By Peg Lourie
Nov 19, 2012
Kelsey Associates are invited to tour Eastern Turkey May 9-27, 2013. Eastern Turkey is the true cradle of civilization, encompassing the earliest farmers, the great Hittite and Urartian empires of antiquity, the conquering Romans, early Christian churches, and medieval fortresses. Bordering Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, this seldom-visited region offers travelers simply incredible sights. See the earliest “temple” at Göbekli Tepe with its 12,000-year-old carvings. Visit Hittite sites with carved reliefs, and cuneiform inscriptions on the Urartian capital at Tushpa. Explore the Biblical connections of Urfa and Harran (where Abraham once lived), and Mount Ararat, claimed to be the final resting place of Noah’s Ark. Visit Antakya, the ancient Antioch, so important for Roman, biblical, and Crusader history. See the magnificent carvings in the Armenian Church on Akdamar Island in Lake Van, and an entire ghostly ruined Armenian city at Ani. And you will not forget the stunningly situated sculptured heads of Nemrut Dag, or Ishak Pasha Palace, the Taj Mahal of Turkey. Optional extension to Cappadocia.
Tour leader Geoff Emberling, Assistant Research Scientist at the Kelsey Museum, is an archaeologist and museum curator who first excavated in Turkey in 1989 and has since directed excavations in Syria and Sudan. He has worked as curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum Director and Chief Curator at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.
Cost per person: $6,295.00 based on double occupancy. For further information, contact Spiekermann Travel Service (www.mideasttrvl.com), 18421 E. Nine Mile Road, Eastpointe, MI 48021; phone 1-800-645-3233.
