The encyclopedias tell us that in 1771 a French military engineer by the name of Cugnot invented the first horseless carriage. His steam-driven gun tractor, the ancestor of the automobile, can still be seen at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers in Paris. The first car driven by an internal combustion engine was built […]
Four years ago, while digging the foundations of a new building at Yokusbasi in Bodrum, an ancient tomb was discovered. When archaeologists lifted the 700 kilo stone lid of the sarcophagus they saw the perfectly preserved skeleton of a woman. She was wearing a gold diadem in the form of a myrtle branch and flowers […]
The documents which give information about the 13th century Queen Puduhepa, wife of the Great King Hattusili III (1275-1250 BC) are prolific. Her fascinating personality and strength of character are attested in numerous letters, prayers, sacrificial and ritual texts from Bogazkoy and Ugarit. There also exist a number of official documents concerning the duties of […]
Archery was for centuries Turkey’s traditional sport, and also played a central role in Islamic culture. The use of the bow and arrow as a weapon by the Turkish horsemen of Central Asia goes back far into the mists of time. Only after the invention of firearms did the bow and arrow gradually lose its […]
Known as the most common street food of Turkey; Simit; the Turkish Bagel is definitely one of the best matches with a thin belly glass Turkish Tea. This favorite crispy bread ring snack of people from any time of the day has been in the life of Turkish people that even different cities have their own […]
The yearning to leave daily life far behind and take to the road tempts us all occasionally. We dream of driving through the green countryside with a spouse or friend beside us, our favorite music playing, and no particular destination in mind. I hope you will not be too envious when I tell you that […]
My father, an Anatolian village boy, came to Istanbul at the age of thirteen. My mother, from another Anatolian village, also came to Istanbul as a very small child. They had to make this long journey, meet in Istanbul and get married so that I could come into the world. The choice was not left […]
If Nasreddin Hodja was a real person, he lived in 13th century Turkey in and around Aksehir in the Konya area. In his time he was an imam (a religious leader), a judge and a professor in a medrese (Islamic college). But whether he was real or not Nasreddin Hodja embodied the folk wisdom of […]
Among 17 antique cities named “Antioch” in Turkey, only two of them are remembered well by the scholars, one is called “Antakya” (the ancient Antioch in Syria) and the other one is Antioch of Pisidia. Both of them play an important role at the beginning and early stages of Christian history and well-known for their […]
When the Turkish people poured westwards from their Central Asian homelands in the 11th century, they came on horseback into Anatolia, the land which the poet Nazim Hikmet described as stretching like a mare’s head into the Mediterranean. The horse, which played a central role in Turkish life in the Central Asian steppes, was probably […]
