Last modified: 2016-10-23 by ivan sache
Keywords: han |
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Flag of Han - Image by Tomislav Šipek, 12 May 2015
The municipality of Han (2,108 inhabitants in 2012, 1,059 in the town proper; 24,957 ha) is located 80 km south of Eskişehir.
Ivan Sache, 3 March 2016
The flag of Han (photo) is white with the municipality's emblem in the middle. "Belediyesi" means "Municipality".
The municipal emblem features the most striking element of the archeological site known as Midas City or Midas Monument (A. Gabriel. Au sujet du "Monument de Midas". Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 94, 2002-208, 1950), located close to the village of Yazilikaya (photo).
Quoting the TAY Project:
Presence and abundant number of monumental structures at Midas city indicate that it was a religious metropolis of its time. The topographic analysis showed that it had no strategical importance compared to the citadel type of settlements in the region, and the city was rather promoted by constructing many religious buildings giving her a distinctive position. The excavations revealed that the earliest Phrygian settlement at Midas city was dated back to the 8th century BC. It appears that during the reign of King Midas when the Phrygia had its most prosperous days, Gordion was a political center while Midas city was the most important religious center since the foundation of the kingdom.
The reason why it is called the Midas City is that the inscription on the Yazilikaya Monument bears the name Midas as carved onto the rock. The monument after which the settlement was named was first documented in 1800. Colonel W.M. Leake and his company who traveled for a military mission from Istanbul to Egypt under the command of the British general G. Koehler examined this monument and made a sketch of it. Right after the book of Leake was published in 1824 including his travel and a sketch of the monument, the archaeological remains in the region became the center of interest for many European travelers and researchers until mid-20th century, and the excavations at Yazilikaya - Midas started in 1936.
Tomislav Šipek & Ivan Sache, 3 March 2016