This sarcophagus is displayed at the site, describing a voyage from the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea. The carved sailboat has no oars or sails. Also carved into the sarcophagus is a poem about the last voyage of the sailboat, and by implication, the captain.

We visited the city of Alanya, where the Red Tower overlooks the old harbor. This tower was built in 1226 during the Seljuk reign under Sultan Alaatin I Keykubat. This Sultan might have been the inspiration for the story of Aladdin and his magic lamp, as his reign was considered one of enlightenment.

You can walk to the top of the 33-meter (100 foot) tower, up steep, narrow steps so intimidating that you want to hold onto the rail with both hands. On the lower level of the tower, an exhibit displays artifacts, including oil lamps, from the Seljuk era, and several of the footed lamps looked as though Aladdin himself might just have used them.

The archaeological museum in Antakya contains a fine collection of Roman/Byzantine mosaics. Most were found in the ancient site of Daphne, now called Harbiye, and around the Antakya region. Many of the mosaics on display are in excellent condition, like the one shown at left. From a distance, they almost look like impressionistic paintings.

At Kanlıdivane, "place of blood," prisoners in Roman times were hurled to the mercy of wild animals in the hollow of the canyon.  Some of the inscriptions were from as early as the third century BC, and this area flourished until at least the fourth century AD.

We were taken by this carving in the side of the canyon, apparently of a family. Like the rock tombs elsewhere on Turkey's coast, it's hard to imagine how ancient people developed the technology to carve so far away from both the tops and the bottoms of cliffs.

inset: carving of a family high in the rocky cliff