Unattractive Tourist Destination
I was somewhat startled the other day to read a news report stating that the Turkish tourist authorities were hoping to open a new site for toutists to enjoy. That, of course, is the job of tourist authorities and we can be grateful for their efforts on our behalf, for though their motives are sordid lucre, we benefit from improved access to places of interest.
What startled me was the name of this new tourist mecca - Carchemish. Even the newspaper admitted that the ancient site was a mere sixy feet from the black flags of ISIS, the brutal Islamic regime which at present controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq, murdering Christians, Yezidis, Shia Muslims, anyone who who crosses them in any way, and any woman who tries to act like a human being instead of a sub-human slave.
Unfortunately, top of the ISIS hate list is foreigners or, more particularly, Westerners, and it doesn't matter whether the foreigner is a Christian, an atheist or a Muslim, a journalist or an aid worker, all are eagerly kidnapped and cruelly beheaded by the lions of Islam. Bringing coachloads of Western tourists within sixty miles of these lunatics, let alone sixty feet, seems a guaranteed method of giving ISIS more foreigners to murder.
The ancient site of Carchemish covers 222 acres, of which 135 acres are in Turkey and the rest are in Syria. The border, which is marked by the Berlin to Baghdad Railway, runs right through the middle of the ruins - and thereby hang several tales.
This rather difficult route was chosen in preference to the easier route along the coast from Alexandretta to Aleppo because Sultan Hamid II did not want his railway line to be threatened by the British navy. As a result the railway line had to pass through the Amanus mountains by means of a tunnel five miles long! As a result the railway debouched from the mountains near Carchemish and was constructed through the ruins with a fine German disregard for the works of lesser beings.
Among these lesser beings were the archaeological expedition sponsored by the British Museum. The first period of excavations ran from 1878 to 1881 when the British consul, a man called Patrick Henderson, treasure-hunted among the ruins. More scientific excavations were conducted from 1911 to 1914 under the direction of D. G. Hogarth, a man whose expertise was rather directed towards Greece than the Levant.
From 1911 onwards Hogarth was joined by others with more knowledge about Syria and the Middle East, first by T. E. Lawrence, better known today as "Lawrence of Arabia" and then by Leonard Woolley, who later became famous for his excavations at Ur. Wooley paid tribute to Lawrence by writing, "From the outset he was excellent with the Arab workmen. In a way he was rather like them, for the fun of the thing appealed to him as much as did its scientific interest."
The German construction engineers and the British archaeologists did not exactly hit it off together. Lowell Thomas, in his book With Lawrence in Arabia quotes from Woolley's account of the Carchemish excavations, Dead Towns and Living Men.
Our house-boy, Ahmed, was coming back one day from shopping in the village and passed a gang of natives working on the railway, whose foreman owed him money. Ahmed demanded payment of the debt, the foreman refused, and a wordy wrangle followed. A German engineer on his rounds saw that work was being hindered by an outsider, but instead of just ordering him off, he called up the two soldiers of his bodyguard, seized the unfortunate Ahmed, and, without any inquiry as to the origin or rights of the dispute, had him soundly floogd. Ahmed returned to the house full of woe and as I was away, Lawrence went up to the German camp to seek redress.
He found Contzen and told him that one of his engineers had assaulted our house-servant and must accordingly apologise. Contzen pooh-poohed the whole affair. When Lawrence showed him that he was in earnest, however, he consented to make inquiries and sent for the engineer in question. After talking to him he turned angrily on Lawrence: "I told you the whole thing was a lie," he said. "Herr X---- never assaulted the man at all; he merely had him flogged!"
"Well, don't you call that an assault?" asked Lawrence.
"Certainly not," replied the German. "You can't use these natives without flogging them. We have men thrashed every day; it's the only method."
"We've been here longer than you have," Lawrence retorted, "and have never beaten one of our men yet - and we don't intend to let you start on them. That engineer of yours must come down with me to the village and apologise to Ahmed in public."
Contzen laughed. "Nonsense!" he said and then, turning his back: "The incident is closed."
"On the contrary," replied Lawrence, "if you don't do as I ask I shall take the matter into my own hands."
Contzen turned round again.
"Which means?" he asked.
"That I shall take your engineer down to the village and there flog him!"
"You couldn't and you daren't do such a thing!" cried the scandalised German; but Lawrence pointed out that there was good reason for assuming that he both dared and could; and in the end the engineer had to make his apology coram publico, to the vast amusement of the villagers.
It is possible that Lawrence's zeal in the matter stemmed from the unhealthy relationship he had with this same Selim Ahmed, for when Lawrence, with a lack of sensitivity uncharacteristic of him, carved a statue of a naked boy and placed it on the roof of the expedition house, the rumour spread that the figure looked uncommonly like Selim. On its own a statue would be offensive to Muslim sentiment; a statue of a person without clothes doubly so, and when it hinted at the debauchery of a local lad, it is safe to say that Lawrence's popularity among the villagers drastically waned.
There is another tale (whose source I have not been able to track down) which states that the local Arabs, angered by the high handed way in which they were treated by the Germans, intended an attack on them. They confided their plans to the British by way of warning them that any shooting they heard did not concern them. Lawrence, however, was able to persuade the Arabs that an attack on the Germans, however justified, would certainly draw down upon them the wrath of the Sultan and would thus lead to greater evil in the end. There is no indication that the Germans were grateful for owing their lives to their British neighbours.
Because of its closeness to the border, the tel of Carchemish proved irresistably attractive to the Turkish army, who not only had a substantial military base on the acropolis, but also laid extensive minefields on its slopes. Both contributed to the fact that for most of the Twentieth Century the site was off-limits for visitors.
In 1911 a joint excavation was mounted by Bologna University and Istanbul's Gaziantep University. Work began after the Turkish army cleared the mines it had laid and the first task was to clear away the ruins of the expedition house in which Hogarth and his team lived. The archaeologists found that the wooden floor of the house had been raised above the level of the ground outside - probably to prevent water flooding in when it rained. When they lifted the floor boards they discovered that the boards had been laid on a bed of stones dug up by the British.
Among these stones the archaeologists found six hundred stone inscriptions and a some small statues. I'm not sure what motive they assign to their British predecessors, but I strongly believe that it wasn't a crass disregard for these minor treasures.
We know that Hogarth's expedition was wound up in a hurry on the outbreak of World War I, which not only saw Turkey enter the war on the side of the Germans, but there is good evidence that Lawrence, at least, had used his time at Carchemish to gather information about the Turkish army and the railway which later proved most useful to British military planners. It is possible, therefore, that Hogarth and his team deliberately secreted the objects beneath the floor with the intention of coming back after the war and retrieving them.
Woolley did indeed return in 1920, but was again interrupted by war, this time the Turkish War of Independence. Either he was not privy to the secret of what lay beneath the floor, or more likely, the hostilities made it judicious to leave the objects where they were, because the new Turkish authorities would not permit them to be taken to the British Museum.
The Italian team, led by Professor Marchetti, has uncovered numerous basalt reliefs dating from the time when Carchemish was a Hittite capital and I believe that the plan is to display them on site rather than remove them to a museum. Both these new discoveries and the history associated with the site would indeed be a strong draw to tourists - but the presence of ISIS so close is a guarantee that Digging Up the Past will not be taking tourists to the site any time soon.
The Turkish governor of the area, Yusuf Osman Diktas, says confidently, "We do not expect any danger for now. Gaziantep is a tourist city known for its history and cuisine. We want to make Carchemish part of the tour."
I regret that I fail to share his confidence that a wall 13' high, to be built along the line of the railway, will be enough to keep the ISIS fanatics out and even less likely to keep their mortars and rocket-propelled grenades out. I admire the man's chutzpah, I wish him well in his endeavours, but I shall watch with interest from a safe distance!
murder Have you noticed a tendency among modern journalists to refer to such killings as "executions"? An execution is a killing conducted by a legitimate government and is justified by some wrong-doing by the person executed. When a terrorist kills an innocent person it is not an execution; it is murder, pure and simple and those journalists who misuse the English language to try and legitimise these terrorist organisations should be prosecuted and punished as supporters of terrorism. Perhaps a few executions will encourage them to use English correctly. Return
history The history of Carchemish goes back to the Neolithic Period and it is mentioned in archives found at Ebla, Mari and Alalakh. Its prosperity was built on the fact that the city controlled an important ford across the Euphrates River. Tutmoses I captured Carchemish and made it an important fortress on the northern border of the Egyptian empire, but in the turmoil associated with Akhenaton's religious reforms, Carchemish was captured by Suppiluliumas and it remained in Hittite hands until the Hittite empire collapsed under attack by the Assyrians.
For Bible students the city is famous as the site of the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. Since 609 BC Nabopolassar of Babylon had been fighting the Egyptians under Pharaoh Necho for dominance in the Middle East following the collapse of the Assyrian Empire. In 605 BC, a date based on astronomical data, Nabopolassar fell ill, but rather than let the struggle go to the Egyptians by default, he sent the army out under his son, Nebuchadnezzar.
Nabopolassar had been fighting the Egyptians near Harran and captured the city the previous year; now Nebuchadnezzar drove his men on to reach Carchemish before the Egyptian army arrived for its summer campaign. Catching the Egyptians unprepared and in the open, Nebuchadnezzar inflicted a stunning defeat on them. The Babylonian Chronicle records that Nebuchadnezzar
crossed the river to go against the Egyptian army which lay in Karchemish. They fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him. He accomplished their defeat and beat them to non-existence. As for the rest of the Egyptian army which had escaped from the defeat so quickly that no weapon had reached them, in the district of Hamath the Babylonian troops overtook and defeated them so that not a single man escaped to his own country. At that time Nebuchadnezzar conquered the whole area of Hamath.
This battle is mentioned in the Biblical book of Jeremiah, chapter 46.
This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Egypt:
This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the River Euphrates by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
"Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle! Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armour! What do I see? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated.They flee in haste without looking back, and there is terror on every side," declares the Lord. "The swift cannot flee nor the strong escape. In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall"
Following the battle Neuchadnezzar went on to invade Palestine and capture Jerusalem in the year 605 BC. This was the first capture of Jerusalem. The third and final capture, which saw that city destroyed and the temple burned, was in 586 BC. Return
© Kendall K. Down 2014
