Upon the Giants: Ekrem Akurgal
When the surname law was introduced in 1934, a young student decided to take the surname A (Water) – Kur (Country) – Gal (Great), and thus set the course he would follow in the future. This student’s field of interest would cover all Anatolian Civilizations from the Lycians to the Hittites, from the Phrygians to the Urartians, and would become one of the cornerstones in understanding Anatolia’s past. Ekrem Akurgal carried his surname that translates as “Great Water Country” in Sumerian, with honour throughout his life. He did not only unearth the past of our country surrounded by seas on three sides, but also left an important vision for Turkish youth to guide them in the future. On the 100th year of our republic, it is worth remembering his life story.
Exactly 100 hundred years ago, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his fellow founders took over a country that was in ruins, plagued by wars, poverty and epidemics. They started out with the ideal of building a nation out of these ruins, an honourable nation that each citizen would proudly embrace and belong to. Along the road that started with the motto “Sovereignty unconditionally belongs to the nation,” a new definition of nation was made that embraced everyone living on these lands with another motto: Those who founded the Republic of Turkiye are called the Turkish nation.
To build the ideological foundations of the new republic at home and to strengthen the reputation of this new nation abroad, interest in the history and archaeology of Turks and Anatolia increased. It became the main mission to prove that the new Turkish Republic has a deep-rooted history and to reveal this claim through Turkish youth themselves. Realising that becoming a nation respected worldwide was through science and the arts, the young republic encouraged many young people to study abroad to create a new country rising with its youth. They offered scholarships to many young people including the first female Turkish archaeologist Jale İnan, musician Ahmed Adnan Saygun, mathematician Cahit Arf, and Sabahattin Ali, one of the leading figures of our literature. Ekrem Akurgal, the pride of Turkish archaeology, also benefited from the opportunities provided by the republic and expressed his gratitude at every chance throughout his life. Behind the prestigious position of our esteemed archaeologist, who has written his name in golden letters not only in Turkish archaeology but also in the world archaeology of the 20th century, one can see the founders’ efforts to raise the country back on its feet through science.
Just as Osman Hamdi Bey’s name is golden for late Ottoman archaeology with his excavations and the archaeological museum he opened, Ekrem Akurgal’s name has a similar significance for modern Turkish archaeology. Until the 19th century, Osman Hamdi Bey observed that Anatolia had been subjected to countless smuggling of historical artefacts and intense destruction. He rolled up his sleeves and personally undertook the excavations of historical sites within the borders of the Ottoman Empire, with the desire to prove that Turks could also contribute to science, unearth and preserve historical artefacts like the Europeans. Realising that an exhibition of the past was just as important as unearthing it, Osman Hamdi pioneered the first steps of Turkish archaeology with the Istanbul Archaeological Museum he founded.
Of course, an archaeology museum needed people to dig up the artefacts to be exhibited, and it was a matter of reputation that these people were born in these lands. All of Osman Hamdi Bey’s efforts would bear fruit with Ekrem Akurgal and his generation of young archaeologists.
The beginning of his interest in archaeology
The feverish efforts of the young republic in the name of science had a great influence on who Akurgal came to be. During his young years, many incentives were present to provide him moral and material support. The Turkish History Thesis, which slowly began to take shape in Akurgal’s youth, had an important role in his passionate interest in archaeology and history. Akurgal became more and more immersed as he read and saw the vision behind the history theses, pioneered by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, designed to rescue the history of the new Turkish Republic from an orientalist perspective. Inspired by what he read, Akurgal decided to make this field his future career.
The Republic not only inspired him with a vision, but also gave him great support in pursuing his curiosity. The turning point in Akurgal’s life was undoubtedly the policy of sending students abroad, which was supported by the government at the time. Akurgal took exams in archaeology and history. His main priority was history, but failed to secure a spot due to the limited quota. Just when he was on the brink of despair, he received good news: His name was among the 6 people who would be sent to prestigious universities abroad to study archaeology.
He strived to do his best, both out of personal curiosity and out of a sense of responsibility for the great support he received from his country. From 1933 to 1941, he had the chance to be tutored by the distinguished archaeologist Gerhard Rodenwaldt. During the 8 years he spent at the University of Berlin, he attended interdisciplinary studies. He took complementary courses in Greek and Roman archaeology, Islamic and Turkish art, classical philology, and history of philosophy. This contributed greatly to the development of his intellectual personality.
His education was beyond abstract and conceptual. In Germany, he also had the chance to participate in excavations and practice with leading archaeologists. He used the techniques and excavation methods as a guide for himself and for the students he raised. The only remedy for the Turkish nation, which had to follow science and technology far behind, was to bring the science and science of developed nations to the country through students sent abroad for education.
A new home for science: Turkiye
Turkiye, relying on the students sent abroad for a civilized future, would witness unexpected developments in those years. While Ekrem Akurgal was receiving a high level education in Germany, far ahead of his time, there was a flip side of the coin: The situation for his colleagues in Germany was quite dire. When Akurgal first set foot in Germany in 1933, the same country had become a place where many top academics were living their last days. The ruling National Socialist Workers’ Party was already building a dark regime where a lot of academics belonging to minorities were strictly forbidden to live. It had almost become a part of daily life to label those who did not align with the ideology or to burn their works.
Due to these difficult conditions, many academics who wanted to do their work had no alternative but to migrate to another country to be away from the political turmoil. They began to move in masses to developed countries such as the United States, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, which would provide them free environment. Surprisingly, a country that had not yet fully established a modern university system, had no choice but to send its qualified students abroad, and lagged behind contemporary civilisations, would also take its place on the migration route of these scientists. In search of a new country where they could practice their professions properly, the scientists informed Prime Minister İsmet İnönü that 40 academics who are experts in their fields had the intention to immigrate to Turkiye. The letter was written by Albert Einstein.
These scientists did not speak Turkish and expected high salaries. Coupled with the political developments of the period, this greatly confused the young Turkish government. Foreign policy strictly and carefully avoided any moves that could jeopardise the country’s position. However, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had different ideas. The great leader already sensed that the educational opportunity he had been waiting for had been served on a silver tray.
While Ekrem Akurgal boarded a red train bound for Berlin and waved goodbye to his hometown from the Istanbul station, 1933 would be a year of university reforms in Türkiye. The Darülfünun was replaced by the modern Istanbul University. Atatürk’s vision was to remove outdated educational institutions and pave the way for modern, contemporary educational institutions, in line with the necessities of that time. He envisioned that the path he paved would be crowned with the young generation who receive qualified education abroad and return to Türkiye. With the letter from Germany, he realised that he could accomplish this task much more quickly, and that the necessary university reform in Türkiye could be actualised quickly with the arrival of scientists in distress. Through great effort, 40 scientists and many more were invited to Türkiye. Istanbul and Ankara, the capital of the modern state, would be the new homeland for these respected crowd of architects, lawyers, archaeologists and physicians.
An interesting custom was started in those days and is still practiced today. For the Olympic Games held every 4 years, a fire brought from Mount Olympus is carried to the hosting country. While the vision of Atatürk and the founders was to utilise the students sent abroad to carry the fire of science to Turkiye, unexpected developments assigned this task to the noble scientists that came from Germany, which was invaluable for Turkish students at home and sent abroad. And thus, while students sent abroad had the opportunity to take lessons from qualified academics in developed countries, those who could not have this chance had qualified academics at their feet. The new and modern universities that would be established by foreign scientists and local students could rekindle the fire of knowledge on the lands where science and philosophy were born.
When the train carrying Ekrem Akurgal neared Istanbul station again 8 years later in 1941, the country had changed entirely. The effects of World War II, which he had already witnessed in Germany during the years he stayed there, had also shaken Türkiye although the country was not involved in the war. Financial difficulties arose and Türkiye was caught between the two poles. The “blackout nights” put into practice at that time are first-hand indicators of how harsh the period was. Fearing a possible foreign aerial attack, the government had decided to ban the use of lights at night. The country was plunged into darkness.
Having left 8 years ago with high hopes, Ekrem Akurgal was deeply disappointed by the inconceivable state of Turkiye and the world. This was not what he had hoped to see upon his return. However, the dark clouds in his mind would dissipate one by one while wandering around the new university campuses. In a country where blackout nights were imposed and poverty was rampant, the unexpected had happened and an unprecedented breakthrough was made in science. While not a single light shone outside at night, new gems were shining brightly in laboratories, libraries and at university desks.
There is a famous quote attributed to Isaac Newton: “If I can see farther, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants before me.” These words exactly reflect Akurgal’s position. He had travelled to Germany with the means of the state and improved himself by taking advantage of the advanced opportunities there. When he returned to his country, he encountered a number of scientists as valuable as the respected academics of the other country he had left behind. Moreover, he found a new generation of Turkish youth trained by them. Atatürk’s efforts had already begun bearing fruit. He wanted this country to unleash its own value and potential with its own children, and this goal was getting closer and closer every day. In 1935, Türkiye’s first national excavation, the Alacahöyük excavation, was initiated by Turkish archaeologists. The names of Muazzez İlmiye Çığ and Mebrure Tosun, two women of the republic and shining stars of Sumerology, were being mentioned with the same importance as the world-famous Assyriologist Fritz Rudolf Kraus and Hittitologist Hans Gustav Güterbock.
Just like Akurgal, Jale İnan, Türkiye’s first female archaeologist, went to Germany to study. She would continue her education upon returning to Turkiye, by working as an assistant to the famous ancient history expert and numismatist Clemens Bosch. Clemens Bosch, on the other hand, would embrace this new country he had immigrated to more and more, first becoming a Turkish citizen and converting to Islam, later adding Emin to his name and becoming known as Clemens Emin Bosch. Turkiye had become a modern state where not only Turkish citizens, but everyone would envy and want to embrace. Atatürk’s words “Blissed is the one who says I’m a Turk” were becoming clearer. A new nation had been created, with its own citizens proud and foreigners wishing to become citizens of.
There are more examples. Muhibbe Darga was a student of Helmuth Theodor Bossert, who escaped Nazi oppression and decided to pursue his career at Istanbul University. Darga eventually became one of the most important names in Turkish archaeology. She did not have the luck that Ekrem Akurgal or Sedat Alp once had to go abroad. However, with the help of academicians that came from Germany, she had an education similar to that in a well-developed country. She made valuable contributions to the literature with her studies on Hittite art and archaeology. What pleased Akurgal the most in this scene was probably the establishment of institutions and chairs related to archaeology in Turkiye and the allocation of fields (especially Hittitology) in which he would specialise, even before his return.
An archaeologist rising above the giants
Akurgal was determined to do his best to sustain the scientific environment that was sprouting in the country. He started as an assistant at Ankara University’s Faculty of Language, History and Geography. He became an associate professor with his work titled “Harpy Monument”. Carved on a Lycian monumental tomb, a Harpy is depicted as a winged woman in Greek mythology. Examining Akurgal’s doctoral study with a symbolic perspective reveals a surprising conclusion. The young republic was depicted as a woman in some drawings and depictions belonging to that era. Keeping in mind Atatürk’s word “The future is in the skies” and remembering the Republic’s sincere steps in science, it would be appropriate to resemble the Republic to a harpy. A woman who spreads her wings and rises rapidly to the sky. The goal was to carry the flame of science to Türkiye like carrying the Olympic torch to the host country, and our country was achieving this with young people and women. Halet Çambel, who attended the 1936 Berlin Olympics in fencing, would carry the Olympic flame to Turkish sports as the first female athlete to represent Türkiye in the Olympics, and would bring the flame of science to Turkish universities with the Karatepe excavations as an archaeologist.
Scientists who contributed to the rise of the Republic were also climbing up the scientific ladder rapidly as if they had spread their wings. With his work “Harpy Monument,” Akurgal would become one of the youngest scientists in Turkish history to earn the title of associate professor by writing a thesis. Akurgal, who first went to Germany and met the giants there, then returned to Türkiye and climbed on top of those giants with the help of scientists fleeing the Nazi persecution, was not only rising at the top of the academy, but also at the top of the Republic –a tree whose seeds were sown 20 years ago. After his doctoral dissertation, Akurgal would publish his first scientific work in Belleten, the publication of the Turkish Historical Society, which was established with the directive of Atatürk himself. The 1943 work titled “Research on the Pazarlı Monuments” showed that Atatürk’s dreams were finally coming true, a Turkish scientist had begun to uncover the history of Turkiye. With this work, Akurgal’s interest would shift directly and entirely to the Hittite world.
This interest would become the subject of many of his future articles. In 1945, he wrote an article in French with the title “Remarques sytlistiques sur les reliefs de Malatya” on the Hittite reliefs in Malatya. His next work, written in German, was “Spathethititische Bildskunt” on Late Hittite art. Akurgal’s published articles in French and in German gives a good idea about his intellectual identity. Akurgal was interested in learning languages at an early age, and in a program he participated on TRT, he advised archaeologists to first learn English and then German, French and Italian. Akurgal also published his Turkish articles written in Turkish one side and in a Western language on the other side. Knowing well that an article written in Turkish would only be useful for a not-too-large group of people, Akurgal considered it appropriate to publish his Turkish articles with French, German or English translations. He realised that by presenting his works to the world, he could raise the prestige of Turkish archaeology and communicate more easily with the outside world.
In 1945, he started his first excavations, which was one of the cornerstones of his path to becoming a Professor. He conducted his first excavations in Turkiye with Nimet and Tahsin Özgüç in Zile. Zile, today within the borders of Amasya, is where Julius Caesar first uttered the famous phrase “Veni Vidi Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)”. It is not difficult to imagine that Akurgal may have experienced a similar excitement as Caesar when he was finally given the responsibility of heading an excavation, a dream he had for many years.
The excavation was extraordinarily successful. His accomplishments almost guaranteed those he would later accomplish. After the Zile excavation, many excavations followed one after another. Bayraklı in 1948-52, Sinop in 1951-53, Daskyleion (Hisartepe) in 1953-59, Pitane (Çandarlı) in 1958-65 and Erythrae (Ildır) in 1969-79 are the main excavations he undertook. Akurgal managed to come out of each excavation with a clean slate. The location of Daskyleion, which he excavated, was disputed for a long time. In the early 20th century, when the German zoologist Kurt Kosswig discovered the Manyas Bird Sanctuary, he brought the ruins on the shore of the lake to public attention. When the excavations, carried out by his compatriot Kurt Bittel, were handed over to Ekrem Akurgal in 1953, he determined that the site was home to an Achaemenid-era satrapy. His team unearthed nearly 400 tablets and reliefs written in ancient Persian and Aramaic. The Hisartepe Stele, now on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, was unearthed by Akurgal at that time. The Archaeology Museum, which Osman Hamdi Bey etablished with great hopes, finally began to fulfil its mission, and the children of this country began to carry the values of Anatolia to the museum.
Another successful excavation of Akurgal, who attracted stars in the world of archaeology by eliminating an uncertainty, would take place in the Çandarlı (Pitane) region in the Dikili district of Izmir. It was on Akurgal to excavate the ancient city of Pitane, home to the Aeolians, one of the 4 main tribes of Ancient Greece (the others being the Achaeans, Dorians and Ionians) mentioned by Homer in his History. Here he discovered an archaic tomb containing many graves with pottery ranging from Corinthian to Aeolic style.
As the excavations continued, a question began to nag at his mind. Akurgal, who had succeeded in becoming a distinguished archaeologist by standing on the shoulders of giants, posed that important question Atatürk had questioned: Which giants’ shoulders is the new Turkiye standing on?
First and foremost, he insisted that the roots of Western civilisation should be sought in Anatolia. In this thought, the idea that the new Turkiye as a part and heir of Western civilisation was particularly influential. Despite staying away from radical ideas like “Blue Anatolianism” or “Pan-Anatolianism,” which claimed that Anatolia is at the foundation of all civilisations, he never neglected to emphasise the importance of Anatolia.
One of the books in which he shared his ideas about Anatolian civilisations is “Anadolu Uygarlıkları – Anatolian Civilisations.” Akurgal praises the activities of the Turkish Historical Society in the early years in the introduction of the book but believes that it deviated from its course after being nationalised. The main point of criticism lies in the fact that, initially, the Turkish Historical Society had a broad research field that embraced all Anatolian civilisations, but after nationalisation, it focused more on the period after 1071 and neglected the previous history. Perhaps with the aim of filling the gap left by the Turkish Historical Society and drawing attention to its flawed policies, Akurgal wanted to write a book on Anatolian Civilisations.
In the first part of the book, Akurgal covers prehistoric periods, but in the majority of the following chapters, he writes about the Hittites. He touches on many issues related to the Hittites, from their art and religious beliefs to the origins of place names. When we question the ideological reasons behind his writings, a scene parallel to what Akurgal mentioned in the introduction emerges. Akurgal emphasises that there is a continuity between the history of Anatolia and his own time. Today, many cities and towns in Anatolia bear names from ancient Anatolian civilisations, albeit with some changes. For example, Midyat (Matiata), Maraş (Marqasu) appear in Assyrian sources, Adana (Adaniya), Sakarya (Sexariya) in Hittite sources, and Sinop (Sinope), Enez (Ainos) in the Homeric epics.
Rejecting the exclusionary attitude of the Turkish Historical Society and wanting to include Anatolian civilisations as a whole in his book, Akurgal discusses the influence of Hellenic civilisation, Roman civilisation, and the heritage of the Seljuks and Ottomans on Anatolian lands in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters. After reviewing all this historical past, Akurgal sets out to do what he really wants to do in the eighth chapter: question the fundamental building blocks of Turkiye and the source of its culture.
Akurgal emphasised that Turkish culture is a melting pot of Central Asian, ancient Aegean civilisations, Anatolian civilisations, and Iranian-Arab cultures. He highlighted that integrating with Western culture since the 18th century had positively influenced the structure of Turkish culture, creating a unique mosaic. He refrained from making a distinction between Eastern and Western civilisations as good or bad; however, he previously argued in his work “Orient und Okzident” that the unchanging, rule-bound structure of the East could hinder progress, while the West possesses a much more dynamic framework. He substantiated these ideas by comparing ancient Egyptian and modern Western European arts. In ancient Egypt, a single aesthetic structure persisted for centuries, whereas in Western Europe, entirely new styles and perspectives could develop within a century. However, this valuable work has not yet been translated into Turkish.
Akurgal believed that Turkiye should preserve its own traditions, the heritage of Central Asia and ancient Anatolia, as well as the concepts and institutions borrowed from the Middle East and the West. He emphasised that Turkish culture formed an inseparable whole with these elements. In contrast, he repeatedly stated that we should take the pro-modernity, innovative attitude of the West as an example.
In his other important work, “The Birth of Aegean Western Civilisation,” he tries to find the origins of Western civilisation in the cultures that emerged in the Aegean region. He begins by mentioning Smyrna, one of the first ancient cities established in the Hellenic world. He claims that Homer, the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, was from Izmir and compiled these two books in Izmir.
He then discusses the cradle of democracy in the Aeolian and Ionian cities. He narrates the relationship between the transition to democracy and the economy based on trade. He writes that they adopted trade with the influence of the Late Hittite and Phoenician civilisations. After showing the influence of Anatolia on the political and cultural norms of the West, he emphasises the importance of the Lydians, another Anatolian civilisation, in the foundation of money and trade relationships, which are the basic foundation of its economic structure. He reminds us that the pioneers of the ancient philosophers who laid the foundations of Western thought were Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes, who are now in Aydın.
Becoming a giant
In addition to Akurgal’s excavations, his work and similar endeavours gained recognition worldwide and attracted significant attention. He received numerous awards from the present-day successors of the Western civilisation he sought to trace back to its Anatolian roots and respected institutions from all around the world. Akurgal was a member of seven academies in Europe and an honorary member of many scientific organisations. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Bordeaux University (1961), Athens University (1988), Lecce University (1990), and Anadolu University (1990). Furthermore, he was honoured with the Federal Republic of Germany’s Order of Merit (1979), the Goethe Medal (1979), the Great Award of the Turkish Ministry of Culture (1981), the Italian Commander Order of Merit (1987), and the French Legion of Honour (1990).
When he retired from academia in 1981, he left behind an exceptional academic career, numerous articles, and books, paving the way for countless scholars following in his footsteps. Throughout his life, he gained the most from the scientists he looked up to, constantly pushing himself to see further. Now, he has become a giant upon whose shoulders future generations will climb. Since the 1980s, it has become almost inevitable for the increasing number of educational institutions in our country to have at least one student who was mentored by Ekrem Akurgal in the field of archaeology.
Undoubtedly, there are important lessons to be drawn from Akurgal’s life story today. Akurgal, who was educated abroad for 8 years during the impoverished Turkiye of the 1930s, always spoke of the opportunities his country provided him and expressed his pride in his homeland and compatriots on every occasion throughout his scientific career, which began in 1941. The lesson to be learned from the story of a man who, even in his old age, was filled with childlike joy by the young Republic is clear: We must contemplate the low scholarship amounts and insufficient incentives for Turkish youth seeking education abroad, as it weakens the trust of Turkish youth in their country. The only way to compensate for this diminishing trust is through addressing the issue.
The greatest wish of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Great Leader, was for our people to live proudly as a nation in these lands, to embrace their own past, and to achieve unity and solidarity by ensuring that all cultures that have lived on Anatolian soil are presented in the best possible way. This is undoubtedly the path we should follow. Through this path, in the coming century, our country can only continue its existence as a respected nation, one that its people take pride in, through science.
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