KOS (ISTANKOY) ISLAND "HISARLIK ANCIENT CITY" EXCAVATION

Abstract

Kos Island, which was connected to the Eyalet of the Archipelago (Eyālet-i Cezāyir-i Baḥr-i Sefīd in Ottoman Turkish), is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. Only a quarter of the island's nearly ten thousand population was Muslim. The main source of livelihood on the island was agriculture and maritime activities. Kos had a history going back to BC. Especially in the place known as “Hisarlık”, the Ottoman government sought someone for excavations; Doctor Rudolf Herzog, one of the teachers of Tübingen, was given permission to excavate at certain intervals. Rudolf Herzog excavated from 1900 to 1904, built a building on the excavation site and stored the excavated artifacts here. Hisarlık land was purchased so that the excavation area belonged to the state. Again, the state commissioner was appointed to ensure supervision during the excavation; the works in the ruins of Hisarlık continued for a while by moving to İncirli Village. Especially with the beginning of the excavation works, a council consisting of the notables of the island was established, and every kind of help was given to Herzog to examine the works by copying method. Precious artifacts from the excavation area were sent to Istanbul to the Imperial Museum (Imperial Museum). For his valuable contributions, Herzog was awarded a state medal. After these studies, Kos Island attracted more attention of European scientists, and Hisarlık Ruins became the place where many scientists, especially Germans, came with the permission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Hariciye Nezareti). In 1912, together with Rhodes, the Italians occupied the island, and after seizing the administration, they established their dominance over many institutions as they wished. In our article, the Hisarlık excavations that started on the island of Kos in the traces of the archive documents in the Presidency Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives and how this excavation was carried out; It has been tried to explain how the influx of scientists, which became famous after the end of this excavation, and how the situation on the island was affected by the Italian occupation.