58 ıW travel orld orld L iterature iterature T oday in. hn h Aas oqee te iy n 640 in city the conquered the When tians. Chris for bishopric a center, religious Hasankeyf a became Empire Byzantine the Under inces. prov eastern their over watch and to fortress a here built tread Romans The civilizations. nine and cliffs limestone boasts theoverfourthousand caves. into up straight rises residents thousand three approximately of town The years. thousand ten least at back it date who archaeologists, to according earth, on settlement continuousoldest the be mayHasankeyf borders, Syrian and Iraqi the near Anatolia of section ern southeastthe in hills the into CarvedHasankeyf. ad O o ob fclttn te nain n 20 f the of 1260 in invasion the facilitating doubt no , the new settlers built a bridge over the , the over bridge a builtsettlers new the , This ancient Mesopotamian city has spanned has Mesopotamiancity ancient This canyons and past lush green plains, sitsplains, green lush past andcanyons through winds slowly water brown the where River, Tigris the of banks the n Joanne Leedom-Ackerman Hasankeyf, Portal toAntiquity - - - o cntuto ffy ie dwsra na the near downstream miles fifty construction for scheduled is Hydroelectric Ilısu The Tigris. the of waters the under Hasankeyf sites—of cal archaeologi eighty-three and monuments eval medi hundred three than antiquity—more the caves,and homes,thethe bury and area theflood will that dam a build to plans , and land, Switzer , from consortium a with ship partner in government, Turkish very The its existence. challenges that one threat, greatest its .ernfacestown However, thetoday Anatolianoverthe PeninsulanorthGateofthe at Kurdish-dominatedregionTurkey.of that by empire. Today this ruled town by the Tigris wasis part of the and century sixteenth the in Mesopotamia,ernOttomans theHasankeyf to fell hid in caves. On a lucrative trading route in north residents the while city the sacked who Mongols, o cnuis aaky sod s guard a as stood Hasankeyf centuries For ------

photo: nevit dilmen Joanne Leedom-Ackerman Hasankeyf, Turkey Portal toAntiquity

photo: nevit dilmen 363 cliffs.theofout sand-colored stone that themakes the whole town look as if it grew from built Castle, Hasankeyf of gates the of remains of the and ruins palace small thethe views then patterns, geometric in bricksbluedecorated Zeynelbeywith Tombcular Suleiman; the visitor sees the fifteenth-century cir Ayyubib renowned the by built , El-rizk the is fromminaret the passes Onepalpable. antiquity caves, the to steps stone up farther then andtown the into river the from path the up climbsone Asexist. stillcaveshillsides. Thesethe refuge intoburrowing caves by land findtheir literallyinside to had and siege under fallen have Hasankeyf. called been has town the goes, story the on, time that From how?). (Hasan, Keif?” “Hasan called: them of one and wall the over peered witnesses startled The escaped. Hasan but survive, didn’t horse The below. feet 500 river the into and wall fortress the over horse his with jumped he denly sud until faster and faster rode Hasan fortress. ride the of to courtyard the asked in time he more one request horse his last a As Tigris. the above high fortress to the in imprisoned sentenced and death was who Hasan named prisoner in Bitlis, of prince Cheref-Ouddin, writer Kurdish by ago years hundred four recounted legend A fortress.”“rock Kafyfa, Hisntranslated Arabs the which rock,” the of “castle Kefa, Castrum town approximatelysquare120miles. over spread waters the as region the in displaced villages and fifty- to sixty-thousand people will be additional eighty estimated is It . century Hasankeyfuptothe halfway mark ofits fifteenth- submerge and reservoir largest second Turkey’s create will flooding The Syria. and of border s hi cptl I 1260 In capital. their as reconstructedArtuks,serving1101–1231the inby approxi for center mately 330 religious years during the a and was castle The rocks. the through exist still passageways water secretand River, Tigris the to leadcastle the from steps Secret stone. the in writing the and designs original the walls its on see still can One Empire. Byzantine the of part eastern the in secure most the of one Castle,”Rock “the as known became it fromwhich it was hewn was extremely hard, thus avl o te uds Nation Kurdish the of Marvels ad Hasankeyf Castle, built by the Byzantines in Byzantines the by built Castle, Hasankeyf Hasankeyf of citizenscenturies the Through the named Assyrians the times ancient In , rises on the cliffs above the river. The stone ad hn h Mongols the when tls f n Arab an of tells , - - - in 2006 and has built a structure in the river. The river. the in structure a built has and 2006 in Turkish dam the the for but ground broke town, already government the save will stay last this hopeful are altogether dam the stopping or thisyear. of July after made be will evaluation An comply. to days 180 government the gave They heritage. cultural and environment, inhabitants, region’s formed to World Bank standards on protecting the insisted that the Turkish government had not con AustriaSwitzerland,Germany,andfrominsurers the when 2008 December in granted temporarily was execution of stay Another resumed. project the and found were partners new but pressure, and internationalpartnersafterits abandoned bythen suspended In was project end. Dam watery Ilısu their the 2001 eluded have they far So lous escape equal to that of their namesake Hasan. projectdamtheclaim these eventslinked. are of Opponents dam. hydroelectric the approved and itself reversed Ankara PKK. the gue group, rilla Kurdish the and government Turkish the between region southeastern the in erupted ing fight ’90s and 1980s the in However, 1950s. the the in conceived to originally was halt which project, a dam put designation This protected. Hasankeyfconservationsitefora thuslegallyand winter.thesummerthewarminheatand in cool are caves The music.Turkish to listen and thecarpets and cushions and old wooden couches on lounge Diners served. are vegetables and rice, kebabs, of meals Turkish traditional and walls, largerthecaves.inCarpets pictures and cover the caves.the in are studioswhose artisans the of souvenirsthe sell and donkeys on ride or hillsidesthe over run clothing colored brightly in dressed children but Diyarbakır, or Batman of cities nearby the for left has generationyounger the of Much textiles. and stalls,wherelocalartisansjewelry,sell rugs,bags, greeninghillscountrysideand below. to the blue sky and the panoramic view of the roll can now stand in the ruins, looking out the portals lived in the castle high above the valley, where one seenamongruins.thewestgatesbecan the neighboring caves. The remains of the east and in as well as castle this in hid residents invaded, doae o ruig h wtr elsewhere waters the routing of Advocates miracu a for hoping are todayresidents The declared government Turkish the 1978 In At the top of the stone steps, tourists can lunch Today the path to the town is dotted with craft chiefs Kurdish the centurynineteenth the In - - - - - T water. hundredoffeet underfour of antiquitiesthe viewto able bethey will scubageardon generations futureifOnly rocks?ask.they thebuiltinto structuresor tomb a or cave amove H K obliterateto plan a ofpart is damthe arguethat he villagershe urdishculture. ow can onecan ow H July asankeyf

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August 2009 2009 August ı ı 59 With a Long Breath The Turkish government insists that the Zaradachet Hajo hydroelectric dam is necessary to generate elec- tricity, water, jobs, and prosperity for the region, With a long breath one of the poorer areas of Turkey. The govern- and unwavering conviction ment says it plans to create a new town and a You became the stone cradle of humanity. cultural park as well as a water park on the edge In the light of the sun of the reservoir, where it will transfer some of the and the protection of the darkness archaeological treasures of Hasankeyf. It has said you bore children tirelessly – it will build new houses for villagers higher up Amed, Heskiv, Ninawa, the mountain. The villagers protest that the cost and Gilgamesh of these new homes far exceeds the compensation nurtured them they have been offered by the government. The into flowers of civilization. opposition further argues that the dam will only last fifty to seventy years and produce just 2 per- Now they want to steal the tongue of Amed cent of Turkey’s electric needs, and that most of and drown Heskiv in your belly the electricity generated will go to areas other than but your old power the Southeast. They argue that the dam is part of and your young fury a plan to obliterate Kurdish culture. How can one feed the resistance of your children. move a cave or a tomb or structures built into the How long is thy breath, rocks? they ask. Only if future generations don Tigris river, the cradle of humanity? scuba gear will they be able to view the antiquities of Hasankeyf under four hundred feet of water. The struggle to save Hasankeyf and the Note: Translated from Kurdish by the author. Amed is the old name of Diyarbakır region, which has its own ecosystem and rare (before Islamization). Heskiv is the old name of Hasankeyf (before Islamization); animals and birds, has taken a toll on inhabitants it means “concave” in Kurdish. Ninawa is the name for the biblical city of in the years since the project was first proposed. Nineveh in present-day Iraq. The population of the town has almost halved as residents have moved away or postponed invest- Zaradachet Hajo (b. 1950, Syria) is a Kurdish writer and linguist, born in southwest ment in their homes and businesses. The care of Kurdistan / Syria in 1950. He studied linguistics, German, and Iranian languages at the ruins has been neglected. Additional sites of the Free University of Berlin and wrote his doctoral thesis on Indo-Iranian language ruins have not been developed. Archaeologists studies. He has been teaching at universities in Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg since have suggested only a third of the antiquities in 1982 and has served as president of the Kurdish Centre of PEN since 1999. the area have been excavated. The drama is also larger than the residents and has a geopolitical context. It includes the government says the structure is for transport- relationship of Turkey to its proposed mem- ing equipment from one side to the other, but bership in the European Union; it includes the opponents fear that it is part of the dam and that Chinese potentially stepping in to partner if the the government will go ahead with the project in European countries step away; it includes the spite of the reluctance of its partners. threat that Syria and Iraq feel from Turkey dam- The drama unfolding is one worthy of litera- ming the waters of the Tigris River just upstream Joanne Leedom-Ackerman ture or at least a good political thriller. It includes from them; it includes the European Court of is a novelist and journalist. the story of the Hasankeyf villagers, many of Human Rights, which agreed in 2006 to hear the Former international whom have been holding on for decades. The case against the dam lodged by archaeologists, secretary of International mayor has protested by living in a cave. Nineteen journalists, and lawyers. PEN, she visited Hasankeyf villages nearby are said to have already been At present Hasankeyf abides and will con- during an International evacuated at gunpoint and homes burned. tinue for at least another few years. Those looking PEN conference on Hasankeyf could be saved by designating it as to visit one of the cradles of civilization would find cultural diversity in nearby one of unesco’s World Heritage sites. The World the journey well worthwhile across the southeast- Diyarbakır, Turkey. Monument Fund has listed Hasankeyf as one of ern plains of Turkey, up the cliffs to the cool caves the world’s 100 Most Endangered sites, but a unes- of Hasankeyf. co designation must be requested by the Turkish prime minister, who has not done so. Washington, D.C.

60 ı World Literature Today