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Huge underground city found in Southeastern Turkey

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  • Huge underground city found in Southeastern Turkey

    An article in the Jerusalem Post:

    Source: Archaeological dig in Turkey uncovers massive underground city


    The researchers believe the underground city may be the largest in the world


    Numerous artifacts from the second and third centuries CE were discovered in an underground city in Mardin, Turkey, The Daily Sabah reported on Tuesday.

    According to Ancient Origins, the researchers believe the underground Turkish city may be the largest in the world.

    During excavations in the Midyat district, a cave was discovered containing passageways and corridors, silos, water wells and places of worship, the report added.

    Gani Tarkan, director of the Mardin Museum, who heads the excavations, said that while similar underground cities have been uncovered in Anatolia, the city in Midyat is completely different, The Daily Sabah added.

    "Midyat has been used uninterruptedly for 1,900 years. It was first built as a hiding place or escape area," he said. "As it is known, Christianity was not an official religion in the second century.

    "Families and groups who accepted Christianity generally took shelter in underground cities to escape the persecution of Rome or formed an underground city," Tarkan added. "Possibly, the underground city of Midyat was one of the living spaces built for this purpose. It is an area where we estimate that at least 60-70,000 people lived underground."


    Source

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  • #2
    More context here. The above-ground city was established circa 900 BCE. Apparently only an estimated 3% of the underground city has been excavated, and the artifacts recovered have been from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE - meaning that it was abandoned after that. Tarkan's assertion that it has been used uninterruptedly for 1900 years doesn't seem to comport with the evidence. I'm also not sure that his subsequent quote in the OP is generally accepted either, but it correlates with the lack of use once Christianity became officially tolerated; it would also mean that Christianity was rather more common than has been thought.

    Here is the link to the original story in the Daily Sabah.
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    • #3
      Originally posted by One Bad Pig View Post
      More context here. The above-ground city was established circa 900 BCE. Apparently only an estimated 3% of the underground city has been excavated, and the artifacts recovered have been from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE - meaning that it was abandoned after that. Tarkan's assertion that it has been used uninterruptedly for 1900 years doesn't seem to comport with the evidence. I'm also not sure that his subsequent quote in the OP is generally accepted either, but it correlates with the lack of use once Christianity became officially tolerated; it would also mean that Christianity was rather more common than has been thought.

      Here is the link to the original story in the Daily Sabah.
      Over the years it seems that every time I've read a report about one of these ancient underground cities being discovered that it is fraught with exaggerations

      I'm always still in trouble again

      "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
      "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
      "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

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