Turkey | Cappadocia | Ürgüp | Göreme | Super Bloodmoon

From Göreme I wandered over to Ürgüp, five miles to the east. A town of about 18,000, Ürgüp has a reputation of attracting a more up-scale clientele than Göreme. There are plenty of chi-chi boutique hotels but I finally found a fairly modest but extremely comfortable guesthouse ran by a friendly young couple. “Welcome to our home,” they said, and it actually sounded as if they meant it. My room was an actual cave lined with stone. 

 My hotel in Ürgüp (click on photos for enlargement)

 My hotel was on a quiet back street, but the downtown square was just a three minute walk away.

 Downtown square of Ürgüp, with Temenni Hill beyond. The mausoleum of Kilicharslan IV can be seen on the summit.

Mausoleum on the top of Temenni Hill. 

A signpost appears to indicate that this is the tomb of Seljuqs of Rum ruler Kilicharslan IV, who fled to Ürgüp after the Mongols captured much of Cappodocia in 1243. He hid in the caves here until Seljuqs who had sided with the Mongols tracked him down and killed him. Considered a hero by local people for his resistance to the Mongol invasion, he was entombed here on Temenni Hill. The signpost explaining this episode was very muddled however. I tried to get more information at the town museum, but no one there spoke English. The signpost also stated that temenni is a Sumerian word “sacred area, sacrificial area, or prayer area,” which if true is intriguing indeed. Were there actually Sumerians in this area? 

 Downtown Ürgüp from the top of Temenni Hill

Behind Teminni Hill is a massif known as Berekut Burgut, or Ürgüp castle. The massif is riddled with cave dwellings. 

 Ürgüp

 Ürgüp

 Many of the old cave houses in Ürgüp are still occupied.

 Lovely old Greek house, now abandoned. Many Greeks lived in Ürgüp until they were deported to Greece is the 1920s.

I eventually wandering back to Göreme, which I had decided was the most auspicious place to watch the September 28th Super Moon and Lunar Eclipse.

 Cave hotel where I stayed in Göreme

While waiting for the Super Bloodmoon I wandering around the outskirts of Göreme

 Fairy chimneys in the Pigeon Valley southwest of Göreme

 Yusuf Koch Cave Church in near the entrance to Pigeon Valley. It was carved out of a fairy chimney in the 11th century.

Thousand year-old wall painting in the interior of the Yusuf Koch Church. I think this is St. Stefanos, but I am not sure. 

I also wandered around the Zemi Valley just east of Göreme.

 Rock formations in the Zemi Valley

  Rock formations and cave dwellings in the Zemi Valley

  Rock formations in the Zemi Valley

 The Nadir Cave Church in the Zemi Valley, built in the 11th century

 Interior of the Nadir Church

The morning of September 28 I climbed to the top of the ridge behind my hotel to watch the Super Moon and Lunar Eclipse. About two dozen other people were already present when I got there. The eclipse began at 4:07 and by 4:10 there was an obvious crescent-shaped chunk out of the top of the moon. As we were watching the eclipse progress I suddenly noticed what looked like a small circle of blue lights hovering in the sky to the southwest. It bobbed back and forth in several directions for a minute or so, and plunged with amazing speed below the ridge line. “What the hell was that?!?” blurted out some guy in the dark. A woman with a flashlight ran over to the edge of the cliffs and looked down into the town of Göreme, where the object appeared to have dropped. “I don’t see a thing,” she shouted, “what happened to it?” Another woman muttered, “Jesus Christ! That was spooky!” I have no idea was the object was, nor will I speculate. Meanwhile the eclipse was progressing. The moon was totally eclipsed at 5:50, by which time it is was just a faint red smudge in the sky. By 6:10, twenty minutes before the actual sunrise, the eastern horizon lightened and the smudge disappeared completely. 

Thus ended the September 28 lunar eclipse, the fourth in a series of lunar eclipses known as a Lunar Tetrad. A Lunar Tetrad occurs when there are four total eclipses in a row with no partial lunar eclipses in between; also, between each of the eclipses there are six full moons. If both conditions are met, we have a Lunar Tetrad.

The four eclipses of the current Lunar Tetrad are as follows:

2014:

Total lunar eclipse: April 15

Total lunar eclipse: October 8

2015:

Total lunar eclipse: April 4

Total lunar eclipse: September 27-28

Lunar tetrads are relatively rare. There will be eight on them in the 21st century (2001–2100) but there none during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. From the year 1 a.d to 2100 a.d. there will be a total of sixty-two. 

What has Christian Eschatologists in an uproar is that the current tetrad, the one ending on September 27/28, coincides with two Jewish holidays, Passover and  the Feast of Tabernacles. The April 2014 and the April 2015 eclipses coincided with the Feast of Passover. The October 2014 and September 2015 total lunar eclipses align with the Feast of Tabernacles. This has happened eight times during the Christian Era:

1. 162-163 C.E. 

2. 795-796 C.E.

3. 842-843 C.E.

4. 860-861 C.E.

5. 1493-1494 C.E.

6. 1949-1950 C.E.

7. 1967-1968 C.E.

8. 2014-2015 C.E.

Bible Thumper John Hagee and other proponents of the Blood Moon Prophecy maintain that some earth-shattering event occurs when a Lunar Tetrad coincides with Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Usually these events involve  in some way the Jewish people and/or the Nation of Israel. Blurb from his book:

Over the last 500 years, blood-red moons have fallen on the first day of Passover three separate times. These occurrences were connected to some of the most significant days in Jewish history: 1492 (the final year of the Spanish Inquisition when Jews were expelled from Spain), 1948 (statehood for Israel and the War of Independence) and 1967 (the Six-Day War). Every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God, which signals coming events to humanity. There are no solar or lunar accidents. The next series of four blood moons occurs at Passover and Sukkot in 2014 and 2015 . . . Christians must understand these signs and what they bode both for Israel and the world. Joel 2 and Acts 2 both state: "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness [eclipse] and the moon into blood [eclipse] before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

I am not a proponent of Christian (or Jewish) Eschatology, but I must say the current situation in the Mid East, with the United States, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia all arming different factions in Syria, could escalate into something truly frightening (if it hasn’t already). Is the 25th King of Shambhala about to mount his Red Horse?

Turkey | Cappadocia | Ürgüp | Göreme | Super Bloodmoon

From Göreme I wandered over to Ürgüp, five miles to the east. A town of about 18,000, Ürgüp has a reputation of attracting a more up-scale clientele than Göreme. There are plenty of chi-chi boutique hotels but I finally found a fairly modest but extremely comfortable guesthouse ran by a friendly young couple. “Welcome to our home,” they said, and it actually sounded as if they meant it. My room was an actual cave lined with stone. 

 My hotel in Ürgüp (click on photos for enlargement)

 My hotel was on a quiet back street, but the downtown square was just a three minute walk away.

 Downtown square of Ürgüp, with Temenni Hill beyond. The mausoleum of Kilicharslan IV can be seen on the summit.

Mausoleum on the top of Temenni Hill. 

A signpost appears to indicate that this is the tomb of Seljuqs of Rum ruler Kilicharslan IV, who fled to Ürgüp after the Mongols captured much of Cappodocia in 1243. He hid in the caves here until Seljuqs who had sided with the Mongols tracked him down and killed him. Considered a hero by local people for his resistance to the Mongol invasion, he was entombed here on Temenni Hill. The signpost explaining this episode was very muddled however. I tried to get more information at the town museum, but no one there spoke English. The signpost also stated that temenni is a Sumerian word “sacred area, sacrificial area, or prayer area,” which if true is intriguing indeed. Were there actually Sumerians in this area? 

 Downtown Ürgüp from the top of Temenni Hill

Behind Teminni Hill is a massif known as Berekut Burgut, or Ürgüp castle. The massif is riddled with cave dwellings. 

 Ürgüp

 Ürgüp

 Many of the old cave houses in Ürgüp are still occupied.

 Lovely old Greek house, now abandoned. Many Greeks lived in Ürgüp until they were deported to Greece is the 1920s.

I eventually wandering back to Göreme, which I had decided was the most auspicious place to watch the September 28th Super Moon and Lunar Eclipse.

 Cave hotel where I stayed in Göreme

While waiting for the Super Bloodmoon I wandering around the outskirts of Göreme

 Fairy chimneys in the Pigeon Valley southwest of Göreme

 Yusuf Koch Cave Church in near the entrance to Pigeon Valley. It was carved out of a fairy chimney in the 11th century.

Thousand year-old wall painting in the interior of the Yusuf Koch Church. I think this is St. Stefanos, but I am not sure. 

I also wandered around the Zemi Valley just east of Göreme.

 Rock formations in the Zemi Valley

  Rock formations and cave dwellings in the Zemi Valley

  Rock formations in the Zemi Valley

 The Nadir Cave Church in the Zemi Valley, built in the 11th century

 Interior of the Nadir Church

The morning of September 28 I climbed to the top of the ridge behind my hotel to watch the Super Moon and Lunar Eclipse. About two dozen other people were already present when I got there. The eclipse began at 4:07 and by 4:10 there was an obvious crescent-shaped chunk out of the top of the moon. As we were watching the eclipse progress I suddenly noticed what looked like a small circle of blue lights hovering in the sky to the southwest. It bobbed back and forth in several directions for a minute or so, and plunged with amazing speed below the ridge line. “What the hell was that?!?” blurted out some guy in the dark. A woman with a flashlight ran over to the edge of the cliffs and looked down into the town of Göreme, where the object appeared to have dropped. “I don’t see a thing,” she shouted, “what happened to it?” Another woman muttered, “Jesus Christ! That was spooky!” I have no idea was the object was, nor will I speculate. Meanwhile the eclipse was progressing. The moon was totally eclipsed at 5:50, by which time it is was just a faint red smudge in the sky. By 6:10, twenty minutes before the actual sunrise, the eastern horizon lightened and the smudge disappeared completely. 

Thus ended the September 28 lunar eclipse, the fourth in a series of lunar eclipses known as a Lunar Tetrad. A Lunar Tetrad occurs when there are four total eclipses in a row with no partial lunar eclipses in between; also, between each of the eclipses there are six full moons. If both conditions are met, we have a Lunar Tetrad.

The four eclipses of the current Lunar Tetrad are as follows:

2014:

Total lunar eclipse: April 15

Total lunar eclipse: October 8

2015:

Total lunar eclipse: April 4

Total lunar eclipse: September 27-28

Lunar tetrads are relatively rare. There will be eight on them in the 21st century (2001–2100) but there none during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. From the year 1 a.d to 2100 a.d. there will be a total of sixty-two. 

What has Christian Eschatologists in an uproar is that the current tetrad, the one ending on September 27/28, coincides with two Jewish holidays, Passover and  the Feast of Tabernacles. The April 2014 and the April 2015 eclipses coincided with the Feast of Passover. The October 2014 and September 2015 total lunar eclipses align with the Feast of Tabernacles. This has happened eight times during the Christian Era:

1. 162-163 C.E. 

2. 795-796 C.E.

3. 842-843 C.E.

4. 860-861 C.E.

5. 1493-1494 C.E.

6. 1949-1950 C.E.

7. 1967-1968 C.E.

8. 2014-2015 C.E.

Bible Thumper John Hagee and other proponents of the Blood Moon Prophecy maintain that some earth-shattering event occurs when a Lunar Tetrad coincides with Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Usually these events involve  in some way the Jewish people and/or the Nation of Israel. Blurb from his book:

Over the last 500 years, blood-red moons have fallen on the first day of Passover three separate times. These occurrences were connected to some of the most significant days in Jewish history: 1492 (the final year of the Spanish Inquisition when Jews were expelled from Spain), 1948 (statehood for Israel and the War of Independence) and 1967 (the Six-Day War). Every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God, which signals coming events to humanity. There are no solar or lunar accidents. The next series of four blood moons occurs at Passover and Sukkot in 2014 and 2015 . . . Christians must understand these signs and what they bode both for Israel and the world. Joel 2 and Acts 2 both state: "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness [eclipse] and the moon into blood [eclipse] before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

I am not a proponent of Christian (or Jewish) Eschatology, but I must say the current situation in the Mid East, with the United States, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia all arming different factions in Syria, could escalate into something truly frightening (if it hasn’t already). Is the 25th King of Shambhala about to mount his Red Horse?

Mongolia | Zaisan | Eclipse | Nine Nines—Nermel Arkhi Khöldönö

Wandered up to the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi (Noblemen’s Hill) to watch the Moon rise in eclipse on the evening of the 21st. It was minus 8º F when I reached the top. Not surprisingly I was the only person there. 

 The Summit of Zaisan Tolgoi

The War Memorial at the top of Zaisan Tolgoi

The total phase of the eclipse ended at 4:53 pm, just four minutes before the official moon rise time of 4:57. When the moon finally did clear the mountains to the east at about 5:15 it was of normal color and roughly 50% occluded; in other words it resembled a regular half-moon. By 6:05 the shadow on the moon had disappeared completely and it looked like a regular Full Moon.

As you know, each Full Moon has a name associated with it. See North American Names for the Full Moons. The last Full Moon before the Winter Solstice, is known as the Cold Moon, Frost Moon, or Long Nights Moon in English. This is the Full Moon that occurred yesterday. I don’t know if Mongolians have a name for this moon. Maybe Batbold Pandita can help us. 

The Winter Solstice occurred today at 7:38 a.m. (Ulaan Baatar Time), marking the beginning of Winter. In Mongolia the Winter Solstice also marked the beginning of the so-called Nine-Nines: nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather. The first of the nine nine-Day periods is Nermel Arkhi Khöldönö, the time when normally distilled homemade Mongolian arkhi (vodka) freezes. It was minus 27º F. at 7:38 a.m., cold enough, I think, to freeze Mongolian moonshine, which is not as strong as the store-bought vodka. The next Nine-Day Period starts on December 31. Stayed tuned for updates.

Mongolia | Zaisan | Eclipse | Nine Nines—Nermel Arkhi Khöldönö

Wandered up to the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi (Noblemen’s Hill) to watch the Moon rise in eclipse on the evening of the 21st. It was minus 8º F when I reached the top. Not surprisingly I was the only person there. 

 The Summit of Zaisan Tolgoi

The War Memorial at the top of Zaisan Tolgoi

The total phase of the eclipse ended at 4:53 pm, just four minutes before the official moon rise time of 4:57. When the moon finally did clear the mountains to the east at about 5:15 it was of normal color and roughly 50% occluded; in other words it resembled a regular half-moon. By 6:05 the shadow on the moon had disappeared completely and it looked like a regular Full Moon.

As you know, each Full Moon has a name associated with it. See North American Names for the Full Moons. The last Full Moon before the Winter Solstice, is known as the Cold Moon, Frost Moon, or Long Nights Moon in English. This is the Full Moon that occurred yesterday. I don’t know if Mongolians have a name for this moon. Maybe Batbold Pandita can help us. 

The Winter Solstice occurred today at 7:38 a.m. (Ulaan Baatar Time), marking the beginning of Winter. In Mongolia the Winter Solstice also marked the beginning of the so-called Nine-Nines: nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather. The first of the nine nine-Day periods is Nermel Arkhi Khöldönö, the time when normally distilled homemade Mongolian arkhi (vodka) freezes. It was minus 27º F. at 7:38 a.m., cold enough, I think, to freeze Mongolian moonshine, which is not as strong as the store-bought vodka. The next Nine-Day Period starts on December 31. Stayed tuned for updates.

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice occurs here in Ulaan Baatar at 7:38 AM on the morning of December 22 (also see the 2009 Winter Solstice and 2008 Winter Solstice). December 22 will of course be the shortest day of the year: here in Ulaan Baatar the sun will rise at 8:39 am and set at 5:02 pm for a day of 8 hours, 22 minutes, and 53 seconds. That’s two seconds less the day before and four seconds less than the day after, December 23. The Winter Solstice occurs 6:38 PM on the evening of December 21 in the Eastern United States, on the same day as the Total Lunar Eclipse, which is extremely unusual:

This eclipse is notable because it takes place just hours before the December solstice, which marks the beginning of northern winter and southern summer. The last Dec. 21 total lunar eclipse occurred in the year 1638. (Number-crunchers quibbled for a while over whether that one counted as a solstice eclipse, due to shifts between the Julian and Gregorian calendar, but the current consensus is that It Does Indeed Count. The next winter solstice eclipse is due in 2094.

I am not quite sure where I will go for the Solstice. I may retire to the summit of Öndör Gegeenii Uul, right in front of my hovel in Zaisan Tolgoi, for appropriate ceremonies. Feel free to join me. As usual, I am imploring people not to celebrate the Solstice by engaging in any animal or Human Sacrifices. 

Summit (left) of Öndör Gegeenii Uul

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice occurs here in Ulaan Baatar at 7:38 AM on the morning of December 22 (also see the 2009 Winter Solstice and 2008 Winter Solstice). December 22 will of course be the shortest day of the year: here in Ulaan Baatar the sun will rise at 8:39 am and set at 5:02 pm for a day of 8 hours, 22 minutes, and 53 seconds. That’s two seconds less the day before and four seconds less than the day after, December 23. The Winter Solstice occurs 6:38 PM on the evening of December 21 in the Eastern United States, on the same day as the Total Lunar Eclipse, which is extremely unusual:

This eclipse is notable because it takes place just hours before the December solstice, which marks the beginning of northern winter and southern summer. The last Dec. 21 total lunar eclipse occurred in the year 1638. (Number-crunchers quibbled for a while over whether that one counted as a solstice eclipse, due to shifts between the Julian and Gregorian calendar, but the current consensus is that It Does Indeed Count. The next winter solstice eclipse is due in 2094.

I am not quite sure where I will go for the Solstice. I may retire to the summit of Öndör Gegeenii Uul, right in front of my hovel in Zaisan Tolgoi, for appropriate ceremonies. Feel free to join me. As usual, I am imploring people not to celebrate the Solstice by engaging in any animal or Human Sacrifices. 

Summit (left) of Öndör Gegeenii Uul

Mongolia | Zaisan | Full Moon | Lunar Eclipse

Unless you have spent the last couple of months indulging in some totally heedless Bacchanalia in a basement bar in Greenwich Village you no doubt know that there is a Total Lunar Eclipse scheduled for December 21, 2010. In the Western Hemisphere the eclipse will fall on the same day as the Winter Solstice; here in Mongolia it will occur the day before. 

Phases of the Eclipse, with Total in the Middle. For a more detailed view see Lunar Eclipse Phases. 

Some of the best views of the Lunar Eclipse will be from the east coast of the United States. In Mongolia the situation is complicated to say the least. Here is the schedule (all local Ulaanbaatar times): 

Penumbral begins:  1:29 pm

Partial eclipse begins:  2:33 pm

Total eclipse begins:  3:41 pm

Full Moon at 4:13

Greatest eclipse:  4:17 pm

Total Eclipse ends: 4:53 pm

Moon Rises at 4:57

Sun Sets at 5:01

Partial eclipse ends: 6:01 pm

Penumbral ends: 7:05  pm

As can be seen from this the eclipse begins and the period of total eclipse ends before the moon rises and the sun sets. Thus it will rise during the partial eclipse phase when the sun is still up.  Exactly how the moon will appear when it first rises and then after the sun sets, when it is still in the partial eclipse phase, is unclear. I will be at the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi from 4:00 pm onward on the 21st to find out, however. 

Now there is an additional complication: the forecast for the 21st is snow, with a high temperature of 3º F and a low of minus 27º F. If the skies are clouded over it might not be possible to see the moon at all, regardless of the eclipse phase. 

Eclipses, both solar and lunar, are big events in Mongolia. See the Solar Eclipse of 1997.

Mongolia | Zaisan | Full Moon | Lunar Eclipse

Unless you have spent the last couple of months indulging in some totally heedless Bacchanalia in a basement bar in Greenwich Village you no doubt know that there is a Total Lunar Eclipse scheduled for December 21, 2010. In the Western Hemisphere the eclipse will fall on the same day as the Winter Solstice; here in Mongolia it will occur the day before. 

Phases of the Eclipse, with Total in the Middle. For a more detailed view see Lunar Eclipse Phases. 

Some of the best views of the Lunar Eclipse will be from the east coast of the United States. In Mongolia the situation is complicated to say the least. Here is the schedule (all local Ulaanbaatar times): 

Penumbral begins:  1:29 pm

Partial eclipse begins:  2:33 pm

Total eclipse begins:  3:41 pm

Full Moon at 4:13

Greatest eclipse:  4:17 pm

Total Eclipse ends: 4:53 pm

Moon Rises at 4:57
Sun Sets at 5:01

Partial eclipse ends: 6:01 pm
Penumbral ends: 7:05  pm

As can be seen from this the eclipse begins and the period of total eclipse ends before the moon rises and the sun sets. Thus it will rise during the partial eclipse phase when the sun is still up.  Exactly how the moon will appear when it first rises and then after the sun sets, when it is still in the partial eclipse phase, is unclear. I will be at the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi from 4:00 pm onward on the 21st to find out, however. 

Now there is an additional complication: the forecast for the 21st is snow, with a high temperature of 3º F and a low of minus 27º F. If the skies are clouded over it might not be possible to see the moon at all, regardless of the eclipse phase. 

Eclipses, both solar and lunar, are big events in Mongolia. See the Solar Eclipse of 1997.