[FIRST OTTOMAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL GUIDE TO EPHESUS] Efezos-Ayasulug rehberi. [i.e. Guide to Ephesos and Ayasulug]

AZIZ [OGAN], (1888-1956), Hafiz Ali Matbaasi / Izmir ve Havalisi Âsar-i Atîka Muhibleri Cemiyeti, Izmir (Smyrna), 1927.

Original wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 42 p., one map, 33 unnumbered b/w ills. of panoramic and detailed snapshots of the ruined area. Water stains on cove some stains. Chipped on the spine. Otherwise a good copy.

First and only edition of this uncommon first original Ottoman archaeological guide to Ephesus and Ayasuluk, places where are cities in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia and one of the seven churches of Asia, prepared by Ogan, during he supervised the excavations of ancient cities like Sardis, Ephesus, Ayasuluk, Selçuk, Pergamon, Didyma, Miletus and conducted research on these sites, which are all very important for the ancient history of West Anatolian geography. In this period, notably, he coordinated the transfer of the artifacts that appeared in various museums all over the country. An illustrated and important guide to this one of the important cities for Christianity with a detailed Turkish Ephesus plan.

Aziz Ogan's interest in fine arts and archaeology had formed at a young age thanks to the painter and the founder of the museology and archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, Osman Hamdi Bey, a close friend of Ogan's father and the owner of the neighboring vineyards in Gebze. In 1910, Aziz Ogan graduated from Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi [i.e. The School of Fine Arts], a school he enrolled in as a result of his keen interest. While Ogan was still a student in 1907, he was appointed as a museum official to the Imperial Museum.

Ogan was appointed as the inspector of the Izmir Museum of Antiquities in 1914 but with the beginning of World War I and the declaration of the military mobilization, he was drafted to the officer cadet school. After finishing his education, he served both at the Gallipoli Front and the Caucasus Front. In 1917, he was appointed by Cemal Pasha as the deputy consultant to the Museum of Antiquities established in Damascus at the behest of the Fourth Army, and as the headmaster of Damascus technical school which was under the control of the Fourth Army. At the time, the German archaeologist Dr. Theodor Wiegand was the head of the archaeological organization. They had established a deep and intimate friendship in a very short period. en World War I had ended, Izmir was under occupation. Under these conditions, Aziz Ogan couldn't start properly his duties as the inspector of the Izmir Museum of Antiquities until 1922. In 1926 his inspection field was extended to Izmir and the neighboring territory.

Aziz Ogan, who played a pivotal role in the preservation of ancient artifacts and in the development of museums, was a member of institutions such as the Turkish Historical Society, the Austrian, Czechoslovakian, Finnish, and German Archaeological Institutes, the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature and the Istanbul Institute. (Source: Bogaziçi Archives Aziz Ogan Online Exhibition).

Özege 4651.; Nine copies in OCLC 25346761 (Six in the US libraries).

-- Archaeology Guides Ephesos Anatolian civilizations Middle East Seven Churches