Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Hagia Sophia - The Church of the Holy Wisdom

http://home.comcast.net/~in-pictures/graphics/hagia_sophia/agsofia.jpg

I would like to pay tribute to one of the most impressive ecclesiastical structures in the world - The Hagia Sophia - - Church of the Holy Wisdom (Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία) in old Constantinople (Istanbul). It was the center of the city and indeed, the entire Eastern Holy Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) for a thousand years. As a building, it was unparalleled in size until St. Peters in Rome!

If you've been in its presence, you understand how its grandeur, beauty and complexity are hard to fathom.

https://www.br.de/kultur/hagia-sophia-moschee-umwidmung-erdogan-tuerkei-kulturkampf-100.html

It is truly one of the top ten places I have ever enjoyed visiting on planet earth!

Golden mosaic tiles reflect with an iridescent glow - designed to create the impression of "heaven on earth."

http://rajivawijesinha.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/hagia_sophia_interior.jpeg

View of its dome - 31 meters (101.7 ft.) wide and 56 meters (183.7 ft.) high. Notice the size of the people compared to the building. Here's a link to Wikipedia with more information about the building and its history.

http://www.livescience.com/27574-hagia-sophia.html

Following is a 2-minute Rick Steves video. I'm not exactly one of his fans - in fact, I find much of his description is very confused, compromised and misleading if you want to study the actual history of the church, the Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Empire, and the current status of the cultural / religious history in this part of the world.

Recently, the Hagia Sophia was once again declared to be a mosque. Here's a description of this event from Wikipedia:

>>The complex remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the secular Republic of Turkey led by Ataturk. According to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Hagia Sophia was Turkey's most visited tourist attraction in 2015 and 2019.

In early July 2020, Turkey's Council of State annulled the Cabinet's 1934 decision to establish the museum, revoking the monument's status, and a subsequent decree by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the reclassification of Hagia Sophia as a mosque. The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia's waqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan. This re-designation has been controversial and invoked condemnation from the Turkish opposition, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the International Association of Byzantine Studies, the Byzantine Chruch, and many international leaders.<<

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia

LINK #1

With Steve's video, I'm simply interested in showing you a short introduction of what you might experience visually while visiting the Hagia Sophia:

If you were to ask him today about the recent re-designation, he'd most likely shrug his shoulders and say, "Well, what does it matter? Another church, another religion."

On the balcony level of this photograph, one can walk around the left and right sides (behind the Islamic "medallions") for views of the central hall and precious mosaics.

"The first elements that immediately pop out to visitors are the gigantic calligraphic medallions. During a major renovation between 1847 and 1849, Sultan Abdülmecid the First added these eight calligraphic medallions. They were made by Ottoman calligrapher Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi and are the largest in the Islamic world at 7.5m in diameter.

The medallions contain the names of Allah and Muhammad; the first four caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali; and Muhammad’s grandchildren Hassan and Hussein."

https://nomadicniko.com/2013/09/18/islamic-hagia-sophia/

https://zeykes.medium.com/hagia-sophia-the-holy-wisdom-a-basilica-mosque-or-museum-db70ac088ba8

Now to the exterior:

Two curiously-shaped (reddish-colored) buttresses on either side of a large arch face the east - toward the Blue Mosque and an open park where most tourists get the best view.

Cliff Emerson

The four spires at its corners indicate that it is a mosque. (Notice that the minaret visible in the right, foreground was curiously made by the Moslems out of red brick unlike the other three - much later than the church structure. The minarets were added in the 15th-16th centuries by the Ottoman Empire.) It was converted to a mosque after the siege and destruction of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans after conquest under Mehmed II.

This event marked the ultimate collapse of the Byzantine Empire, and eliminated Constantinople as the historical center of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The city was renamed, Istanbul, "city of Islam."

I have attempted to cover the seize, invasion and destruction of Christian Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans in depth in another post. Here's a link to the first: LINK Additional posts will follow.

In 1935, the first Turkish President and founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, designated that the building should be secularized - turned into a museum. Unfortunately - as mentioned above, it has been turned back into a mosque this year (2021) under the reign of conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

I've been to Istanbul four or five times to investigate and photograph the Byzantine remains of the city. The Hagia Sophia was one of the first places I visited. I wanted to discover for myself the basic schema of Constantinople beneath the rubble, infrastructure, clutter, busyness and noise of the bustling, modern city of Istanbul.

Here's a good YouTube documentary for Constantinople and Byzantium: LINK (1hour, 39 minutes)

Below, an aerial view, looking north, shows the Blue Mosque in the center (mostly white), and the Hagia Sophia behind it. The body of water to the north is the Bosporus, to the left is the Golden Horn, and to the right is the Sea of Marmara.

This ancient part of the city - built on a peninsula - is called the Sultanahmet. It has a great ambiance and lots of restaurants, carpet shops, tourist shops, travel agencies and hotels, as well as the city's most impressive historical tourist sites. If you have only a short time to spend in the city, this is the place you want to start! We had to que-up well in advance of the opening time to get a place on the tour.

In the picture above, a stretch of train track runs around the right side. The rail line terminates at the Sirkeci Terminal Building (Sirkeci Garı), the end terminal of the old Oriental Express (map), near the Topkapi Palace. Currently, it supports night trains departing for Beograd, Sofia and Bucharest.

On one visit, I walked down from the Hagia Sophia to the Bosporus water front to view the remaining ruins of the once glorious Byzantine palace walls. I'll show you that in an upcoming post.

I've marked Taksim Square, on the north side of the Golden Horn, where many of the anti-government riots took place during 2013-2014. Aside from several multi-story hotels and the military museum (which is great!), I don't find a lot of interesting things to visit in this area.

Below: looking at the left side of the interior. Keep in mind, the large, hanging medallions with Arabic script were added during the years 1847-49. Keep in mind, the latest version of this church was built in 555!

en.m.wikipedia.org

A view of the right side. This gallery contains a few surviving early Christian mosaic images. I'll show these in a future post.

powertripberkeley.com

I shot the following video of the northeast corner exterior of the Hagia Sophia, starting with soldiers who stood guard at the entrance to the Topkapi Palace, and ending with a view of the Bosporus in the background and the palace walls:

Several stone objects are located near the main entrance, in an excavated pit.

cliff_emerson©

This carved stone is a fragment left over from an earlier version of the church that was destroyed in Nika riots in the 6th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Istanbul.Hagia_Sophia009.jpg

Below, so-called "flying buttresses" were not invented during the French Gothic architectural period after 1100 AD, as some people claim, but much earlier! Here they are!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Hagia_Sophia_(Aya_Sofya)_-_entrance,_Istanbul,_Turkey_(9606812438).jpg

Click here to access the Table of Contents.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Archaeological Museum in Istanbul

The Archaeological Museum of Istanbul is simply wonderful - even if you're not seriously interested in history and art. It's located a stone's throw from the back corner of the Hagia Sophia located in the Sultanahmet in Istanbul, and consists of several buildings that cover different genres of art throughout the ages.

http://www.istanbularkeoloji.gov.tr/main_page

This huge statue (3 meters / 10 feet tall) greets you as you enter the main museum building that displays works from the Near East, and the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Empires. The statue is called "Bes" - an ancient Egyptian deity - and comes from the southern coast of Cyprus, at Amathus. (This is not far from the traditional site where Aphrodites - goddess of love, lust beauty, passion and procreation - emerged from the foam of the Mediterranean waves. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess Venus.) LINK

Here is a LINK to a similar copy in the Louvre, Paris, France.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

There's an large collection of articles carved from stone on the ground floor - dominated by sarcophagi - burial structures.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Most of these pieces came from the Levant - the Eastern Mediterranean area.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

The highlight of this exhibit - and the entire museum - is the Hellenistic "Alexander Sarcophagus," carved in the 4th century BC and found in a necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon. It was not actually designed for Alexander the Great, who died about 600 years earlier. Discovered in 1887, it was rolled to the coast and transported by ship to its present location in Istanbul.

The Alexander Sarcophagus is one of four massive carved sarcophagi, consisting of two pairs, that were discovered during the excavations conducted by Osman Hamdi Bey, an Ottoman of Greek descent and Yervant Voskan, an Ottoman of Armenian descent, at the necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon in 1887. Originally thought to have been the sarcophagus of Abdalonymus (died 311 BC), the king of Sidon, who was appointed by Alexander to be an administrator immediately after the Battle of Issus (333).

It's a truly magnificent piece (195 cm. x 318 cm. x 167 cm.), made of white pentelic marble and carved in careful detail: two battle scenes and two hunting scenes. It's protected by shroud of plexiglas. Click here and here for related articles on the Alexander Sarcophagus.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below is a hunting scene on the end-panel. Notice that the stone still retains a slight red coloration of certain parts.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

In this freeze, Alexander is portrayed on horseback, throwing a spear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Sarcophagus_Battle_of_Ussus.jpg

The entire piece was originally covered with brilliant paint - called polychromy - like a Greek temple. Below is an historical rendition in the museum which shows what it had originally looked like.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Alexander is shown mounted and clothed in a red coat, wearing a lionskin on his head, and throwing a spear at the Persian cavalry. The scene depicts combat with the Persians at the Battle of Issus was fought in November 333 BCE near Syria in modern-day Turkey, along the Mediterranean Sea. Thereafter, Alexander fought his way eastward across the Persian Empire and eventually into the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 [map], before marching his army on toward India.

It's helpful to become acquainted with Alexander the Great's Journey, and his important battles.

https://geography.name/alexander-the-great-and-his-empire/

One scholar has compared the sarcophagus motif to the famous Alexander Mosaic at Naples (LINK), concluding that the iconography of both works is derived from an earlier common source - a lost Greek painting.

The Greek artists who designed this work seemed to be less concerned with the historical accuracy of the figures than the mythic content of battle and a royal hunt. Some scholars believe that other mounted figures portrayed represent a close friend of Alexander and one of his generals.

Here's a wikipedia link to the Alexander Sarcophagus.

Below, an on-site description of the sarcophagus with color scheme. (Please scroll left and right.)

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Side panel: Alexander and a mounted horseman on the left

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Alexander was not buried in this structure, as it was carved roughly 600 years after his death, which occurred at Babylon in 332 BCE.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

If you are interested in seeing further plates (or buying a life-size replica!), click here, and then scroll down and click on one of the six photos clustered together.

The next 4 pictures are part of the Assyrian collection at the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Assyrian artwork is typified by a characteristic stylized form of braided hair and beard.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

A procession of Assyrian rulers.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below, a detail of the leading figure from above, left. Click here for a another example of an Assyrian rock carving in the British Museum.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Below are remnants of two legal documents written in cuneiform script: the "Kadesh Treaty" (top) and the "Code of Hammurabi" (bottom) that are displayed together in the museum.

cliff_emerson

Here's part of the museum's sign (shown below) paraphrased and edited:

The Kadesh Treaty is the earliest known parity peace treaty... between the Hittites and Egyptians in 1269 BCE. It was written in Akkadian, the international language of the day, and originated in Mesopotamia."

Here is specific information about the Battle of Kadesh, which gave rise to the treaty: LINK (YouTube)

Two other versions of the treaty are known to exist, one on exhibit in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin, and an Egyptian (hieroglyphic) version that was carved upon the walls of the temple of Amon at Karnak, Egypt.

Please scroll the copy of the treaty below.

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Below: An Assyrian stele with cuneiform script. Can you see a figure at the top - carved with two feet, two arms and hands, and a head covered with braided hair? (please scroll sideways)

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Let's look at it more closely. Below is a detail of the upper area. Does anything stand out?

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Notice the Assyrian figure on the left side... holding a staff with one hand, and offering a sacrifice with the other...

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

...and a Zoroastrian symbol of an eagle (below, in purple).

Zoroastrianism was the official state religion of the Persian Empire (ancient Iran) for nearly seven centuries, going back to Babylon, and still continues in remote places in Iran today, although greatly suppressed by the local religion.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Notice also the crescent moon.

>>The crescent is one of the oldest art symbols known to humanity. Together with the sun, it appeared on Akkadian seals as early as 2300 BC, and from the second millennium BC. It was the symbol of the Mesopotamian Moon gods Nanna in Sumer and Sin - the "Lamp of Heaven and Earth" - in Babylonia.

The crescent was well known in the Middle East and was transported by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC as far as Carthage (modern Tunisia). The crescent moon and star also appears on pre-Islamic coins of South Arabia.<< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Here's the original stele (carved rock), below.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

I'm fascinated by archaeology because it supports the study of history. Archaeology is basically practicing the art of "seeing beneath the surface." One must get dusty or dirty in order to participate in it - something I don't really enjoy.

I'll tell you more in a future post about some experiences I've had on an actual archaeological site - at Alexandria Troas - and also in Istanbul, looking for the Hippodrome and the Imperial Palace of Constantinople.

If you're interested in learning more about the cuneiform writing system, click here and here.

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Below is an Egyptian tombstone - in basalt - a very hard volcanic rock.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson©

Notice how the workers were able to polish it to a very smooth sheen - what a beautiful stone!

Egyptian funerary stelle - Luxor

Below, a close-up of the top-right corner.

Below, a Byzantine-era gravestone, still showing brilliant coloration.

The gravestone commemorates a fallen soldier or gladiator.

Below, the stone features a moving scene that likely represents the death of a mother. The daughter sends her off with a kiss. Notice the stylized tree on the left side. It looks like the work of Giotto, 1100 years later in the Italian Renaissance.

Below are ceramic figures from the 6th century Isthar Gate in Babylon (today, Iraq), built by Nebuchadnezzar II. Archaeologists have dug at the site for years, which is located south of Baghdad. Link: (NYT, 06. May 2009: Babylon Ruins Reopen in Iraq, to controversy)

A griffith - covered with scales is below. Notice that the tiles for the smooth legs - without scales - probably recovered as fragments on-site.

Another griffith - notice the claws on the back feet!

A unicorn bull.

Below, a related figure from the Babylon site that I've seen at the Pergamon Museum on the museum island in Berlin. Material: ceramic tiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ish-tar_Gate_detail.jpg
The bull (unicorn) is represented in bas-relief as part of the Ishtar Gate at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

And finally, this figure is from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts:

www.eurocles.com

Below, a reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in Berlin's Pergamon Museum. I have read that the entire gate was disassembled after excavation at Babylon and taken to Berlin, where it is now in storage in the basement. Similar freezes are displayed in museums in Bristol, England and Boston.

Above, a mock-up in the basement in Berlin. For more information watch this excellent YouTube video:

Ishtar Gate and Processional Way (reconstruction), Babylon (6:49)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2iZ83oIZH0

This raises the age-old question of whether it's ethical to relocate such objects to Europe or America after they were discovered and excavated in the 18th-20th centuries: If they weren't taken away by archaeologists from these countries and placed in museums, would they have survived? The discolored bull (shown below - in a state of deterioration) is evidently still on-site in Iraq. Here's a link to another opinion (in German), focusing on the Pergamon Altar now located in Berlin.

http://www.mangalorean.com/browsearticles.php?arttype=Feature&articleid=2035
Turkey and Germany are currently involved in a legal battle before a European Union court about the rightful place for the Pergamon Altar (article in German) - originally located about 100 km. north of Izmir, on Turkey's west coast. I plan to cover the archaeological site at Pergama (near the Dardenelles) later in this blog.

In a similar fashion, the British Museum is also engaged in talks about the possibility of returning the Elgin Marbles taken from the freeze of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens which has prepared a terrific place for them in their new museum s.e. of the Acropolis. Info

The ruins of Babylon are located south of Baghdad:

New York Times

An artist's concept of the Isthar Gate, as a part of the Babylonian Palace complex in the 6th century, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. The animal ceramic tile figures were mounted around the gate entrance and along the processional way.

Archaeological Museum of Istanbul - Cliff Emerson

A band of archers, taken from the processional way, and now in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. Can you imagine the splendor of such a palace? (close-up detail)

www.redbubble.com

Another artist's concept of how this part of the Babylonian Complex may have appeared (blue color):

isloafelic.forumcommunity.net

And finally, a hunting scene carved into a porous igneous rock from the late-Hittite period (ca. 1200 BC). Notice that the hunter has two dogs to assist him in pursuing two deer with large antlers. The deer in the center panel is turning around to watch its pursuers, and has an arrow through its neck. (scroll sideways)