Open letter to the Government of Turkey, the suppliers to the Ilısu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant Project, and the Members of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee

Excavation, documentation and conservation of
cultural heritage in Hasankeyf must continue

24 March 2020

The newly opened Hasankeyf Museum – constructed to preserve some of the artifacts salvaged from Hasankeyf and the region before flooding by Turkey’s controversial Ilısu Hydroelectric Dam – presents a sweeping narrative of the region’s history. The exhibit begins with the geological formation of the Upper Tigris basin, continues through the appearance of organized human settlements in the Neolithic period, and culminates in the city’s flourishing under the Artukids, Ayyubids, and Akkoyunlus in the 12th-15th centuries CE.

The museum collection is impressive not only in its historical scope, but also for the beauty of individual pieces, including rare examples of Neolithic pottery, early Islamic gravestones, and stucco reliefs in the style of the Great Seljuks. Despite its remarkable assets, however, the museum cannot disguise the fact that it is a by-product of the multi-billion-euro Ilısu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant project, which has brought about the destruction of natural and cultural heritage of inestimable value, denying the affected peoples their right to access their cultural heritage (guaranteed by Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights [ICESCR]) and to be consulted systematically in projects involving the alteration of historic buildings (as enshrined in the Granada Convention, Article 14, and Turkish Approval Law No 3534^*).

The museum, together with the reinforced Citadel Mount and the archaeological park (where seven monuments removed from the lower city now stand), constitutes the government’s program to preserve the ancient city’s cultural heritage. Despite its lofty ambitions, this conservation program is deeply flawed on several counts. Two of its most egregious failings are: 1) insufficient coverage of the early Islamic period and 2) the total exclusion of the long-enduring Christian element.

The museum’s coverage of the early Islamic period is limited to a small number of coins and two stones engraved with an early style of Arabic calligraphy. Executed with angular letters in one example, rounded in the other, these inscriptions are two of the most intriguing and important objects in the museum, particularly as stone inscriptions from the early Islamic period are few in number. The discovery of these stones suggests that further archaeological excavation in the lower city of Hasankeyf may well yield new information about the development of Islamic civilization in Upper Mesopotamia in the 7th-9th centuries – a period of history only partially illuminated by textual sources.

Regarding the museum’s coverage of Hasankeyf’s Christian legacy, the display of Christian artifacts consists of five crosses from the Byzantine period, and a visitor would be forgiven for leaving the museum with the idea that the city’s Christian history ended with the Islamic conquest in 640 CE.

This gap in the historical narrative advanced in the Hasankeyf Museum is unconscionable, as there is ample evidence showing that Christians and Christianity played a significant role in the city’s cultural and economic life for more than 1300 years following the advent of Islam.^** In the 10th century, for example, Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi notes the city’s numerous churches,^*** while Ottoman records from the late 16th century indicate that of 1700 households in Hasankeyf, nearly 60 percent were Christian.^**** There is also significant immovable cultural heritage remaining in Hasankeyf today that attests to the historical Christian presence, including cave churches on either side of the lower city. Stone masonry structures include the Tareke Church^{^} at the heart of the lower city (near the original site of the Rizk Mosque), Deiriki Church (also known as the Church of the Forty Martyrs^{^^}) below the southeastern corner of the Citadel, and the Monastery of Mor Aho, which was endowed by residents of the villages of Atafiye and Difne/Üçyol in the 16th century.^{^^^},^{^*}

Tareke Church, Kale Neighborhood, Hasankeyf

Saha Church, Hasankeyf

It is a dereliction of Turkey’s duty as owner of the historic city of Hasankeyf to leave the immovable cultural heritage of the city’s erstwhile Christian community undocumented and unprotected. Today, Hasankeyf residents continue to value the Christian dimension of their cultural heritage, recounting their experiences working side-by-side with Christian neighbors as they began their careers as tailors, weavers, or traders. Many note that just a few generations back their families had been Christian. And residents often share their knowledge about Hasankeyf’s Christian districts, churches and monasteries.^{^**}

The total erasure of the Christian legacy from the Hasankeyf landscape, whether due to neglect or otherwise, would constitute a severe and reprehensible violation of the universal human right to participate in the cultural life of the community, including access to cultural heritage. Urgent action is required to ensure that these monuments are not lost due to their express exclusion from the government’s cultural heritage conservation program for Hasankeyf. The 2003 UNESCO Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage affirms that “cultural heritage is an important component of the cultural identity of communities, groups and individuals, and of social cohesion, so that its intentional destruction may have adverse consequences on human dignity or human rights.” There is no justification for the near-total exclusion of Christianity from the museum and the adjacent collection of monuments transferred from the ancient city.

To remedy this situation, the Turkish government must, at a minimum, halt the filling of the Ilısu Reservoir (by opening the flood gates to allow a controlled flow of water) and continue archaeological excavations in order to document and preserve important aspects of Hasankeyf’s cultural heritage, focusing in particular on the early Islamic period, the enduring Christian element, and the evolution of Muslim-Christian interactions from the 7th to 20th centuries. The continuation of archaeological excavation and conservation work would also create employment opportunities for local residents who face an extended period of economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, in particular, its negative impact on the tourism sector.

We also demand that all strategic partners in the Ilısu Dam project supply chain, especially the companies Andritz, Nurol, Cengizler, Er-Bu and Bresser, and the banks GarantiBBVA and Akbank, use their leverage to avert the total elimination of Hasankeyf’s Christian legacy.

Furthermore, UNESCO’s silence on the Hasankeyf controversy is unacceptable. Although Hasankeyf very likely meets 9 of 10 criteria for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List^{^***}, the provision that only States Parties can nominate a site has kept it from being recognized for protection, despite years of pleas from civil society, municipalities and scientists. The Ilısu Dam project has progressed in an atmosphere of intermittent armed conflict and ongoing repression of civil rights, where affected peoples and diverse stakeholders have been repeatedly and strongly discouraged from expressing their views. Therefore, the flooding of Hasankeyf and the Upper Tigris basin is a violation of the basic human right to participate in the cultural life of the community, which is affirmed by the ICESCR (Article 15), as well as a violation of the Granada Convention (CETS 121, Article 14), which requires systematic and sustained consultation with the public regarding the alternation of historic buildings.

We call upon the Members of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to urgently create mechanisms affording diverse stakeholders (including affected peoples, civil society organizations, scholars, and others) to make their concerns known and to play a substantive role in identifying candidate sites for World Heritage listing and monitoring/managing listed sites.

Signed:

Hasankeyf Matters
Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive
The Corner House
FIVAS Association for International Water Studies
Humat Dijlah (Tigris River Protectors Association)
Riverwatch
Save the Tigris Campaign


Notes:

* https://teftis.ktb.gov.tr/TR-14268/avrupa-mimari-mirasinin-korunmasi-sozlesmesi.html
** For photographs of the monuments noted here, see: http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/2020/02/the-disappearing-christian-heritage-of.html
*** “Hisn Kaifa,” Encyclopedia of Islam, 1st edition, Leiden: Brill, 1913-36.
**** According to the İslam Ansiklopedisi (“Hasankeyf,” İslam Ansiklopedisi, 16. Cilt, İstanbul: Diyanet Vakfı, 1997.
^ Oluş Arık, Hasankeyf: Üç Dünyanın Buluştuğu Kent, p. 188-90.
^^ Gernot Wiessner, “Derike: Kirche der vierzig Märtyrer,” Christliche Kultbauten im Tur Abdin, Teil IV, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1993, p. 129-36.
^^^ Gernot Wiessner, “Üçyol (Difne), Der el-Muhr: Klosterkirche,” Christliche Kultbauten im Tur Abdin, Teil I, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1982, p. 110-115.
^* According to a note in Arabic dated 1560, the endowment/waqf for the monastery was established in 1543. See Academia.edu for English original of A. Palmer, 'La montagne aux LXX monasteres: geographie monastique de Tur 'Abdin', in F. Jullien (ed.), Le monachisme syriaque (Paris 2012), p. 22.
^** cf. Andreas Fink, Der arabische Dialekt von Hasankeyf am Tigris (Osttürkei): Geschichte – Grammatik – Texte – Glossar, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2017, p. 19.
^*** Zeynep Ahunbay and Özge Balkız, “Outstanding Universal Value of Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley,” Doğa Derneği, https://www.dogadernegi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Outstanding-universal-value-of-hasankeyf-and-the-tigris-valley.pdf

The Sâlihiyya Gardens of Hasankeyf

The Sâlihiyya Gardens are located to the east of the medieval ceramic kilns and the walls of Hasankeyf’s lower city. Here you will find fragments of villas, mosques and madrasahs among small garden plots where local Hasankeyf residents still cultivate fruits and vegetables.

Peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes,
pomegranates, and figs are just some of the 
products of Hasankeyf's several gardens.

In its location and distinctly “suburban” atmosphere, the Sâlihiyya district of Hasankeyf recalls the City of the Dead in Cairo (where the wealthy retreated to family mausoleums for holidays and in summer), the Salahiyya district of tombs and dervish lodges on the edge of Damascus, and the cemeteries and gardens on either side of the defense walls of Istanbul. Whereas modern urban sprawl has engulfed and dwarfed the old fields and gardens in most cities of the region, in Hasankeyf the proportions of the Sâlihiyya district, lower city and citadel are much closer to what they would have been 900 years ago, when the Sokmen branch of the Artukids made its capital here.

The Haydar Baba funeral complex is one of the
better-preserved sites in the Sâlihiyya Gardens.

The gardens of Hasankeyf hold traces of residential architecture, including the eyvan and pool of the “Artukid villa.” The eyvan is a distinctive architectural form, typically described as vaulted porch or veranda with “walls on three sides and completely open on the fourth.”

Eyvan and pool of the "Artuklu villa" in the Sâlihiyya Gardens

Ibn al-Munshi’, who wrote a historical chronicle of Hasankeyf in the early 15th century, writes that Sultan al-Malik al-Adil spent the summer of 1348 at the “Sâlihiyya Pavilion,” where he “enjoyed the pleasures of youth,” sitting most mornings “at the eyvan with his deputies and commanders attending to the affairs of the people and the business of government” and “summoning court entertainers” and his princely guests in the afternoons.

The remains of an eyvan and pool in the Kasimiyye
district of Hasankeyf (east of the Sâlihiya Gardens). 

The sultan’s guests would likely have gathered in various chambers of the pavilion or in the courtyard, those of the highest status taking in the scene from the shade of eyvan. Following Artukid tradition, the innermost wall of the eyvan would have been ornamented with a fountain from which water emptied into a shallow channel in the floor of the eyvan, cooling the air as it flowed to the pool in the courtyard.

The Kasimiyya Madrasah in Mardin offers a fine intact
example of the eyvan and pool combination.

Garden districts were an integral part of medieval cities in Seljuk lands and across the Islamic world. The gardens of Merum, which stood outside the city walls of Konya, were “famed in Seljuk and Ottoman times for their lushness and beauty.”^* Unfortunately, most of these gardens have disappeared, and scholars must rely on textual sources – poetry, epic, travel narrative and scientific treatises – to understand garden complexes as an alternative space for conducting business and entertaining guests. Further archaeological excavation at the Sâlihiyya Gardens has the potential to strengthen significantly scholarship on the history of medieval landscape design and the social uses of gardens. #HasankeyftoUNESCO.

Emin, who works in his garden each morning,
is always generous in sharing his expertise.

^* Scott Redford, Landscape and the State in Medieval Anatolia: Seljuk Gardens and Pavilions of Alanya, Turkey. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2000, p. 62.

What will you do for Hasankeyf?

With a history reaching back 11,500 years, the cultural heritage of Hasankeyf is a vital resource for building peace. Unfortunately, the site is under threat of flooding by the controversial and massive Ilısu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant (HEPP) project. Inscription of Hasankeyf and its environs as a UNESCO World Heritage site, along with other conservation measures, can ensure that Hasankeyf lives. We ask for your support in advocating for these protections.

Hasankeyf: Ayyubid Mosques and Artukid Bridge

Cultural heritage and dialogue

Little is known about the history of Hasankeyf between the time of its first settlement in 9,500 BCE and the Romans’ use of “Kifas” – or “Rock”, as it was known in Eastern Aramaic – as a defense outpost. In the 4th century CE, Constantinius II built a palace and chapel on the solid rock mount. The naturally fortified city grew and prospered, became the seat of a Syriac Christian (Nestorian) bishop in the 5th century and participated in the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451. Following the Islamic conquest in the 7th century, a succession of Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen dynasties ruled the city. Christians, however, remained a significant proportion of the population until recently. Today, most Hasankeyf residents speak three languages: Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish.

Europa Nostra has selected Hasankeyf as one of Europe’s 7 Most Endangered sites for 2016.

A synthesis of Arab, Persian and Central Asian influences

Hasankeyf displays an extraordinary collection of diverse architectural styles from the 12th to 15th centuries. Viewed from the far bank of the Tigris, the pylons of the 12th century Artukid Bridge and the minarets of two Ayyubid mosques (built between 1378 and 1409) still dominate the skyline, a reminder that Hasankeyf is the product of numerous cultures and civilizations, most recently the Turkmen Artukids and the Kurdish Ayyubids.

The Koç Mosque (date of construction uncertain) originally consisted of an eyvan (a grand arched entryway) combined with a domed space above the mihrab, with barrel-vaulted prayer halls on either side. While the Seljuks of Anatolia used the eyvan widely in madrasahs and villas, they generally did not use it in mosques, making the Koç Mosque a fascinating and unusual application of Great Seljuk design in Upper Mesopotamia.

Koç Mosque: eyvan and Persian-style dome
flanked by prayer halls

The Zeynel Bey Tomb is the only example of Timurid architecture in Anatolia. Its huge calligrams, as seen in Iran and Central Asia, display the names Allah, Muhammad and Ali.

Zeynel Bey Tomb: calligrams in Kufic script

Cultural heritage and economic development

Hasankeyf is extremely important to the people of the region, not only because the site serves to strengthen their bonds with the past, but also because it helps to sustain their ways of living and their livelihoods. In times of peace, hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Hasankeyf each year.

A historically rich open space for leisure and creativity

Taking a broad view of the historic city and its hinterlands, it is possible to craft a locally grounded management strategy that balances conservation and tourism, with the potential to accommodate millions of tourists while also preserving the site for future generations. The tourism-related revenue of Hasankeyf and its hinterlands could gradually reach €500 million annually, a figure already surpassed by Göreme, in Cappadocia, and is slightly greater than the anticipated direct revenue from the Ilısu Dam.

The threat to Hasankeyf

The Ilısu Project is expected to flood 80 per cent of the town of Hasankeyf, irrevocably changing the natural ecosystem and destroying the historical landscape. While there are dams in the world that have lasted much longer, research shows that most dams built today have a life expectancy of less than 100 years.

Is flooding a 12,000-year-old city with a 100-year dam the optimal use of economic resources? Are there better alternatives for building peace and prosperity in the Tigris Valley? Your voice can help us build a robust dialogue around cultural heritage conservation and sustainable development.

Zeynel Bey Tomb (late 15th century)

An open letter to G-20 delegates

As the G-20 Leaders Summit prepares to meet this weekend in Antalya, Turkey, we urge summit delegates to support the robust conservation and permanent protection of Hasankeyf, a 12,000-year-old settlement in south-eastern Turkey. With its unparalleled combination of universally valuable natural and cultural heritage, Hasankeyf provides an excellent opportunity to emphasize two messages central to the mission of the G-20 and the United Nations: peace and sustainability.

The town’s long history, strategic location within a region known as the cradle of civilizations, and unique collection of medieval architecture make Hasankeyf an invaluable nexus for different peoples to explore shared histories.

Surrounded by vast, unspoiled hinterlands, Hasankeyf also offers an extraordinary chance to demonstrate that rigorous heritage preservation is key to sustainable economic growth over the long term.

Arguably the best-preserved city from the Seljuk era, Hasankeyf displays even today extensive examples of that period’s urban infrastructure, including roads, water distribution networks and manufacturing facilities. Its skyline, dominated by the pylons of a 12th-century bridge and the minarets of two 15th-century mosques, serve as a reminder that Hasankeyf is also the product of numerous cultures and civilizations, most recently the Turkmen Artukids and the Kurdish Ayyubids.

The site’s biodiversity is remarkable as well, including rare and endangered species such as the leopard barbel fish, the pied kingfisher, and a wild variety of chickpea.

According to an independent report by the Turkish NGO Doğa Derneği, Hasankeyf meets nine out of ten UNESCO criteria. But it has not been designated as a World Heritage Site. And time is running out.

The immeasurable cultural heritage of Hasankeyf and the surrounding Tigris Valley are under serious threat by a controversial mega-dam now nearing completion at Ilısu, a village 60 kilometres downstream from Hasankeyf.

We respectfully urge you to do all that you can to open a dialogue with leading conservationists, government decision-makers, and other stake-holders in Turkey about the best way to ensure the permanent protection and sustainable conservation of Hasankeyf’s universal cultural and natural heritage.

For peace and sustainability

Voting is underway in today’s historic parliamentary elections, with high hopes for peace and reconciliation for all citizens of Turkey.

No matter the outcome, Hasankeyf will remain under threat of flooding until a compromise solution is agreed by all parties concerned – national and regional policy makers, local residents, etc.

Construction of the Ilısu Dam has halted temporarily, opening a window of hope for a brighter future for Hasankeyf. However, in the event that the Ilısu reservoir does not flood Hasankeyf, uncontrolled property development and commercial activity could severely and irreparably damage the cultural and natural heritage of the site.

It is crucial, therefore, that friends of Hasankeyf and leading heritage advocates work together on three strategic efforts:

1. Write letters and network with politicians, activists, social entrepreneurs and business executives to keep Hasankeyf top of mind during the countdown to the 40th meeting of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Istanbul in July 2016.
2. Build a “dialogue around heritage” where stakeholders from across the political spectrum can share ideas for strengthening peace through environmental sustainability.
3. Put forward detailed models for managing Hasankeyf‘s cultural and natural heritage in an environmentally, culturally and economically sustainable manner.

The seeds of dialogue are already in the ground, and a variety of organizations (governmental and non-governmental) are working to encourage all to take a second look at Hasankeyf.

In 2011, state-owned Turkish Airlines (THY) mounted a publicity campaign to increase awareness about Hasankeyf as an international tourist destination.

Daily THY flights to Batman, gateway to Hasankeyf  

Since 2013, the District Governor of Hasankeyf has sponsored a number of improvements, including the construction of a telegenic open-air amphitheater (with Hasankeyf’s legendary skyline in the background). Working in cooperation with DİKA (The Tigris Development Agency), the District Governor has also begun to develop a network of ecological villages emphasizing local garden produce, culinary traditions and handicrafts as the basis for tourism.

The new amphitheater offers one of the best views of Hasankeyf

Architectural lighting in Hasankeyf was upgraded in 2014

At the regional level, volunteers in southeast Turkey, particularly Batman and Diyarbakir, are taking new approaches to promoting the cause of Hasankeyf. Working in cooperation with the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive and a network of local ecological councils, the Hasankeyf Solidarity Group has organized numerous activities this fall, featuring panel discussions, bicycling and kite-flying as well as press-conferences calling for “peace for humanity and nature.”

The Hasankeyf Solidarity Group offers new ways of seeing Hasankeyf

By continuing to build a truly open dialogue around heritage, people of varying perspectives and philosophies can come together to share different visions of past, present and future in Hasankeyf.

--HK Matters team

Rare examples of Seljuk visual culture at risk

The ruins of the Artukid Bridge trace the route by which travelers entered the lower city of Hasankeyf in bygone centuries. Built in 1145 by Kara Arslan, this bridge was the largest of its day and no doubt made a lasting impression on all who approached the city. From high above the Tigris River, those crossing the bridge enjoyed a sweeping view of khans, madrasahs, mosques, churches, and, in the distance, suburban villas and gardens.

The 250-meter bridge collapsed long ago, leaving the seven pylons

In its scale and beauty, the bridge attested to the wealth of Hasankeyf and the civil engineering capabilities of the Artukids (established in Hasankeyf as vassals of the Great Seljuks).

A reconstruction of the Artukid Bridge by Albert Gabriel

In addition, a series of relief carvings of human figures – thought to be court pages in ceremonial dress – were displayed on the bridge pylons and served as symbols of the sultan’s sovereign power and authority (Whelan 222). Scholars speculate that there were originally eight, possibly twelve figures; five have survived and are clearly visible to anyone who knows to look for them.

One of the five remaining relief carvings on the Artukid Bridge

Museums and libraries are full of illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, and metalwork reflecting the richness and complexity of Islamic visual cultures throughout history. What is less commonly known, however, is that at different periods, artistic tastes favored the use of human figural representation in architectural ornamentation, for example, among the Umayyads in Syria as well as the Seljuks of Iran and Anatolia. Many visitors to Hasankeyf are surprised to discover these carvings, which so clearly contradict the mistaken yet widespread assumption that the representation of human form is forbidden in Islam. Unfortunately, countless examples of human figural relief carvings and sculpture have been lost along with the secular buildings that held them; in some cases, they may have been “replaced by abstract floral and geometric ornaments and inscriptions” (Baer 51).

These relief carvings are visible from the courtyard Rızk Mosque

As the last remaining site in Turkey where one can observe a collection of human figural relief carvings in their original setting, the Artukid Bridge at Hasankeyf is an invaluable example of Seljuk cultural heritage. Turkey’s other surviving examples are few and far between. Two reliefs depicting angels remain from the Konya Citadel; one is held by the Konya İnce Minareli Medrese Museum and the other is in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin. The 12th-century bridge near Cizre also bears relief carvings showing human form, but the bridge actually stands within the borders of Syria.

Restoration work on the Artukid Bridge (July 2015)

No detailed plans for conserving these relief carvings have been published. Despite the fact that the waters of the Ilısu Dam will flood Hasankeyf within a number of years, the Artukid Bridge is currently undergoing restoration. The Turkish Highways Directorate is responsible for the project, which was approved by the Diyarbakır Cultural Properties Preservation Directorate. We hope that these extraordinary Seljuk relief carvings and the entire remains of the bridge will be conserved properly under the supervision of Turkey’s ICOMOS committee.

No contractor listed at the construction site

In their present location, the Hasankeyf relief carvings not only belie common assumptions about visual culture in medieval Islam, but also form part of the comprehensive collection of Seljuk art, architecture, and technology to be viewed in their original context in Hasankeyf. Now is the time for archaeologists, conservationists, and all those interested in medieval Islamic civilization to emphasize the importance of protecting the Artukid Bridge and the entire city of Hasankeyf and its hinterlands.

--HK Matters team

Sources:

• Baer, Eva. The Human Figure in Islamic Art: Inheritances and Islamic Transformations. Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 2004.
• Öney, Gönül. Anadolu Selçuklu Mimari Süslemesi ve El Sanatları (Architectural Decoration and Minor Arts in Seljuk Anatolia). Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1992.
• Whelan, Estelle, “Representations of the Khassakiyah and the Origins of Mamluk Emblems,” in Content and Context of Visual Arts in the Islamic World, P. P. Soucek, ed. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 1988. pp. 219-253.

Earliest temple found in Hasankeyf; yet another reason for @UNESCO to list #Hasankeyf

Archaeologists digging at the Neolithic mound in Hasankeyf have uncovered remains of a temple thought to be older than Göbeklitepe, according to an announcement this week by Batman University Chancellor Abdüsselam Uluçam, who is responsible for archaeological excavations at Hasankeyf.

Coming just as the UNESCO World Heritage Committee begins its annual meeting in Bonn, Germany, this news is a timely reminder to the international community of conservationists that Hasankeyf needs your support, now more than ever. Please join the Save the Tigris Campaign in urging Turkey, Iraq, and UNESCO to take the necessary steps to ensure that Hasankeyf and the Arab Marshlands of Iraq are preserved for the enjoyment and education of future generations.

Hasankeyf holds the remains of the earliest organized human settlement ever found. Digging at Hasankeyf under the supervision of Professor Yutuka Miyake of the University of Tsukuba, Japanese archaeologists have unearthed tantalizing clues about the diet, burial practices, and physical habitat of the people who lived here 11,500 years ago.

Recent excavations also shed light on the economic activity and standards of living in Hasankeyf during the Seljuk era. The discovery in 2012 of a water purification system dating to the 12th century attests to the sophistication of water management in Seljuk lands. An extensive network of natural streams and artificial canals, sections of which still function today, carried water to every part of Hasankeyf, including the citadel mount.

Remains of a 12th century water purification system,
excavated in Hasankeyf in 2012

Local gardeners, who rely both on wells and water diverted from surface streams, claim that a large underground network of cisterns and channels form the bigger part of the medieval water system, suggesting the need for continued archaeological work.

In addition, the remains of a ceramics factory on the edge of Hasankeyf’s Sâlihiyya garden district represent a rare example of medieval manufacturing, according to Oluş Arık, former head of excavations at Hasankeyf. Consisting of kilns, cooling pools, and areas for painting and storage, this complex constitutes the most important kiln remains in Anatolia and suggests that ceramics production in Hasankeyf was comparable to that of İznik. (See Arık, 201; Çeken, 22)

Hasankeyf ceramic kilns are thought to have
rivaled İznik in production capacity

The ongoing archaeological work at Hasankeyf demonstrates clearly and emphatically that Hasankeyf provides an unparalleled field in which to study the evolution of human habitat and deserves UNESCO listing as World Heritage to ensure that this research continues.

--HK Matters team

Sources:
Arık, M. Oluş. Hasankeyf: Üç Dünyanın Buluştuğu Kent [Hasankeyf: The City Where Three Worlds Meet]. Ankara: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınlar, 2003.

Çeken, Muharrem. “Materials, Techniques and Kilns used in the Production of Seljuk and Beylik Period Glazed Tiles.” In Tiles Treasures of Anatolian Soil: Tiles of the Seljuk and Beylik Periods. Ed. Rüçhan Arık and Oluş Arık. Istanbul: Kale Group Cultural Productions, 2008. pp. 13-23

The trails we leave

One of the points commonly thrown about in discussions on the significance of Hasankeyf is that of its continuous habitation, thought to date back many thousands of years. But aside from an impressive role call of past inhabitants and their stone-and-mortar vestiges, why does it matter that these ghostly antecedents were there, in Hasankeyf, and that people are still there now, today?

A little background

Hasankeyf's name may be related to "Kipani," mentioned in texts dating back to the rule of Assyrian king Assurnasipal II in the 9th century BCE. In the first century CE the East Roman historian Procopius refers to it as Ciphas (look here for a general history of Hasankeyf). Evidence of human settlement at Hasankeyf is most easily found in the monuments and artefacts that dot the town, marking the traces left there by Byzantines, Artukids, Ayyubids and so on. Indeed, the diversity of Hasankeyf's archaeological heritage is frequently cited as the chief reason it should be given UNESCO recognition.

Hasaankeyf's 12th century Artukid bridge

On continuity

...But, walking in the hills and canyons surrounding the city last month, another way in which use, habitation, human presence really matters was brought home to me. As literal as it is simple: the trails we leave.

The sides of the canyons are stippled with rock-cut steps, even handholds. As you negotiate them, mapless, the way reveals itself in stone rubbed clear of moss and lichen by the passage of predecessors. Yesterday, last week, last year, last century.

The existence of this anonymous inheritance is entirely dependent on uninterrupted habitation. Take away man and in five years the trails will be blurred by vegetation; in less than 20, almost invisible.

The passage of time

Of course, some of these paths may in any case be erased by a lake and obscured by silt and mud before they have a chance to grow bosky with disuse. But even those remaining high and dry will be left literally so; orphaned, cut off from the flow of people that created and perpetuated them.

In the grand scheme of things, alongside all that stands to be lost if the Ilısu Dam is impounded, this may seem a minor figure in a greater tragedy, but it is one the visitor feels keenly, as she explores Hasankeyf in the footsteps of the millennia.

-- Helen

Hasankeyf in the context of European cultural heritage

Europa Nostra Vice President Costa Carras and
actor Ioannis Simonides lead a literary tour of the
Athenian Agora

Hasankeyf Matters was honored to participate in the 50th Anniversary Congress of Europa Nostra in Athens, June 13-17, 2013. The program, which spared no opportunity to celebrate Athens as the birthplace of democracy, included case study presentations, business meetings, awards ceremony and offline networking sessions. A voluntary civil society organization formed in 1963 through the cooperation of national heritage groups, Europa Nostra has grown to become the pre-eminent “Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe.”

Hasankeyf lies between the Raman Mountains (background)
and the Tur Abdin Plateau
Photo: Hasankeyf Matters

In her remarks to the congress, Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Culture, Education, Multilingualism and Youth, stressed the importance of investing in heritage: “The rich tangible and intangible heritage we share in Europe is a vital part of our identity. It plays a central role in promoting local growth and fosters social inclusion." These words summarize perfectly the potential of Hasankeyf as a showcase of universal human heritage with special emphasis on Islamic civilization in the era of the Seljuk Turks.

Indeed, Europa Nostra has recognized the value of Hasankeyf to European history by naming it one of 14 sites shortlisted for the “7 Most Endangered” program launched this year. We hope that Europa Nostra and its members will continue to participate in the ongoing conversation around heritage preservation in Hasankeyf.

Saint George Armenian Church, Mardin
Photo: A. Alkan

Europa Nostra is helping to draw worldwide attention to other sites in Southeastern Turkey by including The Saint George Armenian Church in Mardin in the “7 Most Endangered” program. As noted by Europa Nostra - Turkey, this church, founded in the 4th c., represents an important aspect of Mardin’s cultural mosaic. We applaud Europa Nostra’s selection, as it increases the renown of Mardin (only 120 km from Hasankeyf) and opens opportunities for cooperation as the Government of Turkey promotes Mardin as candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Fountain of the Lions, Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 

winner of a Europa Nostra conservation award, 2013 

Photo: José Enrique Marin Zarza

Given the importance of Islamic civilization in spurring the development of art, philosophy and scientific enquiry in Europe, we feel strongly that there is an opportunity and a need to seek out the areas where Christianity, Islam and Judaism overlap and to promote dialogue around these shared elements of heritage.


Hasankeyf is perfectly suited for this kind of dialogue – with its extraordinary display of diverse forms of human habitat extending from the 10th mm. BCE to the 21st c. CE. As one of the most compelling sites in Turkey, Hasankeyf represents Islamic civilization side by side with Syriac Christianity and brings people together – Turkish and Greek, Kurdish and Arab, Assyrian and Persian – in a dialogue that is at once historically aware and forward-looking.

The minarets of the Rizk Mosque and Sultan Suleyman
Mosque keep modern Hasankeyf anchored in a
medieval urban plan.  Photo: Hasankeyf Matters

We hope to see more organizations both in Turkey and abroad support the conservation of the universal heritage of Hasankeyf with its extraordinary insight into the urban archaeology in the middle period of Islamic civilization.

-- Hasankeyf Matters team

North and south meet in Hasankeyf

Arabic is the mother tongue for many in Hasankeyf, and this week it became the town's lingua franca, as residents and their guests from Iraq, Syria and Egypt quizzed one another about their local dialects.

Marsh Arab homeland near confluence of
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (photo: Agatha Showronek)

The Iraqi visitors, Marsh Arabs, were in town with representatives from Nature Iraq, Doğa Derneği and ECA Watch to raise awareness about the severe impact the Ilısu Dam project will have on their homeland – the wetlands of southern Iraq – where they make their living by fishing, hunting and raising water buffalo. If the construction of Ilısu is completed as planned, it will disrupt the spring floods, required to sustain life in the plains near Basra.

Hasankeyf, 22 May 2012 (photo: N. Keskin)

Sheik Sayed Abbas, one of the Marsh Arabs attending a press conference in Hasankeyf, suggested a compromise solution, saying, “If we reduced the height of the dam from 130 meters to 65 meters, this would not flood Hasankeyf and our marshes would not dry out.” Is 65 meters too much to ask for the cradle of civilization?

In addition to meeting with the mayor of Hasankeyf, the Iraqi delegation also joined the town's residents in signing the Ilısu-UNESCO petition calling for the protection of natural and historical world heritage in Hasankeyf and the Marshlands of Lower Mesopotamia.

Petition drive in Hasankeyf (photo: N. Keskin)

On related note, Jan van Herwijnen (from the Suleymaniyah office of Nature Iraq) and Cengiz Yargic (now based in Hasankeyf on behalf of Pedallıyorum) brainstormed ideas for bringing different cultures together along the banks of the Tigris. In addition to cultural “in-gatherings” (such as this weekend’s Hasankeyf’te Buluşalım activities) and the efforts of Pedallıyorum to promote inter-city biking in Southeastern Anatolia, they agreed to organize a bicycle tour between Hasankeyf and Suleymaniya.

--John

Sign the petition to save Hasankeyf!

Want to show your support for Hasankeyf?  Take a minute to read and sign this petition. 

Four organizations from Turkey, Iran and Iraq-KRG have initiated the campaign:

• The Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive 
• Iraqi Civil Society Initiative 
• Civil Development Organization   
• The Centre for Sustainable Development 

. . . with the support of more than 40 international NGOs, including the Berne Declaration (Switzerland), International Rivers (USA), ECA Watch (Austria), and the Allianoi Initiative Group (Turkey).

Please sign it, share it with your friends and let them know why Hasankeyf matters.

-- HK Matters team

'They don't want to move'

On March 14, marking International Day of Action for Rivers, Doğa Derneği made public the results of a survey of the people of Hasankeyf regarding their coming relocation. The findings make for interesting reading, revealing that residents are dissatisfied with the level of public consultation and concerned for their future prospects after they are moved to make way for the dam.

Speaking at a press conference in the village, Hasankeyf Campaign Assistant and DD member Derya Engin noted that "the study proves government claims that the Ilısu Dam enjoys public support in the region are false.”

The DD press release, titled "They don't want to move," provides a précis of the results of the survey, conducted by Ebru Işıklı, as well as arguments in support of the protection and preservation of Hasankeyf. The same statement has also been circulated widely online, including by Turkish nature magazine Atlas.

Computer-generated image of Yeni Hasankeyf, complete with high-rise apartment buildings

You can find an English translation of the statement here, but the main points are as follows:

• Close to 70% of Hasankeyf residents interviewed do not want to move to Yeni (new) Hasankeyf.
• Almost half say they cannot afford to relocate, while close to 30 percent have no idea where they will go when evicted.
• Only one in five residents would consider relocation, citing poor housing or a lack of employment opportunities.
• The study also claims residents’ needs and means were not identified or adequately considered in the relocation project.
• The lack of consultation on relocation plans flies in the face of EU and World Bank requirements (one of the reasons European credit agencies withdrew support for Ilısu).
• The statement again underlines that Hasankeyf meets nine out of 10 criteria for UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
• The Ilısu project will displace between 55,000 and 65,000 people.
• While the lifespan of the dam is just 70 years*, its cultural, humanitarian and ecological impact will far outlast it.

We are happy to see the results of the survey published, and hope that -- with last week's visit to Ilısu still fresh in his mind -- Minister Eroğlu may find time to give them his attention.

--HK Matters team

* DD does not give any source in support of this claim. While all dams
age at different rates depending on how they are built and under what
conditions, the American Society of Civil Engineers has described 50
years as the "typical useful lifespan" of a dam.