Kim H. Veltman

“Bridges, Languages and Cultures,” GENÇLİK VE KÜLTÜREL MİRASIMIZ, International Congress on Youth and Culture, Sansun, Turkey, 15-18 May, 2014, pp. 773-788, Ceylan Ofset , Samsun, 2014.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Abstract

Physically, Turkey is a country with a bridge across the Bosporus with Europe on the West side and Asia on the East side. Metaphysically, Turkey is one of the keys to understanding connections between East and West. Already in the 2nd millennium B.C. there was a Tin Road linking Kültepe and the Indus Valley. By the 5th c. B.C., there was a royal road linking Susa in Elam (Iran) with Sardis (Turkey).

This paper explores how Turkey offers bridges to Europe, Asia and Eurasia in terms of religions, languages and city plans. It suggests that research into old Turkic traditions might hold a key to understanding common roots of Altaic and Indo-European languages. Turkey’s understanding of its roots would help Europe and the world to recognize their debt to Turkic traditions.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

  1. Introduction
  2. Bridges to Europe

1.1. Celtic, Greek, Roman Influences

2.2.Christianity

3.3. Early European Languages

  1. Bridges to Asia
  2. Zoroastrianism
  3. City Plans
  4. Country Plans
  5. Bridges to Eurasia
  6. Tengrism
  7. Allah
  8. Ur Tamgas and Letters
  9. Chinese and Turkic Tribes and Tamgas
  10. Cradles of Civilization
  11. Conclusions
  1. Introduction

Physically, Turkey is a country with a bridge across the Bosporus with Europe on the West side and Asia on the East side. Accordingly, many Europeans tend to perceive Turkey as distant and on the other side of a divide. Metaphysically and historically, however, Turkey is one of the keys to understanding connections between East and West. Already in the 2nd millennium B.C. there was a Tin Road, later linked with the Silk Road, connecting Kültepe via Ashur with the Indus Valley.[1]There was also an Assyrian Trade Road[2] and the Ebla Caravan Trading.[3]Bythe 5th c. B.C., there was a royal road linking Susa in Elam (Iran) with Sardis (Turkey).[4]

The location of this conference has a role in this bridging. In the latter half of the 2nd millennium B.C., Sansun was part of the Hittite Empire, which some link to the Pala[5] people of India or to peoplesfrom the Balkans.[6]This central Northern part of Turkey was known as Paphlagonia. According to Wiki, it was a state from the 5th century to 183 B.C., but already in the 8th century B.C., Homer (Iliad, ii. 851-857) knew of it as: “one of the most ancient nations of Anatolia.”[7] Subsequently, Paphlagonia was ruled by Lydian and Macedonian kings, was part of the Roman Empire and became a Venetian colony, servingas a key for trade routes to the East. One theory claims that Venetians (Veneti, Heneti, Eneti), who have links with the Trojans, have their roots in Paphlagonia.[8]Detailed examination of such local connections would lead beyond the scope of this essay which seeks to outline areas for future research.

This paperexplores bridges between Turkey, Europe, Asia and Eurasia. Section one provides a lightning view of the past 3,500 years of Turkish history toshow how Turkey has a special relation to Christianity, the Holy Land and early European languages. Section two explores older roots linking Turkey with Asia in terms of Zoroastrianism and city architecture. Section three includes Turkic lands beyond Turkey proper to suggest that Turkic heritage in this larger sense affects the whole of Eurasia via Tengrism and may offer insights into the prehistory of Allah and early branching of Indo-European languages. Section four touches on cradles of civilization, leading to conclusions.

  1. Bridges to Europe

The history of Turkey is about much more than a country now defined by Asia Minor. It is inseparably linked with at least 6 great empires: Hittite, Achaemenid, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman. Its boundaries change immensely. In 1450 B.C., the Hittites are in the Eastern half of what is now Turkey with connections to the Mitanni and the Egyptian Empire. By 1285 B.C. the Hittite Empire includes almost all of Asia Minor and much of present day Syria. By 600 B.C., Cappadocia had become part of the Median Empire. From 550 to 330 B.C. the Achaemenid Empire dominated the whole of present Turkey, the Holy Land and Egypt. The rise of Greek civilization and Greek empires epitomized by Alexander the Great brought new changes.

1.1.Celtic, Greek, Roman Influences

Greek colonies spread around the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. By 300

B.C., eastern and southernTurkey were under Greek influence. By 277 B.C., an influx of Celtic settlers had come to Galatia in central Turkey. Meanwhile, the Roman Empire was rising. By 100 B.C., it extended into the western part of Asia Minor. Under Augustus (27 B.C. -14 A.D.), the first Roman Emperor, Rome expanded across Galicia and Cappadocia to include the whole of Turkey, the Holy Land and Egypt. By 117 A.D., when the Roman Empire arrived at its maximum reach, it included Armenia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Judaea, and Arabica Petraea.

In 285 A.D., the emperorDiocletianpartitioned Rome into western and eastern halves. By 330 A.D., Emperor Constantine moved the main capital from Rome to Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul).[9] In 395, partition of the empire into a Pars occidentalis and Pars orientis was formalized. By 500, the Eastern Roman Empire remained intact while much of the Western part was in the hands of “barbarians.” When Justinian gained accession in 527, the Byzantine Empire flourished. By the end of his reign, Italy, which had become the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, had become formally added to Byzantium’s territories.

Through the Muslim Conquests of 635-640, the Holy Land, traditionally under Byzantium, now came under Arabic control. The next centuries saw a gradual diminution of Byzantine realms. Notwithstanding four crusades from 1096 to 1204, Arabic influence in the Holy Land remained important and it was not until the flourishing of the Ottoman Empire in 1520 that the Holy Land came fully under Turkish influence once more and remained so until 1917. Stated dramatically the Holy Land was formally linked with Rome and/or Constantinople from 6 B.C.- 634 A.D., partially linked until 1519 and again fully linked from 1520-1917.

Figure 1.Wiki map of History of Turkey.[10]

1.2.Christianity

A Wiki map showing the history of Turkey is more significant for the mind-set it implies, than the accuracy that it conveys. One could easily be forgiven for an impression that Christianity arrived mainly with the Byzantine Empire in the latter 400s. Our mini chronology points to a very different picture, beginning with one of the 12 apostles: Saint Paul.

1.2.1.Letters of Saint Paul

Paul of Tarsus was the author of many letters addressed to various groups of first-century Christians. They comprise most of the New Testament, and as such are very influential in modern Christianity.

Paul, also known as "Saul," was a first-century Pharisee Jew who was fiercely opposed to the new sect of Judaism founded by Jesus Christ called the "Way" until his conversion following a vision on the road to Damascus, Syria. Paul modified the Way by stripping it of most of its original Jewish character, including temple worship and observance of Mosaic law, e.g., the prohibition against consuming pork. He took a major role in spreading this sect's theology throughout the northeastern Mediterranean world from Antioch (where it was first called Christianity) through Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy.

According to Wiki, “Paul could be considered the founder of Christianity.”[11]Since Saint Paul was originally a citizen of Tarsus from Turkey, one could claim that a Turkish person played a key role in the founding of Christianity. In any case, Saint Paul’s written contributions include a series of Epistles (Letters) to the Cappadocians, Corinthians,Colossians,Ephesians,Galacians, and Thessalonians, reflecting major cities and places connected with his churches in Turkey.[12]

1.2.2.Seven Churches of the East

His missionary journeys spread the word of Christianity throughout Turkey.[13]In the western part of Turkey, Asia (Minor), which had been annexed to the Roman Empire c. 100 B.C., he built Seven Churches of Asia (also called Seven Churches of Revelation and Seven Churches of the Apocalypse), namely: Ephesus, Smyrna (Izmir), Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.[14] Saint John the Evangelist, author of the New Testament Book of Revelation, included messages for each of the seven churches.[15]Thus Turkey became the first country where the new form of Christianity for Gentiles became established. In the fourth century, the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity began not in Rome but in Byzantium with Constantine. Turkey made Christianity a world religion. At the time of the Muslim Conquests, the Christian churches of Cappadoccia continued to keep alive the flame of Christian faith.

1.2.3. Seven Ecumenical Councils

These early connections through Saint Paul in the first half of the first century establish a profound link between Turkey, the New Testament and early Christianity. They were, however, only the beginning of a long series of interconnections. As the (Western Orthodox) Catholic Church became established in Rome, the Eastern Orthodox Church became rooted in Byzantium and later Constantinople. The Eastern Church was much more than a branch which gradually became the head office. For instance, the Roman Church had a chronology linked with creation in 4,004 B.C. The Byzantine Church had its own chronology linked with 5,009 B.C. earlier than both the Catholic and the Jewish calendars. The roots of this

Council Year

  1. 1st Council of Nicea325 A.D.
  2. 1st Council of Constantinople 381
  3. Council of Ephesus431

Second Council of Ephesus 449

  1. Council of Chalcedon451
  2. 2nd Council of Constantinople 553
  3. 3rd Council of Constantinople 680-681

Quinsext Council in Trullo (Constantinople)692

  1. 2nd Council of Nicea787

Figure 2.Ecumenical Councils.[16]

alternative chronology and different versions of creation stories is one area that deserves further research.

In the first millennium of Christianity, there were seven councils recognized as ecumenical by the Catholic Church (figure 2). All of them occurred in four cities: Nicea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon, all of them in Western Turkey. These councils served further to define the beliefs and sacraments of Christianity. They also explored relations between western, eastern and Oriental Christianity, declaring as heretical some views of Manichaeism, the Monophysites (Jacobites) and Dyophysites (Nestorians). Hence, if Turkey was the place where Gentile Christianity began, it was also the country in which the main outlines of the new faith were established, beginning with fundamentals such as the Nicean Creed.

As a result Constantinople became much more than a head office within the Catholic Church. It served to mediate among different orthodoxies in Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Georgia, Armenia, Mesopotamia, even Ethiopia, and India. Notwithstanding some attempts at comparative religion, the history of religion has been largely in terms of histories of individual religions. The histories of Western, Eastern and Oriental Christian traditions have largely been studied in isolation. Needed is more comparative research that helps us to understand differences in branches of Christianity.

1.2.4. Holy Land

As noted above, one of the unexpected dimensions of Turkey is that it was linked with and controlled the Holy Land for well over a millennium in the past 3,000 years through the empires with which it was connected (Achaemenid, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman). By contrast, Israel, which claims historical right over the area, had a Kingdom of Israel as a combined monarchy for 89 years (1,020 B.C. - 931 B.C.). Prior to this they point to a period of the 12 tribes (1200 B.C. - 1050 B.C.).[17] That Egypt controlled this same land for the four centuries from 1600 B.C. - 1200 B.C. is seldom mentioned.[18]

Today we hear constantly of the 12 Tribes of Israel: 10 linked with the Northern Tribe of Israel and 2 linked with the Southern Tribe of Judah.[19] After the dispersal of the kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C., there is talk of their dispersal and the so-called 10 Lost Tribes. In the West,there is less discussion of the 12 tribes of Ishmael and even less of the 12 Tribes of Canaan, which included the Hittites and Palestinians.

In the Christian tradition, the 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament are obviously studied seriously. At the same time, this account replaced the earlier 12 tribes of Canaan. Needed are comparative studies that help us to understand how the Old Testament was once a new version of a much older tradition. Comparative studies with the 12 tribes of Ishmael could make contributions to understanding of Judaism, and Christianity as well as Islam.

1.2.5. Early European Languages

There are great debates about the classification of Turkic languages among the language families. One group classes Anatolian languages as one of ten major branches of Indo-European languages.[20] Another favours their inclusion among Altaic languages.[21] Yet a third has classed them among the Tatar class of languages.[22]In the 72 Sacred Alphabets of the Virga Aurea (Rome, 1617), Turcicum is one of four languages using Arabic script along with Aphricanum, Arabicum and Persicum. In this alignment, Turkic (Turcicum)is linked with both the Afro-Asiatic Languages and Indo-European languages.

Given the extraordinary history of Turkey, which links directly with the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire and indirectly with Arabic and African empires, deeper research into the exact chronology of these major languages is needed. For instance, is it possible that Turcicum acquired its letters via the Persians in the period 550 -330 B.C.? In which case, this form of Turkic would have come from the Aryan Indo-European tradition and might have served as a bridge to Aphricanum and Arabicum. Possible older connections will be explored in § 3.3. below.

Turkey may well be the key to understanding other dimensions of early European alphabets. The textbook version we learned at school was that the Phoenicians invented the alphabet which was then copied by the Aramaeans, the Hebrews, and the Greeks. Older sources show that the first Phoenician alphabet had 25 letters, while the second Phoenician alphabet was 24 letters. This first Phoenician alphabet (also called Phenician 1) is identical with Assyrium in the 72 sacred alphabets. Hence, it was imported from Assyria and not invented along the shores of the Mediterranean.[23]

The second Phoenician alphabet, or Ionic, corresponds to Saracenum (cf. Saracen 1) in the 72 sacred alphabets. The Saracens formed the equites (heavy cavalry) from Phoenicia and Thamud. Originally they were a people who came from “desert areas in and near the Roman province of Arabia, and who were specifically distinguished from Arabs.”[24]This second Phoenician alphabet was also called the Ionian Alphabet. This is the more significant because it was from Miletus in Turkey that a 22 letter, Greek Ionic ABC version of the alphabet was first imported to Athens Greece in 403 B.C.[25]Hence, a Saracen alphabet from Arabia went to Phoenicia and Turkey, was modified, and became an ABC version of the Greek alphabet.

The textbook version of the origins of Latin is that it came from the Etruscans. Some claim it derived from a version of Greek. Even a cursory comparison between ancient Phrygian and ancient Latin shows that a number of the letters are nearly identical. Italy was certainly aware of Phrygia. For instance, the museum of Brescello still has Phrygian artefacts. Precisely how these alphabets interacted is another area for research.

  1. Bridges to Asia

Turkey’s bridges to the west were complemented by bridges to the East. Sardis (Sart), the location of one of the 7 Christian Churches of Saint Paul, was also the westernmost post of the Royal Road that led via Ashur to Susa in Elam, the winter capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Later this same city was part of the Silk Roads that led to Persia, India and China. Tin and caravan roads were mentioned earlier. The importance of these roads for trade is well known. Here, our interest is in their importance in spreading architectural features, religion and ideas.

2.1.City Plans

Ebla, now in Syria, was once part of Hittite Empire. The city was built on a limestone outcrop, which has been used to explain its name (Ebla, meaning White Rock).[26]Its acropolis has the form of a raised, fortified city. It is surrounded by a circular wall. A very similar pattern is found in Erk Kala in Turkmenistan. Indeed it is an example of a type of city-plan found at Kültepe and Gaziantep in Turkey, at Erbil (Arbila) in Iraq, Nisa in Iran, Mehrgarh and Kot Diji in Pakistan. A simple, pragmatic explanationwould state that elevated hills are useful for defence and that the idea was copied throughout Asia and the Near East. To understand why there is probably more to the story,requires a brief detour via Zoroastrianism.

2.1.1.Zoroastrianism

Today Turkey is most commonly associated with Islam and with Christianity, as noted above. In an earlier period, Eastern Turkey was also associated with Zoroastrianism. Indeed, Ranghaya/Rangha situated at the Upper Tigris River was the 16th Vendidad Nation.[27]As a result, Turkey was linked with one of the oldest world religions linked with a sacred text. This brought it in contact with a wide range of cultural centres in Middle Asia including Azerbaijan, Iran, Uzbekhistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Vendidad Nation 15. Hapta Hindu (Sapta Sindu) in the Upper Indus Valley.