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MON. 10/09/2000

Naxuan?

We started out this morning by working our way up Mt. Cudi (pronounced "judy") above the boat shape at Durupinar.  By analyzing Turkish aerial photographs, David Deal found a site that he thinks is Naxuan, or Noah's City, the first city built by Noah and his family after the Ark came to rest.  There are ancient foundations at the site, and more work is planned  to excavate the site to ascertain its origins, and its history.

Afterwards we went back to the boat shape to take GPS readings, and plot its precise measurements.

Driving along the roads of Mt. Judi we passed some village boys tending their flock, and then came across an ox cart taking the family for a ride.  DP Tufan Turanli captures the reality of rural Turkey.

Five km. east of Dogubeyazit  is the Ishak Pasa Saray, a fortress/palace/mosque complex perched high above the Ararat plain.  It's one of the most extraordinary buildings in Turkey.   With a marvelous view from almost every window, this unusual palace dominated the local landscape after its construction in the second half of the 18th century.  Ishak Pasa started his ruled over eastern Anatolia under nominal Ottoman sovereignty  in 1789.  From his palace he dominated the trade which flowed along the Silk Road below, gaining much wealth and spending it on the creation of his extraordinary abode.

Then it was on the road again, for a four-hour trip to Ezurum, where our plan calls for an interview with Dr. Salih Bayraktutan of Ataturk University.  Dr. Bayraktutan is a geologist who has done extensive research in the Ararat area, both on Mt. Ararat and the Durupinar site.