NOWHERE IN THE AZERBAIJAN WEBSITE DO THEY mention that you cannot get a visa in Turkey unless you are a resident as the friendly folks at the embassy politely informed us. So we had to go through a Baku travel agency on-line and fork over $120 each for the processing fee. Now it is a waiting game.
So with our “official” work in Ankara taken care of we were free to see the sights. Or sight, as it were. We had visited the Ataturk Mausoleum on our first visit so all that was left was the Archeological Museum in the old section of Ankara. This former caravansary was recently re-opened after two years of restoration. And the results are spectacular. It has modern lighting, state-of-the-art displays and ample signage in Turkish and English. We followed the history of Turkey from the paleolithic to the Roman occupation.
Earth Goddess
The most interesting period was from 2000 to 1200 BC when the Hittite empire flourished. The Hittites, in case you missed it, migrated down from the Caucus region (think Kazakstan) into Anatolia. These contemporaries of the Asyrians and Egyptians developed some of the first forms of writing. While none of their leaders are household names like Cyrus or Ramses, their civilization was one of the most advanced of the time.
If you can read this, thank a Hittite
This was a good primer to the sites we hope to visit in the coming weeks and it gave us another glimpse into the history of the “Fertile Crescent,” the birthplace of civilization as we know it.
