Book36: 2018-2023 – IN A PIG’S EYE — Ancient Türkiye — Hittites — Istanbul — Taş Tepeler — Ephesus — Rome — Greece — Constantinople — Ancient Anatolia —Unbelievable!! — “In a pig’s eye!” – 19-20thC American Midwest: an expression of disbelief or amazement. This boar was carved 11,700 years ago in Gobeklitepe, when we humans were supposed to be wearing skins and living in caves. The terrible earthquake in Mesopotamia in February 2023 inspired drawings from photos I took in the region in 2019. The earthquake illustrated how fragile is our human heritage. I do what I can to preserve It in drawings, even if I have to do them from photos.
THE DISCOVERERS
Şafak Yilmaz — From a photo sent me by his grandson — Farmer Şafak Yilmaz & Archeologist Klaus Schmidt at Gobeklitepe —TriciVenola 2023
Farmer Yilmaz found strangely carved stones in his fields for years before taking them to the Archeological Museum in Şanliurfa in 1986. There they were ignored until Klaus Schmidt saw them in 1995, recognized them for what they were, found the farmer, and discovered the greatest archeological find in history.
FEARSOME ASSYRIANS
Bas relief carved in golden stone: Fearsome Assyrians stalk through the supplicating, dying bodies of the foe, each carrying the head of an enemy. 900-600 BC- Hatay Museum- Antakya = From photos taken in April 2019 — TriciVenola 2023 — Drawing slows me down so I can really feel those flames, hear the cries of agony and supplication. There was originally a whole row of these, probably painted.
FUN WITH POTS
FUN WITH POTS WITH THE ANCIENTS IN ANATOLIA — 2300 BC-1750 BC – Terracotta – (Troy III-V) Istanbul Muse — Museum of Anatolian Civilizations – Ankara — Big fat pot!-Ankara Muse —- All these are small things for the home — A little griffin pitcher-early 6thC BC-Izmir Muse — Goddess Pot-Ankara Muse — Broken off- maybe a pot stopper? <— — Ankara Muse — All this Ankara stuff is likely from around 900 BC — TriciVenola 2023 — Imagine being a child, growing up with that little Griffin pitcher, seeing your mother or the kitchen staff pouring milk out of that fat little pot’s head?
PEOPLE & GODS
A workman in his doorway in Şekitkamil, Gaziantep, 2019 —Griffins at Hatay Muse — May the ancient gods of this land protect its people — A lady resting her feet on a tree-well in Hatay Merkez, Antatkya, 2019 — TriciVenola 2023
A horror not to be borne, yet somehow they bore it, those who lived. I wonder if this workman and this lady are among them? The museums and ancient sites survived, but the old towns are gone.