Classical Heritage of Anatolia (Day III)

Today we left Kusadasi bound for Pammukale. We drove most of the morning stopping for lunch along the way. The landscape outside my window has changed from the low lying lands along the seacoast to the high plateau/mountain region of Western Anatolia. Brick homes dot the landscape surrounded by dry, yellow fields with the mountains behind. There's not much arable land or crops being grown. Water allocation is a hot issue in this country. Damns and rivers provide most of Turkey’s water, but Turkey is going through a terrible dry spell and water is rationed. Cypress trees and olive tree groves appear often. Occasionally I see a small village and then we passed through Denizili, a major city in the area. The air is dry and the weather is HOT-108 degees Fahrenheit.

We arrived in the early afternoon to Aphrodisias, (Aphrodite-Greek/Venus-Roman), the city dedicated to the goddess of love and one of Turkey’s finest archeological sites. Here I got a real sense of the grandeur and the extent of the lost classical cities. The settlement at Afrodisias dates back to the 6th century BCE when Anatolians worshipped the local fertility goddess here. By the 2nd century BCE it was a town and by the 3rd century CE it had grown into the capital of the Roman province of Caria.

While here we visited the open air theatre that was built on the prehistoric earthmound that marked the earliest settlements of the city. We then saw the large agora and marveled at the gigantic swimming pool that ran its length. Then to the Hadrianic Baths where I could really envision the Romans bathing taking time during the day to come together in this place and bath in the pool and talk politics and discuss all sorts of social issues. The Roman bath became the model from which the Turkish Bath stemmed from. We passed the site of the Temple of Aphrodisias and later I visited the museum that contained her statue that was worshipped here. We could also see how the temple was later converted into a Byzantine Basilica in 500 CE. I loved touching the early Christian crosses carved into the marble pillars of the basilica. The stadium at Aphrodisias was the real treasure of this site. It’s the largest (30,000) and best preserved stadium in the classical world. The shape of the stadium is ovoid and at one end of the stadium was a circle for gladiatorial combats.








After lunch we payed a short visit to a village school, Atakoy Ilkogretim Okulu. The principal and a handful of adorable students were there to great us. Here is some data on the school:

• School founded in 1948

• 210 students, 3 buildings




• Children come from this village




• Each class has own classroom




• 14 teachers, 1 English




• 8 grades, 1st -5th here




• 50% continue to high school, 10% to university




• Students wear uniforms through high school (nationwide)




• Teacher shortage is a problem




• No internet yet, but hoping for it soon (basic training given)

1. Government mobilizes businesses to contribute and sponsor (tax cuts)

• Until 4th grade, teachers educate in all subjects; after, specialization




• Teachers pursue bachelors, take civil service exam and are assigned to regions by score and preference but must stay 2 years (victim of system)




• Equal salary by experience but not very different by region




• Teachers respected but expected to produce results




• Homework is expected and necessary for reality

• Government provides books for all 14 million students in the country

The students were worth the trip to this small, country school!










Next we traveled to ancient Hieropolis and the Pamukkale travertines. Hieropolis was an ancient spa-resort. It was located near calcium formations known in Turkish as Pammukale, or “Cotton Cloluds.” These gleaming white-calcium formations are a spectacular site. As our tour bus drove up to Hieropolis we marveled at the snow white mountains in the distance. We had some time to enjoy the waters of Pamukkale and then walk through the ruins of Hieropolis, past the spectacular Roman Theatre and into the Hieropolis thermal pool and then onto the necropolis of Hieropolis. I couldn’t help but feel sadness at the image of the ill sojourners coming to Hieropolis, hoping for a cure, and in many cases not getting it and ending up in the necropolis in the distance.




Despite the intense heat of early August, I loved my day at Aphrodisias/Hieropolis. What I enjoyed most about these sites was the closeness I could get to the ruins. To be able to touch the Greek and Latin inscriptions, exploring classical structures and walk among these ancient stones, allowed me to connect with the ancient inhabitants of Anatolia in a way no history book could teach. I felt a deep connection to these people of long ago. As my friend Susan and I ran through the necropolis of Hieropolis, while the sun was beginning to make its own journey to the underworld, I could feel how the ancients must have loved and laughed, and hoped and dreamed and lived and died like those of us today. All that remains of them now are the ruins around us and the writings they left behind. And like the ancients, we too will someday be gone and the ruins and writings we leave behind will speak for to future generations. I realized as we jumped on board the bus, that we share a common humanity, both the past and the present and we also share similar journeys through life and death.