Philip Mansel on 'War and Peace: Ottoman Relations in the 15th to 19th centuries', an exhibition at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul, 1999
For 500 years the Polish elite was obsessed with all things Ottoman. Yet a brilliant exhibition celebrating this passion went sadly
unnoticed.
Click image for links
ANATOLIAN ARCHAEOLOGY
UNDER THE VOLCANO
James
Mellaart and the discovery of Catalhuyuk
Photographs by Ara Güler and Gillian Warr. Illustrations from Mr Mellaart's archives
Nine thousand years ago, the plain of Konya was a hive of activity, for it was here, in the shadow of Hasandag, that the history
of commerce began. Before the Mesopotamians, Minoans or Egyptians, the people of Catalhuyuk created one of the first cities known to man. Built from the profits of their trade in obsidian, the glassy
volcanic rock used to make early implements, this was a flourishing settlement that has forced archaeologists to rethink the chronology of civilisation. James Mellaart (left, at Catalhuyuk in the
early Sixties), who unearthed the city and its stunning wall paintings, recalls the stages of a momentous discovery.
Cornucopia first major article
on Anatolian prehistory tells the story of Mellaart's momentous discovery and includes photographs of life and work on the dig and in the surrounding villages of the Konya plain, as well drawings of
the murals during the excavation.
Mellaart celebrated his eightieth birthday in November 2005.
Also see Cornucopia 26 for the
ninth-millennium temple art of Nevalicori and Gobekli Tepe
TURKISH CERAMICS
RHAPSODY IN BLUE
The tiles of the Murad II Mosque in Edirne
By John
Carswell
Photographs by Selamet Taskin and John Carswell
Soon after blue and white ceramic was born in China, it made its first glorious appearance in a mosque in the early Ottoman capital of Edirne. John Carswell unlocks a well-kept
secret
John Carswell is the author of Blue and White: Chinese ceramics around the world,
which was highlighted in a special 16-page feature in Cornucopia 25. He has also written
frequently about Iznik ceramics: see his article on the tiles of the 16th-century Rustem Pasha Mosque in Cornucopia's special Gardens Issue, no 13
A SPECIAL REPORT ON THE 1999 EARTHQUAKE
THE FATAL FLAW
A special report on
The Izmit Earthquake
on 17 August 1999
A special report by rescuers and writers on the August 1999 earthquake and its aftermath with articles by Norman Stone, Andrew Finkel and Suna Erdem
The earthquake that struck northwestern Turkey on August 17, killing at least 17,000 and making hundreds of
thousands homeless, could not have come at a worse time. At three in the morning, most people were asleep. With top officials on holiday or themselves under the rubble, and all communications down,
there was no one to take charge. As this issue of Cornucopia was going to press, disaster struck again. Mercifully, many lessons had been learnt in the four months since August. This time people were
prepared: the rescue operation was fast and coordinated. But it simply underlined the longer-term needs - to bring survivors lasting help, and to acknowledge nature's devastating power
Aykut Barka, left, Turkey's internationally respected earthquake authority, died Iin 2002. Andrew Finkel pays tribute in Cornucopia 26
I N T E R I O R S
A BOURGEOIS PARADISE
A 20-page
celebration of Safranbolu: a blueprint for living
By Elizabeth Meath Baker
Photographs by Jean Marie del
Moral
The lovingly maintained Mumtazlar Konagi is just one of the many handsome old houses that distinguish the Anatolian market town of Safranbolu. With iron deposits, lush forests and fields
growing the valuable saffron croci that gave the town its name, Safranbolu prospered quietly for 1500 years.
For more on Anatolia's rich architectural heritage, read John Carswell on Amasya (Cornucopia 11), Patricia Daunt on the Black Sea konaks of Camlihemsin (Cornucopia 12), Roger
Williams and Jean Marie del Moral's portrait of Kula, on Turkey's Aegean hinterland (Cornucopia 22), and Ali Konyali's masterful study of eastern Black Sea houses in Cornucopia 34.
M E M O I R S
THE WHITTALLS IN WINTER
By Yolande Whittall
In the first of a new series on family photograph albums, Yolande Whittall looks back at 1930s life in Moda, across the strait from the domes and
minarets of Istanbul
C O O K E R Y
BRINGING BACK BABYLON
The story of
the leek
Text and photographs by Berrin Torolsan
The leek,
friendly and fragrant, is about to enter its fourth millennium as a favourite ingredient of cooks around the globe. Berrin Torolsan traces its history and offers ways to cook it to perfection.
RECIPES
Pirasa Corbasi / Leek Soup Pirasa
Kavurmasi / Sauteed Leeks Mucver / Leeks with Egg and Cheese Zeytinyagli Pirasa / Leeks with Olive Oil Pirasa Dolmasi / Leek Dolma Firinda Pirasa / Leeks au Gratin Pirasa Musakka / LeekStew
Cyril Mango has long been an authority on Byzantium. Now Andrew Mango has published
an important biography of Ataturk. Yet the brothers were brought up in Istanbul between the wars in a pool of European culture barely touched by Turkish politics. They told their story to David
Barchard
Connossoir, diaries, performing arts...
Plus: The Rug Bug, by Philippa Scott; Despatches by Andrew
Finkel in Istanbul, Frances Kazan in New York, Robert Ousterhout in Champaign-Urbana, Bernard Burrows in London, Harvey Broadbent in Sydney; Reviews of Harem Soiree, by Suna Erdem, the Istanbul Bienial, by Susan Platt etc; Restaurant Reviews by Andrew Finkel and
travellers' Tales by Ilona Medvedeva
