

(Luther got a chuckle out of the guy from England who asked my how the rugby team in Australia was doing. I explained I didn’t know much about rugby as I was an American. He said, “We’ll you look big enough to play.”)

Part of the fun on Naxos Island is the tension in the car between the driver and the navigator. In the United States one would find signs, many of them clearly marking where to turn and mark the site once you are there. But Naxos is a rural Island of about 18,000 people. The largest city, Hora, has about 5000. Life is a slower pace with few people. They figure you can’t get lost for long so you don't really need signs.

Near the beach the numbers swell in the summer as tourists come to town on the slow and high speed ferries. (I told Luther I once rode one. He wondered how fast it went and how many cars it could hold. I told him I didn’t see any cars. All I did was jump on the fairy, heard a pitiful squeak and went nowhere except to brush off a lot of pixy dust from my seat. Luther didn’t think that was funny.)

Anyhow, with maps that have little detail and roads that don’t go straight. Some intersections are T’s and Y’s with no clear understanding of which road is the main one. And as in many other places people come for food and water fun, not rocks that ancient people once used. There was little competition for parking space at the historical sites.

Do not be fooled by newer asphalt on the main road. It may turn onto a side road to continue paving. One would have the impression that it’s the main road but no, the bumpy one that looks like a turn off was really the main road. Either the street pavers took the wrong turn or they just love messing with tourists. Some intersections have five to seven roads to choose. Once we found the turn to Zeus’s cave [Where the Greek mythology said he was hidden away from the Titans as a baby to grow up and defeat the Titans. Of course there are a few Zeus caves on various Islands but Naxos is the one most commonly cited in Mythology books.] we discovered our one lane road was a two way after all. After some heart stopping moments and my navigator sucked in air in fear more than once while the driver concentrated more than defeating a monster in Zelda.

When we found the cave it went far back and was pitch black. It always seemed foggy unless you were moving fast. After a few minutes I lifted an arm in front of my head lamp. My limbs were steaming as if on fire. (Luther was grossed out.) The sweat from the hot sun steamed off into the cool black. We went as far as the main cave would go up and down very rocky terrain with tar like coatings. (Luther was mortified to find out it was most likely from centuries of goat droppings.) Holes, some of them big enough to crawl into showed signs of people visiting from the early 1900’s onward. Although many think scratching your name on a cave wall is wrong, I loved seeing the names and dates. It was a cool end to a hike up the mountain.

Next stop was the marble city, filled with buildings made of many different kinds of, yep you guessed it, marble. We found delicious dances on our taste buds from a local café. Their gyros hit the spot like no other dish.

On our way back I wanted to stop at the temple to Demeter. Be clear as to where you are going as apparently there were some temple envy going on in the ancient times as well as you might find two temples to Demeter on opposite sides of the Island. That makes asking for directions to a temple a bit tricky. A road sign may have the name of the town or place with an arrow but it may not be clear as to which one of the 3 or four roads it points. Oh, and the real fun signs are the ones that are posted in only one direction. You have to drive past it for miles to realize you missed the turn and then go back to see a clear sign. Just for kicks and giggles you go past it to come from the other way and yep, you guessed it, no sign. You just have to know where things are. Either they don’t bother to post signs or lots of bedrooms have big signs hung on their walls. And when you do find the impressive ruins of a temple on some side road that farmers use, there’s a surprise over the hill, tucked away and surrounded by trees. Most stumble upon it because attached are the places people look for such as “WC” or “Toilet.” Even then the museum was closed. It was Monday. Rats. (Luther said, “Bugger,” which reminded him he could do his monkey grooming and find some protein snacks.)

Again we find an ancient sacred spot that most likely housed a wooden temple, or open air space. Then a marble temple would be constructed by the Greeks. As the culture changes and Rome becomes Christianized, the temple gets converted into a church. After that the Ottoman (Turks) put their stamp on it. Centuries of changes make for interesting history and wonderment at the original building to its many modifications. Which one would you restore?

Since this site never became a city, many of the marble stones for the Temple can be found in nearby structures or half buried in the ground. As they are found and not in use in another structure to be preserved, they are replaced using strict guidelines so that parts are rebuilt. It is illegal across Europe to completely restore a ruined building.

This temple to Demeter was built in the 500s BCE. It was the first use inside columns of different heights to hold a pitched marble roof. Most temples were made either flat stone roofs with a pitched wooden and tiled roof or an all wood roof.

We took a tour of part of a castle built in about the 1200 AD. The family still lives there. (Luther went straight for the old cellar where one could sample local drinks.) The castle museum showed a kitchen with a deep cistern for water and enjoyed seeing an outdoor Turkish style potty with a view of the bay—spectacular place to go.

An archeological museum is filled with pottery and figuring’s that farmers constantly turn up from their fields. One piece seemed to be an ancient souvenir from Egypt. As expected there are lots of marble sculptures and burial reliefs. In ancient times Naxos was known for their wine, emery and marble. They would cut the stone within a couple of inches for a statue, send it to another city somewhere in Greece where the sculpture would finish it. A marble boy stature was abandoned after the transporters broke its leg. (Luther thought they could have used super glue. I told him they didn't invent that yet but who knows what would have happened if the Roman Empire didn’t fall. By the 300s AD they had all the elements needed to make a steam engine from the piston and valves to the wheel and crank shaft about 1600 years before the first steam engine. They were already using water wheels to run stone cutters. When I turned around to see if Luther understood, he was gone, silly monkey.)
 

"Ma's Ditty to Apollo"

Where in the world is Luther? It was the most renowned temple to Apollo in the ancient world next to Delphi. How many workers per mason and how much did they get paid to build a column? Was the temple ever finished? The city’s name sounds like, “your ma’s favorite ditty.”

If you guessed Didyma, you guessed right. Above the modern town stands the Temple to Apollo. (Luther said it didn’t look at all like the Apollo program he’d seen.)

Do you see the people on the bottom left? The steps were big!

 

We drove but the ancients traveled a 17 km road loaded with way stations and statues of members of the Branchidae family. They ran the temple. (Luther asked why that family got to run it and get all the offerings? I told him they claimed to be descendants of Branchidae, a favorite youth that Apollo loved. Luther said, “So?” I said, “Well it worked for them.”) [As is most of the cool stuff in Turkey and Greece, you have to go to the British Museum in London to see them. Many of the statues are there.] In 600 BC a smaller temple to Apollo existed built upon a spring. A small temple of wood probably existed first before a small stone temple built to house a stature of Apollo. A priestess would be seated above the spring and gave people utterances. But the spring dried up in the 600s BCE and the oracle tradition stopped. (Luther asked if she had a bad case of dry mouth without that spring water.) The temple was still used until the Persians, destroyed it in 494 BCE. After the Persians were driven out by Alexander the Great, he found the spring flowing again and so set up a new priesthood to restore the temple. Seleucus I Nictator, (Luther asked, "Are you sure it's not Seleucus the dictator?" I said, "Google doesn't lie." Luther said, "Oh, brother.") he brought the bronze-age cult practice back to the temple. The people from Miletus began the construction of the new building, [The ruins we now see] It would have been the largest Greek and Roman temple ever built if it would have been completed. We know because a German archeologist found a 200 square foot blue print scratched on rocks left on the far wall of the adyton, the inner court wall.

It took 380 pounds of silver per column because each of the 20,000 workers received 8.6 grams of silver. Although it is not comparable, it’s fun to try. So you take 8.6 grams times 20,000 workers to get 172,000 grams of silver. Divide it by 28 ounces per gram would equal about 6,143 ounces. The price per ounce today is around 22 dollars. That would mean about 135,000 dollars per column. 120 columns were planned. That’s 16,217142 million dollars without counting walls, floors and other major masonry, quarrying costs and transport. If we knew how much 8.6 grams of silver bought a person, we could come close to knowing how much in today’s dollars.. (Luther said, “Sufficient to say it cost a lot. Impressive for a bunch of hairless apes.” I think he was jealous.)

"Paul Was Here"

Where in the world is Luther?

Although people lived there since about 3500 BCE, the Greek town of Priene was founded in about 350 BCE. It was located on a sea coast at the foot of Mount Mycale. It never grew to more than 4-5,000 inhabitants. They were once known as luxurious intellectuals. Heraclitus railed against their wealthy living. There's always a critic.

("Hey, Luther, get down from there, can't your read the sign?" Luther responded, "It's all Greek to me!" I said, "Read the pink lettering, that's English." Luther said, "Hang on, I will after I go out on a limb.") 

Priene has deep roots into the Bronze age from early to mid 1,300 BCE with the Minoans. During the late 1300’s some Carians and then Greeks settled. (Luther was a bit scared he'd find some dead meat and scavengers at this dead city. I told him the Carians were an ancient people. These are not carrions. He was much relieved.)

As often is the case, we walk on a street that would be littered on each side by housing before reaching the town's center where the temples, administrative buildings, fountains and theaters would be located, the lotus of activity. Most ruins are only partially excavated, most is still rubble under years of silt. It takes time and money to learn about our past. This city moved every couple of centuries and so the original city center hasn't been discovered. Farmers are reluctant to let people dig through their crops.

So, why pick this place to build a Greek City?

They needed to pick a mountainside above the sea that was easily spotted from miles away, a place where lots of trade would pass through and a source of spring water.
Roman built their usual public baths and other buildings before the town became a village as it's two ports were silted over. Most probably moved to Miletus (a city down the coast) so you get a real picture of a Greek city that wasn't built over much after the Roman times. 

On the right is one of the many fountain pools for people or animals. These dot the streets. On the left thank you Wikipedia maps for the location of Miletus. The orange dot is on the Western coast of modern Turkey.




The next thing you need to do is build a beautiful temple dedicated to a particular god. The hope is that god will be pleased and visit the city with its blessing. [Modern business people might say that's a self fulfilling prophecy because something beautiful attracts visitors and their money. That in turn provides jobs and blesses a community with riches. Human reality doesn't change as the visitor center still takes in money to see these things. As far as fountains go Rome, Athens and many cities still have sidewalk fountains where people stop to get water. And religion's side affect still provides jobs (yours truly), a community and commence.]

On your left is what remains of the Temple to Athena. There are many foundations of other temples and a Jewish Synagogue. 












The theater was used for plays, discussions and before each production, a sacrifice. Note the cracked altar below. Also where our children are seated were the stone chairs for honored people of the town. This Greek amphitheater was small compared to the Roman and I'd guess reworked by the Romans. The trees grew in after the theater fell into ruin by the march of time.  

Luther got the dirt on this town.

Due to deforestation around 1000 BCE and poor soil management by small farmers, dirt washed from the hills into the sea. Miles of the Aegean Sea were filled up. This town and the other major cities eventually lost access to the sea and therefore trade. That ended the riches and caused the cities to be abandoned. The picture [that will eventually accompany this] shows countless farm squares in the valley. Imagine that ground being many meters deep of sea in 1000 BCE.

Check out the foundation to one of the city gates. The square holes is where the wooden stakes go to bar the gates. On either side you see worn rock where the chariot and wagon wheels wore ruts.

Priene was the greatest (not in size) and wealthiest Greek city from 600-500 BCE.


What marks a wealthy town? A third of the houses had indoor plumbing as opposed to the normal use of public baths and bathrooms.

 

 

The Pinnacle of Prosperous and Pristine People

Where in the world is Luther? Now you see, Luther can’t see the sea. It’s built not on your Cale but Mycale. There’s always a critic. Fans of Alexander the Great and Mausolus live here.

(Luther wanted to see how big the gods Zeus, Demeter and Athenia  temples were. “What about their eyebrows and foreheads. If their temples are that big their head must be huge.”)

Priene of Ionia was founded in 350 BCE on the Aegean Sea cost built into the steps of a mountain, Mycale. (Luther pointed out that there are many steps to this mountain, whew. Couldn’t they have built the city closer to the valley?) It grew to only about 4,000-5,000 people, never becoming a politically powerful city. Yet its square (bouleuterion) for the city council of citizens, the executive office building (prytaneion), a theater (theater), and commercial shop area (agora) are easily found. Like most Greek and Roman cities there are many memorials from stone markers to elaborate fountains and of course, baths. (Luther asked if the Greeks and Romans were really dirty people. I told him the baths were meant for getting together to talk and cool off or warm up depending on the season. Luther wondered what they did during the pepper and salt season. I dropped him off at a tree.)

(Luther got into trouble and had to find me. Why did he get into trouble?)

 

The city required households to make daily visits to the various fountains. That visit became another task for the slaves. (Luther wondered if slaves were like being an animal in a zoo behind bars. I told him being a slave to a household meant you worked for your master and were paid room and board. Luther thought working for a room would be okay but he didn’t like the bored part.)

A recorded comment from a critic, Heraclitus, railed against its citizens for their decadence and luxurious living from sea trades. One third of the homes had indoor plumbing. (Luther liked Heraclitus and began to be like him by criticizing me. “You’re eating too much.” “Hurry up.” “You spend too much time watching rocks.”)  

Springs and an aqueduct kept the water flowing through the city. We traveled from city gate to city gate, following the ancient road through. This is where the stone foundations show where the wooden doors once hung and the chariot grooves cut into the marble.

By 100 BCE they lost their port to the open sea and by 2^nd century AD all port access were lost and with it their wealth. By 300 AD only Lake Bafa existed and the city was abandoned and the people moved to Miletus miles away because they still had a port. [Look in the background of the picture. That was once water, not land in 1000 BCE]

 

We enjoyed the theater as it was well preserved including chairs for the powerful and the altar for sacrifices before a performance. (Luther like the fact that the forest over took the ruins giving us plenty of shade. He asked what kind of animal was sacrificed at the theater. I told him only the critical furry ones that ask too many questions. He looked worried for a second.)

(Luther playing with Carson on the sacrificial altar.)

 

Higher in Hierapolis

Where is Luther? What has springs but doesn’t bounce? What leaves a ton of deposits in its banks? Why do many come to retire at this hot spot? Is it possible to have a graveyard for a graveyard? You can get your fill of Philip here too. If your guess is as high as this place, you’ll have it.

Pure white rock holds pools of bright blue water. The castle of white strikes the eye before finding the ruins of Hierapolis.

Carbon dioxide rich hot springs flow from the ground. As the water pours out it leaves white deposits that build up over time. Some of the ruins of the city are covered by the deposits as well as the face of a cliff. The reliable hot springs still runs, pouring into a rich tourist’s haven for swimming with crystal clear water over submerged columns. From that pool it is channeled to the white outcroppings for cost free swimming (except for the price of admission) and to keep the white stuff white. The rock hurts underfoot but the reddish places were smooth. That reddish algae with hundreds of feet trampling daily causes damage to the pristine color. Much is off limits.

The real beauty of this place (for me) lies in its history. When we got there we discussed a couple of options. We could swim in the cool water or we could walk for miles while beaten by the sun’s heat to look at rocks. (Luther muttered something about it’s not the size of the cranial cavity that counts but how one uses it. Whatever that meant, it persuaded most of our party to go with him.)

Security was nowhere to be found in the ruins and the heat. Since there was no one to tell me to stay out of the tombs, I explored. Imagine what it would be like to be a Greek or Roman citizen in these ancient times in an ancient graveyard. However, I found lying in a tomb as a Christian Roman corpse was no fun so I went through the main gates and traveled down the street that would be lined with shops, fountains and expensive memorials to patrons of the city. All of which are foundations and a few columns. In the surrounding hills would be (now silted over fields) filled with housing for hundreds of thousands citizens. Pipes, cannels run around like webs through the city.

We know the Jews were first sent by Antiochus the Great to Phrygia and Lydia who then took on more forced movement from Judea. Many also settled in nearby Hierapolis. By 62 BCE that Jewish population grew to 50,000. What’s important about having Jewish congregations outside of Jerusalem is that the Apostle Paul traveled to the major cities with synagogues to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Way of God as Jesus lived and taught influence many. Although Paul didn’t preach in Hierapolis his influence from Ephesus spread there. Perhaps he didn’t need to preach there as a disciple of Jesus, Philip, and Nathan (Bartholomew) already did. Philip was said to have traveled to Greece, Syria, and Phrygia. In Hierapolis legend has it that Philip converted the wife of a Proconsul. It so enraged the Proconsul that he had Philip and Nathan tortured and then crucified (possibly upside down around 80 AD). But Philip’s ability to preach persuaded the authorities to release Nathan. As Nathan was released, Philip was martyred (another legend said he was beheaded). Since then the site was used by pilgrims for centuries until the Turks controlled the area. The church once built on the spot lays in ruins. On July 27, 2011 the modern Turkish authorities said they found Philip’s tomb according to the writing on the wall. It will take a few years of cross checking and professor type critics before it will be confirmed. (I later told Luther I didn’t see, “Philip was here,” anywhere or even a, “Philip loves Nancy in a heart,” so I’m skeptical.)

(Luther said something about the library at Nag Hammadi where the gnostic “Gospel of Philip” was found. I told him I’d be suspicious of anyone named Hammadi who has to nag to get people to read that gospel. Luther pointed to his head, muttering, “What a waste of cranial space.”)

As most cities began there would be something about the site that made it special and sacred. Usually it would be a spring as in this case. (In this heat I’d learn to love a spring that throws up white stuff.) We know Pyrygians built a temple [in the 300-400 BCE range] that was frequented by the Laodean citizens. The springs were used as a spa since the 200s BCE. (The only spa there today is the swimming pools of water and a place that has an aquarium with some tiny fish that nibbled on the dead skin cells. Some in our group paid people for the chance to stick their feet in it! Luther’s fur prevented the fish from getting to his skin but he was lucky to get one stuck in his fur for a bite of his own when no one was looking.) The activity attracted commerce and a swelling population. The city grew into a major Greek city which was bequeathed to the Romans in 133 BCE. An earthquake in Tiberius’s reign in 17 AD destroyed the city. It was rebuilt by the Romans. (They love their baths as they built lots of those. I told Luther the Romans must have been part fish. Luther told me to scale back my thoughts as they’re sounding like a fish tale to him). The city became Byzantium, and in the 700s ruled by the sultans in the Turkish (Persian Empire) until the Crusade of 1190. The city was finished off by an earthquake in 1354 AD. Much of it was covered by a thick layer of white limestone deposits.

After most waded in the pools of water, the Roman Theater attracted a few visitors (It’s easy to identify and relatively close.) The museum (Authorities had to figure out where the blocks go and use a crane to replace them with mortar and modern supports.) was inside a rebuilt portion of a Roman bath building. It’s cooler inside. The rest of the place is a hike through grasses, a few trees and over lots of rocks. The couple of people who were out there used the old Roman roads. I took a shortcut and found myself in the middle of an active archeology site with picks, wheel barrels, and umbrellas for shade except no workers. It was roped off at the other ends. Oops. (In talking with Luther afterwards he said not even the archeologists would work in this heat. Shouldn’t that say something to you? Then he talked about taking an hour long cool limp chimp float. I said, “Whatever floats your boat.”)

Although I’m writing this in Athens, my head is still in Turkey. I’ve got three more places to write about before the Greek Island of Naxos and a ton of stuff in Athens and Corinth.