Hello all,

 

Thanks for the many welcome home wishes.  The picture here is the last one taken in Turkey.  We're at the Istanbul airport, and I'm in front of an ad for Turkish cell phones.  My T-shirt was a pre-travel gift from men at church who have a sense of humor.  It reads "I'm bringing Grumpy back."  It has a picture of the Disney dwarf in question.  The shirt refers to me, not Karen.  I thought it was the perfect coming home attire. 

 

With only one 24 hour day since we landed, we are still getting our body clocks back on Central Daylight Time. 

 

I'll be taking a break from the blog until I have time to reflect.  In any case, I won't write every day during this next phase of my sabbatical time. 

 

More later, but I don't know how much later.

 

PG

 

Hello friends,

Just to tie things up in a bow, I am writing this from my house in St. Paul Minnesota.  Karen and I arrived home safely after a long but uneventful flight.  Two flights, actually, from Istanbul to Chicago O'Hare, and from there to Mpls./St. Paul.  Graham and Siri and Ida were at the airport to pick us up.  Now we will fall into deep sleep after being awake about 24 hours.

More photos later.  Sleep now.

PG

Our last evening has come to a close.  The city lights are beautiful from the rooftop terrace of our hotel.  I don't know when, but I want to return here.  I am ready to sleep in my own bed for the first time in a month, but first we'll have to live, eat and sleep on airplanes for a while.

Some last photos...

PG

They offer a sort of 'demonstration' which they regard as actual worship.  Photos are not allowed during this hourlong observance that includes movement, chant, and recitation of Koran.  However, after it is over they allow photos as they re-enact some of the dance portion of the worship.  It was peaceful to watch.

PG

Dear Friends,

 

Last night Karen and I went to "Turkish Night" billed as a dinner showcasing all things Turkish.  It was quite the disappointment.  There was Turkish music alright, blaring loud enough for ear-bleeding.  There was Belly Dancing alright, but it had the feel of a 1950's B movie with a few burlesque revival moves thrown in.  The food was radically American, but unfortunately from the rubber-chicken-banquet school of cooking.  I did not come to Istanbul to eat mashed potatoes.  Harrumph.  I wish we had that evening back. 

 

Today was better, but bittersweet, our last full day in Istanbul.  We spent hours in the Archaeological Museum, an enormous trove of antiquities.

 

  We saw lots of fascinating artifacts from all over the Mediterranean basin- Crete, Egypt, Turkey, and from an array of eras including times when the following peoples were dominant: Hittite, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, and a few others to boot.

 

Three things are staying with me.  The fragments of the Ishtar Gate in Babylon, a small fragment of a dedication stone in Hezekiah's tunnel, and a piece of the Jerusalem Temple.  Read on if you care to.  Pictures will follow. 

 

1. In this museum are pieces of the Ishtar Gate.  This was a broad, ornate ceremonial street that led through the city gates of ancient Babylon. It had massive walls on both sides with colorful animals-lions, dragons etc.  The message was unmistakable: Babylon has more splendor than any other city.  In Old Testament times, Babylon defeated Israel, subjugated them and dragged many Israelites off to slavery in Babylon.  These slaves would surely have passed through the Ishtar Gate- human spoils of war on display to impress the Babylonian citizens with the exploits of its army.  Jewish captives looked up as they plodded along, thirsty, beaten, distressed, and they saw these colorful tiled walls, and perhaps wondered if maybe the Babylonian gods were stronger than Yahweh.  No wonder they were so bitter toward the Babylonians!  (See Psalm 137)  Also no wonder they took comfort in the prophecy of Isaiah that Israel's time of warfare was over and that they would return home.  (Isaiah 40:1-5)  Did they dare believe good news after so much bad news?  Do we?

 

2.  Hezekiah's tunnel is mentioned in 2nd Kings 20:20 and also in Isaiah 22:11.  Circa 710 B.C. a water tunnel was constructed and dedicated during the reign of King Hezekiah. A stone was inscribed to record the feat and mark the dedication of the tunnel.  (To this day, bridges and parks will bear plaques with the names of the county or state executives who take credit for public service.)   In 1880 this dedication stone was unearthed and taken to Istanbul, where it is still on display.   

 

3.  A stone from the Jerusalem temple.  This bears an inscription written in Greek that warns the public: there is a death penalty for gentiles who try to enter the area enclosed by the temple walls.  This stone is from the era of Jesus of Nazareth.  He would have seen this inscription.  Think about that in relation to his quoting the verse, "My temple should be a house of prayer for all the nations..."  (In Matthew 21:13 and parallel verses, Jesus passes judgment on the money changers at the temple.  In this angry saying he is quoting Isaiah 56:7.)

 

Some of the photos are from Cappadocia which I haven't dealt with until now.  Notice the whirling dervishes- the white-robed men spinning their bodies are engaged in a Sufi method of prayer that involves the body as much, or more, than the mind.

 

Tonight we have a last evening in Istanbul, and tomorrow we board a plane for home. 

SHALOM

PG

 

History in a nutshell.  Ancient Hittite civilization occupied Cappadocia from 11th to 7th century BCE.  These folks made do with the fact that there was little wood for buildings, but plenty of soft sandstone bluffs.  They carved out homes within the living rock, and created communities.  Conjecture is that this society was decimated by a plague.  The homes were abandoned and stood empty many centuries.  Long after the Roman empire became officially Christian, and began to decline, Christians in Anatolia (Turkey) took to living in these caves which they expanded considerably.  With constant military incursions, the people took to elaborate underground communities with water supply, impressive ventilation, storehouses, and built-in defenses.  

 

They of course grazed their cattle and raised crops above ground.  But when enemy armies marched in, these armies would find tended crops and dwellings with smoking fires, but no people or even livestock to be seen anywhere.  All had fled underground.  Some marauders thought the place was haunted.  This was a fortunate advantage to the clever cave dwellers.  The caves are thought to have been occupied for up to a thousand years, roughly from 700 to 1700 A.D.

 

We saw more of this strange landscape today.  We also saw whirling dervishes.  Oh yeah, and there was a balloon ride in there somewhere too.

 

Tomorrow we fly back to Istanbul for our last days in this beautiful land.

PG