It's always hard to believe you're in a wholly different country the first day or night, but the
decor helped.

This was a bit after midnight, Sept. 28, after 17 hours of flying etc, SFO via Munich to Ankara.

These are from the hotel window and I was thrilled to finally be on this vacation.

A couple of hours later, our Southeast guide phoned us to say he'd be there to take us to Ankara's
museum. This was news to us but welcome. He was to drive our rental car (and us)to Cappadocia later.

From Catal Hoyuk, this fertility figure (about 7,000 yrs old with 2 leopards at her
side (and some say, giving birth here), is the most well-known figure of its type. Goddess
of Beasts, she developed later into Artemis.

This carving in baked clay was unearthed by archeologist James Mellaart in 1961.

Excellent ongoing-excavations site.
Interesting article by Alvino.
See another version from Catal Huyuk in a photo by Lillian Bennett.

Not ultra-large, it's a very attractive museum.

Wearing a high crown here, Cybele ( Sibyl ) is often associated with music, and legend credits
her with creating many instruments, including the tambourine.

Made of limestone, these figures are definitely cheery.  Not just about fertility, Cybele also
symbolizes prosperity and good times.  Detail of interestingly pleated dress.

This figure was in a tall glass container and that's the reflection of the museum around her.
 The tall head-dress ( polos ) and pleated dress indicate Greek influence.

I liked the look of pure pleasure against the reflections of the museum.

These are said to imitate Assyrian style.

Above the bas-relief is a photograph taken at the time of discovery of this piece.

I had thought it was probably from Hattusa, but the Guest below identified its source for us.

Malatya is now Battalgazi, and Aslantepe(Lion Hill) is the settlement nearby that produced this specimen.

Excavations found, at Aslantepe - Malatya, an urban city with an organized government in 6500 BC.

I love the spirit of this one.

We stopped by this cavaransary in Cappadocia about 6:30pm near sundown
and had a few minutes of light left.

They began building this in 1231 during the reign of Aladdin Keykubad and it wasn't finished
until the reign of his son. Semih is walking toward the area that held the camels and some lodging.

The courtyard has carpets, of course, as this seems to be The Tourist Product. Camel-train
stops on The Silk Road served as lodging and market areas, some with small mosques. It was
amazing to actually be in one of these.

This word is spelled in various ways .. cavaransarays .. cavaransaries .. cavaransarais .. kervansarays

 This is called a 'closed' room.

The state built caravansaries and also compensated merchants who were attacked or robbed,
providing a sort of insurance system.

The cavaransarais were built of hewn volcanic stone, thick and
high for security from raiders. Portal doors were made of iron. This site is
also called Hoca Mesud Kervansaray.