Exploring Turkey’s ancient underground city - BBC News

Close to the border with Syria, Midyat in Turkey has been home to many civilizations over the last 3,000 years.

Excavation teams recently discovered a vast underground network of caves and passages forming an underground city, thought to be almost 2,000 years old.

Valuables dating back to Roman times were found in the dig, including candlesticks, coins and bracelets.

It’s believed the city was used as a space to work, store, sleep and worship in times of war, and would've been inhabited by 70,000 people.

#BBCNews

[ronaldbarrow]

Fascinating.1, 900 years old and you are there with the reporter, exploring ...

[amyschmidt]

So fascinating. And yet my claustrophobia would never allow me to tour in person. Maybe I was trapped in such world in a previous life.

[simonphoenix]

a whole city underground sounds incredible. I wonder how they dealt with sewage, the need for fresh water, fuel for lighting up the interiors, ventilation for all the carbon dioxide from people, animals and fires, and so many other small things that would become much more difficult if you lived underground. On top of that, how did they grow their food? It couldn't have been a permanent settlement of much size because those considerations would make it too difficult to stay there for long.

The biggest question is probably how they lit up the place. We have lights that are bright and can run indefinitely with electricity, but back then, you had to use candles or oil lamps, and those aren't all that bright. Imagine how much fuel it would take to light up the place. candles aren't cheap, and neither is oil, especially if you are going to use it to illuminate thousands of lamps for extended periods of time. Not only that, you now need to keep the place lit throughout the day and night. If they go out, you are stuck in pitch black darkness. There was no convenient lighter you could pull out of your pocket so you could catch your bearings. Instead you had to fumble around until you found a candle or lamp, hope you didn't knock it over, then find your fire starting kit, strike an ember, use that to light some tinder, then light the lamp- all in darkness. So they would need some way to ensure that the lights never went out or they would all be screwed.

[worldsboss]

So much of this footage was of the guy’s high-vis jacket and close ups of people’s faces that I just don’t care about. Such a shame that we didn’t see even more footage of the rooms themselves.

[NoName-cdjf]

As a turk everyone would like to watch like those videos bless you BBC

[El_Scorcho_]

Anyone else cringe at him scratching and messing up the surfaces?

[lvtravelworlddiscovery]

I can't wait to see this wonderful place!!

[ehnoicedayforabriishperson]

its not a BBC documentary until you dont hear the typical background music they play for every middle eastern country

[XimenaZhao]

Amazing. Thanks for sending a camera crew down there.

[ShahrezadNorMohammadiy]

الرئيس التركي 🇹🇷: مصممون على تأمين خط الحدود بشكل كامل وجعل كل شبر من بلدنا آمنا.

─ 🇹🇷 الجزيرة - تركيا 🇶🇦
🤔

[JHSUMIT]

Isn't this weird? BBC news has over 13 million subscribers and only 110k people watched this?

[ShahrezadNorMohammadiy]

صباح الخير من مدينة سيفاس التركية 🇹🇷 حيث أعلن الخباز التركي علي يلديز عبر لافتة علقها على باب مخبزه أنه سيبيع الخبز والسميت والبوتشه (نوع من المعجنات التركية) بليرتين فقط ولذلك أملا في أن يدعو له الزبائن بالخير

وكتب يلديز على اللافتة التي علقها بجانب باب محله "الخبز والسميت والبوتشه بـ 2.00 ليرة.. لا يؤثم من يسرق رغيف خبز (بسبب الجوع)، لكن يؤثم من لا يشارك ألف قطعة خبز (يمتلكها)"

─ 🇹🇷 الجزيرة - تركيا 🇶🇦
🤔

[Saeid]

You must see Meymand in Kerman
That village has about 10000 years old and belonged to ancient people

[dragonoftheeast]

Could this place be where the Hebrews hid and settled while they were wondering in the desert for 40 years after the Exodus?

[Zeus-ezrf]

Turkey is full of ancient Greek buildings and Roman

[SuperTonyony]

Given my surname, I now consider this to be my second home. 😀

[ShahrezadNorMohammadiy]

وكان يلديز قد علق لافتة مشابهة العام الماضي بعد أن باع الخبز بسعر مخفض وأخبره الزبائن أنهم يدعون لأجله كثيرا، ما دفعه ليعلن أنه سيقدم 5 آلاف خبزة مجانا، وكتب يلديز على اللافتة "ليس هناك جيب في الكفن!

نحصل على أموال من البعض وعلى دعوات طيبة من البعض الآخر.. الخبز مجاني اليوم".

─ 🇹🇷 الجزيرة - تركيا 🇶🇦
🤔

[ninarevazishvili]

It's not Turkey's underground city, it's just on the territory of current Turkey
Please don't mess up the history and the facts!

[lawofaverages]

It’s been extensively explored and studied and the academic consensus is that 20, 000 people may have resided there. No idea where you pluck 70, 000 from.

[freshmanna]

The subtitles cannot be seen when viewed fullscreen on an iPhone 15