Page 39 - TINA Dergi Sayi 08

TINA

Maritime Archaeology Periodical

Fig. 11: Siirt Botan Vadi-
si’nde 1970’li yıllara kadar
yük taşımacılığında kulla-
nılmış olan bir kelek. (Fo-
toğraf Siirt Ticaret Odası
Başkan Yardımcısı Nedim
Kuzu’dan alınmıştır)
Fig. 11: Fig. 11: A kelek
used for cargo transpor-
tation in the Botan Valley
of Siirt until the 1970’s.
(photo, courtesy of Nedim
Kuzu, the Vice president
of Siirt Chamber of Com-
merce)

The person using a kelek is called “Tarah”. Keleks was usually carried out in Diyarbakır-Bismil. Some-
were custom-made for cargo or passenger transport de- times, the owner of the keleks would accompany them
pending on the intended use. In some cases, a small during the voyage. On a trip with more than one kelek,
closed section was added on top of the kelek if request- the owner usually came along with the foremost kelek.
ed by the passenger. Transport by kelek was usually car- During the voyage, it was necessary to stop at prede-
ried out between April and June, when the snow melts termined stations for dinner and sleep when it got dark.
and the water rises. In April and May, when the waters In addition, general care of the kelek had to be done for
are high, the journey takes four days from Diyarbakır the next day by reinflating the deflated sheepskins, and
to Mosul; it takes seven days in June when the water securing the ropes if they were loose. During the inev-
begins to decrease. Local lore indicates that good kelek itable night-time accommodation, merchandise had to
masters were usually from Hasankeyf. For this reason, be kept guarded against thieves. For this reason, there
until recently kelekçilik (the practice of making keleks) were certain routes and ports/stopping points on the Ti-
was considered one of the most important professions gris River, depending on whether the trip involved long
for those living in Hasakeyf. Until about 50 years ago, or short distances, and these included east-west routes
Hasankeyf reportedly had 5-6 different fleet owners of that required short trips, as well as north-south routes
keleks who were related to each other. One of the last that required longer trips.
fleet of keleks belonged to Cemil Marangoz, consisting After reaching Mosul at the end of a voyage on
of 15 keleks of 100 sheepskins each . the north-south route and disposing of the cargo, the
16
When an order for a cargo transportation was placed, sheepskins and framework of the raft were dismantled
kelek masters living in Hasankeyf packed sheepskins and the framework was sold to local merchants. It was
on mules and went to the area where they would take necessary to deflate and dry the sheepskins and then
the load. They would construct the kelek on-site. If the lay a powder made of pomegranate coat among them,
cargo was kerosene, sugar, or salt, then the loading was so that they did not stick to each other when they were
carried out in Diyarbakır; if it was grain, the loading stacked on top of each other.

16 Cemil Marangoz, a kelek master from Hasankeyf, used these rafts until 1930s. His family name, Marangoz (Carpenter),
was given at the time of the Surname Act, because his main profession was building wooden boats. The vast majority of
the information about Hasankeyf used here is from accounts of his son, Mehmet Marangoz. I thank him for the informa-
tion he has provided.
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