Seyfe Bird Paradise dries up

DHA photo

The Seyfe Lake Bird Paradise, which is included in the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, and under protection as a National Park, has dried up and turned into arid land. 

The lake in the Central Anatolian province of Kırşehir, where some 50 different bird species incubate, 182 bird species take shelter and 25 bird species stop by on their migration route, dried up because of unimplemented plans and untaken decisions, even though warning bells were ringing. 

The lake also dried up in December 2006 and survived after rescue efforts but plans to prevent a future occurrence had not been implemented and now the lake has completely dried up again over a period of four months, according to Aqua Saravenas Kırşehir Environmental Ecology Education and Research Association President Mustafa Bağ. “Officials watched as it was dying,” he added. 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/seyfe-bird-paradise-dries-up-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=103461&NewsCatID=340

A different view on Hatay’s skeleton mosaic

Just as the “Gypsy Girl (Maeaned)” mosaic has become the symbol of Gaziantep, “the skeleton mosaic” seems likely to become the symbol of Hatay. The mosaic has become an extraordinary issue in Turkey and around the world. 

Archaeologist Bülent Demir unearthed the skeleton mosaic in 2013 during the construction of a teleferic in the İplik Pazarı area. Since then, I have seen “accurate or inaccurate” articles about this mosaic. I don’t know if the excavation team said something wrong or the media got it wrong, but the mosaic does not date back to the Hellenistic era in the third century B.C. Instead, it hails from the Roman era in the third century A.D. 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/a-different-view-on-hatays-skeleton-mosaic.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104739&NewsCatID=375

Istanbul to host breakdance event

Legendary hip-hop stars will come to Istanbul for the Burn Battle School, which has been billed as “the world’s hottest breakdance contest.”

The Burn Battle School, organized in different cities around the world since 2012, will take place in Istanbul on Oct. 22. The event, which is a world class B-Boy contest with MCs, DJs and graffiti artists, brings thousands of hip-hop enthusiasts and legendary dancers together. 

At event that will take place in Istanbul for the first time, Turkey’s best 16 B-Boy bands will challenge each other with their dances. Among them will be English hip-hop star Tinie Tempah, a living legend of hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash, and Turkish rapper Ceza. 

Tickets for the event are available at Biletix.

October/10/2016

Ottoman, Roman coins at Japan castle

AFP photo

Japanese archaeologists said Sept. 28 they have for the first time unearthed ancient Roman coins at the ruins of an old castle.

The discovery of 10 bronze and copper coins, the oldest dating from about 300-400 A.D., in southern Okinawa caught researchers by surprise. It was the first time Roman Empire coins have been discovered in Japan, thousands of kilometers from where they were likely minted.

“At first I thought they were one cent coins dropped by US soldiers,” archaeologist Hiroki Miyagi said. “But after washing them in water I realized they were much older. I was really shocked.”

A team of researchers have been excavating Katsuren castle, a UNESCO world heritage site, since 2013.

An X-ray analysis of the dime-sized coins showed some were embossed with Roman letters and possibly the image of Emperor Constantine I and a soldier holding a spear. Several others dated from a later period, the 17th century Ottoman Empire. Researchers were left scratching their heads about how the coins ended up at the castle in faraway Okinawa, which was built sometime in late 13th or early 14th century and abandoned about 200 years later.

It was once the residence of a feudal lord, whose wealth was linked to regional trade but he was not known to have had business ties with Europe.

“East Asian merchants in the 14 and 15th centuries mainly used Chinese currency, a round coin with a square hole in the middle, so it is unlikely that the Western coins were used as a means of currency,” said Miyagi. “I believe they probably got the coins in Southeast Asia or China.”

September/28/2016 hdn