298-314). Local history and research, walled citadel (pp.
298-300); palace entrance, decorations, lion corner-stones
(pp. 301-302); reliefs, eagle-headed deity, fertilising tree,
sphinx, king-priest, attendants (pp. 303-308); sphinx-base (pp.
309-311); historical results, stratification, pottery, foreign
relations (pp. 312-314).
VI. THE STORY OF THE HITTITES, 315-391
The Authorities (pp. 315-316). The Hittites, their coming
and settlement, early culture, earliest historical allusions
(pp. 317-325). The Hatti rulers; conquests of Subbi-luliuma,
treaties with Mitanni, the Amorites, and with Egypt (pp.
326-336). Empire of Subbi-luliuma, reign of Mursil; Mutallu
and the battle of Kadesh (pp. 337-343); Hattusil, the Egyptian
treaty and foreign politics; his successors (pp. 346-352).
Survey of Hittite civilisation under the Hatti; the position
of women, religion, organisation, the army, roads and cities,
sculptures, and architecture (pp. 353-367). The European
migrations, disruption of the Hittite empire, the Muski, the
Assyrians, Carchemish (pp. 368-371). The great revival, the
‘Cilician’ empire, disposition of the Hittite kingdoms, with
map, the balance of power (pp. 372-377). Changes in decorative
and religious art; Semitic influence in Syria (pp. 377-380).
Oncoming of Assyria, coalitions of Hittite states, battle of
the Qarqar, fall of Tarsus (pp. 381-384). The Vannic kings,
conquests in Syria, decisive battle with Assyria; supremacy of
Assyria in Syria; fall of Carchemish, Marash and the Tabal (pp.
385-390). Epochs in Hittite history (pp. 390-391).
APPENDIX A.—BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HITTITE ARCHÆOLOGY, 392-394
APPENDIX B.—INDEX TO HITTITE MONUMENTS, WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY, 395-401
AUTHOR INDEX, CLASSICAL AND BIBLICAL REFERENCES, 402-403
GENERAL INDEX, 404-416
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PHOTOGRAPHS
PLATE _To face page_
I. Bulghar-Madên: Approaching the Taurus Mountains, _Frontispiece_
II. (i) A Valley in the Taurus, 4
(ii) Headwaters of the Halys near Sivas,
III. Aleppo: View of the city from the citadel, 6
IV. Karakul: A Kurd family at home, 8
V. Kartal: (i) Verandah of a house, 12
(ii) Group of Turkoman women,
VI. Bogche: A chief pass over the Amanus Mountains, 14
VII. Beilan: Summit of the pass, 16
VIII. Woodland on the south slopes of Taurus, 18
IX. Cæsarea: Cloister of a school, and citadel, 22
X. Injesu: Mosque and town, 24
XI. Halys River, between Chok Geuz and Bir Geuz, 26
XII. Yeni-Han, near Sekkili: Nomad encampment, 28
XIII. (i) Chesme Keupru: Interior of the han, 30
(ii) Sekkili (near): Yuruk encampment,
XIV. (i) Nefez-Keui: Women drawing water at the Spring, 32
(ii) Tyana: Turkish women and child,
XV. (i) Yuzgat: Dervish and vagabonds, 34
(ii) Kulakly Keui: Types of inhabitants,
XVI. Angora: Old houses on the outskirts, 36
XVII. Nefez-Keui; Carpet-weaving, 38
XVIII. (i) Nefez-Keui: Minaret of the village mosque, 40
(ii) Anatolian Horses: Noonday halt,
XIX. Bor: Bridge over the Kizilja-Su, 42
XX. Approaching the Cilician Gates, 44
XXI. Entrance of the Cilician Gates, 46
XXII. (i) Going south through the Cilician Gates, 48
(ii) Tarsus: The gardens and the town,
XXIII. Tarsus: (i) The walls of Dunuk Tash, 50
(ii) Sacred stone at an Arab shrine,
XXIV. (i) Bey-Keui: The Royal Road, 56
(ii) Dimerli: A fallen Lion,
XXV. (i) Dimerli: The Lion tomb, 60
(ii) Ayazîn: Tomb with Lions,
(iii) Tyana: Phrygian inscription of Midas,
XXVI. View near Sardis: Valley of the Pactolus, 64
XXVII. Cilicia: Roman aqueducts over the Eastern plain, 68
XXVIII. Kyrrhus: (i) Roman Tomb, and 70
(ii) Ruined Bridge,
XXIX. Baalbek: Sculpture and Temple Ruins, 72
XXX. Ephesus: The Library of Celsus, 74
XXXI. Angora: Temple of Rome and Augustus, 76
XXXII. Nigdeh: Portal of the White-Midresseh, 1223 A.D., 78
XXXIII. Nigdeh: Tomb of the Seljûk period, 80
XXXIV. (i) Ephesus: Mediæval fortress with Seljûk Remains, 82
(ii) Konia; Zazadîn Han, of Seljûk work,
XXXV. Rowanduz Kaleh; Mediæval fortress, 84
XXXVI. Cæsarea: Old Turkish cemetery, 88
XXXVII. Hamath: Inscription in Hittite hieroglyphs, 94
XXXVIII. Aleppo: Fortress on the Acropolis, 98
XXXIX. Sakje-Geuzi: Royal hunting scene, 104
XL. (i) Killiz: Bronze figures, 106
(ii) Denek Maden; Ivory seal,
XLI. Aintab: Inscription on sculptured corner-stone, 108
XLII. Marash: Architectural Lion corner-stone inscribed, 110
XLIII. Rowanduz: Camp scene in the Qurt Dagh, 122
XLIV. Malatia: (i) Priest offering to lightning-god on bull, 138
(ii) Priestess offering to winged deity,
XLV. Palanga: Inscribed columnar statue, 142
XLVI. Ekrek: Hittite inscription with Christian emblems, 148
XLVII. Fraktin: The rock-sculptures, 150
XLVIII. Bogche: Hittite inscription on round-topped stone, 154
XLIX. Yamoola: Giant eagle standing upon lions, 156
L. Angora: The acropolis, 162
LI. Ayazîn: Rock-hewn tombs and church, 164
LII. ” Roof of the church with dome, 166
LIII. Sipylus: Image of the Mother-goddess, 168
LIV. Kara-Bel: The Hittite God of Arms, 172
LV. Tyana: Ruined Roman aqueducts, 184
LVI. Bor: Hittite inscription and relief, 186
LVII. Ivrîz: Giant sculptures on the rock, 192
LVIII. Boghaz-Keui: Site of Pteria, 200
LIX. ” Gorge of the Beuyuk Kayanin Daresi, 202
LX. ” The Lion Gate, 204
LXI. ” (i) The Fortress called Yenije-Kaleh, 206
(ii) Remains of the Lower Palace,
LXII. ” Bird’s-eye View of the Lower Palace, 208
LXIII. ” (i) Camp at the foot of Beuyuk Kaleh, 210
(ii) Iasily Kaya: Sculptures on the left,
LXIV. ” General view of Iasily Kaya, 212
LXV. ” Central sculptures at, 214
LXVI. ” Group of two monstrous figures, 218
LXVII. ” One of the female figures, 222
LXVIII. ” The King-Priest at Iasily Kaya, 224
LXIX. ” (i) The Small Gallery: view, 226
(ii) Hittite portraits, three figures,
LXX. ” The dirk-deity, 228
LXXI. ” Hittite God embracing the priest, 232
LXXII. Eyuk: Sculptures decorating frontage of palace, 252
LXXIII. ” (i) Shrine of the Mother-goddess, 260
(ii) Musicians with bagpipe and guitar,
LXXIV. Coast Route round the Gulf of Issus, 270
LXXV. Sinjerli: (i) Ceremonial Feast, 280
(ii) Warrior with spear,
LXXVI. ” Sculptures of gateway _in situ_, 286
LXXVII. ” (i) Hittite God of the Skies, 292
(ii) God of the Double Axe,
LXXVIII. Sakje-Geuzi: Entrance to Palace, 300
LXXIX. ” Lion corner-stone (left), 302
LXXX. ” Lion and adjoining sculptures (right), 304
LXXXI. ” (i) Sculptures of left flanking wall, 306
(ii) Continuation of the series,
LXXXII. ” Sphinx-pedestal to central column, 310
LXXXIII. Hittite Allies: (i) Mongoloid, 318
(ii) Proto-Greek,
LXXXIV. Surviving Types: (i) Amorite 320
(ii) Hittite,
LXXXV. Nomads passing into Asia Minor, 322
LXXXVI. Cæsarea: Types of Semitic settlers, 334
LXXXVII. Yeni-Han: Group of nomad women, 340
LXXXVIII. Battle of Kadesh: Hittite chariotry charging, 344
PLANS
Boghaz-Keui: Plan of the Rock Sanctuary called Iasily Kaya, 221
Eyuk: Plan of the Sphinx-Gate, 247
Sinjerli: Sketch Plan of Gateway, 278
MAPS
Hittite States after the Revival of the Tenth Century B.C., 375
Submergence of the Hittite States (Eighth Century B.C.), 385
Map of Hittite Sites in Asia Minor and Northern Syria, _To face_ 390
I
A CHAPTER OF GEOGRAPHY
At the outset of our undertaking we are faced by a considerable
perplexity, in that the land we are setting forth to examine is
practically undefined. We are guided indeed by vague and scanty
historical references towards the north of Syria and the east of Asia
Minor, but for a wider and surer delimitation, however incomplete, we
must rely on the evidence afforded by the disposition of the Hittite
monuments themselves. These cannot fix for us any certain boundaries,
nor does the area throughout which they have as yet been found coincide
with any great natural landmarks such as are wont to form the frontiers
of nations. On the other hand, their curious disposition, and the very
disunity of the tract they indicate, awaken our interest by a suggestion
of unusual circumstances that could weld together, in political unity,
peoples whose conditions of life so differed. And though mostly in the
heart of a peninsula washed by the blue waves of two great inland seas,
no part of the long coast-line can be included, upon present evidence,
in our territory. Maybe the cause is only that the conditions there are
not favourable to the preservation or recovery of monuments; but none
the less it is to be noted that no trace of Hittite handiwork has yet
been found around the coast, whether along the wooded shores of the
Black Sea in the north, on the fertile inlets of the west,[1] or on the
rocky passes of the Syrian seaboard; nor has any clear connection yet
been shown between the Hittite confederated peoples and those sea-rovers
who, from their harbours under the southern shelter of the Taurus, made
piratical descents upon the Egyptian Delta in the thirteenth century
B.C.[2]
Thus we see the Hittites as a purely inland people, not taking to the
sea more kindly at any rate than do the Turkish peoples of to-day. The
centre of their monuments is the mountainous region of the Taurus and
Anti-Taurus systems, whence on the one hand they lead us down to the
hot plains that lie between the right bank of the Euphrates and Mount
Amanus (the Giaour Dagh), with a continuation to the south by the valley
of the Orontes as far as its sources in the Lebanon; and on the other
hand widen out to embrace not only the northern fringe of the Taurus
Mountains, and the basin of the Halys River, but practically the whole
broad tableland of Central Asia Minor, with one finger pointing down the
Hermus valley past Sardis to the west. The inference to be derived from
these preliminary considerations will receive confirmation as we proceed
with our inquiry, when we shall find reason to believe that the peoples
whose land we are trying to map out were of mountain origin. The problem
of their settlement, however, remains obscure; we must await the results
of further investigations to determine whether it was a combined movement
of peoples, bringing with them the elements of their civilisation, like
the Turks in modern history, or whether for ages they endured the rigours
of mountain life before they became strong enough to descend upon the
hospitable plains below.
The wilder mountains of Greater Armenia, east of the head-waters of the
Euphrates, show no definite sign of Hittite settlement;[3] but they form
a distinctive boundary to our region, being the culmination of the system
of which the Taurus are a part. Here too is the centre of mountain-ranges
which, like the rivers rising in their heights, descend in several
directions. To the north the towering peak of Ararat, seventeen thousand
feet in height, looks down upon the green upland valleys of the Caucasus.
Towards the east, the range which skirts the Caspian Sea connects beyond
with the systems of Central Asia. Towards the south, another chain holds
up as it were the highlands of Asia, on the one hand, giving way on
the other to the basins of the Euphrates and the Tigris, and touching
eventually the eastern waters of the Persian Gulf.
The Taurus system is another such chain trending westward, dividing
Asia Minor from the rest of Asia, skirting the southern coast-line,
then breaking and scattering as the level falls towards the west until
it descends below the sea, where its hilltops, still projecting, form
the Ægean archipelago, until drawn together it rises to dry land on the
soil of Greece. In the heart of these mountains, the two main sources
of the river Euphrates flow in a westerly direction until they unite
above Malatia;[4] thence twisting and turning ever, in its search for a
passage through the rocky ramparts that oppose it, the great river makes
an easterly contour until nearing the plains. Before reaching Gerger,
however, its direction is changed once more, turning westward in a long
curve past Samsat towards Aintab, and southward to the latitude of
Aleppo: from here its course becomes more tranquil and direct towards the
Persian Gulf.
The bend of the Euphrates below Malatia marks for the present the
boundary of the Hittite country on the east. The whole mountainous
region lying to the west of this landmark is divided by the gorges of
the Pyramus, comprising the bleak easterly heights of the main Taurus
range on the one hand, and the more broken but less barren regions of
the Anti-Taurus which lie within. From the Taurus numerous torrents fall
southward to join the bend of the Euphrates, while the northern slopes of
the same range look down on the deep valley of the Tochma Su. This river,
flowing eastward, is another main tributary of the Euphrates, which it
joins not far from Malatia, and it forms our present boundary to the
north in that direction.[5] Its sources are found high up past Gurun in
the main watershed, from which some rivers flow southward to the Cilician
plain, others north-west to feed the Halys.
[Illustration: PLATE II
A VALLEY IN THE TAURUS (_See p. 5._)
HEAD-WATERS OF THE HALYS NEAR SIVAS (_See p. 26._)]
The routes connecting the north of Syria with Asia Minor make use of
these natural channels of approach. Thus the main road from Aintab
northwards, after reaching the Pyramus near Marash, follows that river
closely to Albistan, whence the bed of a stream leads up to the divide
that gives way to the valley of the Tochma Su beyond. Derendeh is thus
gained; and up this new valley the road passes by Gurun northward, and
so over the watershed to Sivas in the valley of the Halys. From Albistan
another route leads eastward to Malatia; and westward a path passing by
Izgîn rises over the mountains to the interior.[6] A more direct route,
however, from Aintab and Marash leads by the side of streams that feed
the Pyramus north-westward up to Shahr (the classical Komana), on the
sources of the Cilician Sarus; thence, by one of several passes, among
which is the Kuru-Bel, the head-waters of the Zamanti Su are reached, so
leading down to Cæsarea at the foot of Mount Argæus. The last-named river
is tributary to the Sarus, passing by Ekrek, Tashji, and Fraktin on its
course.
It may be judged that a region so broken up by mountain-streams is
not altogether barren or inclement. Its very altitude, averaging six
thousand feet above the sea, gives respite from the summer heats that
make life burdensome upon the Syrian plains. Green patches nestle under
the shelter of its heights, protected thereby from the severity of winter
blizzards when the mountain-passes may be filled with snow. And in its
deeper valleys, though the actual banks are mostly rocky, yet the broad
slopes on either side are generally favourable to the cultivation of
cereals and other necessaries. The numerous fair towns that have sprung
up in favoured spots, mostly upon Hittite sites, with their gardens and
vineyards, fruit and olive plantations, their industries in weaving
and embroideries, reveal to us something of its attractions and the
possibilities of ancient settlement.
Just as the roadways of this region converge upon Marash, so from this
centre other lines of communication spread out into the regions of the
south. On the one hand the valley of the Pyramus leads down to the
Cilician plain; on the other the road to Aintab, which we now follow,
brings us to the northernmost parts of Syria, historically the scene of
the struggles of the Hittites with the Pharaohs and with Assyria. The
whole tract before us as far southward as Aleppo is of twofold character:
on the east are the great plains that lie away to the Euphrates, while on
the west two mountain-ranges intervene between these and the sea, lying
parallel with one another and with the coast.
The plains are really an apex to the Syrian desert, themselves watered
sparsely by winter streams flowing to the Euphrates, with some
independent rivers which, failing to find an exit, resolve themselves
into small salt lakes and swamps. There are no trees or other protection
against the withering sun, and the surface is broken only here and
there by low ridges and the mounds which mark the sites of ancient
settlements.[7] The people are mostly Kurds, mingled with the settled
descendants of northern Bedouins, using a primitive Arab speech. Their
life is arduous: their crops are parched before they can be reaped;
but none the less out of generations of experience they find the means
to live and feed their flocks. Except for local routes, the only roads
which cross this desolate tract lead from Aleppo and from Aintab to the
crossing of the Euphrates now found at Birejik, not far from the site of
ancient Carchemish at Jerablus.[8]
[Illustration: PLATE III
ALEPPO: VIEW OF THE CITY FROM THE CITADEL: THE KONAK IN THE FOREGROUND
(_See p. 7_ and _Plate xxxviii_.)]
Aleppo itself must be classed as a city of the plain, though its economy
is different. Here is the natural centre of commerce for the north of
Syria and a great part of Western Asia. So, instead of being a peasant
village upon a nameless stream, Aleppo has grown to be one of the
fairest cities of the East. Local industries have developed, adding to
its resources. Its stone-built houses and public places, its groves and
fruit-gardens, as well as the hearty spirit of its people, are the tokens
of its prosperity. Another town of considerable interest and importance
is Killiz, on the border of the plain, midway between Aleppo and Aintab.
In approaching this place the road passes through miles of olive-groves,
which form long lines of dark green upon the red loamy soil.
From Killiz as we turn westward the character of the landscape is
immediately changed; the plains are left behind, and the mountain
country is entered that lies between them and the sea. Of the two ranges
mentioned previously, the Qurt Dagh, which is first encountered, is less
bold than its western neighbour, and also less continuous, giving way
gradually towards the south. It is wild and varied enough, however, to
provide a series of memorable panoramas of mountain scenery. Northward
the head-waters of the Afrîn[9] River have scoured deep gorges in its
wooded heights; and the main stream, flowing southward in a wild and
sparsely cultivated valley, has hewn for itself a rocky bed through
which it swirls until the hills are left behind, when turning westward
it flows on to join the Orontes near to Antioch. In such a country it
is not surprising that no Hittite monuments have been placed on record.
It is in contact, nevertheless, on either hand, with places where some
of the most instructive Hittite works have been discovered; and we are
tempted therefore to linger somewhat in this unfamiliar region, seeking
in the life and features of its people for living witness of the ancient
civilisations in which it must have shared.
The population is naturally scanty, and varies racially according to its
disposition. On the basalt plateau which forms the eastern boundary to
the valley, leading down to Killiz and Aintab beyond, several villages
of Kurdish families are found. Here communication with the towns is
frequent, and mingling is not uncommon accordingly with other elements
of the Turkish people. The houses are often well constructed of masonry,
for stone is plentiful; indeed, the whole plateau is so thickly strewn
that even the pathways are difficult and narrow, while before the plough
can be put to the land a space must first be cleared at considerable
labour. Consequently the amount of cultivation is small, and even the
sparse grain that grows wild over thousands of acres remains unreaped. In
addition to the settled villages, and the tumbled ruins of many deserted
hamlets, this high ground is freely sprinkled in the summer-time with
the tents of nomads, either seeking refuge temporarily from the eastern
plains, in accordance with a common practice, or halting for a brief
season on their endless journey.
[Illustration: PLATE IV
KARAKUL: A KURD FAMILY AT HOME
Husband, wife, child of an elder wife; two brothers, left.]
The rocky edges to this plateau on the western side are broken ever and
again by rifts, down which a more copious supply of water tumbles from
above, opening out into little nooks under the shelter of the heights
before joining the main valley of the river below. In such places a
village may be found amid a patch of comparatively luxurious cultivation,
well illustrated by the vines and mulberries of Rowanduz. This pleasant
spot lies at the foot of the steep descent from Karakul upon the plateau,
and is marked by the ruins of a fine mediæval castle crowning a prominent
cone-like hill.[10] The groves and gardens are watered by a primitive
system of irrigation. The rich soil readily repays the labour bestowed
upon it in however simple fashion.
Lower down, in the main valley and nearer the river’s bed, the aspect of
the country is generally savage and neglected. A short withered scrub
speckles the surface of the ground, which is reft in every direction by
the dry gullies of winter torrents. The main routes, here as elsewhere,
keep consistently along the higher levels, crossing the rifts near their
beginnings, before they have become too rough and too steep to scale.
Other tracks are found naturally along the river’s bed, which they cross
and recross, scaling the cliffs where the water has laid bare the rocks,
and at other times passing through more open spaces cheered by narrow
strips of corn-land and the rich bloom of a myriad oleanders, wherever
the steep banks recede a little way on one side or the other. These
lower tracks, however, are never easy to follow, even under favourable
conditions, on account alike of the numerous scrambles over cliffs
often shaly and precipitous, where a false step of horse or man might
lead to disaster, and also of the numerous crossings of the river, often
deceptive to any one unfamiliar with the fords. The latter obstacle
becomes a grave danger after mountain storms which may have passed almost
unnoticed in the valley. Even in summer-time thunder-clouds from time to
time collect above the heights, and amid a gorgeous display of lightning
and reverberating thunder a torrential rain transforms in a few minutes
the rocky basin of the river. The dried-up gullies are now alive with
splashing streams, and the slumbering rivulets become foaming torrents,
the sudden uproar of scurrying streams and newly born cascades striking
the ear with curious strangeness and foreboding.[11] In an hour or two
the streams are once more tranquil and the sun has reappeared; but the
river below has received nearly all the water that has fallen, and swirls
on deep and dangerous. Fords that have little changed their appearance
are now impassable, and none but the stranger will attempt to cross them.
Even without such temporary dangers, the unwary traveller in such a
country, trying maybe to force a march when unacquainted with the village
tracks and local landmarks, will surely come to grief; and though within
an hour or two of some village where loyal, if frugal, hospitality awaits
him, will find himself lost, with little means of knowing how to direct
his footsteps. For the village which he would gain lies hidden out of
sight in some sheltered nook, or behind a bend in the river, or beyond a
rise of ground. Yet even though he reach the village by night, whether
as an armed party or as a benighted wanderer, his welcome is secure,
and his life is sacred. No questions will be asked him, nor will any
demand the reason of his coming. Warm milk and home-made bread-cakes,
and sometimes honey, will be offered him as refreshment; and after a
few simple courtesies the best room will be put at his disposal. In the
morning the ‘swash-swish’ of the churn, an inflated goatskin, will tell
him that the housewife is busied with his breakfast: soon the door is
opened and he recognises in his attendant, who lays the round tray before
him, none other than his host, the headman of the village. His horse is
fed and saddled, and the chief’s son is his guide.
In the main valley, however, we have not found that which we seek.
Pushing on then up one of the sources of the river we reach Kartal, in
a green dell begirt with wooded hills. Though off the beaten track this
place is only one day’s journey by mountain-path from Aintab. Perhaps
on this account the people here are freer. Their simplicity of life is
the same, but their curiosity is greater and their restraint is less.
Here we are soon friends; and have opportunity to study their manners
and their features. Their houses are partly hollowed in the hillside as
in many parts of Asia Minor, alike for economy in construction, and for
better protection against rain and cold. The roofs are built of timber,
and so covered with earth that it is difficult in descending from above
to distinguish them from the surface of the ground with which they are
continuous. The chief industry of the villagers, in addition to the
tending of their fields and flocks, is the making of butter and dairy
produce, which is sent to the market at Aintab. They are said to be
Turkomans, descendants of wanderers from the East who settled here many
generations back, and now an element of the Turkish people. But there
is something in their faces reminiscent of Hittite portraits, suggested
generally in the women, and marked strongly in some of the men, though
in others not at all. This glimmer seems to be due to mixture in past
times with a pre-existing population; for in the hills above there are
settlements of woodmen whom even these villagers regard as a somewhat
strange and different people. Here, at last, we come face to face with
that remarkable type portrayed so clearly on Egyptian sculptures, and
suggested also in the Hittite monuments themselves, characterised by the
strong nose in line with the receding forehead, the round protrusion
of the head behind, the heavy lips and beard, and the stolid look. The
figure is short and thickset, betokening stamina and strength. Our
photograph[12] was obtained at Kuchuk Kizil-Hissar, nearer to Aintab, but
it is clear that the home of this type is now the mountainous country,
where it has persevered in seclusion and still survives.
Our wanderings in this district have not then been fruitless. The
traveller may be rewarded also by a picture of wonderful beauty to be
seen at sunset from the wooded heights near the sources of the Afrîn
River and the Kara Su. Pen cannot describe the delicacy and harmony of
the colours in the trees, with the effects of light and shade among their
leaves and in the shadows of the foreground; nor could brush compose the
majesty and depth imparted by Nature to the distance of this scene. Ridge
beyond ridge, of varied forms and softening colours, leads back to where
beneath the reddening glow the bold ranges of the Amanus chain are seen
purple, even while the snow-clad peaks of far-distant Taurus in the north
still gleam in the last lingering rays of light.
[Illustration: PLATE V
KARTAL: VERANDAH OF A HOUSE
Churning, left; crushing grain with a wooden mallet, right back.
KARTAL: GROUP OF TURKOMAN WOMEN
(Note the cylindrical hat and cover).]
From here the western edge of the Qurt Dagh range descends abruptly to a
broad and marshy valley, shut in, on the other side, by the Giaour Dagh.
The land is flat, and the streams, after descending from the mountains,
mostly stagnate in marshes overgrown with reeds and scrub. From the
middle tract egress is almost wholly shut off, by ridges and outliers
from the hills. Such water as escapes either flows northward to join
the Pyramus or southward to form the Kara Su. Though now pestilential
with malaria and sparsely inhabited, this valley is naturally very
fertile; and numerous mounds which dot the surface are indicative of
extensive ancient settlement.[13] Among these are the sites of Sinjerli
and Sakje-Geuzi, which provide us with our most complete architectural
monuments of the Hittites on this side of the Taurus. Here there seem to
have been a series of petty states or principalities,[14] consisting of
groups of towns clustering round the palace of the local king, fortified
strongly with stone walls and towers. We do not yet know what may have
been the precise relations of these elements of the population to one
another; but it is clear that in the days of Hittite supremacy they must
have been amongst those tribes who shared in the confederacy.[15] It
is also obvious that no people could hope to defend themselves in this
valley who did not hold the passes of the mountain-ranges on either side.
[Illustration: PLATE VI
BOGCHE: THE VILLAGE WHICH GIVES ITS NAME TO A CHIEF PASS OVER THE AMANUS
MOUNTAINS]
The westerly chain of the Giaour Dagh, indeed, was readily defensible.
Except for a few local tracks available only in the summer, there are
but few passes over its unbroken mass, and these are well defined. This
splendid range of mountains, better known as Mount Amanus, forms a
main branch of the Taurus system, from which it is divided only by the
valley of the Pyramus. It separates Syria from Cilicia on the west, and
touching the sea near Alexandretta follows the coast south-westward,
until arrested by the broad valley of the Orontes. The average height
of the chain is from four to six thousand feet, while some of its peaks
reach almost to the snow-line.[16] Of the several passes that traverse
it, that which leads transversely from Marash into Cilicia presents
the easiest gradient, and is much used by caravans, though impassable
by carts. The central pass above Bogche, however, is better known,
being the direct line of communication between Cilicia and the East.
Bogche itself is reached from Osmaniyeh on the eastern borders of the
Cilician plain by a path which, while generally following the valley
of the Bogche Su, traverses also some outlying ridges. The village is
thus found picturesquely situated in an open and fertile spot among the
hills. The long ascent thence continues up to one of the main sources of
the same stream until the watershed is crossed, whence the descent is
steep and rugged to the valley. The track then heads directly by Sakje
Geuzi over the Qurt Dagh to Aintab, and so eastward to the crossing of
the Euphrates. Though direct and not very difficult, this route is
not yet made passable by carts, and perhaps for this reason the mail
from Adana and the West takes the coast route, on mule pack, round to
Alexandretta,[17] whence rises the main road to the interior. The Beilan
Pass, as it is called, above Alexandretta, is by far the easiest, and the
steep gradient on either side is so nicely engineered that it is hardly
realised in passing where the watershed is crossed. Leading down directly
to the fair seaport on the Mediterranean, this route for centuries has
been a main channel of commerce between Europe and Asia; and until
the railway connecting Aleppo with Beyrout diverted a large part of
the traffic, caravans consisting of hundreds of laden camels in long
procession could be seen daily, bringing out the merchandise of the East,
and taking back the manufactured products of the West.
The mountain-chain now turns south-west, and terminates abruptly in the
rocky point called in Arabic _Ras El Khanzîr_, ‘The Pig’s Head,’ while
its southern slopes descend steeply to the estuary of the Orontes.
Beyond, the mountainous character of the coast is continued south in the
Jebel Ansarîa (or Bargylus Mountains), which hold on until broken by the
broad rift which divides them from the Lebanon. Hugging the eastern side
of this range the Orontes River comes northward, and turning sharply
where the mountains break, it flows past Antioch south-westward to the
sea. At the bend it is joined by the Afrîn River and the Kara Su in a
broad and swampy hollow almost shut in by the mountain-ranges and the
eastern plains.
The sources of the Orontes are found in the northern region of the
Anti-Lebanon, and here the southern limit of the Hittite monuments is
reached.[18] In this vicinity was Kadesh, the frontier fortress of the
Hittites that figures so prominently in the battle-scenes of Egypt. Here,
too, is Homs, now a remarkable Arab city, at the junction of the main
routes from Damascus to Aleppo, and from Palmyra to Tripolis on the sea.
Further north is Restan, strongly placed at a bend of the river on a
steep and naturally defended knoll. Further again is Hamath, where the
main road and the river separate, the latter turning westward to seek its
green bed below the mountains, and the former holding on directly towards
Aleppo across the plains. Here, at Hamath, were found the hieroglyphic
inscriptions which first gave rise to systematic Hittite studies. Here,
too, types of people are found strongly reminiscent of the past, like
living models of the ancient sculptures.[19]
[Illustration: PLATE VII
BEILAN: VIEW OF THE VILLAGE AT THE SUMMIT OF THE PASS (_See p. 15._)]
This district, in the head-waters of the Orontes, was not only the
Hittite frontier, but was such as the Hittites in the period of their
settlement seem to have delighted in. Here their walled towns and
citadels sprang up, in the midst of a land well watered and reasonably
fertile, under the shadow of mountains which cut them off from the sea
and from their enemy of the South; while behind the road was open to call
up in necessity the assistance of the northern branches of their people.
* * * * *
From the Taurus we descended firstly to the north of Syria, because in
the development of Hittite studies this region first attracted attention
through the references to it in Egyptian and Assyrian history. But modern
research has added to our knowledge of the Hittite lands a wider and
different territory on the other side. There the descent to the interior
of Asia Minor from the mountains is not so marked, for even around the
foot of snow-capped Argæus, the most advanced pinnacle of the system,
the plateau is still four thousand feet above the sea. The level falls
gradually towards the west, but rarely much below three thousand feet;
while on the other hand the numerous minor ranges that break the surface
of the interior attain a considerably greater height. This tableland is
almost enclosed by ridges of mountains: on the north and south these
descend directly to the coast; on the west they are more broken and less
bold, but they constitute none the less a great obstacle between the
plateau and the green valleys of the Ægean coast.[20] On the east, as we
have already seen, are the Anti-Taurus ranges, backed by the Armenian
hills beyond. The upland area thus enclosed is from two to three hundred
miles across according to the direction taken, for its form is irregular.
Only to the south is the boundary sharply defined, where the range of
Taurus forms a mighty wall, which in the middle turns almost a right
angle in direction, running north-eastward and north-west. The whole
plateau may be regarded as irregularly five-sided.
The interior varies greatly in its features, the chief agent being the
peculiarities of its river systems. Shut in as it is, many rivers fail to
find an outlet to the sea: this is especially the case in the plain which
lies at the foot of the western ranges of the Taurus, where the waters
stagnate, forming salt lakes or marshes. This plain is green around
Konia, but its extensions to the north and east are practically desert,
being parched and barren in the summer months. On its north-east, in the
centre of the peninsula, its boundary is the largest salt lake of the
interior, which is fed likewise by several minor inland streams. There
are some rivers, however, which find an outlet even through the Taurus
ranges, but such are more common towards the west and north-west. The
districts which these water are consequently among the most attractive of
Asia Minor, with areas of natural woodland and green pastures, as well as
fertile soil for cultivation.
But the greatest river and most important landmark of the interior is the
Halys, which describes a broad circuit through the heart of the plateau,
enclosing towards the north-east a tract about a hundred and fifty miles
across which mostly lies in the basin of the river, well watered by
its many tributaries. This region is one of the most important in our
subject. Though not extensively cultivated, for the stable population
even here is relatively small, it is none the less highly fertile. Its
hills and slopes are mostly green with pastures, and in the flat valleys
are long reaches suitable for the plough. Another favoured district lies
southward from the Halys, passing by Mount Argæus, skirting the eastern
edges of the plain, and watered by streamlets from the Anti-Taurus.
Here in the vicinity of Tyana are wide acres of corn-land, gardens are
plentiful, and even trees abound.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII
WOODLAND ON THE SOUTH SLOPES OF TAURUS
(_See pp. 19, 47._)]
Woodland is rare in the interior, but highland trees grow in profusion
on the mountain-sides. The middle heights of the Taurus are covered with
virgin forest, especially on the southern aspect, where every variety
of European tree is found; and the pine-woods of Phrygia in the west
have been a feature of the country throughout its history.[21] The
slopes overlooking the Black Sea, however, catch the chief share of the
northern rains, and here consequently forest-land is plentiful,[22]
and nearly continuous along the coast. The interior is almost rainless
in the summer-time,[23] and relies chiefly for its water supply on the
winter storms, and later melting of the mountain snows. Owing to its
high elevation above the sea the cold season is severe and persistent:
the bleak winds from southern Russia sweep across its plains and open
spaces, driving the population of the exposed areas for shelter into
houses either sunk below the surface of the ground or hollowed in the
banks of streams. The compensation for this inclement season is ample in
the summer weather, when the warm sun shining down from blue skies is
tempered by refreshing breezes which the altitude produces—features of
climate that distinguish this tableland from the southern coasts, and
from the plains of Syria.
Such in brief are the striking features of this portion of the Hittites’
land. On these breezy highlands the ancient people found all the elements
of contentment: hunter, woodman, shepherd, and peasant found each his
home, in which Nature provided him with all the ordinary requirements
of his life. Nor was the development of his civilisation to be arrested
by his settlement: the resources of his country were inexhaustible;
mines of useful and precious minerals are not uncommon;[24] and the
means of providing other commodities was at hand, for the walls of the
plateau were not without openings to foster some relations with the
coast and so with other lands. But, on the whole, the uplands which he
had occupied were economically self-contained; and for the stimulus to
his civilisation we look naturally to the East, and especially to the
old-established culture on the Euphrates, the communications with which,
by the nature of his settlement, were open and in his power.[25]
In the foregoing general view of Central Asia Minor we have seen that
the interior tableland may be divided conveniently for description into
five main regions, not for the most part separated from one another by
any definite boundary, but each characterised by some special feature.
These are, in the south, the plains that lie northward and eastward
from Iconium; in the west, the pine-clad hills and verdant pastures
of Phrygia, where several great rivers rise that descend in different
directions; in the north, the upland but not highland country around
Angora, in which also is the divide between some tributaries of the
Sangarius and of the Halys; in the north-east, the broad tract enclosed
by the convex curve of the Halys River, to which we shall presently
return; and, in the south-east, the tract of which Tyana is the centre,
with which we shall include the eastern portion of the plain of Konia
and the range of Taurus that bounds it on the south. Of these regions,
the two latter may be regarded as an eastern or inner group as opposed
to the three former lying to their west, from which they are physically
separated, more clearly, at any rate, than the components of either group
from one another, by the broad expanse of desert, the great central
lake, and especially by the middle course of the Halys. This distinction
between eastern and western will be found to have a real significance
as our story develops: it is clear from the outset, however, that the
former group would first receive and longest retain contact with Eastern
civilisation, whether by the natural approaches over the watershed
between the Euphrates and the Halys, or by the several crossings of the
Anti-Taurus which converge upon Cæsarea, or by what is now the chief
channel of communication through the Taurus Mountains by way of Cilicia.
This distinction will be found further emphasised by the comparative
plenty of Hittite monuments on the one side, and their paucity in the
west. On the southern plains, indeed, skirting the main range of Taurus,
westward progress was less restrained;[26] but that the Halys in the
north presented a real barrier[27] is borne out by the fact that when
the Lydian Crœsus crossed the Halys in the sixth century B.C. he found
a strange and presumably non-Aryan people surviving upon the eastern
side, who were indeed, according to Herodotus,[28] called Syrians by the
Greeks, and by that historian spoken of as Syro-Cappadocians.
With our two eastern divisions we must include the plain and district
westward of Cæsarea, a tract which on the north lies partly in the
basin of the Halys, and on the south is practically continuous with
the plains of Tyana, from which it is separated only by a low ridge of
hills. Towards the west are the remarkable troglodyte villages,[29]
where, probably from remote antiquity, the inhabitants have hewn out
their dwellings in the soft surface rock and conical mounds which are
the peculiar feature of the locality. There is little evidence as yet,
however, to make this region of importance in our subject, and it is only
recently that Cæsarea has yielded trace of Hittite handiwork.[30] None
the less the continuation of exploration will certainly bring to light
new monuments, for the district lies in the heart of the Hittite country;
and Old Cæsarea (Mazaca) was the residence of Cappadocian kings.
[Illustration: PLATE IX
CÆSAREA: CLOISTER OF A SCHOOL, WITH THE CITADEL BEYOND]
The position of Cæsarea is geographically of great importance, and
from Roman times at any rate has marked the focus of the trade and
traffic, and consequently of the road-systems, of the interior. The
soil locally is of great fertility, owing to its volcanic nature. Vines
and fruit-trees grow and thrive luxuriantly. The middle heights of
slumbering Argæus are covered thickly with pine-woods. The snow-capped
peak of this mountain towers in the heavens, the conspicuous feature of
the horizon and the landmark for two days’ journey on every side. Its
form is conical: to the west and south, where it rises directly from the
plain, its base is washed by great lakes and marshes of variable extent.
Towards the east it is connected up by broken ridges with the Anti-Taurus
system. On its northern slope is Asarjik, overlooking Cæsarea, which
lies at the foot of the mountain on that side. The site of the ancient
city (Mazaca) is probably that marked by the ruins of Græco-Roman times,
to be found in the vineyards on a low spur of the mountain about a mile
south of the modern town.[31] Here is a spot that will one day reward
excavation by a volume of unsuspected history. In the modern town, apart
from its bazaars and industries and its splendid mediæval remains,[32]
one of the most interesting sights is the ever-changing stream of human
faces to be seen in its streets, for its traffic and position bring to
it daily caravans from every side. In its resident population there
are considerable Greek and Armenian elements; but there may be noticed
as specially of interest to our subject the Jewish families,[33] in
which the dominant features of face and stature recall again the type
previously noticed at Kartal in Northern Syria. Main roads radiate from
Cæsarea in all directions: towards the north-east to Sivas by the valley
of the Halys; to the north by Yuzgat, crossing the river, which is
five hours distant from Cæsarea, by a remarkable bridge of many spans
(hence called _Chok-Geuz Keupru_); to the north-west by way of a lower
bridge (called in contrast _Bir-Geuz_, or One-span Bridge), heading
thence directly for Angora by the bridge at Cheshme Keupru; to the west
across the plains to Konia by Sultan Han, skirting the southern border
of the salt lake (Tuz Geul); to the south by Injesu and Tyana, and so
to the Cilician Gates, or by a western branch to Eregli. An alternative
route from Cæsarea to the Cilician Gates, shorter but impassable by
carts, leads through defiles of wild beauty through the outlying ridges
of the Anti-Taurus. South-east there are several well-established
mountain tracks, like those to Fraktin and Ekrek, but there is one
of special interest and antiquity, to which we have already alluded,
heading directly for Marash by way of the high pass of Kuru-Bel,[34]
and passing hence by Komana. Of the other routes enumerated there is
one which was already of importance on general grounds before a recent
discovery gave to it a special historical interest. This is the main road
north and south, passing through Yuzgat, which in antiquity connected
Boghaz-Keui with the east by way of Tyana and the Cilician Gates. This is
clearly a southerly stage of the Royal Road of the Persian period, but
whether it is the main route is not determinable from the description
of Herodotus.[35] It has, however, now been traced for several miles
between Injesu and a ford of the river near Bogche,[36] by the ruts
scored deeply and over a broad track on the surface rock, exactly like
the section previously traced through Phrygia by Sir William Ramsay.[37]
It is significant that this route did not touch Cæsarea, to reach which
a considerable détour must be made around the foot of Argæus, so much
so that even now an optional route is in use from Injesu to Chok-Geuz
Keupru. The old route was, if anything, even more direct, for from
Injesu, near which it is traceable, it headed for the river in due line
for Boghaz-Keui. The Hittite inscription overlooking the river at Bogche,
the continuous signs of the road approaching Injesu from this direction,
the Phrygian inscription found on the site of Tyana,[38] and the Hittite
inscriptions from the same vicinity,[39] are evidences of the antiquity
of this road analogous in every way to those which have been accepted
as identifying it in the Phrygian country, from Bey-Keui to Doghanlu.
Incidentally we find light in this discovery on the historical antiquity
of the Cilician Gates as the main channel of communication with the east.
Later in these pages[40] we shall find reason to believe that the western
part of the great Royal Road, which led the Persian posts in crossing
Asia Minor to make the wide détour by way of Pteria (even though the city
was in ruins),[41] had been made and established by the Hittites in the
thirteenth century B.C., when the stone walls of their capital crowned
the hilltops of Boghaz-Keui. Possibly the earliest communication with the
East was by way of the valley of the _Tochma Su_,[42] or by Marash; but
the development of this southern branch of the main chariot-way cannot
well be later than the tenth century B.C., when the second kingdom of the
Hittites grew prominent with Tyana (or maybe Cæsarea) as its centre.
[Illustration: PLATE X
INJESU: VIEW OF THE MOSQUE AND TOWN]
In passing now to a closer examination of the geography of those portions
of the tableland with which we shall be most concerned in later chapters,
we cannot begin more appropriately than by a description of the Halys
River itself, as one of the definite landmarks of the interior, and as
including in its circuit some of the most instructive Hittite works. This
splendid river, known in the Turkish language as the Kizil Irmak, has a
total length of five hundred miles, without counting its minor windings.
Its sources must be sought in the map beyond Sivas, far up the northern
slope of the lower Armenian hills,[43] where at one point but a few miles
divide it from several tributaries of the Euphrates. For nearly two
hundred miles it holds on in a south-westerly direction through hilly
country, fed by numerous short streams on either hand, which scour for
themselves deep channels in their swift descent. Its waters are deeply
stained red-brown in colour by the rich sediment which it carries. Its
banks are rugged, and like most main rivers of western Asia it flows
deep below the general level of the basin which it drains. The bridge
opposite Cæsarea (Chok-Geuz) is only gained by a steep climb on either
side. Between this and the other bridge some fifteen miles lower down,
the river flows characteristically through a steep-sided valley, with
only narrow strips of verdure along its banks. These strips are precious,
and, though liable to be washed out by flood,[44] are cultivated with
great care by individual peasants, who are rewarded with fruits and even
flowers, as well as the vegetables which are their chief concern.[45]
Sometimes these strips, which are never more than a few feet in width,
give way entirely where the rocks protruding from the bank present an
obstacle around which the deep waters swirl. Ever and again, however, the
steep banks recede, leaving a green oasis wherein a village lies among
its crops. Yamoola is such a place, where the right bank lies back as
the lower bridge is approached. But for the most part the edges of the
plateau in which the river’s bed is sunk are so rugged and so strewn with
stone that they remain uncultivated. Here and there villages are found
even in the river’s banks; in some cases the entire houses are excavated
therein, so that their windows look out on the water through walls of
solid stone, as at Chok-Geuz Keupru; in other cases the excavation is
more partial, leaving most of the frontage and part of the roof to be
built—the one with mud, the other with timber and mud, as may be seen by
following the left bank below the lower bridge. The traveller will also
be rewarded here in summer-time with wildflowers in varieties of colour
surpassing imagination, possible only in a highly fertile and neglected
soil. Patches of pink, blue, orange, white and yellow meet the eye in
quick succession. Roses grow in profusion, while here and there are whole
fields of purple iris, shining and changing hue as they bend in the
sunlight to the winds that play upon them.
[Illustration: PLATE XI
THE HALYS RIVER, BETWEEN CHOK GEUZ AND BIR GEUZ]
The volume of the river has now become so great that fords are few and
generally difficult. That near Bogche[46] is no longer passable in the
winter and spring-time. The village itself lies back from the river-brink
about fifteen miles below the Bir-Geuz bridge. Karaburna lies near
the opposite bank, another day’s journey lower down. Hereabouts the
hilly ground which lies eastward of the great lake Tuz Geul arrests the
southerly progress of the river, which, thrown back, turns in a great
sweep north-westwards for nearly a hundred miles, then northwards to
latitude of Angora, so dividing the heart of the peninsula. The chief
bridge in the latter portion of its course is now at Cheshme Keupru,
where amongst other main communications the road from Cæsarea to Angora
recrosses the river. Hereabouts it would seem there was a bridge and
fort or guardhouse in Persian times,[47] where the royal road from the
Phrygian country and the west passed over towards Boghaz-Keui. Above this
bridge the immediate banks are green and on the left side open; but below
the waters pass at once into a rocky defile, changes which are typical
of the varying nature of the river’s bed. Opposite Angora (which is
distant about thirty miles at the nearest point) Nature opposes further
obstacles to the northerly progress of the river in the broken ranges of
the northern coast, so that it now turns completely upon its original
direction, and henceforth flows north-easterly with one main détour. As
it winds around the foot of the Kush Dagh it descends from the plateau,
and in a widening valley with fertile banks finds its way into the Black
Sea, northwards from Samsun, at the point of a promontory which it has
itself deposited.
[Illustration: PLATE XII
YENI-HAN, NEAR SEKKELI: NOMAD ENCAMPMENT ON THE DELIJE IRMAK (_See p.
29._)]
The great circuit of the Halys encloses a tract of country a hundred and
fifty miles across, watered chiefly by tributaries of the same river.
Of these the Delije Irmak is chief, and it is perhaps more directly
concerned with the fertility of the country than its parent river. It
rises in the watershed of the Ak Dagh Mountains, under the southern
slopes of which the Halys itself flows down the long reach between Sivas
and the bridges near Cæsarea. Thence in its course it makes a similar
circuit within that of the Halys, which it only joins in the middle of
the north-westerly reach. This river is more gentle in its flow, and
its banks are mostly flat alluvial tracts of great fertility; indeed,
the land would support a population many times more numerous than its
settled inhabitants. Long green pastures and arable spots remain unneeded
and neglected. It is small wonder that the wandering Turkoman and other
nomad peoples have found out this favoured region so suitable to their
habits and the feeding of their flocks. Their tents in little groups are
found quite frequently in places off the beaten tracks; indeed their
encampments remaining through several years sometimes mark the foundation
of villages and settled life. The tent of the nomad is generally made
of lengths of rough hand-made cloth, woven from home-spun goats’ wool.
These are sewn together to give a considerable expanse of cover, which
is spread over vertical poles and brought down to earth on the windward
side. In such a tent the owner and his family share a common shelter
with their flocks and any other animals they may possess.[48] In some
cases the development of the house from tent may be watched growing
proportionately with the duration of their stay. For the ashes and
rubbish are regularly thrown out around the back of the tent for mere
convenience. This refuse gradually accumulates, and may be increased by
earth cleared gradually from within, and by stones collected from the
land in use around, so that in a year or two a wall or mound three or
four feet high already encloses the tent on three sides. The worn-out
cloth cover is now replaced by a roof of rafters and twigs covered with
earth, and perhaps without realising it the nomad has settled and built a
house. The solution is not always so simple or purely economical. In some
cases walls of reed are built, over which the cover will be stretched
as before and held down all around with pegs. In due course, with a
prolonged stay, the worn-out cloth will be replaced by thatch, and rough
stone walls supplant the decaying reeds; and so, as he loses the habit of
wandering, the nomad loses also the necessaries of his journeys.
[Illustration: PLATE XIII
CHESME KEUPRU: INTERIOR OF THE HAN (_See p. 28._)
NEAR SEKKELI: YURUK ENCAMPMENT (_See p. 29._)]
The Delije Irmak is replenished in its turn by numerous smaller streams;
on one of these is Yuzgat, which had its origin in a settlement of
Turkomans, and has now grown to be one of the most important towns of the
district. It is pleasantly situated in the cup-like hollow of a green
hillside, and with its well-ordered streets, its stone-built bazaars and
public buildings, has an appearance of considerable attraction. Here
horses are to be procured of useful kind and at reasonable prices, and a
great horse fair is held annually in the summer months. The masoned stone
used in its construction was largely brought from the ruins of ancient
Tavium, which is found at Nefez-Keui, a short journey to the west.
The latter is one of the most typical and instructive villages of the
interior. It is placed near the sources of another tributary of the same
river, well up the southern slopes of a considerable secondary watershed.
In typical fashion the backs of the houses are partly excavated in the
hillside, so that the mud-covered roofs are continuous with the ground
behind, while the fronts of the houses and the village streets are
banked up in terraces. Nearly all the houses have some form of verandah
sheltering their entrances; and numerous Greek inscriptions may be found
built into the walls of many buildings. The ancient acropolis may be
recognised by a few sculptured fragments in a steep knoll some minutes
westward, and on the way the modern cemetery is passed in which also
several stones bearing Greek inscriptions or sculptures have been re-used
and in some cases re-inscribed. The main industry of the villagers here,
as everywhere in Asia Minor, is naturally agriculture. The fields in
the dales below, though somewhat marshy in places, are very green with
luxurious pastures and some quantity of trees; while nearer the village
gardens of vegetables are plentiful with orchards of fruit-trees and
a considerable expanse of vineyards. Other national industries are
carried on in the houses unnoticed, such as the hand-weaving of small
carpets,[49] done chiefly by the women. The water supply of the village
is found in several springs, which have been built up and prepared for
the watering of cattle and flocks, as well as for domestic purposes. The
scene of women washing their garments or their children at the trough, or
drawing water at the source is here, as throughout the East, one of the
most characteristic of daily life. The prevailing type of face among the
inhabitants of this place is Turkoman, but a certain clean-cut Greek or
proto-Greek type of face may be found suggested in some few of the men,
recalling distantly a special type of Hittite warriors as portrayed in
Egyptian sculpture. Some of the women are noticeably beautiful.[50]
Northwards from Nefez-Keui the route continues to rise to the crest
of this secondary watershed, which reaches a height of over seven
thousand feet. From the eastern edge several streams fall away to join
the Chekerek. As soon as the northern slopes are reached, a remarkable
change of landscape presents itself; bare patches are replaced by
continuous pastures, and the stream which descends towards Boghaz-Keui
passes through meadows and wooded glades of peculiar beauty. As the
river[51] gathers strength it works its way into a deep continuous vale
of increasing splendour, the slopes of which are thickly covered with
trees and shrubbery of considerable variety, except where here and there
a bare patch of rock or red-brown soil adds to the contrast of colours.
At the mouth of this valley, on the right at the foot of the hill, the
little village of Boghaz-Keui is disclosed, with its white minaret and
houses and large konak, on a low outcrop of rock, made pleasant by a few
trees and splashing streams. The ridge is left behind, and the landscape
immediately opens out into wide pastures bounded by dark green uplands,
and broken freely by white limestone rocks. The name of this place, the
‘Village of the Gorge,’ has arisen possibly on account of its general
situation, or more probably in reference to the deep ravine of another
river[52] which bounds the eastern edge of the historic hill, on which
are the palaces and acropolis of ancient Pteria, that marks the one-time
capital and centre of the land. It is difficult for us now to realise,
with the changed political and economic conditions, what special feature
there was peculiar to this site, unless that were its climate and
defensible position, that should have marked it out for such a destiny.
Its ancient city is now a deserted ruin, without meaning to modern life.
Its roadways have no longer any significance, and even in the faces of
its people there can be seen no reflection of its former population.
It would seem that the Lydian conqueror of the sixth century B.C. had
thoroughly and effectively destroyed it.[53]
[Illustration: PLATE XIV
NEFEZ-KEUI: TWO WOMEN DRAWING AT THE SPRING
TYANA: TURKISH WOMEN AND CHILD]
Another Hittite site, marked by a low mound now covered by the village
of Eyuk, lies some twenty miles farther to the north. The route thither
winds around somewhat barren uplands, among which a few arable spots have
been chosen as the sites of villages. In some of these, particularly in
the remoter places upon the hills, an ancient type survives in striking
and rugged contrast to the familiar though varying Turkish features.[54]
Our photograph, taken at Kulakly (a hamlet on the way from Boghaz-Keui
to Eyuk), discloses the same prominent facial details and sturdy figures
as we have previously seen in the woodlands above Kartal in the north
of Syria. It is a type preserved to some extent in the Jewish families
found in some of the towns of Asia Minor, as we have seen to be the case
at Cæsarea.[55] It is strikingly reminiscent of the Amorite element among
the Hittite allies on the Egyptian battle scenes.
The main roadways of this region, as indeed throughout the tableland in
general, are curiously independent of the river systems. Local tracks
follow naturally the valleys of streams so far as these serve for the
required direction, but in general the high roads are independently
devised. Of these the two which cross at Yuzgat are the chief: the one
leads from Cæsarea northwards either to Chorum, the administrative
headquarters of this district,[56] or to Amasîa somewhat eastward, and
so on to Samsun on the coast of the Black Sea; while the other connects
Sivas with Angora and the west. The latter route as it approaches the
Halys passes by Denek Maden, where are considerable mines of lead and
silver, the ore of which contains also antimony and gold. The descent
to the Halys bed lies through a well-timbered country, and the river is
crossed by this route at Cheshme Keupru. There are also other routes of
considerable importance, one of which has been mentioned as connecting
Cæsarea with Angora directly, crossing the Halys twice; while another
from Angora eastward, much used in summer-time, passes over the river
considerably north of Cheshme Keupru, heading for Sungurlu, whence the
way is open to Chorum by way of Eyuk, or to Yuzgat, passing in this case
by Boghaz-Keui.
There are some few rivers of this region which do not enter the basin
of the Halys. The chief of these is the Chekerek, which rises likewise
in the Ak Dagh Mountains, and pursues a circuitous course northwards,
in avoiding the slopes of minor ranges, until it joins the river Iris
at Amasîa. The last-named river, called in Turkish the Yeshil Irmak,
with its main branch the Lycus, belongs entirely to the coastal system,
and so does not enter into our account of the interior plateau. Another
stream just eastward of the Iris is the Thermodon, made famous in Greek
literature[57] by its association with the Amazons. This is one of a
series of similar rivers which flow almost directly northwards to the
Black Sea from the lower Armenian hills. There are other short rivers of
like kind westward of the Halys, some of which help to feed that river,
while others flow directly to the sea. These do not need to be mentioned
by their names, as they all fall away from the northern slopes of the
broken and irregular chain of mountains that forms the northern boundary
to the tableland.
[Illustration: PLATE XV
YUZGAT: DERVISH AND VAGABONDS
KULAKLY KEUI: TYPES OF INHABITANTS]
The most westerly main river flowing to the Black Sea is the Sangarius or
Sakaria, which rises in the interior, and avoids the northern ranges by a
long westerly détour. Numerous early tributaries of this great river rise
indeed in the slopes of those northern mountains, while others fall from
the western side of the divide, which on the east overlooks the Halys.
These meander southward and westward, seeking for an opening through
the upland region of which Angora is the economic centre. The country
which they water resembles in general characteristics many portions in
the basin of the Halys; and though large tracts equally remain barren
and neglected through lack of population, it is on the whole better
cultivated, and hence more productive. Angora itself is strikingly placed
upon a hill, crowned by an old fortress which overlooks a ravine with
precipitous sides.[58] Here are extensive gardens and cultivation in
sheltered spots, and in the immediate neighbourhood are numerous orchards
and vineyards. The place is famous for its fruits, especially pears and
apples, and for its honey. The Angora goat is historic, and there is
still a considerable trade in the mohair which this animal produces,
and to some extent in special woven fabrics. It is the administrative
headquarters of a large province, the seat, that is to say, of a Wali;
and is an important trade centre for the interior. Several main roads
converge upon it, notably the high road connecting Constantinople with
the East, by way of Yuzgat and Sivas, which crosses the Halys at Cheshme
Keupru. A route no longer of first importance, but dating probably from
Phrygian times[59] at least, connects Angora with Giaour-Kalesi, some
thirty miles south-west, and another place in this vicinity with which we
are concerned is Yarre, placed just above a bridge across the Sangarius
called _Karanje Keupru_.
[Illustration: PLATE XVI
ANGORA: OLD HOUSES ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY]
In the time of Herodotus the country around Angora was obviously
regarded as a part of Phrygia, the eastern boundary of which was the
Halys, dividing it from Cappadocia,[60] yet we have preferred to look
upon this as a northern region apart, and to assign to the Phrygian
country its later and more familiar boundaries. As such Phrygia forms
the geographical centre of the western portion of the peninsula. Here is
the main watershed, in which are found the head-waters of three river
systems. On the one side are the sources of the Hermus and the Mæander
flowing down to the Ægean in the west; on another rises the Cayster (the
_Akkar-tchai_), and several smaller rivers which follow a southerly
or south-easterly course, emptying into inland lakes; while from the
northern slopes, as we have previously noticed, other waters feed the
Sangarius, and are rolled with the flood of that river into the Black Sea
eastward from the Bosphorus. These uplands are among the most attractive
parts of Asia Minor; the bracing air is filled with the delicious scent
of pine-woods, the verdant pastures are well watered by numerous clear
streams, and the meadows ripen under a glowing sun, the rays of which
are tempered by the altitude. Here, too, are numerous monuments of the
Phrygian kingdom; while north-east from these, at Doghanlu Daresi,
on one of many minor tributaries of the Sangarius, and south-west at
Bey-Keui, at one of the sources of the same river, near the summit of the
watershed, there have been found traces of Hittite handiwork. Through
the heart of this region, too, there passed the royal road of Persian
times,[61] visible as a series of parallel scars in the surface rock.
This was the main highway linking West with East, and that it developed
largely during Hittite times also is seen by the disposition of Hittite
monuments along its track. Near the coast, it passed near where the
sculptures of Sipylus and Kara-Bel looked down on the approaches to
Smyrna and to Ephesus. From Sardis its precise route eastward is not
determined, but it must have entered the Phrygian country near Bey-Keui,
whence it is traceable past Bakshish and the monument of the Phrygian
Midas, near which is also the Hittite sculpture at Doghanlu Daresi. Still
leading north-westward past Giaour-Kalesi, it would seem to have crossed
the Sangarius near to Yarre, and the Halys either at or just northwards
from Cheshme Keupru,[62] heading in all this otherwise unexplained
détour for Boghaz-Keui, the chief centre of the Hittites in the north.
This road had already lost its main objective even in Persian times, for
Pteria seems never to have recovered from its overthrow by Crœsus, but it
continued to be used, probably because it was ready made; and its traces
remain, like the isolated monuments of the Hittites in the west, striking
witnesses to a vast system of government and economic organisation unlike
anything in later times. For our immediate purpose it is sufficient to
notice that all the clearly Hittite monuments westward of the Halys are
found along this single line of road, a fact which is as significant as
it is remarkable.
[Illustration: PLATE XVII
NEFEZ-KEUI: CARPET-WEAVING (_See p. 31._)]
We do not include in the foregoing considerations the region of which
Iconium (_Konia_) is the centre, which fills the southern corner of the
tableland. Several main roads radiate naturally from this place, which
is the chief town of the province; there are, however, only two or
three with which we are even indirectly concerned. Of these one leads
north-westward, passing Ilgîn at a distance of about fifty miles, and so
into Phrygia, which it approaches up the valley of the inland Cayster.
The second is that which leads eastward across the plains by Sultan Han
and Akserai for Cæsarea; and a third, bending southward to avoid the
desert plains, communicates by Eregli with the Cilician Gates and with
Tyana (Kilisse Hissar). In ancient times there must have been a more
direct road connecting Iconium with Tyana, passing by Ardistama, the site
of which is still marked in what is now desert by the name of Arissama,
with the neighbouring mounds of Emir-Ghazi.[63]
Around and northward from Iconium there are extensive grass plains, the
natural grazing ground of horses which are sent in great droves annually
to the fairs and markets of the country, even as far as Baghdad. The
breeds are not remarkable for quality, and cannot compare with those rare
and beautiful animals reared in the plains that border the middle course
of the Euphrates; but they are for the most part a hardy species standing
little higher than a European pony, useful for transport, and trained for
the saddle to the fast walking pace in which long journeys are always
made.[64] The rivers of this region are short and local, ending for the
most part upon the plains in salt lakes and marshes, which, after the
snows have ceased to melt, become almost dry, leaving the ground covered
with white incrustation. Some of these lakes are of such volume as to be
permanent; the largest of the kind, as has already been mentioned, is Tuz
Geul; its waters are more dense even than those of the Dead Sea, and as
they recede with the approach of summer they leave behind thick deposits
of salt, collected regularly by the natives, who come many days’ journey
for the purpose.
There is another great lake a long day’s journey westward from Iconium;
its situation, however, is quite different from the foregoing, as it
is well up in the western mountains, nearly four thousand feet above
the sea. The town of Beyshehr, which gives its name to the lake, is
found on its south-eastern corner; and the road thereto from Iconium
passes by Fassiler, a place remarkable for its ancient monuments and the
peculiar facial type of its inhabitants. Further to the north, and near
the eastern border of the lake, is Eflatoun-Bunar, the site of a famous
‘Lycaonian’ structure called ‘Plato’s spring.’ With the tract westward of
Konia, however, we have at present little concern,[65] and when we turn
eastward we are inclined to regard the Hittite sites, whether along the
edge of Taurus like Mahalich and Ivrîz, or isolated in the desert like
Emir-Ghazi, as pertaining not to Konia, from which they are separated
by desert, but to the same group as Tyana, with which they are to some
extent geographically connected.
[Illustration: PLATE XVIII
NEFEZ KEUI: MINARET OF THE VILLAGE MOSQUE
Built of the drum of a fluted column, an altar and moulded base, of the
Roman period. (_See p. 31._)
ANATOLIAN HORSES: THE HALT AT NOONDAY (_See p. 39._)]
This eastern group of sites, indeed, is remarkably linked together by
a common river system. The centre is the ‘White Lake’ _Ak Geul_, at
the foot of the Taurus, westward from Eregli, and southward from the
desert ridge called Karaja Dagh, on the northern slopes of which is
Emir-Ghazi.[66] This lake is of variable size. When overfull its surplus
waters disappear in a hole that passes under the mountain; during the
dry season, however, it becomes a marshy pond of stagnant water. Into
this come three chief rivers. From the south-east the Ak Su, which rises
in the main chain of Taurus, drains also the outlying spur known as
the Kara Dagh, on the crest of which is Mahalich. Here also is Bin Bir
Kilisse, ‘The Thousand and One Churches,’ an ancient site; while just to
the north the isolated hill called Kizil Dagh rises from the plain. From
the south-east there comes the Kodja Su from high in the Bulghar Dagh,
flowing past Eregli, before which it is joined by a stream that with
wonderful noise gushes forth in many points from the rock near the hamlet
of Ivrîz, six or seven miles above the town. This source is called by
the natives _Huda Verdi_, ‘God-has-given,’ in appreciation of a divine
gift that transforms an arid corner of the desert into a garden-valley
rich in fruit-trees and vines. Into the same lake from the north-east
comes the Kizilja Su, after a sluggish journey across the eastern plains,
fed in its course by many streams descending from the inner ranges of
the Taurus. The head-waters of this river give life to a whole district
of peculiar interest. The main stream rises just northward at Andaval,
flowing past that village to Nigdeh and thence to Bor; just below here
it is joined by another branch on which is Kilisse Hissar, the site of
old-time Tyana. Here are abundant and picturesque ruins of antiquity, and
though nothing has yet been found earlier than the time of the Phrygian
Midas,[67] there seems to be no doubt from the accounts of Strabo and
other sources that it was from earliest times the political centre of
this region. It is even probable that the Hittite inscriptions found in
each of the neighbouring towns just mentioned have been transported from
here in past times.[68] This district is mostly level, being actually
the eastern border of the plain, though lying at the foot of the Ala
Dagh Mountains that from here trend north-east towards Argæus. Owing
doubtless to the various fertilising properties of the numerous streams
that come down from the hills the whole country is unusually fruitful and
productive; indeed, the region around Bor was in olden times selected
as a part of the Roman Imperial Estate. Everywhere are wide acres of
corn-land; while in the vicinity of the town are gardens, groves, and
vineyards, adding to the attraction which the numerous monuments of
antiquity already impart to it. The same features prevail all along the
route from Cæsarea by Injesu, passing by the extensive groves and gardens
of Develi Karahissar and the miles of arable land, dry but productive,
between Arabli and Andaval. The approach to Tyana, as we proceed, runs
for miles alongside an ancient but ruined aqueduct, picturesquely placed
among gardens and trees.[69] Continuing south, the rolling plains give
way gradually to the outlying spurs of the Taurus, and the main route
crossing the watershed leads on towards the Cilician Gates, down the main
valley of the Chakia Su.[70]
[Illustration: PLATE XIX
BOR: BRIDGE OVER THE KIZILJA-SU]