World Culture for Kids: Ephesus, Turkey

Today we are traveling to Ephesus, Turkey – with Flat Pete from Pete the Cat ! This is the fourth post Sandi of rubber boots and elf shoes has written for my world culture for kids series (check out her post about Iceland in addition to those on Dubrovnik and Prague that are linked below). I am so grateful to Sandi for the time she has taken to write these wonderful posts for this series! Drop by Sandi’s blog and check out these great posts: kindergarten to do list, class chandelier, and button blankets – a First Nations tradition.

Pete thought that Dubrovnik and Prague had old buildings.

Then he went to Turkey.

Pete enjoyed spending a week working on an organic farm.

He liked the markets, saw some famous sights,

checked out some rugs, found that he did not like Turkish coffee but quite liked çay (chai),

thought that the cat condos were wonderful.

Pete’s imagination was captured by the ancient cities that he visited.

Ephesus is a city that is over 2500 years old.

Sitting in the amphitheatre at Epheus, Pete thought about the people who sat exactly where he was sitting – over 2000 years ago.

What were they watching. What where their homes like. What did they like to do for work and for fun. What did they feed their cats.

Then he thought about the huge amphitheatre being “forgotten”. Bits and pieces falling apart. Soil drifting into the amphitheatre, gradually filling it up, so that it looked like there was never a place big enough for 15,000 people to sit and watch something.

Pete saw people working – trying to figure out what the amphitheatre – and other buildings and houses – had looked like when they were built.

Archeologists who carefully dig in the ground, looking for bits of old amphitheatres, homes, columns – and then put the right pieces back together like a puzzle.

After feeling like a very small feline at the amphitheatre, getting lost at the library, and not being able to read Greek(Turkey 9), Pete decided he needed some light relief.

He went to visit the bathroom. Not the kitty litter box bathroom for cats.

The 2000 year old bathroom for people who used to live in Ephesus.

It was a pretty big bathroom. Apparently 50 people could use it at the same time.

Underneath the seats was a stream of water that flushed everything away. They had running water, but not a lot of privacy!

Ephesus was full of amazingly ancient, and amazingly beautiful architecture and art.

Some animals just didn’t seem to appreciate it!

Thank you, Sandi – and Pete the Cat – for another brilliant post! I learned so much about Ephesus today, and now I hope that I can visit it in person someday!

Are you interested in contributing to this series? You can write about anywhere in the world – just make it fun for kids and make sure you use your own photos! Email me at mamasmilesblog at gmail dot com if you want more details.

MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.