The land of the Hittites : $b An account of recent explorations and discoveries in Asia Minor, with descriptions of the Hittite monumentsGarstang, John
History
The land of the Hittites : $b An account of recent explorations and discoveries in Asia Minor, with descriptions of the Hittite monuments
Garstang, John
Hittites; Turkey -- Antiquities
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]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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