Old City Wanderings, Days 1 and 2

Ok time for more pictures. I talked earlier about the heavy police presence here.

These guys are pretty heavy. Some of the guys who carry the M16's are under regulations to never remove their finger from the trigger. They hold their guns in creative ways, but they always have their hand on the handle somehow.
Here's two army guys patrolling through the Arab marketplace.
I took a walk up to the top of the Mount of Olives, and there was a great view of the city. You can see the golden Dome of the Rock in the background.
This was at a church on the Mt. of Olives, built in the approximate spot where Christ would have wept over the city in Luke 19. Again, a great view.

This is the view from the City of David archaeological preserve. The valley below (i think) is the valley of Jehosephat. Lots of cool old looking buildings.
This is the western wall of the old city. I like the green grass against the medieval walls. Very pretty.
This is the golden menorah that will be placed in the third temple. Artistically cool and eschatologically creepy.
This is a camel. Artistically ugly.

All is well here. I met some palestinian guys who were cool enough to show us around the old city and take us back to their apartment for a drink. Me and my travel companions were wary, as one always hears travel horror stories that begin this way, but our fears were pointless. Their hospitality was out of a diplomatic and friendly spirit. We sat around and B.S.'d about Palestinian and American culture. Very fun. The only obligation they had for their hospitality was that if they came to the States, we'd show them around. I'd be more than happy to oblige.

Peace out.

First day in the old city

This place is pretty cool. Growing up in California, I can still say that the diversity in this city blows my mind. There are Muslims, Jews, and every type of Christian you could think of. Everyone seems to get along in the private sphere at least. The city is most definately a middle eastern city. My hostel is in the "Arab quarter", run by Palestinians. They've been really nice and helpful in helping me plan out my trip.

This is the view from my balcony. The Old City is only a few hundred yards away.
This is the Damascus gate; inside it is the Muslim quarter.
This is the marketplace. Most of the signs are in Arabic. It's a lot of fun to peruse.
Its cool to see this vibrant marketplace still going in a 3000 year old city. The architecture reflects its age and gives it a uniquely ancient feeling.
Like Cyprus, there are tons of cats everywhere. I ran across this one (and a few of its siblings) and I had to take a shot.

im in ur trash, reedin teh newz

Leaving for Israel

Leaving Larnaca has been bittersweet. Although I'm definately looking forward to getting home and seeing my wife (and motorcycle), Cyprus was a nice home while I was there. Lots of history and a beach within walking distance. What more could one ask for?

I arrived in Jerusalem last night and crashed in the New Palm hostel at about 2am. So far all I've seen is the Damascus gate and part of the walls. I'll post pics later. Shalom!

Hey everyone, just thought I'd show you a few pics of the town I'm in.

Down by the beach I frequent there's a medieval fortress. It's got elements from the Franks (French), venetians, and Ottoman Turks. Old women in bikinis are optional. I told her my name was Jeff Terry.
This is an Arabic inscription dating to the Ottoman days. It's cool and wierd to see Arabic inscriptions on a building built by Crusaders in a pious Greek-Orthodox town.
This was one of the better traffic jams I've seen, and that's coming from a guy born in L.A. There was honking and yelling, and mopeds zipping all over the place. Totally awesome.

This is what I do when I get a few spare minutes. I'm glad to hear, Noah, that you found your DS. We'll have to play something when I get back.

Farewell.

This last weekend

This weekend we took a field trip to the capitol of Cyprus, Nicosia. Among other things, the old town in Nicosia is surrounded by a land wall built by the Venetians when they took over the island in the late 1400's.

The old town is cool. It's what you'd imagine for an old-school mediterranean city. Except, as you travel down the shopping touristy section, you arrive at...
The Green Line.
Nicosia, like the sign says, is the last divided capital in the world. Ever since the invasion of the Turks in 1974, the top half of the island has been under their control. The situation is still a very hot political topic. The invasion was in reaction to radical Greek nationalist groups targeting innocent Turkish-Cypriot civillians, but it seems to have brought on even more strife. Today it seems like the Greek-Cypriots simply want a united Cyprus, but the Turkish-Cypriots simply want to be able to exist--and they're constantly reminded by the Turkish-run government of the dangers of "greek rule". Sticky situation.
The green zone is patrolled by the U.N. and there are troops all over the place along the line.
This is something I had to post. I haven't even seen this kind of awesome creativity in the states.

Until next time, peace out.

Here's what I'm doing

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd drop a post explaining what it is I'm actually doing here.

(The landscape here is very similar to southern California. Both Cyprus and SoCal are considered "mediterranean" climates).


Our area of research is a hilltop outside the city of Larnaca on Cyprus. There is a ton of material evidence of past settlements simply laying on the ground.

These are pottery shards. They're over a thousand years old and they're brought up to the surface by farmers plowing their fields for agricultural use. Under these fields there used to be a settlement during several periods, possibly ranging from the 300's BC to the 600's AD.

The professors laid grids out on the site using GPS and computers. We then walk the field taking samples of the different kinds of pottery we find. Dr. Moore, our ciramicist, examines the pottery shards to determing their type of use (for storage, cooking, or fineware for eating) and their age. The data is compiled on a computer and laid out in terms of density. From this data we can deduce the size of the settlement, its function, and its connection with the greater eastern Mediterranean.

This is an example of an exceptional find. The decorations aid in the dating and use of the piece. I'm not sure what this particular one is; I don't think the professors have come to any conclusions yet, either.
The area we're surveying is on a British army base; it's actually the hinterland of their firing range. While they haven't done any shelling in the area for many years, we're still careful not to grab at any strange looking metal objects.

Well, that's all from this side of the world. Hope all is well, and I'll post next time something interesting happens.

Ruins and Castles!

Did another day of site seeing on Saturday. Saw a lot of cool stuff. My nose was running the whole time--I thought it was allergies, but today I'm absolutely fine. Maybe it was a cold. I dunno.

We traveled about an hour to the south west to a great late Roman site called Amathus. These ruins date probably from the 400's to the 600's AD.


The site was really cool; there were the ruins of a Roman marketplace (or "agora") at the bottom of the hill. At the top of the hill were the ruins of an early Byzantine church. Beautiful view of the Mediterranean. I can see why the Romans liked it.

Then we went to another late Roman site called Kurion. Here I am again standing in the "agora", the market place. The site also had Roman baths, a theater, and an early Byzantine basilica (church). The coolest part was the ruins of what seems to be an upper-class residence.

This mosaic, which was presumably on the floor of the rich guy's house, is still largely intact. The depiction of Roman gladiators implies that he was strongly connected to Roman culture; the Greek script implies that he was indeed Cypriot. Hence, we have evidence of a Romanized Cypriot culture. Kind of cool.

I tried to take this picture of my buddy and my professor and his wife interfered. It was too good of a picture not to blog.

This was my favorite part. We got to go to the nearby Frankish castle at Kolossi. It dates back to the early 1200's. The land was given by the Frankish (French) king of the Lusignan dynasty to the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. John (Knights Hospitaller). The knights were a newer breed of monk that centered on using violent means to defend the pilgrimage roads to the Holy Land. After the conquest of the Latin Kingdoms in the Holy Land, the knights used Cyprus as their base. The Castle was a local bastion and was used to oversee sugar production in the area.



Here's a monument from the castle grounds with the famous crusader cross shield.



Here's the crest from the side of the castle; the big shield in the center is the family crest of the leader of the Knights Hospitaller, and the other shields are the symbols of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller.



Immediately inside the castle was a badly-damaged fresco of the crucifixion. It is most likely contemporary with the rest of the castle, which means it was painted some time in the 1200's or 1300's. It's interesting to me because there are some elements which seem typical of Greek religious painting, but the inscription above Jesus' head is "I.N.R.I", a Latin (hence, Frankish) abbreviation. We might have a cool instance of blending Frankish culture with Cypriot culture--but I'll have to do a little more research before I bet on that.


Here's the classic "Fleur-de-lis" typical of French stuff, on the side of one of the fireplaces in the castle. These knights identified themselves as Franks, or were at least proud of their Frankish heritage. Interesting!

Well, we're starting to do survey fieldwork now. Perhaps I'll post some pictures of that stuff so you can get an idea of what exactly we are doing.

Until next time!

More sight seeing

Yesterday we did some more sightseeing in the immediate area around Larnaca. This church is a few blocks away from my hotel. It's named after St. Lazarus, the dude whom Jesus rose from the dead. According to tradition Lazarus was the first bishop of Larnaca (and I think Cyprus). His bones were supposedly held in the church until the Byzantine Emperor relocated them to Constantinople. I think today they're in Milan. This connection with Lazarus is important to the Orthodox of the island. As one guy told me in the church, "He lived his new life in Cyprus, and he's our saint."




The church has been rebuilt many times, and like many other things on Cyprus, it contains elements of the different cultures that ruled the island. The domed structures are typically Byzantine Orthodox; the bell tower looks very Italian, suggesting design by the venetians who controlled the island for a little under a hundred years; the vaulting is typical of Frankish (think "gothic") buildings.

This mosque, according to legend, holds the remains of Muhammed's Aunt's remains. She apparently accompanied her husband on a raid of the island, where she fell off her donkey and died. I think technically this is maybe the third most holy site in Islam.

This church is very old. How old, one can't say since it's been rebuilt several times. The important thing is that it houses a Byzantine religious Icon that predates the Iconoclasm controvesy of the early 800's AD. There are very few of these in existence. I got to see it, but unfortunately I couldn't take a picture.

This is a medieval tower built by the Venetians during their tenure in power. Situated on a high hill, the tower has 200 degrees of ocean visibility, making it a prime spot to watch for incoming enemies.

Well, that's it for now. I did some more seeing today and I'll post those pictures as soon as I have time. Later.

Sight-seeing

Today we got to go do some local sight-seeing.

This church in a village outside of Larnaca shows an interesting combination of Roman, Byzantine, and modern types of architecture-- a good metaphor for the island of Cyprus. The interesting thing, though, was in the courtyard:

This is an olive oil press that dates back to... I dunno, a long time ago. An intact version would look like this: http://www.ibizaholidays.com/Nature/Images%20Nature%20Ibiza/olive-press-ibiza.jpg

The town was interesting because it was obviously very old, but it was still a bustling village:
Here you can see old, old mud bricks decaying on the edge of a guy's house, with brand-new buildings across the street. This juxtoposition defines Cyprus.

This is a tomb from the Hellenic Period (about 300BC) that's outside the town of Pyla.


It was kind of eerie, but kind of cool to stand in a 2500 year old crypt. Sort of a big deal.

This is a Medieval tower constructed by the Lusignan dynasty during Frankish Crusader rule of the island (1191-1489). This was exciting, as this totally fits in my own area of interest.

From the top of the tower one could get a great view of the precarious reality of modern Cyprus; the top half is controlled by a Turkish-Cypriot regime after the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974. The island is divided by the "green zone", an uninhabited strip of land that is patrolled by the U.N. The town of Pyla, where the tower and the tomb are, is located within the green zone and is still inhabited by both Turks and Greek-Cypriot. This situation is a big deal and it dominates the politics of the island and the E.U. debate concerning Turkey.

Feel free to drop comments and such. Until next time!