One of the earliest Turkish principalities in Anatolia, the Mengucek rulers bore the titles of sah and melik (shah and king respectively). In the 12th and 13th centuries, they constructed magnificent buildings in their capital city of Divrigi in the Turkish province of Sivas. It consists of houses with gardens and orchards spread out over […]
GILGAMESH’S QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY FOUND IN TURKEY
Bilkent University Faculty of Molecular Biology and Genetics; Ebru Erbay has made a very important reconnaissance with her latest research and it is hopeful that she can prevent deaths caused by arteriosclerosis. The Miracle Solution for Arteriosclerosis Dr. Ebru Erbay managed to stop the arterial stiffness of the mice with her work, and she put […]
SAFRANBOLU IN THE DEPTH OF LIFE
Whenever I decide to write an article about Safranbolu, which occupies such an important place in my life, something always seems to be missing. Even if I have decided on the title and the points which need to be emphasized, when it comes to setting it all down in writing I feel that I haven’t […]
THE WOMEN THROUGH THE HISTORY OF ANATOLIA, TURKEY
Through the history of Anatolia, Turkey; women have always been on top of the stage as a goddess, productive laborer, a sovereign monarch, a nationalist, a prolific author, an artist, teacher, pilot, and maybe the most importantly; as a guiding mother. While the word “Anatolia” Turkish: Anadolu meaning “Lesser Asia” or “The Place of The […]
75,000 MILES OF TRAVEL BY IBN BATTUTA
Ibn Battuta (1305 – 136?) Ibn Battuta started on his travels when he was 20 years old in 1325. His main reason to travel was to go on a Hajj, or a Pilgrimage to Mecca, as all good Muslims want to do. But his traveling went on for about 29 years and he covered about […]
TURKISH BAKLAVA
Of all Turkey’s delicious sweet confections, the most famous one is baklava. This exquisitely flavored pastry has been made in Anatolia for long centuries, and its ancestor may be a dish made by the Assyrians consisting of dried fruit sandwiched between two layers of pastry and baked in the oven. The earliest record of it as […]
MALATYA GOLD: THE APRICOTS
When the 17th-century Turkish writer Evliya Celebi, who traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire recording everything he saw, visited Malatya he remarked upon the plentiful water from numerous springs, the good air, and the orchards and vineyards in the green plain, and said that this was a city which aroused the admiration of all those who […]
SACRED CITY OF CARIA “LABRAUNDA”
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, […]
WHAT IS MEERSCHAUM
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 […]
WHO IS RUMI
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 […]