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“The Hungarian-Turkish cultural season is an exceptional opportunity to take stock of the deep-rooted cultural intertwinings, on which we can further strengthen relations and make the cultural presence of the two peoples in each other’s countries even more intense,” said by her welcome speech Judit Hammerstein – director general and curator of the Hungarian National Museum. Continued Q,: “The joint cultural season is organized this year on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of diplomatic contact between Hungary and Turkey.“
As the Director General explained, the close intertwining of the history and culture of the two countries can be seen, among other things, from linguistic, ethnographic, and archaeological points of view. She added Q.: “Before the Hungarian tribes settled in the Carpathian basin, they were constantly interacting with the various Turkic peoples. This is reflected in the fact that the Hungarian language contains hundreds of foreign words from Turkey. The Ottoman-Turkish cultural influence in Hungary was not only felt in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is guarded by architectural monuments, mosques, tombs, and baths of the 19th century, and this was also reflected in the clothing and the use of weapons. But the influence can still be seen in thinking and gastronomy, but there are also many examples of the Hungarian cultural presence in Turkey, as Hungarian scientists, architects, linguists, doctors, and military engineers took part intensively in Turkey around the 19th century modernization and reform efforts.” The Acting Director General also mentioned that the Hungarian government established its first state foreign cultural institute in Istanbul in 1916.“
She also mentioned that at the Hungarian National Museum many Turkish historical memorabilia are displayed, including a special leather cloak (only three of these items remained and are at Basel, Budapest, Istanbul Museums). It is considered an outstanding rarity in the world. Finally told, as part of this year’s Hungarian-Turkish cultural season, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation is organizing a number of artistic and scientific programs.
Was told that the Hungarian National Museum plans to have a catalog that presents the Turkish-related objects in its collection ready by the end of the year. Judit Hammerstein announced that the Ministry of Culture and Innovation will present various objects for this year’s Hungarian-Turkish cultural anniversary and organize a number of artistic and scientific programs.
After the opening conference on Thursday, on this coming Sunday evening the archaeological excavations items discovered in Hungary, such as hunter-gatherer way of living to agriculture tools and many others displayed items will be on an archaeological exhibition tour from the Hungarian National Museum title “Hungarians who built Turkey” to Istanbul – Atatürk in the Cultural Center. This traveling exhibition will later be introduced in Ankara and Rodosto.
The participants at the conference were also greeted by Gülsen Karanis Eksioglu – Ambassador of Turkey to Hungary. Necmi Karul – Head of the Department of Prehistoric Archeology at Istanbul University, gave a lecture on the archaeological site of Göbeklitepe – first known temple of mankind located there. Pál Raczky – Professor emeritus of the Institute of Archeology of ELTE, spoke about the Polgár-csőszalom excavation, which also revealed the Neolithic age.
Turkey’s Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe are known worldwide among archaeologists thanks to the latest findings discovered last October. The TAS TEPELER Project helps to better understand prehistoric people and is considered to be the beginning of the transformation of shelters into houses 12,000 years ago, when this gradual warming allowed people to begin cultivating plants and herding animals, and in which villages emerged, stratified society formed, and the ability to carry out basic trade developed. It is thought that the monumental megalithic structures in the area were believed to be communal spaces where people gathered.
Indeed … today it may be difficult for many of us to imagine, but the societies were not always as complex as they are today. For thousands of years, before the domestication of wheat and the beginnings of agriculture, people lived in small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, foraging for food and migrating to survive. The world was not always an accommodating place due to periods of inhospitable climate. The new Holocene epoch began when the last Ice Age ended around 10,000 BC. As enormous glaciers melted, new habitats emerged for the survivors in the region known as the Fertile Crescent, a crescent-shaped land spanning most of the Middle East, including the sources of the famous Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southeastern Turkey. Until the discovery of Göbeklitepe, most of the researchers believed that the Neolithic Revolution took place allowing people forming the first complex societies. Today, researchers understand that the Neolithic hunter-gatherers who lived around Sanlıurfa did just the reverse, settling first and farming much later when the growing population necessitated a stable food supply.
One of the sensations of the excavations there is the largest known human statues of the Neolithic stone age, which was unearthed in Karahantepe. These statues all depict male figures without facial representation and on some of their both arms have tool patterns of fighting weapons the animals from that age. As part of this year’s Hungarian-Turkish cultural season, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation is organizing a number of artistic and scientific programs.
Thursday’s conference was organized by the Turkish Tourism Development and Tourism Promotion Agency (TGA). The event was attended by representatives of Hungarian academia, research institutes, museums and universities, press and media representatives, as well as representatives of the Hungarian travel industry. At the end of the conference the participants were invited for a real traditional Turkey gastronomy reception.
Riport and snaps by Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 