Ancient artifacts throw light on history in northwestern Turkey

EDİRNE

Artifacts from the ancient civilizations of Thrace, Persia, Macedonia, Rome and Byzantium, unearthed in northwestern Turkey, are a must-see for museumgoers in the area.

The findings are presented in three of Turkey’s provinces in the Thrace region, namely Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ, all of which have hosted human civilization since ancient times.

In the Edirne Ethnography and Archeology Museum, valuable coin collections, sculptures, earthenware and glass vessels, as well as dolmens from the Greek, Byzantine and Roman periods adore the shelves of the museum.

“Edirne isn’t just a city of sultans, but also a city of emperors and kings. What makes Edirne different and superior is that it is the crossing point of civilizations,” said Kemal Soytürk, the provincial director of culture and tourism, while referring to the city’s service as the capital of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries after it was captured from the Byzantine Empire.

The region is famous for its dolmens, a type of megalithic tomb, usually consisting of multiple slabs supporting a large flat horizontal one, Soytürk, said, adding that there were around 70 dolmens.

Kırklareli Museum hosts over 7,000 artifacts

In the Kırklareli Museum in the northeast of Turkey, as many as 7,101 artifacts are on display, according to the city’s provincial director of culture and tourism, Veli Şen.

Şen explained that the artifacts of the ancient Thracians found in the region were shaped by that civilization’s status as a warrior society.

“We clearly see that the Thracians followed a pagan belief system, marked by rituals and folklore,” he added.

In a museum in Tekirdağ, there are many more Thracian artifacts unearthed from the Heraion-Teikhos (City of Hera) ancient site, as well as Çavuşköy in Malkara and Perinthos in Marmara Ereğlisi.

Strongly urging those interested in the Thracians to visit Tekirdağ and its Archeology and Ethnography Museum, Ahmet Hacıoğlu, the local culture and tourism director, said the province was home to Turkey’s only dig site of a Thracian settlement.

He emphasized that the artifacts, including the tomb of Cersobleptes, one of the Thracian kings, an oven used in medicine-making, coins, weapons and reliefs, took visitors on a journey through history.

“The Thracians existed until 600 years ago. The most important feature of this museum is that the traces of the Thracians are exhibited here,” he said.