Sense and Simplicity

Sometimes simplicity shows the perfect catch.

Oldest Map in the World

Cartography was not supposed to be a very old discipline. But that is not true.

The oldest map in the world is apprx. 8000 years old and was painted on the walls of Catalhoyuk. In the map, you can clearly see the twin cones of an erupting volcano. The mountain is Hasan Dag, located near to Catalhoyuk. I, myself, climbed the mountain two times. It is an incredible mountain just in the middle of the vast plains.

In the painting, you can clearly see the Konya Plain behind the mountain. Foreground, the map of the village can clearly be seen.

Ut queant laxis

Why do we call the notes as "ut-re-mi-fa-sol"? The story goes back to a fellow Italian who lived in the 10th century.

The plainsong of the Latin Church is called as Cantus Planus but widely known as Gregorian Chant in honor of the pope who fixed its eight component modes and collected nearly 3,000 melodies. Most of these songs have been derived from Greek and especially from Jewish traditional chants. Cantus Planus had four main dialects:

Ambrosian; Roman;Gallician;Mozarabic.

In the eleventh century the musicologist Guido d'Arezzo (995-1050) invented a notation system which the names of the notes are originated.

He took the initial syllables of the chant of "Ut queant laxis". This chant is dedicated to John The Baptist. It goes like this:


Ut queant laxis ,
Resonare fibris,
Mira gestorum,
Famuli tuorum.

Solye polluti,
Labii reatum,
Sancte Joannes.

[Let Thine example Holy John, remind us; Ere we can meetly sing thy deeds of wonder; Hearts must be chastened, and the bonds that binds us; Broken asunder.]

The first letters of Sancte Joannes formed the note "si" afterwards.

Then from the 12th century onwards, the Gregorian Chants had been enriched by polyphony. The art of Canon began in the 13th century and from that date on, we can talk about a standard vocabulary of musical phrase.

A Very Long Weekend [2]: Bemmel, Groesbeek and the Rainbow Road

Well, let me tell you before I start: This post consists of more photos than text. Actually I should have written this post two weeks ago.

First, I was really busy.

Then, I was too lazy as the spring sun called me away from the PC.

And now, I barely remember what I was going to write! (Baaad Diadra...)

As I promised to Ibn-i Batuta, I'll tell you a little about Bemmel and Groesbeek, and add a couple of photos.

We have been to Bemmel, a beautiful and tiny town in the Netherlands, twice.

The first time, we fell in love with the town and its people.

The second time, we went there to take some photos. But as we were admiring the place so much, we forgot to take photos except our meals.

We also went to Groesbeek. Another beautiful town in the Netherlands reminding of paradise.

Yet, unfortunately, I cannot say the same things for their people. They were just the opposite kind of people I have met in other places of the Netherlands. Just extremely rude, weird people.

The fun part was to go back home as the weather spared some very nice surprises that caused us to smile a whole week afterwards.

We went through a forest like giant park on the way back home.




We cycled under a rain shower but it was so pleasant...
(In order to see the rain drops, click on the picture to enlarge.)

We were so tired that we had a little rest in a large park. We were cold but that was OK, as we couldn't stop ourselves from smiling.

A path between Nijmegen and Groesbeek. Apparently -as we have guessed from the road signs-, this path was ideal for horse riding.
You can see the award the weather has given us for appreciating its showers, as well. (:
Ah, it was a day in heaven...
P.S. If you are really careful, you can notice the second rainbow in the picture. (;

(You can click on the pictures to enlarge.)

A Very Long Weekend [1]: Kleve Tiergarten - A Tribute to Madagascar

Hey there! After a short break, here I am.

I was planning to write about some scientific stuff such as the relation between volcanic eruptions and global temperature. I also had some other things in mind, but as we are having a beautiful holiday, I'll try to share some stuff with you.

30th April was the "Koninginnedag" in the Netherlands, that is the Queen's Day (Queen Beatrix's Birthday). Previously, we had planned to attend the traditional party, but instead we went to Kleve, a German city near the Netherlands - Germany border.

I'd like to tell you more about this city but there is nothing much except a small zoo. Oops, and a building still keeping its Swastikas. Obviously, someone forgot to remove that demonic signs as this sign is forbidden in Germany. That was a surprise for us... (Click on the picture to enlarge.)


Let me tell you about the zoo. One of the zookeepers told us that there were 600 animals in the Kleve Tiergarten. As we wandered around in the zoo, we observed that probably 80% of the animals consisted of sheep, goats, sheep, and well...goats... Other than these sheep and goats -and boars- there were some wild birds, foxes, seals, porcupines etc...

I think you have noticed the title: "A Tribute to Madagascar." Here's the story: When we were looking at some cute baby goats, we noticed some sheep eating grass just next to us. Then, we noticed that the sheep, one by one, were leaving their "area" and running freely within the zoo. You can see their escaping point in the picture (left) circled with red.






After their funny escape, they kept running and pasturing for a while.

Here are some other photos from the Kleve Tiergarten:

Suleymanname [Book of the conquests of Suleyman the Magnificent]

Last week our postman rang the bell. Not twice, but once. Because I was so eager to get my book and did not keep him waiting. He brought my new book ,Suleymanname.

Suleymanname is about the conquests of Suleyman the Magnificent.

The full name of the book is "Tarih-i Feth-i Siklosh, Estergon ve Istol[n]i-Belgrad". It is written by Sinan Cavush. We don't know so much about Sinan Cavush though at least we know that he is the author of an another book, "Gazavat-i Hayreddin Pasha [The Holy Campaigns of Barbarossa]" . The powerful narrative style of Sinan Cavush was very popular among his readers. The anecdotes he told in his books which were related by story-tellers and listened to with great interest especially in the Ottoman Coffee houses and sometimes became the subjects of many other books.

Four written copies of Suleymanname survived till today. The book I have is the facsimile of the manuscript kept in the Topkapi Palace Museum Library[no:1608]. It has 146 folios, contains 4 maps and has 32 miniatures. You can see the Constantinople miniature on the left.

The story of the book goes like this:

After Suleyman succeeded to the throne, there were no threat from east left.The year following his accession to the throne,he attacked Belgrade. It was year 1521 , he captured Belgrade after some struggle.After he attacked and annexed Hungary after the Battle of Mohacs on 29th of Agust 1526.

The events written in the book are the events happened after the Battle of Mohacs. The Austrian Archduke Ferdinand attacked Budin[Buda]. They captured Peste on 27th of August 1542. Peste is across of Buda and they form Budapest of modern times. Ferdinand put 32 cannon and started to pound Buda. As you can imagine, Suleyman did not wait so long to declare war. The section about the archduke is given on the left.

When Suleyman reached Belgrade, enemy forced immediately fled. Suleyman began to prepare for the avenge of Buda.
In the meantime, an envoy sent by the French king requested the Sultan to send Barbarossa to help him. The king of Spain and Germany had attacked the French king and thrown him into prison.Sultan sent Barbarossa for the help.

Barbarossa and his men captured the outer fortress of Nice in 19 days. In retaliation against the violent siege, the commender of the fortress made a secret pact with the French ambassador to surrender the fortress if the Ottoman fleet departed. French ambassador talked to Barbarossa and said him that he has to end the siege because the fortress had been handed over to the French. Barbarossa lifted the siege immediately but the enemy did not keep their word, they did not surrender. After that, French ambassador sought help from the Ottoman Navy for the attack. Barbarossa attacked Nice again, heavily bombarded the city but the stormy season was approaching. Barbarossa returned to the island Santa Margarite for winter.

The book also tells the stories of how Estergon, Valpo and Shiklosh conquered. I cannot write really all of the things that are being told in the book as it is a really thick one. But I might let you enjoy the beautiful miniatures!

Ancient Graffiti

Graffiti:

"Unauthorized writing or drawings on a surface in a public place."

This is how Oxford English Dictionary describes what a graffiti is. Graffiti are very important records of the common folks in a society.

They come out with no control or regulation. Sometimes they represent the views of an individual living in it's time, sometimes they represent a widely accepted view which was being suppressed by the ruling hegemony; sometimes they are nasty, sometimes they are wise, sometimes they are more worthy than formal records...


The media of a Graffiti is the street. That is very important and the main point of the very fabric of the relationship between the Graffiti and the masses. It is anonymous, anyone could have done it. I will give you some examples of "Ancient Graffiti" around the world. You could have a glimpse of the mind-set of the carvers(yes, not painters) of these Graffiti makers, which helps to understand their time from the angle of a common folk.

Alexamenos Graffito

Did you know that the earliest pictorial representation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a Graffiti? But not a praising one so. This graffiti is known as the "blasphemous graffiti" as well. It is dated back to 1st century AD and it shows a man worshiping to a crucified donkey. Unsuspectingly, this graffiti had been carved by a non-Christian and the crucified donkey represents Jesus Christ.

There is a writing which comes with the picture as well. The writing is in Greek but with a wrong grammar. It is written "Alexemenos sebete theon" which actually have to be "Alexemenos sebetail theon"; which means "Alexemenos worships his god". So someone was mocking the belief of Alexemenos, and having fun with the guy he believed (Jesus Christ of course). But Alexemenos had his answer. Next to this Graffiti there is a writing in Latin that goes "Alexemenos fidelis" ;"Alexemenos the faithful". Apparently, Alexemenos wanted to react.

Political Graffiti of Pompeii

Like everything, graffiti of Pompeii had been reserved in the volcanic ash untouched. On the left, you see a graffiti on a wall which caricaturizes a Pompeian politician with exaggerated features. Probably he was an old man as the graffiti reveals. There were so many graffiti in Pompeii, so that I will only write some of them.

"Suspirium puellarum Celadus thraex"(Celadus the Thracier makes the girls moan)

"Myrtis bene felas". (Myrtis, you do great blow jobs)

Well, no wonder why the brothels of Pompeii were so famous.

Hagia Sophia Graffiti

This interesting graffiti was carved by Varangians (north Europeans who were serving in Constantinople) in the 9th century CE. It is written in Viking runes.

The name of the soldier who had written this graffiti is Halvdan, as we read from the graffiti. It writes "Halvdan was here". Vikings were not Christians in those times so I wonder how could a "barbarian" Viking soldier had been let into the most sacred church of Orthodox Christianity. There is another graffiti in Hagia Sophia which has not been fully deciphered. Experts suspect that there might be more graffiti in Hagia Sophia.

Maybe you can hunt one?