2. Turkey Tourist Attractions

4. Turkey
“Chokepoint” – controls movement of goods and peoples between the three great continents.
AKA Asia Minor
Home to Mount Ararat, Antioch, and Troy!
Thrace – the European portion of Turkey
Istanbul located in Thrace
formerly Constantinople
former capital
Largest city in the Middle East and heartbeat of Turkey
Anatolia – the Asian portion of Turkey

5. Turkey
After the collapse of the western Roman Empire, the empire in the east became known as the Byzantine Empire.
Turks overran the capital and renamed it Istanbul.
Ancient cities of Turkey:
Ephesus – ancient major port city (filled up with silt)
Smyrna – ancient major port after Ephesus
Sardis – capital of Lydia
Laodicea – Paul wrote to them in Colossians
Pergamos – pagan, polytheistic
Thyatira – fortress town

6. Turkey Kurds on the Southeastern Borders
Span northern borders of Iraq and Iran
In 1995, Turkey launched its largest military attack since WWI, driving deep within northern Iraq to wipe out rebel Kurdish bases, and atrocities were committed by both sides during the conflict.
The war to oust Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq revived a desire by Turkish Kurds to unite with Iraqi Kurds below the southeastern border, but the Turkish government strongly opposed that move.
The US prevented Turkish intervention.

7. Cyprus
Rich history: Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Venetians have occupied it.
Turks from
British from
1960 gained independence
1st destination of Paul’s missionary journey
Barnabas was from Cyprus
Barnabas returned to Cyprus with Mark on the 2nd missionary journey.

8. Levant The land southeast of Turkey along the eastern Mediterranean
Fertile
Crescent – the
Levant + the
river valleys of
Mesopotamia

9. Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia is included in a part of the world that was called "the fertile crescent".  Civilizations arose here because it was easy to grow food here.  With the relative ease of food production, people settled down in place, population grew, and towns and cities were built.
The Fertile Crescent includes the modern day countries of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and others.
Ancient Mesopotamia was located in what is now southern Iraq.  It was between two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates.  In fact, the word Mesopotamia is Greek meaning "the land between the rivers".

10. Mesopotamia
In Mesopotamia, the land is very fertile.  In the Northern part of Mesopotamia, there are rivers and streams that are fed from the mountains.  In addition, there is a rainy season that helps water the soil.  While the southern region is much hotter and dryer, the two large rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates, allow irrigation.  The land between the rivers was filled with wildlife and edible vegetation making it an attractive area for early man to move in to.  Once they figured out how to grow crops there, civilization soon followed.

11. Levant Belonged to Turkey until WWI
France and Britain took over, League of Nations
French mandate = Syria + Lebanon
British mandate = Palestine
Goal: to prepare the people for self-govt and independence
Syria – covered mostly by Syrian desert 
Capital and largest city: Damascus
Same Damascus where Paul was headed when he became a Christian
Ancient ruins of Palmyra northeast of Damascus

12. Hamidia Market (Damascus)

13. Lebanon Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mtns. Mount Hermon & Qurnat as-Swada
Bekaa Valley
Mandate of France. France separated it from Syria in Gained independence in 1946.
Ancient capital of Phoenicia: Tyre
First defeated by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC.
Rebuilt off the coast (man-made island)
Alexander the Great conquered it in 332 BC.
Modern capital: Beirut “Paris of the Middle East”

15. Beirut p. 413

16. Palestine
British Mandate.
Became Jordan and Israel (1948)

17. Physical Geography Lebanese Mountains extend through Israel.
Jerusalem is at the top of these mountains; hence, the Bible always refers to going up to Jerusalem, even if one is traveling from north to south.
Negev in extreme south – desert, but produces abundant crops – what a wonder is irrigation!
Valley of Jezreel – where the Midianites, Amalekites et al, camped while preying upon Israel during the time of the judges.

18. Israel Coastal plain: best farmland
Plain of Sharon: stretches from Mt. Carmel to Tel-Aviv
famous for being very fertile and floral (Rose of Sharon, Song of Sol. 2:1)
Tel-Aviv: Israel’s largest port and 2nd largest city.
Includes the ancient port of Joppa
Shephelah: a region of low hills between the coastal plain and the mountains. (see side view of Israel)
In the Six-Day War Israel won the coastal strip that is called the Gaza Strip

19. Gaza The Gaza Strip once contained 5 Philistine cities:
Ekron: a city not captured by Israel in their invasion of the land (Josh. 13:3)
Ashdod: another unconquered city near which the Philistines later captured the ark of the covenant (Josh. 13:3, 1 Sam. 5:1)
Ashkelon, where Samson killed 30 Philistines to pay off those who guessed his riddles (Judges 14:19)
Gaza, where Samson carried away the gates of the city (Judges 16:1-3)
Gath, home of the giant, Goliath (1 Sam. 17:4)
These 5 cities joined to form an alliance called the Pentapolis and fought against Israel in Bible times. This area had fields of grain which Samson burned in Judges 15:4-5.

20. p. 422

21. Iran p. 428 Turkey Palestine Persian Gulf Gulf of Oman Red Sea
Arabian Sea
Gulf of Aden

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