The Modern Village

A couple of years ago I came across a reference to an ethnographic study carried out in the village during 1967-8. The names of the individuals are changed and so is the name of village, it is referred to as Mandalinci. Although the name was different it was obvious from the maps and descriptions of the area that author was studying and recording village life in Gümüşlük; the findings of the research were later published under the title of Dispute and Settlement in Rural Turkey – An Ethnography of Law.

The introduction to the study contains a short description of the village’s history from around the mid 1800s to the 1960s, I’ve attempted to summarise the history in a new page The Beginnings of the Modern Village  which also includes a couple of references to a short naval bombardment of the village during WW1.

Presentation to the Bodrum Chamber of Commerce 26 Sep 14

Bodrum Kent TV have reported on a presentation to BODTO, the Bodrum Chamber of Commerce, by Prof Mustafa Şahin, the lead archaeologist, working on the Myndos excavations at Gümüşlük.

During the presentation, which detailed the work to date, the Professor stated that results from a series of geophysical surveys identified features below the present ground surface which indicted that footings, wall lines and roadways of the ancient city still remain, relatively undisturbed, across a large area of the site, furthermore recent research suggested that the site may be much older than originally thought.

Prof Şahin went to say that once the excavations were completed the site could offer a huge boost to the local tourist trade, increasing the season from 3 to 10 months; however it would take many years to complete the excavations under the present regime where the work was limited to a short period each year during the University summer recess.

When asked by a local councillor how much it would cost to employ a team to work on the site for 12 months a year Prof Şahin estimated a cost of 400 – 500 thousand Turkish Lira (approx 174,000 to 217,000 US $) per annum.

Whilst this may seem a large sum, Prof Şahin described how the archaeology team excavating the site of Laodicea (on the Lycus) near the village Eskihisar in the province of Denizli receive an annual budget of 1.5 million TL.

It’s not clear from the article if the professor was attempting to secure funding from individual members of the chamber of commerce or if he was soliciting the chamber’s support to lobby the Bodrum / Muğla Municipalities for additional funding.

Link To The Original Article

Kazı Başkan'dan Açıklama – Explanation from the Chairman of Excavation

Yesterday (02-Sep-14) an article on Bodrum Kent TV’s web page reported that Prof Şahin has issued a written statement in response to Mr Salih Güney’s allegations.

Bodrum Kent TV 02-Sep-14

Like Mr Güney I would also like to see the theatre excavated, but it has been there for over 2000 years so having to wait a for a few more years won’t hurt. After all UU Archaeology are planning a systematic excavation, not a treasure hunt.

Başkan Dernek Kapattırdı - Update

For those, like me, who have to rely on software to translate Turkish to English, below is a link to Jack Snowden’s blog “Turkish News Tuhaf” which contains a translation of the article reporting the rift between the local association and Prof Şahin.

Turkish News Tuhaf Blog 

I’ve been in touch with an acquaintance who has close ties with the UU Archaeology team. In his opinion the withdrawal of support is not viewed as a serious issue, and will not affect future excavations. He also added that the biggest setback to work commencing on the theatre, referred to in the article, is that the proposed excavation site is on privately owned land.

Access to the archaeology on the mainland has been an issue since 2006. The excavations in 2005 & 2006 and the subsequent geophysical surveys strongly suggest that a considerable portion of the ancient city may still remain, relatively undisturbed. Unfortunately the majority of the features are on privately owned land and there seems to be reluctance on the part of the local landowners to grant access.

Başkan Dernek Kapattırdı

An article in yesterday’s Canli Haber described a disagreement between Prof Şahin, the leader of the Uludağ University Archaeology team, and the president of the local association formed to protect and promote the ancient city. This rift seems to have resulted in the termination of the ties between the two groups.

Canli Haber -.Baskan Dernek Kapattirdi 

There has been no statement posted on the association’s website or on UU’s Myndos Facebook page so if anyone has any information of what happened at the meeting, please email or post a comment.

Latest Newspaper Articles On The Rabbit Island Excavations

There have been a number of articles in the Turkish over the past two days regarding excavations on Rabbit Island / Tavşan Adasi / Asar Adasi which may be associated with an end of (excavation) season press release.

The articles suggest that the island will be open to visitors next year, excavations started in 2009 and access has been limited since that date.

The newspaper reports also contain an apparent revised date for some of the human remains first uncovered in 2009. Early reports suggested that the grave constructions and artefacts suggested interment dates from the 5^th to the 11^th century A.D. however the latest press reports state that some of the remains date from the 3^rd century. 

I was only considering the origins of some of the remains earlier this week as I tried to compile a summary of the excavation reports for 2009-2011. It would be interesting if those now dated to the 3^rd century have been carbon dated as they most likely pre date the church which has previously thought to have been constructed in the 5^th or 6^th century.

The Roman persecution of Christians ended with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD and the Council of Nicaea issued the Nicene Creed in 325 making Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. 

Assuming that any Christian executed for their beliefs would have died before these dates raises several possibilities:

The church was dedicated to members of a local group who been punished for practising their religion prior to 313 and whose remains were reburied in the 5th or 6th century

The remains are “holy relics” which were interred in the church. This is was a known practice later in northern European churches where the remains of saints and other artefacts would be used to attract pilgrims.

That the present church is built on the site of an earlier 3^rd century church

The latter is fairly unlikely as it is difficult to believe that followers of what was viewed as an unofficial sect / religion would be allowed to construct a place of worship in such a prominent position. However that does discount the possibility that there was an active covert Christian community practicing in area before 313 AD.

As far as I’m aware there are no biblical references to an early 3^rd century Christian community in the area, however there are records of an active Jewish community at Myndos from as early as 139 BC and later around the 4^th to 6^th century AD

I’ve tried to contact UU regarding the dating of the remains, but I don’t hold out much hope of receiving a reply, past attempts to clarify dates etc have been disappointing.

Haberciniz 21-08-14


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Chart of the Promontory of Boodroom with the Karabaghla Islands and the North Point of the Island of Kos ... by Francis Beaufort F.R.S. ... 1811

Chart of the Promontory of Boodroom with the Karabaghla Islands and the North Point of the Island of Kos ... by Francis Beaufort F.R.S. ... 1811: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO)

Possibly the first British naval chart of the Bodrum Peninsula, Beaufort a Captain at the time went on to become Hydrographer of the Navy.

Along with Boodroom some of the other anglicised pronunciations of Turkish place names include Biteh (Bitez) Kady –Kalassy (Kadikalesi) & Gumishlu (Gümüşlük )