Ankara


We had only a short time in Ankara, but we did have a chance to visit the Mausoleum of Ataturk, the father of the Turkish Republic. The monument is quite impressive, beginning with the avenue of the lions. The path is deliberately uneven to encourage people to walk slowly and thoughtfully.		The mausoleum itself rises above the surrounding area like a temple in antiquity.
		Outside the caretakers maintain a Turkish flag made of flowers.
Inside are the sarcophagus and wreath.
		A well-preserved relief of the King giving homage to the Gods.
We then went on to the Archaeological Museum. The Museum has a wide variety of artifacts but most of it was closed, so all we could really see were the Hittite artifacts.
The King in his war chariot fighting the Egyptians. We had seen a similar scene in Egypt from their perspective. In the Egyptian version Pharaoh Ramses II was both driving and shooting. Perhaps the Hittites won this battle because the King had a driver?
		An interesting idea: a letter written in cuneiform on clay and then enclosed in a clay envelope to protect it. Pretty clever these Hittites!
		And so back home.
This lamp, from the Greek period, is said to be a horse's head. To me it looks like a giraffe. So the last thing we saw was a Turkish giraffe lamp.

And so back home.