ANATOLIA THROUGH THE AGES
Turkey has long been the traditional meeting place of the East and West.
The two continents that İstanbul,Nation’s largest and most exciting city, sits astride are now connected by one of the World' s largest singel-span suspension bridges, the bosphorus bridge.
The Turkish people take pride in the progress their country has made since the final break with the Ottoman ruling family a short fifty years ago. They are prout, too, of traditions, some of which have lasted thousands of years. The progress that one sees in Turkey has turned the country into a land of contrasts. Here a modern highrise apartment complex towers over a 15th century mosque, avintage model Packard touring car vies for right of way on the nation’s streets and highways with an E_Type_Jaguar alangside Turkish_made Murats and Anadols. Horse carts full of ripe, juicy red watermelons are not at all uncommon sights, even in the busiest city traffic.
In Turkey you can observe the Moslem faithful at prayer, bowling towar Mecca and the East; a few steps away you can watch younger Turks break-daincing in a psychodelic disco. And you can talk to them, for many speak English. The largest English-language universitiy of the Middle East is in Ankara, the capital of the Turkish Republic. Nearly every student has studied English and is anxious to practice it. People who don’t speak English are most adept at sign language of whatever variety you care to practice, and communicating your ideas and needs never really poses much of a problem. The contrasts are here, the novelties which every visitor expects to find, but they are such that you can relax and enjoy the differens, yet never completely break from your familiar ways. Here you will always find that comforting orientation point in the easy balance of Eastern and Western cultures.
South of Troas, we find the chief Aeolian cities of Kyme and Larisa, which were established in 9th Century B.C they formed part of the Confederation of Aeolian Cities for the seceritiy and administration of their nation. In this same region we also find the site of ancient Pergamum, the most famous healing center of the known world. In its heyday Pergamum was a rival to Alexandria. Hera the Romans build the city into a shining marble showcace. Two amphitheaters, among the largest in Anatolia, are found here, with capacities of fifty and thirtiy thousand spectators.
HITTITES
The Hittites had firmily entrenched themselveys in Anatolia by the year 1700 B.C The earliest history of the Hittites relates that they were descended from the ancient kings of Kussara, the whereabouts of which is still unknown. We find mention of a King Pithana and his son, Anitta, in the Hittite archives, along with lists of cities that thetwo had apparently conquered. Because of the Indo-European tongue of the Hittites, it is presumed that they came originally from Syria. The founder of the Hittite kingdom is thought to have been Labarnas. During his reing, the kingdom and area of Hittite control started to expand greatly. The successors of Labarnas, Hattusilias I and Mursilis I, pushed the boundries even further to include not only north and soud Anatolia but also Syria.
Mursilis took Aleppo in Nourthern Syria, then penetrated into Mesopotomia to put an end to the old Babylonion Dynatsy in 1600. From here the Hittites pulled back into Anatolia, the center of the empire. In this period of the firsit three Hittite rulers, we have a very welldocumented history of their exploits from state archives full of cuneiform and hieroglyphic text. Information after the time of Mursilis I becomes sketchy owing to the scarcity of similar documents.
The empire went through a period of internal struggle and battles for power among princes and noblemen. These unsettled times ended with the acession ofKing Telipinus in the begining of the 15th century B.C He established the state, as well as established a code for succesion to power. His capital was built at Hattusas, northeast of Ankara at the present Bogazköy.
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