Turkey...Our choice for holiday 2001!

Ancient Civilizations and Treasures of Turkey The Prehistoric Period.. The Paleolithic Age (Stone Age (600000-10000 B.C)) (divided by 3 sections, The Uppers, Middle, Lower)- The epoch in which human beings hunted prey and defended themselves with stone wapons

The Mesolithic Age (10000-8000 B.C) The Neolithic (Late Stone Age) (8000-5500 B.C)- Following the end of the final Ice Age, man began to move away from hunting and gathering and took up sowing and havesting crops.The people discovered how to make utensils and crafted them

Ancient Civilizations and Treasures of Turkey

The Chalcolithic Age (5500-3000 B.C)- Man was able to put his discovery of copper to use. The Bronze Age (3000-2000 B.C) (divided by 3 sections, Early, Middle , Late)-The bronze sun, one of the most outstanding image of the period,consisted of a central solar figure surrounded by radial lobes, said to represent the planet. This symbol shows the Hattis sophisticated astronomical knowledge.ornament artfacts made of gold, electrum, and silver ,adding to the findings from late bronze Age.

The Hittite Civilization- During the 18th century BC toward the end of the Assyrian Colonial Period and while the Hittites still a small principality the command of Anittash,the Hittite took control of Hattussa.

(1800-1660 BC) Anittash Tduhalish I- Pusharummash-King Labarnash

(1660 B.C) Murshilish I Zidantash

(1375-1590 B.C) Shuppiluliuma

(1535-1510 B.C) Telipnush (The Telipinush decree) Darkness (until 1450 B.C)-The Hurrians by setting up the Mitanni State. -Huzzihash II (1460-1440 BC) Tudhaliyash II fouder of the great Hittite Kingdom. (1440-1420 BC) Arnuwandash I (1420-1400 BC) Hattushilish II-Tudhaliyash III (1380-1345 BC) Shuppiluliuma-Arnuwandash II (1345-1315 BC) Murshilish II-Muvattali

The urartu Civilization-At the beginning of the first Millennium BC,anew kingdom was form in Eastern Anatolia,which was to survive for 300yaers(Kingdom of Urartu) a tribe of powerful warriors,were farmers in time of peace.

(860-840 BC) Aramu

(840-830 BC) Sadur I

(830-810 BC) Ishpuinis

(810-780 BC) Menuas

(780-760 BC) Argistish I

(760-730 BC) Sardur II

(730-713 BC) Rusas

(713-685 BC) Argistish II

(685-645 BC) Rusas II

(645-625 BC) Sardur III

(625-605 BC) Erimena

(605-590 BC) Rusas III

(590-585 BC) Sardur IV

The Phrygian Civilization-Arrived in Anatolia in 1200 BC, and are believed to be among the migrating tribes known asThe People of Aegean Seathey set up their capital at Gordion.

(738-695 BC) King Midas

The Lydian Civilization-after the downfall of Gordion the Phrygian capital that was obliterated by the Cimmerian hordes in 676 BC, the Lydian took control of the Meander plains and Gediz,The Lydian State was soon established in Western Anatolia,with Sardis as its capital.(Heredotus of Halicarnassos)stating that there were 22 generations which ruled for a total of 505 years before establishing a state (King Gyges).

(676-652 BC) King Gyges-Ardys-Sadyattes-Ayattes

(..-585 BC) War the Lydian and Persian

(575-546 BC) Croesos (the greatest Hawh King)

The Hellenic Civilization-Persian ruled over all Anatolia for 200 yaers. In the year 334 BC Alexander the great (356-323 BC), not satified with Europe,set out on his Eastern Conquest,and by defeating the Persian,he proceeded to rapidly set up a world empire.The culture of the Hellinic Age,formed from the blend of east and west in Alexander the Greats survived until 30 BC.

(750 BC) new poet (Poet Homer) like Anakreon (Teos) and Hipponax (Sardis) appered,reciting their poems in the free Ionnians

(585 BC) Thales (Miletos) calculated the eclips of the sun an entire year before it occurred. (540-500 BC) Xenophones (Kolophan) and Herakleitos (Ephesos) representatives of free thinking (545-475 BC) The Archaic Period (large statues appeared for the first time!) (475-334 BC) The Classic Age (The Artemis Temple in Ephesos (1 of the 7 wonders of the world)

(350-334 BC) 4 of the greatest artisant of the period Skopos, Timotheos, Leochares, and Bryaxis worked to complete the Bodrum Mausoleum (another wonders of the world). Praxiteles revolutionized Art with the naked Knidos Aprhodite.

(334-30 BC) The Hellenic Age (180 BC) the most wonderful work of Art is the Pergamum Zeus Altar, to memorialize Emenes II,who led a great victory over Galatians.

The Roman Period-During the Hellenic Period,when the King of Pergamum,AttalosII, turned over his territory to the Romans in133BC, Rome gained control over Anatolia. In addition to immense territory around the Mediterranean, the Roman also established rich city states in regions such as Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Anatolia.

The Byzatine Civilization-When the last Roman emperor,Thedosios I,died in 395 AD Rome was devided into 2 part, East and the West. Anatolia remained in the Eastern Roman Empire.In contrast to the Western Roman Empire, which collapsed under attackt from The Huns,the Eastern Roman Empire, later kown as the Byzantine Empire(Early/ First, Middle, and Late Period) remained until 1453.

(400-500) Early Period-when Christianity made its biggest impact

(408-450) Theodosius II-Marcianus (527-565) Justinian

(565-1025) Emperor Leo III (726)-Constantine V-Leo IV (forbidden to worship icon,and all paintings of religious character were destroyed)- Constantine VI that a solution to the prohibition was presented. Although Empress Irene (787) allowed the faithful to offer respect to icons,it wasnt until (842) that the ban was completely removed (Iconnoclastic Period). (927) hunger and Epidemic diseases rampaged through the city.

(1180-1183) Alexius Commnenos I-Andronikos Comnenos I

(1201-1204) the Fourth Crusade was diverted to Byzantium by the Venetians and supposed Egyptian heirs to the Byzantine throne. The Crusaders pillaged the city, and instated the Latin Empire of Constantinople

(1261) By taking advantage of the French and Venetian rivalry for the throne, to chase the Franks from Byzantium.

(1282-1328) The Byzantine Emperor Mikhail Palaiogos came to Byzantium to take the Byzantine throne, but found the city looted, destitute, and miserable state.

(1453) During the reign of Constantinos Palaiologos XI, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror attacked the city, and renamed it Istanbul.

The Seljuk Civilization-The Turk of Oguz tribes first converted to Islam during the 10th century,when they conquered Iran and defeated the Gaznavids.

(1050-1055) Tugrul Beys conquest of Isfahan and Bagdad, ensure their dominance in the Islamic World.

(1055-1071) Apaslan-Meliksah (1075-1077) Suleyman Sah Sultanate (The great Seljuk gave it (Iranian Seljuk)) (1102-1107) Kilicarslan I (1107-1116) Meliksah (1116-1156) Sultan Mesud I (1156-1192) Kilicarslan II (1192-1196) Gyaseddin Keyhusrev I (1196-1204) Suleyman sah II-Kilicarslan III (but still a child) (1204-1211) Giyaseddin Keyhusrev I (reestablishing himselfafter the Invasion of the Franks to Byantium with the help of Turkmen coastal tribes)

(1210-1220) Izzeddin Keykavus I (1220-1237) Alaeddin Keykubad-the Empire became the worlds richest, most powerful state- (1237-1243) Giyaseddin Keyhusrev II (who left the administration to his vizier,Saeddin Kopek).After the Battle of Kosedag(1243) the Mongol took all of Anatolia for half century.

(1246-1257) Keykavus II (1248-1265) Kilicarslan IV (1249-1257) Kekubad IV (1265-1282) Keyhusrev III. The Seljuk state, practically a nonexistent by then and was finally destroyed at the death of the Sultan Mesud II in Konya (1308)

The Ottoman Civilization- Following the collapse of the Seljuk State, the Eretna emirate (Erena Bey) took power.When Eretna bey died (1352), the state left in the hand weak administratiors, and it eventually gave way to a state founded by Burhaneddin, a Kayseri judge. In the meantime, Turkmen leaders took advantage of the political vacuum to establish of their own principalities in Anatolia in 13th century.At the beginning of 14th century, other principalities were set up, .. , under the leadership of Ertugrul Gazi, which was to form the nucleus of the Ottoman Principality declared themselves an Independent Principality.

(1299-1326) Osman Bey

(1326-1362) Orhan Bey they captured Bursa and declared Ottoman Capital.

(1481-1512) Sultan Beyazit II

(1512-1520) Yavuz Sultan Selim

(1566-1574) Selim II

(1574-1595) Sultan Murat III

(1603-1617) Mehmet III-Blue Mosque (Sedefkar Mehmet Aga (architect))

(1703-1730) Ahmet III

(1730-1754) Mahmut I

(1754-1757) Sultan Osman III

(1757-1774) Mustafa III- Abdulhamid I

(1789-1807) Selim III

(1839-1861) Sultan Abdulmecid (the Topkapi Palace grounds and Dolmabahce Palace)

(1861-1876) Sultan Abdulaziz (the Beylerbeyi and Ciragan Palaces)

(Source book by Ilhan Aksit (Achaeologist))

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk, or "Father of the Turks." Under his authoritarian leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the People's Congress of Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives, but after the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey, mainly to northern Iraq. In 2004, KGK announced an end to its ceasefire and attacks attributed to the KGK increased. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community; over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy, enabling it to begin accession membership talks with the European Union.

(Source http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tu.html )(Also see 1,2)