"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.

Some pics of Naxos, Greece

• As long as we stay in the shade we are cool. 

 At our rental in Naxos, Greece

 Rented ATV's to scoot around the island a bit.  Carson is trying to think of ways he can build or purchase an ATV when we get home.

 The pool outside our rental.

 

 

Storage area within the castle

 



A castle we visited that is enfolded in the center of Naxos City.  The walls of the castle and the streets of the inner village meld and fold into one another beautifully.  Each inch seems to be used for a walkway, patio or building.   Could send hours walking the streets, so charming, and filled with little shops.  Smart too the way the tall buildings shade the streets from the hot sun and encourage breezes through the alleyways. 

Luther struggles with honoring his mother and father. He lost his patience looking at the ruins of civilizations and went on his own. I wonder what will happens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PjP9zH_STW0

Dinner video clip

Couldn't get the video of the cook explaining the meal to work (from June 13th) so have downloaded the waiter's explanation of the appetizers.

Also, our internet service is very spotty so unable to download and post as much as we would like!

He keeps saying, "For Princess" as we told him it was Megan's birthday.