Massive Underground City Guides Us Deep Down to Ancient Times

Chicago, like a lot of other modern cities, has a hidden secret: It’s home to miles of passageways deep underground that allow commuters to get from one place to another without risking nasty weather.

Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Dallas all have their own networks of underground tunnels, as well. But there’s a place in Eastern Europe that puts those forgotten passages to shame. Welcome to Derinkuyu — the underground city.

Picture this. It’s 1963, and you’re on a construction crew renovating a home. You bring your sledgehammer down on a soft stone wall, and it all crumbles away, revealing a large, snaking passageway so long that you can’t see where it ends.

This is the true story of how the undercity at Derinkuyu was (re-)discovered. While those workers knew they’d found something special, they couldn’t know just how massive their discovery had been.

Stretching 250 feet (76 meters) underground with at least 18 distinct levels, Derinkuyu was a truly massive place to live. Yes, live. There was room for 20,000 people to stay here, complete with all of the necessities (and a few luxuries) — freshwater, stables, places of worship, and even wineries and oil presses.

It isn’t the only underground city in the area known as Cappadocia, but it’s the deepest one we know of, and for many years, it was believed to be the largest as well.

Derinkuyu and the other 40-ish underground cities nearby are made possible thanks to the prevalence of tuff in the area, a kind of volcanic rock that solidifies into something soft and crumbly.

That makes it relatively easy to carve enormous subterranean passages — but why would you want to? The answer lies in the cities’ origins.

History of Ancient Underground City

This underground city was found by Phrygians from 8th-7th BCE. From that period, the city has enjoyed a prosperous life. And the golden ages were experienced during the Byzantine period. Also, the city has remains of some chapels which were built after the people there followed Christianity during the Roman period.

This large amazing underground city has been connected with numerous tunnels. The whole structure is designed as a large network.

It is believed that these tunnels were added during the Byzantine and Arab wars. During 780-1180, people constructed an extensive tunnel network to connect all parts of the city and form an escape route.

From Highly Protected City to Popular Touristic Attraction

Derinkuyu underground city had everything for a society to survive. Although built underground, this city functioned just like a normal city on the surface.

This huge complex had communal rooms, stables as well as a wine cellar. Also, there were places for live stocks and clean water was obtained from wells.

One of the reasons for this city to become this large was the geographical advantage. Easily carved volcanic stones in the Cappadocia region enabled this city to turn into a megacity of that period.

Ventilation was provided with 180-feet long shafts and 1000-pound round, stones that function as doors to protect the city from all types of attack. Currently, Derinkuyu and Cappadocia region is among the most popular touristic destinations in Turkey.

Although only 8 layers of this ancient underground city can be visited, it is worth to see how people of the past lived a secure life.

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This abandoned site was once the ‘City of 1,001 Churches’

You know that heavy feeling you get when you see an ancient site or ruin and can almost feel all the lives that have passed through it and try to imagine it in all its former glory? Well, look no further than Ani, a medieval Armenian city on the Turkish border, deemed worthy of being called a treasure of world cultural heritage when UNESCO recognized it as such in the early hours of July 15, 2016.

Once a hustling and bustling commercial center on a branch of the ancient Silk Road, sitting at the crossroads of other trade routes that flowed into the heart of Anatolia, Ani now lies off the beaten track – deserted and exotic in all its remoteness.

As with many other important archaeological sites, Ani, too, was built high on a secluded hilltop on fertile volcanic tuff, not far from a nearby water source. With deep-running gorges to its east and west that acted as natural borders and a great defense, the area was the perfect place to call home, once upon a time.

The first people to settle in the area did so around 3000 B.C., setting up camp on the banks of the emerald green Akhurian River (locally known as Arpaçay).

From the outside, the city seems like a fortress to many, with majestic walls saluting visitors, their sheer expanse growing ever-so overwhelming upon entrance through the Lion Gate but inside lies a different world.

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If you were expecting perfectly preserved grandiose buildings that have stood the test of time, you are likely to be very disappointed. Time, nature, earthquakes, and people through wars and invasion have not been kind to Ani, and it shows. It is run down, it is forgotten but that’s what makes it different. It reeks of history. It carries that daunting air that makes you question your very existence, with the ruins of the city crumbling under the heaviness of all the countless experiences of Saka Turks, Sassanids, the Byzantines, Georgian Atabegs, Seljukians, Ottomans, and Russians, just to name a few.

It is deemed a “world city” and the cradle of civilizations and rightly so – it bore witness to 23 civilizations and dynasties throughout the centuries.

Ani saw its best times and expanded greatly when it became the capital of the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia in the 10th and 11th centuries, growing to a population of about 200,000 at its peak, much larger than London at the time.

The ancient city shows its multicultural fabric in every square inch. From the Seljuk geometric wall patterns to frescoes and elaborate carvings, the influences of Armenian pagan rituals as well as Christian and Muslim religious traditions are evident in the city of tolerance.

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Still a hidden gem

The city exudes authentic beauty throughout all of the seasons. In winter, under a blanket of pristine snow, it looks like a long-lost frozen kingdom, in autumn it looks mystique and broody, hiding secrets awaiting to be discovered.

Once warmer weather comes round, it almost springs back to life, growing more verdant with every raindrop and filling you up with a sense of adventure that doesn’t come with many historic European sites choked by hordes of tourists.

Thanks to its remote location, once you step in the ruins, it gives you this rush that makes you feel like you’re the first people to (re)discover such profound age in a long time.

All the structures in Ani were built using local volcanic basalt, which was easy to carve, a functional insulator, and came in many vibrant colors such as rosy reds and jet blacks. Not all of the buildings are situated on the central route used by guides or explorers nor are they easily accessible, and the usual half-day trips give you nowhere near enough time to explore every single one scattered across the plateau. So if you’d like to take it all in, it’s best to set aside a few days.

The largest building standing in Ani is the cathedral. A rather Gothic looking structure with novel features such as pointed arches and a now nonexistent dome, the cathedral is an impressive piece of Armenian architecture.

Its importance as a house of God was preserved even when it changed hands throughout history, becoming the first place where Muslim prayers were held in Anatolia after the Seljuk’s momentous victory in the Battle of Manzikert (1071), which opened up the gates of Anatolia to the Turks.

The cathedral, however, was greatly damaged in a devastating earthquake in 1319 as well as during the Mongol invasion, events that marked the beginning of the city’s great decline. By the time the 17th century rolled around, the city was left desolate.

There are numerous other sanctuaries and structures in the city that shed light on the past. The Ebul Menucehr Mosque, the first Turkish mosque on Anatolian soil, the churches of Amenaprgich (the Holy Savior Cathedral), Tigran Honentz (the Church of St. Gregory) and Abugamir Pahlavuni (the Church of the Holy Redeemer), in addition to countless monasteries and chapels dotting the vast meadows, are just a few that have contributed to Ani’s historical reputation.

And as if you needed another excuse to catch the nostalgic Eastern Express, to embark on your journey to the ancient archaeological site of Ani all you need is to hop on that train from Ankara. Once you arrive in Kars’ city center, it’s up the hills we go by car or bus, over bends and rocks for about 42 kilometers, passing flocks of sheep and herds of cows, where the famous Kars gruyere comes from, slowly leaving behind city life to step back in time.

Excavation in Western Turkey Reveals 2,000-Year-Old Sculpture

Hurriyet Daily News reports that a fragment of a sculpture depicting the head of a priest has been unearthed in the large ancient city of Laodicea, which is located in western Turkey.

Laodicea on the Lycus, situated in the western province of Denizli, was an ancient metropolis and an obscure archaeological site prior to 2003. The city came to light only after the excavation activities that were started by the Denizli Museum.

A team of Turkish archaeologists headed by Pamukkale University’s Professor Celal Şimşek has been working in Laodicea continuously.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Şimşek said that they have unearthed an exciting artefact in the 15,000-seat western theatre of the 7,500-year-old city.

Noting that they are trying to restore the theatre by preserving it precisely, Şimşek said that they found a priest statue, which was believed to be around 2,000 years old, during the excavation works.

“There was an eight-meter embankment next to the fortification wall extending west from the stage building of the theatre and was built at the beginning of the fifth century.

We encountered a stunning statue of a priest during the removal of the filling, which was the waste of buildings destroyed by earthquakes,” Şimşek noted.

“It is among the most beautiful finds of the year 2020 in terms of its age, profession, and especially being a very vibrant portrait, which we can date to the late Hellenistic early empire period,” he added.

Ancient sources say that the city was founded in honour of Laodice, the wife of Seleucid King Antiochus II Theos, in the third century B.C. However, excavations revealed that the history of Laodicea dates back to 5,500 B.C.

The city had its golden period between the first and third centuries A.D and according to the calculations, the city’s population was around 80,000 during that period.

Considering that the ancient cities of Hierapolis and Tripolis had populations of around 40,000, Laodicea can be called a metropolis.

800-year-old Pueblo Indian blanket made out of 11,500 turkey feathers

There are more uses for a turkey than the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving feast. Researchers believe the flightless fowl held a deep significance for ancient Pueblo Indians in the American Southwest, who domesticated the bird but didn’t eat it. 

Archaeologists at Washington State University examined an 800-year-old feather blanket from southeast Utah, one of the few remaining examples of its kind. They determined it took more than 11,000 turkey feathers to make the spread, likely plucked painlessly from live birds during molting periods. It would have taken between four and ten turkeys to make this single blanket, now on display at the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding, Utah.

‘The birds that supplied the feathers were likely being treated as individuals important to the household,’ said anthropologist Bill Lipe. ‘This reverence for turkeys and their feathers is still evident today in Pueblo dances and rituals.’

An 800-year-old blanket from Pueblo Indians in the Southwest US took more than 11,500 turkey feathers to make, according to a new report. Turkeys were an integral part of tribal life for thousands of years, and not really a food source until the 11th or 12th century.

To determine how many turkeys would have been needed for this blanket, Lipe’s team counted feathers from the pelts of wild modern-day turkeys ethically sourced from dealers in Idaho.

Such feathers were widely used to make blankets and robes by the Ancestral Pueblo people but, because they’re so fragile, few examples have survived.

‘The goal of this study was to shed new light on the production of turkey feather blankets and explore the economic and cultural aspects of raising turkeys to supply the feathers,’ said Lipe, lead author of a paper in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Protective fabrics made from animal pelts, fur, and feathers would’ve been needed as tribes ventured into higher, colder elevations in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Feathers from modern-day turkeys used to help determine how many would have been needed for the blanket, Researchers counted feathers from the pelts of wild turkeys ethically sourced from dealers in Idaho.

Turkey-feather blankets were made by weaving feathers into nearly 600 feet of yucca fiber cord. The ancestors of the modern-day Pueblo Indians, who include the Hopi and Zuni, tended to live at elevations above 5,000 feet, where the winters were brutal and even summer nights could be cold.

Made by women, the fabrics would have served tribespeople through various stages of life — as blankets for sleeping, cloaks in cold weather, and finally as funerary dressing.

This particular blanket measured 39 by 42.5 inches and took approximately 11,550 soft body feathers wrapped around almost 600 feet of yucca fiber cord.

Turkey feathers began replacing rabbit skin as the preferred material for twined blankets between 400 BC and 700 AD, according to Lipe. They lasted longer and plucking turkey rather than skinning hares would have allowed for an ongoing resource.

Turkeys were one of the very few domesticated animals in North America before Europeans arrived but they weren’t really used as a food source until the late 12th century when deer became more scarce.

New feathers could be collected several times a year for the life of the turkey, which could more than a decade.

‘As ancestral Pueblo farming populations flourished, many thousands of feather blankets would likely have been in circulation at any one time,’ said Shannon Tushingham, a professor of anthropology at WSU and co-author of the study. ‘It is likely that every member of an ancestral Pueblo community, from infants to adults, possessed one.’

Surprisingly, the turkeys would have been treated more like pets or members of the family than dinner.

Washington State University archaeologists Bill Lipe (left) and Shannon Tushingham hope understanding how Ancestral Pueblo people made turkey blankets will shine a light on the animal’s role in their culture

Turkey feathers began replacing rabbit skin as the preferred material for twined blankets about 2,000 years ago. They lasted longer and plucking turkey rather than skinning hares kept the animal alive and made them a renewable resource

Turkeys were one of the very few domesticated animals in North America before Europeans arrived but they weren’t really used as a food source until the late 12th century when deer became more scarce.

Turkey remains found among the ancient Pueblo were usually whole skeletons that had been intentionally buried, not scattered bones in hearths or trash heaps. That indicates a ritual or cultural significance for the birds, Lipe believes. 

‘They are right up there with eagle feathers as being symbolically and culturally important,’ he said.

A 2,100-year-old statue of Cybele the Anatolian mother goddess unearthed in northwestern Turkey

An approximate 2,100-year old Cybele’s rare marble statue, Anatolia’s mother goddess, has been discovered in excavations on the Black Sea coast of Northern Ordu province.

The historic sculpture of Cybele sitting on her throne weighed a whopping 200 kilograms and was about 110 centimetres tall.

The statue is also the first marble statue found in Turkey in its original place.

The ancient artefact was unearthed in excavations launched by a team of 25 archaeologists led by the head of the Department of Archeology in Gazi University, Prof. Dr Süleyman Yücel Şenyurt, in the 2,300-year-old Kurul Kalesi, or the Council Fortress.

“We are continuing our work non-stop. Two days ago we found an extraordinary artefact.

According to our research, the statue remained intact after the walls of the entrance of the fortress of Kurul collapsed during an invasion by Roman soldiers.

This statue has also shown us that the fortress of Kurul in Ordu was a very important settlement [in ancient times],” Prof. Şenyurt said.

Saying that it was an incredibly rare find, the professor said that they were proud to unearth such an artefact in Turkey. He also said that the priceless statue would be later on transferred to the archaeology museum in Ordu.

The professor also said that the first attempts to conduct excavations in the area were made ​​about 6 years ago, but had been postponed for various reasons.

Meanwhile, Mayor Enver Yılmaz also pledged to provide TL 500,000 in funds to all excavations in the fortress of Kurul.

He also said that the fortress will be turned into an open-air museum in the near future and hopes the excavations will contribute to tourism in the region as well as in Turkey.

The excavations in the fortress are also the first archaeological diggings on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

Cybele, an Anatolian mother goddess, is the symbol of prosperity with her pregnant belly, seated on her throne.

In Anatolian mythology, she was the personification of the earth. In Greek mythology in which she was equated to Earth-goddess Gaia, Cybele was mostly associated with fertile nature, mountains, town and city walls, as well as wild animals such as lions.

Ancient goddess statue unearthed in central Turkey

In central Anatolia, at the site of Kültepe, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kanesh, several goddess statues have been found, Yeni Şafak reports.

Fikri Kulakoğlu of Ankara University said that the largest of the 4,200-year-old statues unearthed this excavation season stands about 17 inches tall.

“We are happy to have found a 45-centimetre-high [17 inches] artefact, a statue. This is a very special piece,” Fikri Kulakoglu, a professor from the Ankara University and head of the excavation team, told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

Kultepe, which was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kanesh, is 20 kilometres from the central Kayseri province. It was accepted in the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage in 2014.

Kulakoglu said the goddess statue is being cleaned of dust to be displayed in a museum.

“This artefact is around 4,200 years old,” he said, adding that all of the statues, statuettes, idols found in Kultepe are women figurines.

“No idols of men have been found so far… the women statues are naked and have a decorated throne, and there are braids on their back,” he said.

Highlighting that the finding is unique, he said: “It is a very special piece for us… it is one of the most precious works showing religious beliefs of this region, of Kultepe.”

The professor said they found around 20 new artefacts during this year’s excavations, all of which are of great importance.

This year’s work was being carried out with a limited number of people due to the coronavirus pandemic, he added.

‘Mona Lisa of ancient age’ found in Southern Turkey

According to a report in the Hurriyet Daily News, a floor mosaic featuring a woman’s portrait has been unearthed in the southern province of Osmaniye’s Kadirli district, turkey.

By a team of researchers led by Ümit Kayişoğlu of the Osmaniye Museum Directorate.

He said that the woman’s pose resembles that of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa of the ancient age,“ attracts attention with its stance, look and similarity to the world-famous Mona Lisa painting.

The mosaic area is believed to have once decorated the floor of a villa between the first and the second centuries, and the female figure is thought to have been the owner of the villa.

“We can call this mosaic the Mona Lisa of Kadirli,” said archaeologist Ümit Kayışoğlu.

“This mosaic area is the only known mosaic area with human figures in Osmaniye. This is the remains of a villa built in the first and second centuries A.D.”

Stating that they have been carrying out devoted work in the mosaic area since 2015, he said, “As the Osmaniye Museum Directorate, we started many excavations when the ruins of the ancient city of Flaviapolis on which the Kadirli district was founded were declared a third-degree site in 2015.”

Describing the mosaics found, he said: “There are four different types of mosaics here.

There is a lady in the middle of one of the mosaics, and we call this person Kadirli’s Mona Lisa. Because her look and stance are reminiscent of the original one.”