How the Arabs saved our knowledge from antiquity

In my post, The story around Alexander’s copy of the Iliad, I briefly mentioned how the Abbasid Caliphs in Persia largely contributed to preserving the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. 

A few years ago, my attention was drawn to the glory days of Baghdad around 1000 AD, a city built inside a circle surrounding the central Abbasid Palace, a symbol of power and unity. More amazing than its shape was the fact that its Caliphs invested in hiring scholars to translate ancient Greek documents into Arabic. 

[Baghdad under the early Caliphs. Attribution]

Baghdad was built along the Tigris River in 762 AD, as the residence of Caliph Al-Mansur, the founder of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasid Dynasty was named after the uncle of Prophet Muhammad. A Caliph was the title of the civil and religious leader of a Muslim state, seen as representing Allah on earth. 

Al-Mansur was the first Caliph to honor astrologers. The most famous astrologer was Mash’allah from Basra, who served the Caliphs from 762 to 809 AD. Al-Mansur was convinced that it was written in the stars that the Abbasids were the legitimate successors of the Persian Sassanid Empire. They had been in power from 224 until 651 AD, when they were conquered by the Muslims. Since astrology did not exist in Arabic, Al-Mansur needed to revert to Persian and Greek astrological texts. As a result, he needed these ancient texts to be translated into Arabic.

By 786 AD, Caliph Harun al-Rashid established the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, which originally may have been a Library, where scholars from across the Muslim world would organize their translations. The idea caught on, and other centers flourished a few centuries later in Cordoba and Granada in Spain, as well as in Cairo, Egypt. 

In the western Roman world, we saw our ancient knowledge and know-how disappear into the dark Middle Ages soon after the Fall of Rome in 476 AD. In the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, however, the science of Antiquity survived despite the rise of Christianity. Constantine the Great had made it the official religion, renaming its capital Byzantium after himself, Constantinople.

When Islam entered the stage in the 7^th century AD, the Abbasid Caliphate, established in Damascus, was a serious competitor to Constantinople. In about 750 AD, the Caliphate was transferred from Damascus to Baghdad, meaning that the center of power moved east from a Greek-speaking region to a non-Greek-speaking area. Followed a series of wars between the Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire that lasted until the 11^th century. 

All that time, the knowledge from Antiquity flowed into Baghdad, where a vast translation project was set up, and top translators were highly rewarded in gold. They concentrated on matters like astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, and even music theory. Aristotle was still held in high esteem, his works as well as his comments. Later translations included Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest, a mathematical and astronomical treatise on the motions of the stars and planets; Euclid's book on geometry; the medical works of Hippocrates and Galen; and Plato’s Republic and Laws. Many other ancient books were translated from Greek, Pahlavi, Neo-Persian, and Syriac into Arabic. 

Simultaneously with this translation movement, Islamic science developed, involving philosophers and scientists alike. A name that stands out is that of Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna (980-1037), the Father of Early Medicine, whose work was standard in Europe for centuries. Another figure was Al-Khwarizmi (780-860), the Father of Algebra, who introduced the algorithms.

By the mid-11^th century, the ideas of antiquity reached Europe in Arabic, traveling to Sicily and Muslim Spain. Over time, they had been enriched with the knowledge that the Caliphs in the Middle East had acquired and developed. We owe it to the Abbasids that the knowledge from classical antiquity reached Europe, where it was generally translated into Latin. 

The Abbasid Caliphate ended in 1258 when Baghdad was sacked by the Mongols. The city was looted and thoroughly destroyed. The invaders burned piles of books, including those that were held in the House of Wisdom. 

Without Baghdad and its western expansion, we would have remained stuck in the dark Middle Ages, and there would not have been a Renaissance. 

Iraq’s Kurdistan honoring the memory of Alexander the Great

Several years ago, there were talks between Athens and Baghdad to intensify cultural cooperation. One point on the agenda was that Athens would provide financial aid to reconstruct the National Museum of Baghdad (see: The Museum of Baghdad, what's new?). The other point was plans to erect a statue of Alexander the Great in Kurdistan, northern Iraq. 

[National Museum Baghdad]

The foreign ministries of both Greece and Iraq agreed to honor the memory of Alexander by building a statue of Alexander in Mosul, near the ancient site of the Battle of Gaugamela, where King Darius (see: The Battle of Gaugamela) was defeated in 331 BC. 

It is remarkable to hear Iraq’s wish to celebrate the victory of Alexander over the Persian King Darius, which led to the demise of the Persian Empire that included Iraq as well. 

Athens vowed to help the Iraqi government recover thousands of artifacts looted from Baghdad’s National Museum after the American invasion in 2003. 

These mutual promises apparently went no further than good intentions by both parties, as mentioned during a Lecture by Andreas P. Parpas at the Cyprus Centre of Cultural Heritage in Nicosia on 25 April 2018. 

Since then, nothing more has been heard about this project. 

Meanwhile, looted and stolen artifacts are slowly returning to the National Museum of Baghdad. In 2010, 540 treasures were returned, and 638 objects were located in the office of Iraq’s Prime Minister. In 2012, 45 relics of Sumerian and Assyrian art were returned by Germany. The US also returned 17,000 looted artifacts in 2021. And in 2023, the FBI was involved in the recovery of a gold and ivory piece of furniture dated to 5,500 BC. Despite serious efforts, it is estimated that about 10,000 treasures from the Baghdad Museum are still missing. 

On the other hand, the US pledged almost $700,000 to restore the ancient city of Babylon that was damaged by the US troops using the site as a military base (see: Babylon, victim of war). 

Alexandria, the first Renaissance

The term Hellenism is often interchanged with Greek, especially in art. Classical Greek art almost unnoticeably merged with Hellenistic art, and we owe it all to Alexander. In the wake of his conquests, Greek culture and language spread all over the ancient world, from Greece to India. Thanks to the common use of the Greek language, trade developed as merchants were always looking for business opportunities. Talking to buyers and sellers in the same language was a considerable asset. 

After the wars among Alexander’s successors were settled, peace returned in one form or another. Traffic and exchanges between East and West soon blossomed to reach a level never achieved before. 

Greek knowledge and culture were mixed and blended with the learning of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and India. In this context, Alexandria became the new center of the ancient world. 

It was in Alexandria that the first Library was created. In today’s words, this could be compared to a university. Ptolemy I Soter initially founded a Museum inside the Temple of the Muses (hence the name Museum), where all art and sciences were brought together. 

It seems that the Library was, in fact, an extension of the temple built by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, his son. Like every other building in Alexandria, we only have a slight idea of what it looked like, as, to this day, very few remains have been unearthed. An outstanding effort to visualize the great Library was made by Kevin Kok, Senior Level Artist at Ubisoft Montreal, to recreate the complex as it would or could have been (see: The Library of Alexandria). In time, the terms Museum and Library were used interchangeably. 

The Library of Alexandria certainly met Alexander’s own desire to create a research center where knowledge from East and West would be collected to be shared by all. The very concept existed already in the Academy and the Lyceum of Athens, but at Alexander’s death in 323 BC, the ancient world had grown into another dimension. We must credit Ptolemy for understanding Alexander’s vision and executing his ambition. 

Eventually, great scientists flocked to Alexandria, exchanging and discussing their understanding and perception of the world. Much research was done at the Museum, which held an astronomical observatory and rooms for anatomical dissections, and where all sorts of experiments were carried out. The site also included botanical and zoological gardens. How modern is that! 

It is generally accepted that Dimitrios of Phaleron was responsible for the organization. With the budget made available by Ptolemy II, he collected all the books he could, including the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus. Ptolemy III continued this trend, and the Library could boast of having half a million parchment rolls. Among them were all the great Greek works from Homer onward! 

After the death of Dimitrios, Zenodotus of Ephesus took over, assisted by Callimachus of Cyrene. This Callimachus is credited with being the first to classify 120,000 works of prose and poetry, sorting them by author and subject. Eratosthenes of Cyrene was appointed around 235 BC as the new head of the Library. He concentrated on mathematics, astronomy, and geography. We’ll remember Eratosthenes’ contribution to calculating the planet Earth's size after Pythagoras had declared that the Earth was a sphere (see: Alexander missed Eratosthenes by less than a century). 

Great scientists widely contributed to the Library. Euclid wrote his Elements of Geometry, which is still used today, and also a book on astronomy and one on perspective, the Optica. Archimedes, a native of Syracuse, probably studied in Alexandria. He is best known for his theory of calculating the volume, which he discovered while bathing. He was so excited about his discovery that he ran out of his house, stark naked, shouting, “Eureka!” - I found it! (see: Archimedes, the most illustrious citizen of Syracuse). The greatest astronomer of antiquity was Hipparchus of Nicaea, who made great use of the Library of Alexandria.  Besides being a geographer and a mathematician, he was also the inventor of trigonometry, and most famous for discovering the precession of the equinoxes in the late 2^nd century BC. 

Lesser known but equally important is Ctesibius of Alexandria, the inventor of toys and devices using air under pressure, i.e., pneumatics. He created automatons such as a water clock, a fire engine, and even a singing statue. He also invented the first keyboard-wind instrument, the hydraulis, a recreation of which is exhibited in the Museum of Dion, Greece (see: Close encounter with an ancient Water-Organ). 

By 62 AD, Hero of Alexandria even invented the first steam engine! Imagine our world if this invention had not been lost. 

The list of scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, physicians, and inventors seems endless. All their knowledge was born in Alexandria, from where it spread over the entire ancient world for more than three hundred years! The famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Pharos, was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, shining its light over a great distance thanks to an intricate system of mirrors. How it actually worked remains obscure. It was probably damaged by the catastrophic earthquake that hit the entire coast of North Africa in 365 AD. Repairs never resuscitated this unique structure. 

Alexandria was also the center where Medical Science was born under Herophilus. He was the first scientist to systematically perform dissections of dead people, often in public, to explain his actions to those interested in these matters. His books are lost but were frequently quoted in the 2nd century AD by the physician Claudius Galenus, better known as Galen of Pergamon (see: Hello? Dr. Galen?) 

Other Libraries were known from antiquity (see: Libraries in antiquity, a short overview), but none surpassed the one in Alexandria. 

After centuries of glory, this great Library succumbed to earthquakes and repeated fires. The lack of funds to sponsor and maintain the premises was another reason for its degradation. Eventually, the knowledge was transferred to Antioch, and with the Arab conquest to Baghdad. We owe very much to Caliph Al-Mansur (754-775 AD), who had a vivid interest in Greek science. He ordered the Greek documents to be translated into Arabic. Over the centuries, these translations traveled back west to become available in Latin. In fact, Al-Mansur saved ancient Greek literature and science for us to enjoy today. This entire process is developed in detail by John Freely in his book Aladdin’s Lamp. How Greek science came to Europe through the Islamic World.

An eye for beauty in spite of the daily challenges

On a lovely autumn day, I was enjoying a picnic high up the hills among the ruins of Tlos, overlooking the Xanthos Valley. My mind automatically drifted away to Alexander, who must have ridden down this very valley towards Patara, Letoon, and Xanthos. I pictured him proudly riding his faithful Bucephalus, who was happily shaking his colorful tassels and twinkling bells.

In my pleasant mental picture, I imagined a good-humored Alexander enjoying the ride and the beauty of the land with Hephaistion at his side. No history book will mention this, of course. The landscape, roads, or weather conditions are no topic unless they reach extremes.

The few such exceptions our historians picked up are, for instance, the blizzards that hit the army on the passes of the Hindu Kush, the never-ending monsoon rains in India, and the flash flood in the Gedrosian Desert. Otherwise, we can only use our imagination, and that is not easy since most of us have not traveled to those faraway lands.

I feel privileged to have trodden in the footsteps of this great conqueror on several occasions, but to truly appreciate what is involved, we would have to venture out on foot. Only a handful of braves have set out on such an adventure. Traveling by plane or car, as is common nowadays, does not allow us to experience the impact of the elements. The wind, the rain, the heat or the cold remain blocked until we step outside of our metal cocoon. We miss out on the smells of the land, the dust, the fog, the crispy frost in the air. The most common sounds of bleating sheep, mooing cows, the songs of the birds, and the laughter of children are stifled entirely.

The topic of the weather fully hit me when I drove south along the Zagros Mountains in a relentless dust storm. The sands from Mesopotamia were carried through the air in sweeping gusts. As long as I sat inside the comforts of my vehicle, I only noticed a hazy landscape, but as soon as I left my protective shell, the grains hit me in the face, stinging me with thousands of needles. The wind was tearing at my clothes, the sand was crushing between my teeth, and breathing became difficult. Alexander must have known such days. 

The role of the landscape and the climate during Alexander’s campaign became even more apparent to me after reading “The Road to Oxiana” by Robert Byron. This book is a true eye-opener when it comes to envisioning the full scale of his daily challenges.

In 1933, Byron traveled from Damascus to Baghdad and crossed Persia to finally reach Afghanistan one year later.  It is quite exciting to discover that long stretches of his route match the itinerary taken by Alexander more than 2,000 years earlier. The landscape is a commanding factor common in both cases. Then and now, roads run along the same rivers, pass the same oases and towns, skirt the same deserts and mountains, and use the same passes and goat tracks. I enjoy his descriptions of the many valleys in full spring bloom in Central Asia, where the fiery red poppies rule the fields as they still do in Alexander’s homeland. They are a welcome breather after witnessing the barren deserts with their frequent dust devils whirling around.

Byron hitchhiked on board lorries but also traveled by car or on horseback. Despite modern means of transportation, he did not move much faster than a traveler on foot would. Roads were often impassable because of flooding or flash floods that washed away entire portions, including bridges or other rudimentary crossings.

He used old caravanserais when there was no local governor or friendly Brit around to offer him a room for the night. Lodging was, more often than not, uncomfortable and dirty. He generously recounts the folklore details of such encounters, and it seems to me that life has not really changed much since the days of Alexander.

As I read on, I search for those landscapes and cities that most likely have seen the Macedonian army marching through. Places like Ecbatana, Persepolis, Pasargadae, Balkh, Kabul, and Peshawar, the crossing of the Elbruz Mountains towards the Caspian Sea, and the perilous trek over the Hindu Kush.

Byron describes a poignant moment as he descends to the Caspian Coast. In a few minutes, the world of stone, sand, and mud he had endured since Damascus turned into one of green-leafed trees and bushes. The everlasting drought made way for moisture as even his body somehow returned to its natural buoyancy. I imagine Alexander and his dust-covered Macedonians must have experienced the same kind of refreshing relief.

Insofar as possible, Alexander used the well-maintained Persian Royal Road. Once beyond that network, it came down to finding tracks and trails. It appears that Byron had a rather similar experience, and his worst progress was made after he left Persia to enter Afghanistan.

The sudden changes in the weather pattern are widespread in that part of the world, and Byron truly undergoes these extremes. He tells how it rained all night, how the river had subsided but rose again fast, four feet deep at times. Of rain falling like bath-waste turning the road into a river for miles in a row, flooding the desert, and turning every mountain into a cataract. He describes the dark skies as cloud-wracked set against inky jagged hills.

At one time, after passing the Paropamisus, he labors for an hour and a half, ankle-deep in freezing slush, to lever away the rocks blocking the road. Landslides were common, and he mentions how not one but a dozen such landslides prevented him from reaching Kabul overnight. A mile beyond the Shibar Pass across the Hindu Kush, which Alexander also used, Byron hits more landslides, heaps of liquid mud and pebbles concealing large rocks. The crops below the road, already half destroyed by a river of mud, are then menaced by a new spate.

Another exciting feature that is not mentioned in our history books, either, is the qanats. A very recognizable and ingenious water management system from antiquity that still exists today and is still functioning in some parts of the world. The quality of the river water could not always be trusted, but the qanats carried the precious fluid from the snow level high up the mountains or from clean underground water tables (see: The qanats, one of the greatest inventions of mankind).

Earthquakes were another frequent occurrence at every stage of Alexander’s route. Surprisingly, the sudden shaking that rocked tents, as well as men and beasts, is never mentioned either. They probably were prevailing events not worth talking about.

No, this way of traveling is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Yet Alexander and his brave Macedonians constantly faced the elements. However, I like to believe that many, and especially Alexander, had an eye for beauty as well. Byron tells us, for instance, that he reached the most beautiful part of his entire journey at the foot of the Hindu Kush. Of all places! After leaving the river, the road constantly climbed not in twists but followed a succession of steeply sloping saddles leading from ridge to ridge. I have seen pictures of this road in a presentation at the exhibition “Afghanistan, hidden treasures from the National Museum, Kabul,” and they entirely match Byron’s description.

On the other hand, flowers must have been plentiful in antiquity, creating landscapes that were familiar to Alexander. Nowadays, they have mainly disappeared from our cities and our concrete roads. I fondly recall the Macedonian fields covered with an array of spring flowers ranging from the white chamomile and pink hollyhock to the deep-red poppies and purple wild onions. The explosion of colors over the rolling hills felt like a homecoming. The land was pleasantly green, crossed by refreshing, clear streams tumbling down from higher elevations under the blue sky filled with fleets of puffy clouds. Yet, I came across the same picture in many other places, further east to Turkey and beyond.

Truly, so much, so very much remains to be discovered and disclosed on Alexander’s whereabouts!

Stunning Gandharan art to be returned to Afghanistan

British Border Forces and London Police have worked together to intercept ancient artifacts from Afghanistan that were part of an illegal shipment entering Britain in 2002.

Among the items are a number of exquisite sculptures from Gandhara that have been dated to the 4th century BC, mostly heads made of clay and painted. Also confiscated was a wonderful bodhisattva torso in Hellenistic style. These artifacts were discovered at Heathrow Airport, where two crudely made wooden crates from Peshawar, Pakistan, caught the attention of the authorities.

The 4th-century BC heads discovered at Heathrow airport in 2002 

[Credit: Trustees of the British Museum]

The nine heads and the torso were examined closely by the British Museum and are being made ready to be returned home. Pending this operation, the museum is seeking permission from the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul to exhibit some of the heads in London. That would be a great opportunity for any art lover.

Previously, in 2011, a collection of 154 Mesopotamian clay tablets from the period between the 6^th and 4^th century BC was seized and entrusted to the British Museum. It has been established that these cuneiform tablets belonged to the administrative archives of Irisagrig, Iraq. This Sumerian site, whose location has not yet been determined, has been very badly looted, and hundreds of tablets and thousands of clay bullae have made their illicit way to the U.S. as well.

The clay tablets that are now held by the British Museum will soon return to the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad.

It is lovely to see that at least some of the stolen goods are returning to their homeland.

About spolia in Babylon

The word “spolia” is defined by Wikipedia as “the repurposing of building stone for new construction, or the reuse of decorative sculpture on new monuments, is an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built structure, is carried away to be used elsewhere.” Well, that is what I thought also, until I came across this article about modern-day spolia in Babylon.

Saddam Hussein’s controversial reconstruction of the Palace of King Nebuchadnezzar is well documented, but now it appears that bricks from ancient Babylon have been reused in buildings erected in Hillah, south of Baghdad. Elderly locals from the city remember how the bricks were transported by donkey or river barges, and this custom is thought to go back to the 12^th century. In 1890, bricks from Babylon were used to build the Hindiya Barrage on the Euphrates. Vandalism, for that is what spolia is, after all, continued far into the last century with Saddam Hussein’s madness to rebuild the palace and the American Army setting up their camp inside the old walls and driving their tanks through ancient streets.

The damage cannot be undone, but Iraqi authorities are now facing another problem: recovering as many Babylonian bricks from the old houses in Hillah and other neighboring towns by monitoring their demolition. As always, some deny the problem, and others claim that the theft of bricks stopped in the 1940s.

Whatever the case, a group of journalists and activists created a social media campaign and hoped that UNESCO would consider reinserting the site of Babylon in its World Heritage List by the end of 2017. On the other hand, Iraqi authorities are aware that the restoration of the houses in Hillah should be carried out under the control of the General Authority for Iraqi Antiquities.

King Nebuchadnezzar II built his city of Babylon in the 6^th century BC, and is said to have used as many as fifteen million baked bricks for the construction of his palace and surrounding official buildings! After all, Babylon was a huge metropolis covering 900 hectares of land. The square bricks used for this impressive construction carried Sumerian inscriptions and special regal seals.

It is heartbreaking to see remains from 2,700 years ago from such an important antique metropolis as Babylon disintegrate in front of our very eyes without being able to stop the damage.

Let’s hope for the best, as always.

A mental reconstruction of Alexander’s triumphal march into Babylon

For obvious reasons, I have not visited Babylon. Still, I am terribly happy to have at least been able to see the next best thing, the city’s imposing reconstructions at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

In a way, it may just be as well that I had not seen the remains of Babylon, located less than 100 kilometers south of modern Baghdad in Iraq, simply because this historical site has been so intensively damaged during the Iraqi War when the American army used the place as a military camp, destroying a part of the city in the process (see also: Babylon, victim of war). The old paved roads leading to the different city gates have crumbled under the weight of heavy tanks. Much of the rubble (often precious archaeological material) has been used in constructing airfields for helicopters and parking lots. Smaller archaeological material was also used to fill sandbags. The scanty remains of the Ishtar Gate have also suffered. To be fair, we cannot ignore that under Saddam Hussein, Babylon was not treated with much consideration either, for in 1983, he started building a city of his own on top of the fragile ruins of the dried brick walls.

He inscribed his name on the bricks, just as Nebuchadnezzar had done 2,500 years before him, and he made serious plans to erect a palace of his own atop the ruins. The outbreak of the Gulf War put an end to these damaging plans, but since then, the modern bricks and mortar of Saddam’s megalomania have dangerously undermined the fragile ruins.

Peace has not returned yet. For several years, villagers, invading armies, and fortune seekers plundered whatever they could. An ever-increasing number of people settled in new villages on top of the ruins, and rising groundwater threatened the ancient walls even further. To make matters worse, the Iraqi oil business is spoiling the precious grounds of this wondrous city, tearing up the soil to lay down their pipelines 1.7 meters deep right next to two other pipelines that were dug under Saddam Hussein. The Ministry of Oil ignored their Iraqi archaeologists' pleas, stating that they didn’t find any artifacts during their diggings – as if they were experts in the matter!

Historians tell us that Alexander entered Babylon through the Ishtar Gate and proceeded over the Procession Way from where the Royal Palace, the Temple of Marduk, and the Ziggurat came into full view. This is the first grand city Alexander encountered, and as he approached it from the dusty Mesopotamian plain, he must have been awed and impressed by the deep blue glazed brick walls rising amidst the lush green grasses on the banks of the Euphrates River.

Over the centuries, Babylon has seen many conquerors enter through its gates. This is where King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) wrote the very first laws etched in stone, now one of the proud possessions of the Louvre Museum. It is also the city where King Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), out of love for his homesick wife, built the famous hanging gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Last but not least, this is where the biblical and historical Tower of Babel ruled over the sacred complex, including the Temple of Ishtar. Less obvious is that from the sixth century BC onwards, the Achaemenid kings occupied the luxurious palace rooms of Babylon, their most westerly capital.

The Pergamon Museum has done a great job in rendering the imposing Ishtar Gate, repositioning the original dragons and aurochs (symbolizing the gods Marduk and Adad) in alternating rows and filling up the background with modern blue glazed bricks that blend in very well. Even the original building inscription by Nebuchadnezzar has been artfully inserted. The entire wall is framed with a tasteful mix of original and contemporary yellow bands and sunflowers embossed glazed bricks.

After passing this monumental gate, one arrives on the Procession Way, reproduced over 30 meters and eight meters wide. Initially, this avenue was 250 meters long and 20-24 meters wide, and it is not easy to mentally multiply the length by seven and the width by three to catch the actual immense proportions – a tall order in this confined space. Yet the walls have been faithfully covered with some of the 120 striding lions, dragons, and bulls, including the yellow and black trimmings at the bottom and top with flower motives symbolizing the goddess Ishtar.

Standing here, it is obvious how close Oliver Stone has come to reality when creating Alexander’s triumphal march into Babylon. The Macedonians must have taken the utmost pride in polishing their shields and outfits to look their smartest on this occasion, as they must have been very much aware of what their victory over the Persian Empire meant.

However, although Babylon was firmly in Alexander’s hands, Darius was still on the run further east. This meant that Alexander could not yet take the title of King of Kings, and he settled instead for King of Asia, as he was called throughout the rest of his reign.

Indeed, I consider myself lucky to have seen the precious remains of Babylon in Berlin and those exhibited at the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul, though the latter are much less impressive.

[Bottom picture is from Oliver Stone's movie Alexander]

[Click here to see all my pictures of Babylon from the Museums in Berlin and Istanbul]

The challenge of crossing the Cilician Gates

The Cilician Gates is the name of a strategic pass in the Taurus Mountains that was used for centuries. Before Alexander, Cyrus the Great, with Xenophon and his Ten Thousand, had marched over this pass, and after him, we know that the Romans, the Mongols, and even the Crusaders were here. As recently as the 20^th century, the railroad engineers working on the train connection between Istanbul and Baghdad had to find their way over the Taurus Mountains at this point.

Xenophon mentions that the pass consisted of a “carriage track,” although the road must have been paved then. The passage through the Cilician Gates was very narrow, saying that it was wide enough for a four-horse chariot, meaning that four horses abreast could move over it at the same time. Yet the road was exceptionally steep and a near-natural barrier for any army to pass unopposed. It was and is frequently crossed by streams trickling from the walls on either side.

As mentioned by Xenophon, the width of a four-horse carriage is hard to match Curtius’ statement that it was wide enough for four armed men to walk abreast. The landscape is very rugged and inhospitable, even today, and in my first passage, I tried in vain to imagine how an army could move over such a terrain. Curtius says that the natural formation resembles fortifications made by human hands – how true that is!

The route Alexander followed out of Cappadocia must have run past modern Kemerhisan, Çiftehan, and Pozantı to arrive at the Gülek Boğaz Pass, as the Cilician Gates are called today.

The Romans, great road builders as they were, have left records of their improvements together with a series of milestones all along the road, like the lonely one standing in front of the local roadside restaurant. The stone carries an inscription stating that Caracalla repaired and improved the Via Tauri, as this road was called around 217 AD. Another milestone in this same area was erected by Severus Alexander, giving the distance to the Gates, the confines of the Cilicians, which matches the figure mentioned in the inscription at the Cilician Gates further down the road.

It is fascinating to find that wall inscription off the main highway down on the adjacent valley floor, knowing that it was initially engraved high above the ancient Via Tauri that led down to the coastal city of Tarsus. It is hard to imagine that W.M. Ramsay, who visited this area in 1882, had to use a telescope to read this inscription on the cliff above the stream (now tunneled underneath the modern road). The text can be translated as “Caracalla (with the addition of his real full name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) made the road wider by cutting through the mountains.” It is a miracle that this inscription has survived modern construction works, as it now seems to stand on the valley floor, squeezed between the supportive wall of the highway, the narrow stream, and the mountain slopes on the other side.

When Alexander arrived at the spot known as Xenophon’s encampment near the Gates (probably less than three kilometers away), he investigated the situation. The narrow pass was pretty easy to defend from the high overhang above the road, where a small force could destroy the approaching enemy. It is clear, once again, that Alexander was not taking any chances. He ordered his light-armed Thracians ahead to occupy the different access paths and check them for enemy forces. At the same time, a band of bowmen was posted on the ridges above the access road, ready to attack if needed. It is so easy to see them mentally while moving over this road! Alexander left Parmenion with the heavy infantry near Cyrus’ encampment while he himself marched towards the Gates under cover of darkness to take the enemy by surprise. That surprise did not work out as his approach was noticed, and the small force supposed to defend the Gates fled at the first sight of Alexander and his men. This was much easier than Thermopylae!

The following day at the crack of dawn, Alexander marched his men through the narrows. The operation lasted a full day, but the road to Tarsus lay open to him. Justin is so optimistic as to write that Alexander reached the city in one full day, but this is a distance of some 75 kilometers, which Xenophon covered in a four-day march instead.

Before reaching Tarsus, walking over a reasonable stretch of said Via Tauri for about five or six kilometers through an unforgiving landscape of rough rocks and spiny bushes is still possible. A delicate arch is still spanning the road at the horizon, but this is a mere reconstruction since the original collapsed after repeated explosions at the mining site in the valley below. The mining company was ordered to rebuild it - thank Zeus for that.

It takes the modern traveler a lot of imagination since today’s highway across the Taurus Mountains has been widened and leveled compared to the narrow ancient passage. However, it still follows the same course. Then, as now, the road runs downhill from here onwards into the coastal plain, and gradually the landscape becomes much friendlier with cultivated fields and blossoming orchards along wide rivers. Xenophon had also noticed the difference, saying that once across the pass, Cyrus entered a beautiful, well-watered plain that produced sesame, millet, wheat, and barley – easy to picture!

Still marching on the Via Tauri, Alexander received notice that the governor of Tarsus no longer wished to hold the city for Persia and was ready to give up the town. The townspeople clearly got scared, not of Alexander, but of their governor, who might be plundering Tarsus on his way out. Alexander clearly understood this, and he immediately rode up at full speed to the people’s rescue, just in time before the man could take any booty with him as he hurried for the Persian court.

Another ancient road was discovered near the village of Anavarza (Roman Caesarea). During the first and second centuries, it was the most important city of Cilicia and larger than Ephesos. The town has suffered severely from repeated earthquakes over the centuries, the last one as recent as 1945. The most striking element, however, is a double-columned highway, approximately 35 meters wide and 2.7 kilometers long. It has been established that the columns were of the Corinthian order and were erected at 2.15-meter intervals. So far, 1,360 columns have been unearthed, and plans are to restore them and the entrance gate. I wonder how much and in what shape this portion of the road existed in Alexander’s days.