Each of the following lesson plans involves showing slides of early Christian sites in Turkey. A set of slides on this topic exists and can be obtained by contacting Dr. Manoucher Khosrowshahi, Tyler Junior College, Box 9020, Tyler, Texas 75711; email address: mkho@tjc.tyler.cc.tx.us. Annotations for these slides are included at the end of the third lesson plan.

First Teaching Unit:

1. Historical approach:

Objectives:

a. To acquaint students with historical and literary events in Turkey, particularly during the Byzantine Empire, which have impacted Western culture

b. To familiarize students with geographical sites in Turkey where Roman cities existed and the present-day locations of those cities on a map

c. To familiarize students with geographical sites in Turkey where early religious communities existed and the present-day locations of those sites on a map

d. To develop cultural awareness through an understanding of how other cultures worked, invented, created, protected themselves, and worshipped

e. To acquaint students with historical, architectural, artistic, and cultural terms necessary to a comprehensive study of the Byzantine Period and its early Christian communities

Suggested Teaching Strategies:

a. Show the entire 48 slides depicting Early Christian Sites in Turkey, or a selected group of them, and explain the significance of each to the topic.

b. Locate sites pictured on the slides on both first century and twentieth century maps of

Turkey

c. Give students a list of names and terms relevant to this period (Anatolia, Byzantine Empire, Pax Romana, troglodyte communities, Constantine, Justinian, apoditerium, frigidarium, penditives, frescoes, Iconoclasts, Paul, Peter, John, Polycarp, Ottomans, Crusades, etc.)

Suggested Assignments:

a. Make a timeline of major historical events occurring in Turkey between the first and fifteenth centuries A.D.

b. Write an essay or journal entry analyzing the impact of Roman culture on inhabitants of the Anatolian region

c. Write an essay analyzing how Roman occupation, particularly the Pax Romana, facilitated the spread of Christianity in Turkey

d. Research the various parts of a Roman bath. Make a sketch of a typical bath.

e. Find and read a book with extensive discussions of the Roman ruins at Ephesus.

1) Draw a map locating the major government, social, and religious structures in Ephesus 2) Write an essay on the following topic: What do Roman ruins tell us about the level of sophistication of Roman engineering, social life, hygiene, appreciation of the arts and architecture in the Turkish part of the Empire?

Second Teaching Unit:

2. Biblical or Literary Approach (particularly for World Literature courses including study of the

Old and/or New Testaments)

Objectives:

a. To acquaint students with Biblical and literary events in Turkey which have impacted Western civilization

b. To examine archaeological evidence of literary and Biblical events which occurred in Turkey

c. To communicate the significance of Turkey, "the undiscovered holy land," to both Old and New Testament history

d. To discuss the impact of religion on the art and culture of Turkey

e. To examine the roles such New Testament figures as Paul, Barnabas, Mary, Priscilla,

and Aquila played in the establishment of churches in Turkey

f. To familiarize students with research materials and techniques available in analyzing

available data concerning New Testament churches and their leaders

g. To understand the impact of the Crusades on Western literature and art

h. To increase cultural awareness by analyzing daily life, worship, work, and art in an underground city and then by comparing the lifestyle of early Christians to our own

Suggested Teaching Strategies:

a. Show the entire 48 slides depicting Early Christian Sites in Turkey, or a selected group of them, and explain the significance of each to the topic.

b. Locate sites pictured on the slides on both first century and twentieth century maps of

Turkey

c. On a first-century map, point out the route of Paul’s three missionary journeys, the

locations of the seven churches of Revelation, and the locations of the seven

Ecumenical councils

d. Give students a list of names and terms relevant to this period (Anatolia, Byzantine Empire, Pax Romana, troglodyte communities, Constantine, Justinian, frescoes, Iconoclasts, Paul, Peter, John, Polycarp, Ottomans, seven cities of Revelation, ecumenical council, Hagia Sophia, Chora, etc.)

b. Research the noted landmarks of one or more of the seven cities. If the city is criticized for a particular type of behavior in Revelation, is there any connection between the Biblical accusation and the city’s more famous landmarks? Explain.

c. Offer three reasons for believing that Mary spent her last days in the house named for her in Selcuk, just outside Ephesus. What contradictory evidence is there?

d. Name several major events of the Old and New Testaments that occurred in Turkey and pinpoint their locations on a map.

e. Research the life of one of the following as mentioned in contemporary sources other than the Bible. How do contemporary accounts compare with Biblical ones? Use appropriate in-text citation and bibliographic form in your paper. Choose one of the following: Paul, John, Peter, Mary, or Priscilla and Aquila

f. Compile a list of modern-day Turkish cities and their Biblical names. Find passages in the Old and New Testaments where these cities are mentioned. If a city is known by several names, list them all.

g. Imagine you are a first-century resident of the Cappadocian caves Describe a typical day in your life.

h. Imagine you are a modern-day resident of the United State on a visit to Turkey. You get caught in a time warp and land up living in the underground city of Derinkuyu during the tenth century. What major changes would you have to make in your lifestyle?

I. If you were an environmentalist with money to undertake a major restoration at only one of the following sites, which location would you pour your money into, and why? Write a five-hundred word argumentative theme explaining your choice.

a. The theater at Ephesus e. The Church of John at Selcuk

b. The stadium at Ephesus f. Hagia Sophia

c. The house of Mary at Selcuk g. Chora

d. The Dark Church at Cappadocia h. The Roman baths in Ankara

Third Teaching Unit:

3. Art History approach:

Objectives:

a. To acquaint students with historical events in Turkey, particularly during the Byzantine Empire, which have impacted Western art

b. To familiarize students with geographical sites in Turkey where major discoveries of early Christian art have been found and to point out those locations on a map

c. To familiarize students with geographical sites in Turkey where early religious communities existed and with the means by which those early communities illustrated cardinal tenets of their faith

d. To develop cultural awareness through comparing the art of Byzantine Turkey to that

produced during the same centuries in other parts of the world

e. To acquaint students with historical, architectural, artistic, and cultural terms necessary to a comprehensive study of the Byzantine Period and its early Christian communities

Suggested Teaching Strategies:

a. Show the entire 48 slides depicting Early Christian Sites in Turkey, or a selected group of them, and explain the significance of each to the topic.

b. Locate sites pictured on the slides on both first century and twentieth century maps of

Turkey

c. Discuss major characteristics of Byzantine art of the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries

d. Discuss the Iconoclastic movement and its impact on religious art

e. Discuss terms such as nave, apse, crypt, narthex, and atrium as they relate to churches of the first through fifteenth centuries

f. Define fresco. Explain the process involved in creating a fresco

Suggested Assignments:

a. Compare the frescoes of the Dark Church to those in several other churches of

Cappadocia. What similarities, if any, do you see? Some historians have suggested that Cappadocian artists relied on the same sources for their pictures of Christ and other New Testament figures. What evidence do you see to support this theory?

b. Compare pictures of Christ from Hagia Sophia, Chora, and the Dark Church. How are they similar? How do they differ?

c. Research the religious cave drawings found in the state of New Mexico. Compare them to the art work found in the cave churches of Cappadocia. Do you find any similarities in technique or design? What differences do you see?

d. What impact did politics have on art during the Roman Empire? Was it any different during the Byzantine Empire?

e. Create a contemporary fresco using some of the techniques used in one of the following sites: Cappadocia, Goreme, Hagia Sophia, Chora

f. Read a description of the Church of St. John in Selcuk. Draw its floor plan and label it
various areas (nave, apse, etc.).