A Day in Instanbul

Kathy and I departed Erbil at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning, August 25.  A 2 1/2 hour flight to Istanbul, Turkey was to be the first leg of our journey back to the States.  We arrived at Istanbul's airport at 6:30.  We had a 12 hour layover.  What could we do in 12 hours.  Fortunately for us, our airline, Turkish Airlines, provided a FREE tour of Istanbul.  So we purchased Turkish visas at the airport, and signed up for the 9:00 a.m. tour.

The first stop of the day was the Tamara Restaurant.  We had a delicious breakfast, and we began to get to know other members of our touring party.  Our party included folks from Barcelona, Spain, Rumania, Indonesia, and as well as other countries.

 

After breakfast, we boarded the bus that would take us to the Basilica Cistern.  The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that are beneath the city of Istanbul.  It is very close to the Hagia Sophia.  It was constructed during the 6th century during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.  The underground cistern covers an area of 105,000 square feet.  It's roof is held up by 336 marble columns, each 30 feet high. The cistern is capable of holding close to 3 million cubic feet of water.  It is recorded in ancient texts that over 7,000 slaves performed the construction work. 
Kathy and I both marvelled at the work done as we walked along the catwalks in the cistern.  There is probably about 18" of water in it now.  It is mainly a tourist attraction. 

After we emerged from the subterranian cistern, we headed for the "Blue Mosque".  It is more formally known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.  We had to be in and out by noon, as that is when a scheduled prayer time would begin.

 

It is called the Blue Mosque because of the abundance of blue ceramic tiles used to adorn the interior walls. It was built between 1609 and 1616 on the site of the palace of the Byzantine emperors. It directly faces the Hagia Sophia.

Here are some images that explains why it is called the "Blue Mosque".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon leaving the Blue Mosque, Kathy and I walked along in the Sultan Ahmet Square.  The square is the ancient site of the hippodrome.  In AD 324, the Emperor Constantine the Great decided to move the seat of the government from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Nova Roma (New Rome). This name failed to impress and the city soon became known as Constantinople, the City of Constantine. Constantine greatly enlarged the city, and one of his major undertakings was the renovation of the Hippodrome. It is estimated that the Hippodrome of Constantine was about 450 m (1,476 ft) long and 130 m (427 ft) wide. Its stands were capable of holding 100,000 spectators.  This is the place where chariot and horse races were held. 

Today the only visible remains of the Hippodrome are some columns that were in the center island.

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you who have studied "Walk as Jesus Walked" by Ray Vander Laan, you will recognize the relief carvings at the base of the Egyptian Obelisk of Thutmose III in the Hippodrome.  In one of Ray's teachings, he uses this particular relief to demonstrate how the Emperor had a royal box seat to sit in with his family and other dignitaries during the games.

 

From the Hippodrome it was a short walk to the Hagai Sophia.   Hagai Sophia, or  ( Holy Wisdom ) is a former basilica, later a mosque, now a national museum. 

  

The Hagai Sophia or Ayasofya, as it is known in Turkish, was actually a patriarchal Basilica that has been considered to be an embodiment of Byzantine architecture and also had the distinction of remaining the largest cathedral in the world until 1520 A.D.  Built on the orders of Emperor Justinian, its interiors were richly decorated with artistic mosaics depicting various religious scenes and were supported by massive marble pillars.
The Islamic features such as the four minarets were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans.

 

Above is the place where Emperors were coronated.  Kathy is standing at the place where emperors were seated.

 

 This is one of the tile mosaics on the wall of the church.

Hagai Sophia is one of those places that a tourist could spend days exploring.  It is a place that one truly has to see to understand and appreciate,  If I continue to write about it I will never come to an end for this blog post.  Therefore, I offer you the following excellent links with lots of photos and explanations:

Virtual tour of Hagai Sophia        and       Lots of info. on the Hagai Sophia

Kathy and I were awed and impressed by the faith and dedication of the people who would build such a temple to honor the 3rd person of the Blessed Trinity - The Holy Spirit.    However, we also know that in our present day and time, the Holy Spirit wants to build a new temple as a place for Him to dwell.  That "new temple" is the Body of Christ, the church, the unified, worldwide body of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Redeemer.  After touring the incredibly massive Hagai Sophia, I am sure that there is a place for me - one of the living stones- in the new temple of the Holy Spirit.  I am also sure that there is a place for you as well!!  May we all strive to be faithful and pure of heart so that we will give glory and honor to God as we become part of His new temple.

jw

Who Was Mar Qardakh??

     Tonight as I write this post, it is about 8:30 p.m. Ankawa time.  Kathy and I will leave for the airport in about 4 hours.  Although our flight does not depart till 4:00 a.m. Saturday, for security reasons we have to be at the airport at 1:00 a.m. 
     It occurred to me yesterday that I never wrote about Mar Qardakh, the person.  Mar Qardakh (or Saint Qardagh , as you please ) was an early 4th century martyr in the Eastern Church.  He was born during the time of the Sassanid Persian Empire to pagan parents who were nobles in society. When Qardagh was 25 years old, King Shapur II visited his parents’ estate and was deeply impressed with Qardagh’s handsome appearance and athleticism – especially with his skill at archery. After a particularly successful hunt, the king granted Qardagh a large amount of land and gave him authority as a governor over a large portion of northern Persia. After two years of living as a nobleman, Qardagh met a Christian hermit named Abdisho’, and his life was never to be the same. After debating heatedly about Christianity and Zoroastrianism and arresting the hermit, there was a series of miraculous events that convinced Qardagh that Abdisho’ was a holy man and that his God was the true one. He faced East, made the sign of the Cross, and begged Christ to forgive him and accept him into his flock. He released the hermit and visited him in his hermitage. After learning the faith, he was baptized.
     When he returned home, however, his family began to reject him due to his new faith, and this rejection became more and more violent. Qardagh was sentenced to death by the king due to pressures from the religious elite, but he did not give in so easily. Taking a small army with him, he fled to the mountains and held off the Persian army for a number of months. After valiantly defending himself for so long, Qardagh had a dream in which St. Stephen the Martyr appeared to him and told him that it was better to give his life for his faith than to continue fighting thus. It was his own father who threw the first of the stones that were to give Qardagh the crown of martyrdom. He was buried in Erbil, where a church was dedicated to him.

Today, Kathy and I visited Mar Qardakh Church in Erbil.  It was to be our last exploratory outing before leaving. 

Front of Mar Qardakh Church.

 

 

Side view of church.

 

Altar of church.

 

A sign outside of the church.

 

You may ask "Who is Father Ganni??  I will tell you in a moment.  But first I will share with you the unexpected surprise that lay in wait for Kathy and I as we were looking at the altar. 

 

.While we were in the church, we were invited to look through a grate that covered a niche in the wall near the altar.  Behind the grate was a reliquary for Fr. Ganni, his stole, and a Holy Card that was in his pocket when he was pulled out of his car in Mosul on June 3, 2007 and shot dead for refusing to obey those who told him to close his church.  You can see the bullet hole in the card, right above Mary's head.  Fr. Ganni and 3 of his subdeacons were martyred for being Christians in a hostile environment. 

 

I could devote an entire post to Fr. Ganni..  However, I think it will suffice if I provide a very good link that tells his story.  In many ways, Fr. Ganni's story is the same as many, many people that we have come to know and love.  I pray that all of us have the courage to endure in the faith during persecution as the Christians of the Middle East.

 

About: Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni

 

After our visit to Mar Qardakh Church, we returned to Ankawa for one last visit to Mar Qardakh School.  I offer you the following photos.

 

Main entrance in to the school.  Entrance is on Mar Qardakh street in Ankawa.

 

A view of the front of the school taken from the street.

A photo shot from the corner.

May Mar Qardakh be an inspiration to all the teachers and students of the school as well as Christians around the world. 

 

jw 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farewell to Mar Qardakh's Staff-More Hugs & Tears

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 was the last day for Kathy and I to work at Mar Qardakh school.  We worked a half day helping the staff to get the school ready for the Fall opening.  When the work was done and it was time to leave, there was a replay of the previous Thursday when we had said good-bye to the kids and some of the teachers.

So I would like to dedicate this post to all of the teachers at Mar Qardakh school.  They are wonderful brothers and sisters in the Lord.  They are family to Kathy and myself.  Many eyes were moist as farewell hugs and handshakes were exchanged.

This is the Mar Qardakh summer program, Dean of Students for MYP or Middle Year Program - Mrs. Kathy.

My co-teacher, Ms. Stevy Kakony.  On Monday, August 20, Stevy announced that over the weekend she had become engaged to be married.

 

More teachers from the Drama Dept.  Left to right: Evan, Vania, & Avin.

 

Left to right: Sana, Stevy, Nisha, & Caroline.

 

.Neveen & Dina.  These teachers helped me to pull uniform orders for the students coming in the fall.

 

Tired teachers taking a break.  Left to right: Marwa, Aryan, Evan, Maureen, & Stevy who is standing.  Maureen's daughter, Nora, was one of my students.

 

Teachers saying good-bye posed for this group shot.  On the left is Qusai and Ihsan  Ihsan's son Andrawis, was one of my students.  Each morning Andrawis would greet me with a big "HOWDY!" 

 

.A Band of  Brothers.  Left to right: Elliot, Tom, Peter, & Patrick.  Elliot & Tom are alumni from The University of Dallas.  Peter & Patrick are Benedictine College students.

 

There are many, many other teachers who we spent time with.  Although I do not have photos to share, none the less they will always be in my heart!

 

 

jw

 

 

 

 

To Sulaimaniya & Back: Part II

This post is Part II of the story of the trip to Sulaimaniya on August 18, 2012.  In my previous post we had stopped
to visit the hometurf of some of the Kurdish peshmerga, or freedom fighters. 

From there we continued on our return trip to Erbil/Ankawa.  The next point of interest was Dokan Lake.  It is the largest lake in Iraqi Kurdisatn.  It was created in the late 1950's when the Little Zab River was dammed up.



While there, Mr. Nabil spoke to one of the local boatmen. Nabil then arranged for us to go out on the lake in this fellow's boat, with the local being the Captain, of course!

Our Captain.

Our boat is the white one in the foreground.  Eight people touring the lake and not a single life vest on the boat. 

The Coast Guard would have had a field day!

 

We had a very pleasant boat ride, touring the lake.  It was quite unexpected!  It was nice to get out on so much water in a land that seems to have so little. 

Good things must come to an end, and it was soon time to continue towards Ankawa.  Our next stop would be Koya City.



While there, we stopped to visit an ancient/shrine/church dedicated to Mar Behnam or Marbina for short.  The church was built in the 4th century, on a hill to the northwet of Koya, where Sara, the sister of Mar Behnam, had been healed by Mar Matta. You can read more about Mar Behnam by going to the following link:

About Mar Behnam

It was Mar Matta, whose monastery we had visited some weeks earlier on the roadtrip to Alqosh, who had converted Mar Behnam (Marbina).

The front of Marbina.

Cross above the door.

Inside the main chamber of the church. 

  

Back side of church with the 4 symbols of the Gospels near the roof line.

Symbol for Matthew's Gospel: Angel or Divine Human.

Symbol for Luke's Gospel:  The ox.

Symbol for Mark's Gospel: The lion.

Symbol for John's Gospel: The eagle.

Statue of Sara, sister of Mar Behnam.

While at Marbina, the caretaker offered us the traditional hospitality of tea and biscuits.  Soon we were on our way back to Ankawa.  The sun was setting, the end of Ramada was minutes away.

  Also coming to an end very soon was our time together.  Most of the expats had already returned home.  Mary would leave the following evening.  Today was our last day to work at the school.  Tonight, Tuesday evening, August 21, as I write this, I know that Tom and Elliot will not be with us in the morning for breakfast.  Then Erin will leave tomorrow afternoon.  This time tomorrow, Kathy and I will be the only 2 expats, who are not working at Mar Qardakh the coming school year, yet to return home.

jw