This book surveys the historical development, current problems and likely prospects for Eastern Mediterranean port cities, providing contributions from scholars from various disciplines, such as archaeologists, historians, economists, urban planners and architects. By studying the city of Mersin and the surrounding area, it offers insights into the changing nature of Eastern Mediterranean port cities.
The first part of the book discusses the approaches to the Mediterranean World, from the late prehistory to the present, and questions the implications of the values inherited from the past for a sustainable future.
The second part then examines the social structure of Eastern Mediterranean port cities presenting an in-depth study of different ethnic groups and communities.
In the third part the changing physical structure of these cities is elucidated from the perspectives of archaeology, architecture, and urban planning.
The last part focuses on urban memory through a detailed study based on live recordings of original accounts by the local people.
The book benefits prospective researchers in the field of Mediterranean studies, archaeology, history, economic science, architecture and urban planning.
“Eastern Mediterranean Port Cities” helps readers to understand the complex nature of Mediterranean and its cities through a bottom-up approach, provides a multi-disciplinary view, uses a relational approach to examine the social, physical and economic structure of port cities, and also evaluates urban memory through personal testimonies.
Contents
Introduction
Yenişehirlioğlu, Filiz (et al.)
The Mediterranean Idea: From the Roman Mare Nostrum to the Book of the Sea by Naḥum Slouschz (1948)
Ginio, Alisa
Mediterranean as a Supra-Regional Interaction Sphere During Late Prehistory: An Overview on Problems and Prospects
Özdoğan, Mehmet
Settlements in the Hellenistic Period in Cilicia
Aydınoğlu, Ümit
Anthroscapes: A Robust Basis for Mapping Land Quality and Sustainable Land Use Patterns
Kapur, Selim (et al.)
Visible/Invisible: Sanctity, History and Topography in Tarsus
Pancaroğlu, Oya
Maronites in Mersin Through Its Process of Becoming an Important Port City (the Nineteenth and the Twentieth Century)
Yorulmaz, Şerife
The Greek-Orthodox Community of Mersin (Mid-Nineteenth Century to 1921)
Balta, Evangelia
Where Have All the Egyptian Fellahin Gone? Labor in Mersin and Çukurova (Second Half of the Nineteenth Century)
Toledano, Ehud R.
Why Did the German Levantine Cotton Company Settle in Cilicia?
Akder, A. Halis
The Port of Mersin from the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth Century
Selvi Ünlü, Tülin (et al.)
Entrepreneurial Spirit and Modernization of a Port City: The Case of Mersin
Beyhan, Burak
Adana-Mersin Railway Station Buildings: A Cross-Section of the Nineteenth Century Ottoman Architecture
Akpolat, Mustafa Servet
Changes to Urban Form in Eastern Mediterranean Port Cities: Formation and Transformation of the Çamlıbel Neighborhood in Mersin
Ünlü, Tolga
The Denizens’ Turn
Selvi Ünlü, Tülin
Authors Biography
Filiz Yenişehiroğlu
Is a faculty member at the Department of Art History of Koç University. She also serves as director of Vehbi Koç Ankara Studies Research and Application Center in Ankara, Turkey. Her areas of specialty are Ottoman Art, Ottoman architecture, Ottoman ceramic art and popular culture.
Eyüp Özveren
Is Professor at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences (FEAS), Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey. His areas of specialty are economic history, history of economic thought, institutional economics, Mediterranean studies and political economy.
Tülin Selvi Ünlü
Is researcher at Mersin University-Center for Mediterranean Urban Studies, Turkey. Her areas of specialty are Eastern Mediterranean port cities and their urban development, urban history, urban memory and oral history.