Kusadasia

May 1^st. Gary's first post here. You should expect to read some inconsistencies between how I remember things vs Kristen's posts. 

We have just left Kusadasia after spending three days there with our Couch Surfing host, Mesut. We enjoyed his company and hospitality and an introduction to the culture here in Turkey. For example, we didn't know that it is customary to leave your shoes outside and wear house slippers around inside, as they do in Japan.

While there, Kristen figured out the public transportation system, and we visited the busy downtown shopping area one day, the ruins at Ephesus another, and ruins at Priene another.

Downtown Kusadasia consists of a number of interconnected car-free streets and alleys not far from the ancient caravanserai, where merchants, traders, sailors, camel caravan drivers and others could find a safe place for the night. Like a campground surrounded by a high stone wall.

We wandered past shops selling jewelry, shoes, clothing, hats (western style), handbags, gowns, tourist trinkets, and all manner of food. We heard a mixture of Turkish, English, Chinese and French until the cruise ships called their people back and it was only Turkish and some broken English if we started. Most of the goods in the many of the stores were commercial mass-produced, but I was intrigued by a store selling hand-painted pottery, called the Hacivat Shop. So we wandered in. While most stores were little more than a four meter front and went back perhaps five, this started small and expanded behind the five meter depth of the others. There were two men carefully brushing or dabbing on multi- colored glazes onto unfinished pottery items. There were bowls, plates and mugs, but also sculptures of cats, camels, donkeys, dancers, etc. and almost all hand made right here in the store, plus a few pieces from other shops elsewhere in Turkey. Kristen found several that couldn't be left behind. Walk into any store and an attendant will be upon you, and we had one here. After several purchases and making arrangements for shipping to the US, our salesman offered to show us to his brother's shop. This one, he claimed, is the oldest continuously operating shop in Kusadasia. His brother's is the second. Is it true? Not? It doesn't matter.

He leads us a short distance to a rug dealer, introduces us to Ali, and returns. As you may recall, Kristen is half Armenian, a major reason for this trip, and Armenians are stereotyped as rug dealers. Her father was knowledgeable about rugs and passed that knowledge down. So she very quickly earned the trust and confidence of Ali. We sat on the floor. We were shown rugs. A man came in and served us 'apple tea', or hot apple juice. We talked of Persian carpets, Armenian carpets, Kurdish carpets, Iranian carpets, and of course Turkish carpets. We talked of the history of carpets and how most nowadays are machine made and it is rare to find a new hand-made carpet anywhere. We looked at the back of the carpets and felt the fronts. Knotted carpets have a thick luxurious nap on the front and the pattern is visible front and back (but no nap on the back). Knot density is an indicator of quality, as is how overall dark the carpet it, as dyes take time, expertise and cost, especially reds. And these were hand dyed using natural dyes. Woven carpets are made entirely on the loom and often are reversible – front and back are the same. Embroidered carpets start with a plain woven rug, to which are added embroidered patterns on the front side and the back is left rough. Most are sheep's wool, but donkey wool is often used along the edge for insect resistance. And some were silk or silk and wool. We were shown several examples of each. And most of his rugs have stories to tell, beyond how they were made and country of origin. His father opened the shop many years ago, and he's got carpets that are 50, 60 or even 70 years old that his father collected on trips throughout the land. Then he pulls out the pièce de résistance. Halfway down a two meter tall stack of neatly folded carpets he produces a 60-year old carpet from Armenia. He knew exactly where it was. His father bought it, but it took three trips to the village before the owner was willing to part with it. An Armenian style carpet is often embroidered, and this one was. But the young woman who made it had fallen in love with a Kurdish man, and their style is knotted. The church didn't approve. So in her carpet she made an embroidered border of churches, and the large center medallion and some corner details were knotted in the Kurdish style. Here was one carpet in two styles, as a way to ask the two churches for their blessings in a cross-cultural wedding. We didn't discuss price.

Onward to the ruins, which we spent two days on. Ephesus was certainly the more spectacular, but Priene allowed us to wander wherever we wanted, as we practically had the place to ourselves on a Tuesday. Ephesus sported clearly defined pedestrian walkways and signs saying what was allowed and what wasn't. And very crowded. They both had large semi-circular theaters. At Ephesus we could look at it from afar, whereas at Priene we could climb the steps, sit where Romans sat, and clown around on the stage. Behind Priene stands the imposing cliff face of a mountain of limestone. We had heard rumors of a trail to the summit, so up we went! To call the trail indistinct at the lower elevations would be generous. But eventually it became more defined with rock cairns and a worn path, which became increasingly steep. Once above the trees and the steepness became too much for us, and we turned back. But the views were worth it.

Both sites met their demise due to silting-in of the rivers which had provided an excellent harbor for ships to and from Athens and elsewhere. They also had earthquakes and associated uplift which accelerated the silting. From halfway up the hill behind Priene we could see out over the vast delta floodplain that the rivers had formed, and are now thriving agricultural lands.

I learned some fun facts at these sites. Around 100BC the Romans had the technology to cut thin slabs of marble. The ones we saw were less than a centimeter thick and over a meter across. More than forty slabs cut from the same block had been arranged on the walls as book-matched veneers. They were cut using a iron wire drawn across the slab in a slurry of abrasive sand. Impressive.

They used cranes to lift blocks into place, utilizing a clever attachment point for each block. A square hole was cut into the top surface, about 3cm across and 3cm deep, and tapered on two opposite faces as a dovetail. A device was then placed into this hole, expanded, and held the block while lifting. We saw many blocks with these square holes. Earthquakes, weathering, and time had caused many structures to fall, so their tops were visible. Also many blocks were re-purposed in later times, so holes were visible on the sides of existing walls.

At Ephesus and barely noticeable on the Agora Gate (Agora means meeting place, also merchants area) and not noticed by the throngs of tourists, I noticed a faint carving of a goddess. She seemed to have three heads, one looking right, one left, and one ahead. And three sets of arms. She had apparently been carved in-situ, as the face of the stone had been tapered down to provide depth for the relief, and it was situated at a height that would've been comfortable to work at. All other carving was done at a workshop area, then moved to the site. I puzzled over it, Kristen thought it might be the three fates, but ChatGPT disagreed. Just then a man, perhaps one of the many hired guides, noticed me and came over. He spoke some English, and said this was Hecate. So I looked that up, and indeed the image fits. She is the guardian of the crossroads, looking in all directions, and those multiple arms are holding torches to light the way for you. A bit of sleuthing going back two thousand years. My knowledgeable guide vanished.