Traveller Manifesto
8. Turkey - Today

Turkey – Today.

Istanbul Archaeology Museums News Release

Coming soon to the Istanbul Museum of Archaeology will be a collection of truly incredible historical relics recovered by Byzantium Traveller.

This newly catalogued collection is still in the process of being studied and includes not only the clothes and weapons from some of the Byzantium Travellers themselves, but also the trade goods gifted to the team on their departure.

Because of their gifts of modern ribbon, which Michael Hunter in Saxon Aengland demonstrated to be a safe item for gifts or trade, two brave Travellers have been held hostage by the Emperor, Basil the Bulgar Slayer, because our simple ribbon had far too much appeal. Vibrant, modern chemical dies were unseen in ancient times, so our ribbon has become most desirable. To prompt the trade in ribbon, the remaining Travellers departed with donkeys loaded with valuable trade-goods from the great City; ancient Constantinople, the shining capital of the 11th Century Byzantine Empire that is now our home, Istanbul.

Historians and scientists have already classified the collection as priceless, for the artefacts include items manufactured by skills long lost to our modern era. There are hand-painted Chinese silks, robes with Bible scenes embroidered in gold thread, blocks of valuable purple dye, gold jewellery, ceramics, fragrances, fine leatherwear, authentic painted icons, armour, and weapons. Most exciting is a collection of genuine gold solidus, the Roman gold coin that was the standard for about 600 years.

The display will be supported by images and footage collected by the team who travelled to the lost Roman Byzantine Empire of one thousand years into Turkey’s colourful past.

Professor Kemal Askar of Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, the academic overseer for Byzantium Traveller, describes the display as, “The most significant collection of items from the Byzantine Empire modern researchers have ever seen.”

The trade goods, along with coins and other everyday items gathered by the Travellers, are actively sought after by collectors and are a unique assembly that specialists in Byzantine history and culture will be studying for years to come.