Photos of the Pretty Ancient Roman Byzantine Hasankeyf Site

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Photos of the Picturesque Ancient Roman Byzantine Hasankeyf Site before the Tigris Dam was built Photos by Photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Ancient Historic Roman Byzantine Town of Hasankeyf

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Photos of picturesque Hasankeyf , its mosques & ruins on the banks of the Tigris, Turkey. These photos were taken before the Tigris Dam was built. Today a huge dam runs from the cliffs of Hasankeyf across the Tigris so this picturesque view has gone.

Roman Citadel

The Romans had built the Cephe citadel fortress on the top of the cliffs overlooking the Tigris. The city became the Kiphas fortress and a bishopric under the Byzantine Empire. It was conquered by the Arabs in 640 & renamed Hisn Kayf. In the 12th century, the city was successively captured by the Artukids and became their capital.

Golden Age of Hasankeyf.

This was a golden age for Hasankeyf. The Artukids and Ayyubids built the Old Tigris Bridge, the Small Palace and the Great Palace. This new bridge increased trade and made Hasankeyf a staging post on the Silk Road.

The Ayyubids (descendants of Saladin) captured the city in 1232 and built the mosques that made Hasankeyf an important Islamic center.

The city was captured and sacked by the Mongols in 1260. The fortunes of Hasankeyf returned when the Aq Qoyunlu emirs rebuilt the city.

Hasankeyf became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1515, during Sultan Süleyman I’s campaign of Irakeyn.

In 2008 the threat to Hasankeyf of the Tigris Ilisu Dam project prompted the World Monuments Fund to list the city on its Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world. This did not stop the dam being built.

The Hasankeyf Dam

The old town of Hasankeyf and the cliff top archaeological site have not been flooded but the view of them next to the old Hasankeyf bridge ruins has been lost forever.