By Suzanne Davis, Curator of Conservation, and Carrie Roberts, Conservator
The inability to travel to the Kelsey’s field sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic has made us, well, crazy to travel to the Kelsey’s field sites. If you, too, are experiencing serious wanderlust, we invite you to take a quick photographic mini-break with us. Here’s a beautiful photo and something we love about each of the four sites we currently support.
Suzanne loves the incredibly good-looking site of Notion, Turkey. It’s got everything a conservator could want — the romantic ruins of an entire ancient city, lots of conservation work to be done, and a beautiful seaside location.
Notion, Turkey. View of the site from the west at sunset; the ancient city is located on top of the yellow, sunlit hill. If you look closely, you can see the Fortifications.
This spectacular photo of the ancient temple, cemetery, and city site of Jebel Barkal, Sudan, makes Suzanne miss the desert sunshine and all her fellow Jebel Barkal and El-Kurru teammates.
Jebel Barkal, Sudan. This image shows the remains of some of the site’s pyramids, with Jebel Barkal (in Arabic – the holy, or pure, mountain) in the background. Photo by Kate Rose.
Carrie is inspired by the ancient landscape of Abydos. It’s great to drink a cup of coffee with the team at sunrise and know that the Seti I temple is only a 10-minute walk from the dig house, while the early dynastic tombs below the desert cliffs can be reached in 20 minutes.
View of the front courtyard of the Abydos dig house at sunrise.
At El-Kurru, Carrie loves village life — walking from the house where we live to the temple site and saying hello and how are you to neighbors on the way, then grabbing a snack at the corner store at the end of the day. She also misses the family we live with, especially the kids.
El-Kurru, Sudan. On the left is Kurru’s hardware store, and on the right is the barbershop.
In December, many of us spend a lot of time at local stores perusing goods that we think would make great gifts for our loved ones. We spend hours trying to find the perfect gift, the item that shows how we think about those we care about, whether they are close to us or far away.
For this month’s “From the Archives,” we go one hundred years back in time, to December 1919, to find a University of Michigan staff member far from home but doing the same thing — going to shops and markets, perhaps to find souvenirs to send back home to Michigan. In 1919 and 1920, U-M photographer George R. Swain accompanied Francis Kelsey on an expedition through Europe and the Mediterranean region. Their goal was to document classical sites as well as to identify sites that might have potential for future excavations.
Here we present seven images taken by Swain in Istanbul — or Constantinople, as it was referred to then (some photo captions refer to the area of “Stamboul”). While traveling, Swain photographed not only archaeological artifacts, sites, and structures, nor did he focus solely on collections at other museums. Almost everywhere he went, Swain turned the camera around to his surroundings, to the people in the area, offering us a glimpse into life in those countries at that time.
The photos shown here cover a time period of 20 days, from 5 December to 24 December 1919. Swain captures life at several shops and businesses in Istanbul. We see a person fixing umbrellas. A cobbler’s shop. A busy corner at the bazaar. Bread and fruit for sale. All the shopping Swain chose to capture.
These photographs allow us to see what the city was like one hundred years ago. People who visit Istanbul now will notice many similarities, but also many differences. The bazaar, though altered, remains. Maybe some of those same shops are still there! And the sentiment is the same. People going about doing their shopping, purchasing items they need, or gifts for friends and family. Now in 2019, we continue doing the same.
“The umbrella mender sitting on the sidewalk on a typical street.” 5 December 1919. KS043.4.“Shop where they pressed the Turkish tabbooses or fezes.” 9 December 1919. (With the passing of the fez, this was a vanished industry by 1927.) KS046.10.“A tiny cobbler’s shop by the street in Stamboul.” 9 December 1919. KS046.11.“A busy corner near the Egyptian bazaar.” 9 December 1919. KS047.9.“Crowd of people by the booths of the Egyptian bazaar.” 9 December 1919. KS047.11.“Bread for sale.” 24 December 1919. KS052.7.“Scene in a fruit market.” 24 December 1919. KS052.11.
It is August, when students and faculty are beginning their return to Ann Arbor for the new academic year. Soon all these people will settle into the familiar routine of classes and meetings and deadlines. It will all be different, and yet still the same.
During their time away, these people were off scattered about the globe. They were studying, excavating, visiting with colleagues, and advancing their research. However, during their summer, they took the time to find moments for themselves. To vacation, to enjoy the various locations where they found themselves. To live where they had traveled.
Many of the archival photographs the Kelsey Museum possesses were taken by University of Michigan people, such as Easton Kelsey, E. E. Peterson, but primarily by George R. Swain. These photos show the work they were undertaking in locations such as Antioch, or Karanis, or Carthage. However, not all the photographs in the archives are of buildings, artifacts, or of U-M people at work.
For this month’s “From the Archives,” we present a single roll of photographs taken in 1919 when George Swain was traveling for work. He turns his attention to the city he finds himself in, Istanbul. No longer simply photographing the work they are doing, he captures moments in the city, random events, interesting scenes. We see a train, the boats along the Golden Horn, people on the Galata Bridge, and an umbrella mender working on the street.
“Dining car with the metal letters in place, at least at the top.” KS043.02.
“The coat of arms, apparently, of the sleeping car company.” KS043.03.
“The umbrella mender sitting on the sidewalk on a typical street.” KS043.04.
“Typical view on one of the modern streets. At this time, signs in French were allowed.” KS043.05.
In those days, there were no digital cameras or cell phones to capture these views. Instead, Swain was using the equipment he brought with him. Most “professional” photographs were captured with a view camera using glass plates. These were heavy and cumbersome to carry. Swain also carried a smaller Kodak that used film. This was used for additional photographs, not the professional ones of artifacts and architecture, but everything or anything else. That choice is captured in the archival numbers given to these photographs (KS for Kodak Swain, KP for Kodak Peterson, KK for Kodak Kelsey, depending on who was using the camera at the time). For these, the “43” refers to the arbitrary film roll number assigned. At the time, rolls of film only had 12 frames. Swain knew he was limited in how many photographs he could take before he ran out of film.
No caption. Another view on the Golden Horn, to show number of small sailing craft. KS043.06.
“Up the Golden Horn from the Galata Bridge, ferry steamer in the foreground.” KS043.07.
“Another view on the Golden Horn, to show number of small sailing craft.” KS043.08.
“Down stream from the Galata Bridge.” KS043.09.
The first frame of this roll, KS043.01, is, unfortunately, missing from the archives, so there is no image to show. However, we do have Swain’s notes, and thus know he captured the following: “Dining car with all the metal letters removed to get brass in the war presumably.”
“Up the Golden Horn, to show multitude of sailing craft.” KS043.10.
“View toward Pera and the Galata Tower.” KS043.11.
Years from now, current students and researchers will go through their collection of photographs from their travels in the summer of 2019. Not everything was work-related, and memories will be rekindled of the adventures they went on this year.
“The Galata Bridge, looking toward Pera.” KS043.12.
BY SEBASTIÁN ENCINA, Museum Collections Manager, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
December 5, 1919: “Typical view on one of the modern streets. At this time, signs in French were allowed.” (KS43.05)
December 5, 1919: “Up the Golden Horn from the Galata Bridge, ferry steamer in the foreground.” (KS043.07)
December 5, 1919: “The Galata Bride, looking toward Pera.” (KS043.12)
December 5, 1919: “From the Galata Tower, toward Stamboul, into the light. Mosques on sky line. Glint of Sea of Marmora in distance.” (KS044.09)
December 9, 1919: “Young man having a letter written by the old public letter writer. Near the Egyptian bazaar.” (KS047.10)
June 17, 1920: “Views. Also from Galata Tower, more to right. Golden Horn below bridge at right. St. Sophis on sky line in Stamboul at the right. Mountains beyond are in Europe.” (7.0610)
Istanbul is a beautiful city. For the readers who have had the pleasure of visiting this majestic city, you will know the wonders to be found around each corner. The Hagia Sophia standing iconically in Sultanahmet, not far from the Blue Mosque. In between a park where people gather at all times of day, but that comes to life at night. The area of Sultanahmet, though touristy, is ripe with colours and glamorous views from atop hotels that look out over the Bosphorus.
A few minutes away one can get lost in the Grand Bazaar. Various corridors will take the visitor to shops of all kinds. If you need a souvenir, you can find it in the bazaar. Fresh fruits, fish and meats, nuts, spices, including Iranian saffron, are all there for the picking. Jewelry and household adornments. Clothing and housewares. An ornate tea set that would look great in your parent’s house. Hours later, you might still find yourself going down paths that are new to you, and keep finding new goods you cannot live without. The shopkeepers eager to encourage you to buy.
Walk long enough in the bazaar and you might come to an exit eventually. Though you entered coming from Sultanahmet, you find a new exit. This one brings you directly to the Bosphorus and the Galata Bridge. There is still much to see on the old side of the city, but you wander onto the bridge. Here, along the lower level, you can stop for lunch at one of the numerous restaurants clamoring for your patronage. Enjoy the fish coming off the boats and wash it down with the local brew, Efes.
From here, you can continue to the new side of the city, where modern shops with brand names litter Istiklal Street. You see more cafes, where artists gather to talk the hot topic. Restaurants and food vendors are found on every corner, and between. The Galata Tower towering over this area, and the steep steps leading you up to get a good view. Turn around, or climb the tower (which has a restaurant), and glance again at the Bosphorus and the old city. The minarets sprinkling the city from end to end. You see the bazaar waiting to greet you again. Maybe you continue to Taksim Square, or visit Galatasaray Lisesi, the high school on Istiklal. Or you do some shopping.
Eventually you return to Galata Bridge, but rather than head back into the old city, you take a ferry tour of the Bosphorus. A tour guide pointing out the famous buildings in landmarks, as you relax on the gentle waters. When done, you head back to Sultanahmet and you see a gathering of people. What is this, you wonder, and you come close to an outdoor theatre where whirling dervish dancers perform. They spin to the music, and you find yourself lost in the motion.
Nearby, as it is dark, you see families out playing with light toys that shoot up in the sky. Street vendors sell corn and other treats. Others, including locals and tourists, duck into hookah lounges, where they enjoy some chai and flavored shisha.
There is much to this city, and Francis Kelsey and George Swain found something quite similar when they visited. Back then, the city was still known as Constantinople, though in his photos, Swain refers to a “Stamboul.” The city has changed much since the 1920s. A comparison of photos shows the spread of buildings and new construction found everywhere. Still, locals will look over these photos and see much they recognize. And they speak to the changes to modern times. The photos Swain took are, quite literally, a snapshot of a bygone time, but one not that long ago.
Istanbul has been an important city for a long time. It is where Asia meets Europe. Much trade goes through this city, as it also controls access to the Black Sea. It is no wonder that Kelsey visited many times on his way back and forth between North Africa and Europe, with stops in Palestine and Syria. And many present-day Kelsey archaeologists go through Istanbul on their way to Notion, or Aphrodisias, or any number of sites where Michigan has a presence. Istanbul is a magical city, one highly recommended to visit. It is full of life and beautiful scenes. Nothing can detract from this.
BY PAOLO MARANZANA, PhD student, University of Michigan Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology
The Plutonion at Hierapolis, Turkey.
As a student in the Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology, I have at long last reached the stage in which I start planning my dissertation. I have been looking forward to beginning my research on what historians call Late Antiquity, a period that encompasses a series of events that radically transformed the ancient world. During this period, between 300 and 600 CE, Christianity emerged, classical cities disappeared, and the western Roman Empire fell under the invasions of Germanic tribes. For my dissertation, I would like investigate the causes that led to the decline of classical cities in the eastern empire (Turkey, specifically). Turkey was one of the most urbanized regions in antiquity, and it has been at the center of many large excavations, mostly run by the German and Austrian Archaeological Institutes, since the 1800s (the most famous are certainly Ephesus and Pergamon). There is, therefore, plenty of material for me to work with in my study of ancient cities and their decline.
This summer, I took a study trip to visit a number of sites that I could use as case studies for my research. My stay in Turkey was about three weeks long, and I was able to visit nine different sites. These sites will certainly form the backbone of my research. During my visit, I met with the directors of the current archaeological projects, where I was shown the latest discoveries. The most striking was undoubtedly the uncovering of the so-called Plutonion, a sanctuary built at Hierapolis (southwestern Turkey, modern Pamukkale) in honor of Pluto, god of the underworld. The life of this sanctuary explains perfectly the kind of transformations that cities underwent during this period. Hierapolis was built over a large number of underground tunnels that were filled with earth gases (mostly toxic) and thermal water. The ancient population considered the entrance to one of these underground galleries to be the gateway to the underworld, where Pluto resided. This area was therefore monumentalized with the construction of a small sitting area (for worshippers) and a pool, where the thermal water could flow, and a marble archway that led into the underground cave. Among the many statues placed around the pool was found a colossal representation of Pluto, together with a reproduction of Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guarded the entrance to the underworld. The rituals performed seem to have involved the killing of birds, which were thrown inside the cave and died almost instantaneously because of the toxic gases. Excavations have confirmed the performance of this ritual, uncovering thousands of bones belonging to small birds inside the cave.
After the emergence of Christianity the sanctuary was destroyed (6th century CE), and the statues were taken down and thrown into the pool, which archaeologists found completely filled with material belonging to the destroyed sanctuary. In what appears to be almost a ritual annihilation, all pagan material was obliterated or hidden. The area was later occupied by private residences, showing that the city was inhabited at this point but that the use of the urban space had changed dramatically.
