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TINA

Denizcilik Arkeolojisi Dergisi

Evliya Çelebi made a part of his journey from Diyar- travelers to Siirt, disembarked here and continued north
bakır to Van with a kelek on the Tigris River in 1655. to Siirt by horses and mules through the Botan Valley.
In his journal, Seyahatname, he records that during their Gertrude Bell also describes in her Hasankeyf memoirs
journey, he would sometimes look around, sometimes dated to April 29, 1911, how they crossed the Tigris Riv-
play backgammon and chess, and they would eat by stop- er by kelek following a rainy day. This crossing is well-
ping at nice villages on the river when they were hun- known, thanks to the many photographs she took. In ad-
gry. He also mentions that they killed two thieves who dition, a photo of a kelek on the bank of the Tigris River
wanted to steal their goods in a region where they were taken by Albert Gabriel in Hasankeyf in 1932 provides
staying overnight. Evliya Çelebi disembarked at the con- an important piece of evidence for the use of such ves-
fluence of the Tigris River and Batman Stream and then sels (Fig.10). It shows the launching of a kelek, as well
rode a horse or a mule to Meyyafarikin (Silvan) . In his as a group of inflated sheepskins .
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book, H.A. Layard describes how the sphinxes and other
archaeological finds discovered during his excavations KeLeK COnStruCtIOn AnD teCHnICAL SPeCIFICAtIOnS
between 1845 and 1848 in Nineveh, an Assyrian capital, Prior to the introduction of motor vehicles in mod-
were transferred to the Basra Gulf by keleks, and then by ern daily life, transport of both humans and merchan-
ships to the British Museum , highlighting that the kelek dise on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers was largely
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carrying the sphinxes (Fig.9) was specifically made of accomplished by kelek. Keleks are usually produced
600 sheepskins . from local materials, and the construction techniques
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Ali Bey, who visited the region in 1884 as an inspector and forms have not changed much for thousands of
of Düyun-u Umumiye (Ottoman Public Debt Administra- years (Fig.11). Although keleks are still partly in use
tion), also spent a major part of his voyage up to Bagh- today, it seems that they represent a cultural element
dad on a kelek on the Tigris River. In his memoirs, he that will disappear soon.
records that after departing from Diyarbakır, he reached The most important construction material of kelek is
Avte (Aşağı Balıklı), i.e., the “Quay of Siirt” after a four- animal skin, which becomes ready to use after passing
day journey . The village of Aşağı Balıklı lies around 3 through several stages. The animals preferred for this
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km west of the Çattepe Mound settlement, where a har- purpose are mainly goats and sheep. In fact, the skin of
bor structure dating to the late Roman imperial period a male goat is preferred over sheepskin, because it is a
was unearthed. It is most likely that after the harbor/quay little thicker and stronger. It is possible to use a sheep-
structure at Çattepe was destroyed and became obsolete, skin for 2 to 3 years provided that proper maintenance is
the commodities coming from Diyarbakır, as well as given to it in winter time.

11 EVLİYA ÇELEBİ 1986, 471.
12 LAYARD 2000, 318-320.
13 LAYARD 2000, 322.
14 ALİ BEY 2003, 24-25.
15 GABRİEL, LEVHA XLI.

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