God Wars

For thousands of years, people fought for their freedom, worshiping the god or gods they believed in for their fear and protection of their lives.. The god of each community was different, sun, stars, fire, polytheistic mythologies and divine religions. Below we will make a brief introduction to the subject and take a look at the places of worship of different faiths in Turkey and around the world..

To begin with, I would like to quote Ertürk Akşun’s novel Girl’s Name Night:

“Life itself is next Isn’t it already out? To be at peace with life, one must face death. One who has not faced death is not truly free… To philosophize is to learn to die…Religion and philosophy are two branches of the same tree. Fear of death revealed two things in primitive man. Those who fear death created a god and heaven for themselves, those who chose to face death gave birth to philosophy..

Did you really think about it? Have you ever thought independently of your faith? Mankind has long fought, won or been defeated countless times to spread their power and faith.. He built countless temples in the lands they ruled.. Was it really all a product of philosophy? Or was it a necessity? Or all of them?

=>10 and 12. Crusades covering centuries, Umayyads’ capture of North Africa and Spain, Ottomans reaching Vienna, Hernan Cortes’ destruction of Aztecs, was to spread a dominance and belief.. Y. Harari explains earlier in Sapiens: The Romans conquered Etruria (Tuscany & Lazio) to protect Rome, then occupied the Po Valley, Provence (Marseille), Gaul, and Britain to protect it, respectively.. It took them 400 years to get from Rome to London, but they never had any plans to go to London..

Alexander the Great’s campaigns are not about the founding of a new empire, but his conquest of the existing Persian Empire.
Admiral of the Ming Dynasty in China, Zheng He’s 14th. The number of soldiers in the expeditions in the century was 30 thousand and consisted of 300 ships.. They had traveled a lot from Indonesia to the Hijaz and had no intention of establishing a colony.. They hadn’t even been to Japan next door..

=>Can the following comment be made from a different angle? 15. If the Incas knew about Hernan Cortes, who destroyed the Aztecs in the century, could F. Pizarro convince the Incas that he had come for peaceful reasons only 10 years later?
Why didn’t the Aztecs and Incas look at the rest of the huge continent? If they were trying to colonize with the logic of “I’m seizing this place in the name of my king” like the Europeans. What would the map of the century be like? Would we see samurai, sun worshipers in Africa or a buddhist temple in America?

Below 19. We see the lands acquired by England as a result of its expansionist policy in the 19th century.. Without Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades in arms, we would probably see our country as pink, like India..

All these expansionist policies also served a belief system. I called it God Wars. Because wherever the dominant powers conquered, they spread their dominance and beliefs..
As a result of this, even today, if we explore any city, we definitely visit a historical place of worship.. Faith will exist as long as humanity exists and places of worship will certainly continue to be built all over the world.. Here are just some of the temples built in our country and the world:

Göbeklitepe – Şanlıurfa

Primitive people accepted animals and nature as gods because they could not explain nature.. B.C. A temple dating back to 10.000 was built in Göbeklitepe / Şanlıurfa. All the evidence provides evidence that hunter-gatherer people built it. Every day there is a different news about the T-shaped, 7-tonne, oval-lined columns in Göbeklitepe (see: Göbeklitepe Story) and its mystery..

Pantheon – Rome / Italy

Pantheon all gods in Rome (see Places to Visit in Rome) on behalf of 28. built over the years. It was rebuilt about 100 years later by Emperor Hadrian.. Istanbul Hagia Sophia, with a height of 44 meters, remained the largest known place of worship for 537 years until it was built.. 7. With the turn of the century, the statues of pagan figures were removed and used as a church..

Pashupatinath – Nepal

Pashupatinath 16. It was made in the name of Shiva, the destroyer god of Hinduism in the century.. It is not known how and when the Hindu belief, whose holy books are the Veda texts, emerged.. In religion, cows are sacred and have a strict caste system..
Cremation (cremation ceremony) is an ancient Hindu belief that aims to send off the soul of the dead.. Even in this ritual, the rich/poor are burned with a certain ritual.. After the body is burned, the ashes are left in Bagmati, which reaches the Ganges river..

Hagia Sophia – Istanbul

The construction of today’s Hagia Sophia began in 532 during the time of Justinian and was opened for worship in 537. 12. It was looted in Hagia Sophia together with Istanbul, which was looted as a result of the Crusades in the 19th century, its doors and coverings were taken as gold and stolen.. (see (Byzantium 1200). Hagia Sophia, which was later damaged and repaired by earthquakes, was blessed by Christians for 916 years..

While the conquest in 1453 was considered the beginning of a new era, it was converted into a mosque on June 1, 1453.. 16. Sinan was the architect of the minaret, which was built in the 19th century.. With the addition of the last two minarets, the son of Kanuni II. Selim, Hagia Sophia got 4 minarets.. The dome was a miracle of its time with an average diameter of 55 meters and 30 meters.. The building, which was turned into a museum as a common cultural heritage in 1934, was turned into a mosque again in 2020..

Masjid al-Aqsa / Jerusalem

The building, also known as the Temple of Solomon, was completed in 957 BC.. However, BC. As a result of the war in 586, the building was completely destroyed and rebuilt.. In this temple. Destroyed after the Roman invasion. Only the section called the “Wailing Wall”, which is sacred to the Jews, remains.. Today, the building is considered to be a basilica built on the ruins by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian.

6. This building was converted into a mosque in the 19th century and was completely renovated in the 7th century.. Wars have never been lacking in Jerusalem, which is holy in terms of 3 divine religions..

Cordoba Cathedral – Cordoba / Spain

The city of Cordoba is located in the south of Spain, in the north of Malaga and Seville. Next to the river Guadalquivir, which runs in the middle of the city. The mosque is one of the oldest and largest mosques in the world.. 7 in the capital of the Andalusian Umayyads. It was built in the century. The length of the building with 1293 columns is 47 meters.. It was converted into a cathedral in 1236..

Apollon Smintheion – Çanakkale

In Greek Mythology, Apollo is the god of music, arts, the sun, fire and poetry, the god of prophecy, the knowing. Another characteristic of Apollo, the son of the gods Zeus and Leto, is that he rules over mice..

Apollon Simintheion ruins It is located in the Gülpınar district of Çanakkale. B.C. 2nd. The temple built in the 18th century. discovered in the century. There are 8 columns each on the front and rear facades and 14 columns on the sides.. At the Sanctuary of Apollon Smintheus, the statues of mice and the feet of Apollo, who gave the region its name, welcome the visitors on the steps of the temple.

There are 2 stories about the mouse cult. First, the people of the region worshiped Apollo and asked for help to protect them from the headlights that infested their fields.. He destroyed rats on Apollo. The other is from Homer’s Iliad. The Achaean army, which went to conquer Troy, attempted to loot other settlements in the region.. Also, King Agamemnon kidnapped the priest’s daughter from here.. When the priest, who wanted his daughter back many times, could not get his daughter, God begged Apollo and asked for help.. Enraged, Apollo spread the plague from mice to the army with his arrows.. The king then returns the girl and, as a thanksgiving, sacrificed her in the temple..

Let’s make a note here: Although our article is about God’s wars, the resulting Trojan War (see: Trojan Ancient City) is the first known war in the name of love in history..

Sarepeion – Bergama

M.S. 2nd. The Red Courtyard, which dates back to the 16th century, was built in Bergama during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.. (see: Pergamon Travel Guide)
Egyptian Gods Serapis, Harpocrates and Isis were worshiped here. The most important feature is that it is completely made of bricks.. The 60×20 meter long building is also called the red courtyard because of its large courtyard. There are a few interesting points to be mentioned here.. The structure in Pergamon in the Roman Empire is unique.. The cult of the Egyptian Gods in Anatolia appears in very few places and is thought to have spread with the trade.. The Sun God Ra was chosen as the deity. In addition, this belief considered cats, cockroaches and pharaohs to be gods.. The Egyptians built the pyramids because the pharaohs were considered gods after they died.. The pyramids are one of the 7 wonders of the world and have managed to survive today.. Greek Mythological elements influenced Egyptian belief especially in the Hellenistic period..

Duamo – Florence/Italy

If we were to ask what is the most beautiful ornament in the frames of classical Florence photographs, everyone would unanimously hear the Florence Cathedral Duamo. The construction of the cathedral, which began in 1296 in medieval Europe, took 140 years..

Buddhist temple in Mynmar Taung Kalat constructed on top of an extinct volcano the most amazing to see It stands out as one of the places. It is necessary to climb 777 steps to reach the temple, which is at an altitude of 1518 meters from the sea..

Buddhism is a philosophy created by Buddha. Buddha, who adopted the philosophy with the aim of attaining awakening, set out to understand suffering and decided that enlightenment can occur with balance.

Teotihuacan / Mexico City

It is considered the most important city of the Teotihuacan period and was recognized as a UNESCO heritage site in 1987.. Teotihuacan means the place where the gods live.. The city is 40 km from the city center. located in the northeast. The Cholula Pyramid in Mexico is the largest known pyramid in the world.

Worships of the Mesoamerican religions, which belong to polytheistic religions, were usually bloody. It was a customary ritual to sacrifice human beings to please the gods.. Before the beliefs that disappeared as a result of geographical discoveries today, Aztec King Muntezema claimed that a Spaniard named Cortes was a god mentioned in the myths.. However, the shame of the Sun did not prevent him from saving his empire..

The Aztecs lived in present-day central Mexico City. Their center was a small islet surrounded by Lake Tetzcoco.. (Mexico city center is an old lake) Mainland was reached by suspension bridges. In this way, they were protected from other tribes and established their dominance.. Presence of pyramid foundations in downtown Mexico City 20. It was discovered by small-scale excavations at the beginning of the century.. In 1978, an electric company employee came across an unusual statue on Guatemala street.. The statue was a large solitaire with a diameter of 3.25 meters. This was Coyolxauhqui. This invention led to the excavation of the Great Pyramid. In the first stage, 19th century structures were removed and Aztec foundations emerged..

If you are curious about civilization like me, you should get the Aztecs book by R.Towsend.. In addition, Mel Gibson’s production of Apocalypto, which describes the Maya civilization, is a suggestion to those interested in Mesoamerican culture..

Ulu Mosque – Diyarbakir

Diyarbakir Great Mosque was turned from a church after the city was captured by the Arabs in 639. This date has the distinction of being the oldest mosque in Anatolia.. The building is accepted by Muslims as the 5th Haremi Sharif.. The city, which saw the Byzantine, Seljuk, Timur and Safavid invasions, was conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1515.

The great inventor of the period Cezeri