In ancient Turkey, the Iron Age corresponded to the first millennium BC. At that time western Anatolia was inhabited by three civilizations, Lydia, Caria, and Lycia. Caria encompassed all of today’s province of Mugla and part of Denizli and Aydin, extending westwards as far as the Menderes (Meander) river and eastwards to the Dalaman river, […]
Meerschaum is a German word meaning, sea-foam, alluding to the belief that it was the compressed whitecaps of waves, just as it is said in mythology for the goddess of beauty Aphrodite. It is a hydrated magnesium silicate. Magnesium doesn’t make it strong and the hydrogen and oxygen don’t make it cool. It is the […]
Ahmet Adnan Saygun said; “There is no difference between excavating the ground to reveal an ancient monument and compiling folklore traditions or music. To arrive at broad conclusions; neither the one nor the other should be neglected. Do Various Turkish Dances Have a Common Source? Like many of the Arts of Anatolia, its folk dances […]
Islamic mysticism seeks awareness of god in manner being, and hence the various mystic sects of tarikats of whirling dervishes or Sufis in Turkey and other countries have generally been characterized by open-mindedness, vision, exuberance, and lot of the arts, particularly music and poetry. Their tendency to relegate doctrine and the outer forms of worship […]
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mawlānā (“our master”), Mevlânâ, Mevlevî (“my master”), and more popularly simply as Rūmī (1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other […]
Turkish Coffee (Turkish: Turk Kahvesi) is now included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Turks by UNESCO. The issue was decided at the UNESCO committee’s session in Baku on 5th December 2013. Around 800 delegates from 116 countries took part in the sitting, which included the discussions on 38 proposals and the proposal for including […]
The Alacahan (Alahan) Monastery is one of the most important monuments of the Christian period in Anatolia. It lies a little before Mut on the Karaman-Silifke highway and is situated on a terrace excavated from the side of the mountain. Alahan commands a magnificent view of the plain and would appear to have been approached […]
