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Kilis, the Border Town “We used to roam free over our diamond mountains and emerald plains. Driving the oxen before us, we would plant seeds. Many of our fields have lain empty since these gates were put up. The vineyards and orchards are deserted, all the farm workers in distress.†Ahmet Rami Atan, ‘Living on the Border’ It is Kilis's fate to be a border town. Surrounded by the region of Gaziantep to the north and Syria to the south, today Kilis seems squeezed between the two. Kilis bears the whole weight of the effects associated with the nearby international border. Being at the frontier provides opportunities, but also sometimes brings bad luck. A shadow is cast upon earnings from the cross-border trade by the sadness of family members separated from one another. At one time however, Kilis was a vibrant hub due to its location on the road between Aleppo and Gaziantep, two important cities that were much alike. Kilis’s fortune, and also its misfortunes, have always been tied to these two cities- its destiny intertwined with theirs.It is very difficult to determine how long there has been a settlement at Kilis, and during which period it became a city. However, as in Gaziantep, the first human settlements in the region date back to prehistoric times. Kilis and its environs are in the midst of the oldest centres of civilization such as Anatolia, Mesopotamia, northern Syria and Egypt; and show signs of continuous human settlement since the Neolithic period. Research in recent years has shed light on the history of the region. From 2000 to 2003, the Oylum Tumulus (‘Höyük’) excavation team carried out a series of surveys during which they identified approximately 150 archaeological sites from different periods in Kilis and the surrounding area. Among these discoveries are: 62 tumuli, 8 hill peak settlements, 22 hillside settlements, 16 settlements on level ground, 11 castles, 17 Palaeolithic artefact sites, 6 rock-carved tombs, 6 burial sites, 3 natural caves, 2 old limestone quarries, 1 water canal and 1 aqueduct. |
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