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- How should an amphora museum be? - |
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“THIS IS MY LAST ARTICLE ON AMPHORAS.GOOD BYE” |
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When I was a child, the natives of Alanya used to question the
guests coming from far away as “Welcome - When are you going?” first
and this was a strange tradition of them which was making guests
stop with a sudden in front of the door. Then confounded and offended guests used to say how many days they would stay first,and tell this strange tradition in everywhere although they had later been treated very friendly and intimately. Knowing how many days guests will stay in the beginning would help the house owner both organize his own business and the program of guest entertainment. And I have visited this magazine in 1999. But Hasan Lafci, the kind and humble boss of “Deniz Magazin” is not from Alanya and Yasar Kalafat, my extremely generous, hospitable and nice brother is not from Alanya, either. Naturally nobody has asked me a question like“when are you going?” |
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| Although I have said “its time for me to go” at times pretending, they hold my arms and made me sit. They spreaded pelts under me. Ofcourse they did not say “ You first finish that serial of amphoras and then you go”, but they tugged at heart’s strings by saying that both they and the readers were pleased with me. | ||
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And I was so comfortable that as if I was more guest of amicable
friends’ meeting rather than a magazin. I also liked this place with
smell of sea. But it is time to go now. It is time to leave and say farewell. It is time to swim in new seas. You know that in 3 years time, i have constantly told you about the amphoras belonging to periods of B.C. except for the Byzantium. I have also told the amphoras of Eastern Mediterranean, Black Sea, Aegean, Marmara, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Phoenician, even the special amphoras of special regions such as Rhodes, Cos, Lesbos, Taşoz, Knidos, Ganos, Samos, Sinop and Amatris. I have told the official amphora policy of our country, experts’ view of amphoras and the technical problems of them. My only aim was to make you love them too and to share all the things, even one single word more that I know about this subject. |
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I think I have fulfilled my duty and achieved my purpose up to now.
And very fortunately, even the most merciless amphora masters who have been reading my articles and trying to find mistakes in them couldn’t find out any single mistake to disclaim. Certainly, all these articles will be gathered and published in an amphora book (in the future) with the scientific catalog of my collection. |
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Then what will be all these amphoras I have? And for what reason I
have collected them for years? Why I have been spending time,effort
and money with forbearance for years? For only one thing. I have collected them in order to present them to the humanity they belong, and give them back to history of humanity with a museum for my name in my country’s land. I assure you that all these will be gathered in a museum of amphoras and be represented to humankind when it is possible in the future. I want to consider and share the subject of “how an amphora museum should be” that I have always dreamed of with you in my last article. If you want, lets arrange these under subtitles. |
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Why an amphora museum? Before all else, our country has an advantage owing to its geographical position. It is in a central where 3 continents and 3 seas join. Therefore, this country is a paradise for a collectioner and a researcher who is interested in the history of humankind. And these amphoras most of which were kneaded in this land have reached me from various seas and been saved passing to museum’s inventory. Namely, amphoras are both historical treasures our fertile seas have presented to us and mysteries of past centuries. Consequently, a museum of these amphoras befits well this land. The duty of the collectioners including me in here has been to prevent them from being dispersed, broken and smuggled to other countries. Moreover, they are not my possessions, they are not the possessions of we Turks, either. (Because, they had been produced thousands of years ago before we came over here.) Considering that they are the possession of all humankind, then it is the duty of us to protect and make them pass on to next generations. |
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The Advantages of an Ampora Museum The greatest virtues to glorify people and a nation are “Science, Art and Culture.” And the concept of an amphora includes all these three elements. The abundance and diversity of museums any country has in our day is both indispensable sources of pride and income for those countries and they are those countries’ prestiges as well. Right along with being educational and didactic, museums also have to know being attractive and be arranged according to this concept at the same time. It is the most natural right of the visitor to look for liveliness and wit in a museum, just like a beautiful and clever woman’s being also lively creates an extra attraction for her. The people who have visited Disneyland know how wonders humankind have created even for imaginary tales and have managed to attract millions of visitors from all around the world. So why not an amphora museum become a place that embraces what are in it, take them to the magical world of antiquity being full of surprise, entertaining , educational ! The aim is not just to show the cubes when presenting an amphora museum to people,it is also to be able to tell their historical background indeed. Namely, the primary purpose is to take the visitor to the Greek world when in Greek amporas’ hole, and while in Phoenician , Egypt, Roman Empire, Carthage , Byzantium holes,to take them to the worlds of these civilizations. In conclusion, amphoras are the symbols of the history they belong to. It is necessary to present the whole life of those times,(with its technology, eating-dress and finery) beriefly with the full culture by using these visually nice symbols like sculpture, illustrated maps ,reliefs ,sculptures, big panels of information. It is again necessary to remember the important names, events and even the philosophy of those times. It is needed to tell the vintage, olive selling, the production of amphora, ship building, seas and the trading sea lanes. In conclusion, amphoras are the symbols of the history they belong to. It is necessary to present the whole life of those times,(with its technology, eating, dress and finery) beriefly with the full culture by using these visually nice symbols like sculpture, illustrated maps ,reliefs ,sculptures, big panels of information. It is again necessary to remember the important names, events and even the philosophy of those times. It is needed to tell the vintage, olive selling, the production of amphora, ship building, seas and the trading sea lanes( again by using pictures, figures, writings, samples and maquettes.) |
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| It is essential to bewilder the visitors with sound, light, music and smell. Briefly , a visitor should learn in these history art galleries, dive into antique submerges , live the moment of sinking, and should also be dragged into excitements by surprise shows and animations prepared beforehand. Meanwhile, charged people in the museum should certainly be in clothes belonging to those eras and amphoras for present and famous wine, vinegar, olives etc. of those times should be sold in the sales parts of the museum. A cafeteria should be ready for tired people. And the expenses of the museum should be met in cafeteria and in the sales parts for presents. If extra income is gained for museum, it should be used for buying new Works and for the support of underwater researches. | ||
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The Space of the Amphora Museum First of all,such a museum like this should be built in a city by the sea and in somewhere close to the sea.It should be in an area where the local people and the tourists mostly present,and at a point easy to reach via transportation.The closed area of the building chosen as the museum should at least be 1000 metres high or more.The building should be relevant to the historical concept of the subject;if it is construction to be launched,a right decision should be made on the architectural option of the project.With any kind of natural materials like stones,bricks or wood,to be used for the interior and exterior parts,a warm and old looking decoration can be provided.On the interior parts,by keeping the structural integrity,architectural items of their own period should be displayed in the galleries of different periods and civilizations. Besides, the museum should be carried into virtual environments via a website to be built on the internet, and the researches should thus be provided with sources. There should be commercials and ads of this museum, both within the county, abroad, even in the media; the interest of the people,especially of the students,should be constantly kept alive. The Museum should host the underwater activities, exhibitions, scientific meetings and competitions, or it should make such organizations.These examples may surely be multiplied. |
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I have just made a mental exercise in this last article. Before ending this last article,I want to thank the dear employees of Deniz Magazin, giving me the great opportunity to write all these, and I give my thanks to you who has kindly kept reading me for three years. I wish you beautiful days, full of diving. Goodbye.. |
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