balkan club

Club News 1

History: The Illyrian Connection

2

Guest Speaker Bio: Professor Edi Shukriu

3

Illyria and Ulpiana: History and Background

2, 4-5

Food: Cevapi, a Bosnian National Dish

5

Culture: The Croatian Cravat

6

In this issue: Balkan Ways

July 7, 2011

Balkan Ways

Volume 1, Issue 4

Upcoming calendar:

July 8: Professor Edi

Shukriu, University of

Pristina

Presentation on Ulpiana

(ancient Roman)

archeology in Kosovo

July 22: Dinner meet-

ing in Ferizaj

August: Dokufest in

Prizren

Notes of interest:

Club Leadership selected

President: SGT Greg Sell

Vice-President /

Newsletter Coordinator:

SFC Don Eggert

Secretary / Assistant

Newsletter Coordinator:

SSG Elizabeth Deihl

Trip/Travel Coordinator:

2LT Abbas Farooqi

Program Coordinator:

Ms. Ganimete Pashoja

Myftiu

Club News

I would like to invite you to the

Balkan Club if you have not yet

made an appearance at one of

meetings, and thank you for

participating if you have already

attended.

Our organization is becoming

more enduring and stable, as we

have selected a number of

KFOR Soldiers to fill leadership

positions: SFC Don Eggert as

Vice President, SSG Elizabeth

Deihl as Secretary, 2LT Abbas

Farooqi as Transportation and

LNAC Coordinator, and Gani-

mete Pashoja-Myftiu as our

Cultural and Language Coordi-

nator.

In recent meetings, we have

progressed through episode two

of the six-part BBC documen-

tary “The Death of Yugosla-

via”, which chronicles the

breakup of Yugoslavia in the

1990s as Croatia, Slovenia,

Montenegro, and Bosnia-

Herzegovina gained their inde-

pendence. Be prepared to re-

ceive information overload

when viewing one of these epi-

sodes!

In the future, we plan to com-

plete this series as well as invite

more guest speakers, receive

member presentations, and

conduct cultural excursions.

Please check with SSG Deihl

for open dates to schedule your

presentations.

Many of our members partici-

pated in the Danish Contin-

gent march at Camp Novo

Selo two weeks ago, and took

advantage of the opportunity

to take photographs of Kos-

ovo‟s beautiful countryside

Please consider presenting your

photos at one of our meetings.

SSG Gregory Sell, President

Mystery shrouds the exact origin of

today's Albanians. Most historians of the

Balkans believe the Albanian people are in

large part descendants of the ancient Illyr-

ians, who, like other Balkan peoples, were

subdivided into tribes and clans.

The name Albania is derived from an

Illyrian tribe called the Arber, or Arbereshë,

and later Albanoi that lived near Durrës.

Illyrians were Indo-European tribesmen

who appeared in the western part of the

Balkan Peninsula about 1000 B.C., a period

coinciding with the end of the Bronze Age

and beginning of the Iron Age.

They inhabited much of the area

for at least the next millennium.

Archaeologists associate the

Illyrians with the Iron Age

Hallstatt culture, a people noted

for domestication of horses and

production of iron and bronze

swords with winged-shaped handles. The

Illyrians occupied lands extending from

the Danube, Sava, and Morava rivers to the

Adriatic Sea and Sar Mountains. At various

times, groups of Illyrians migrated by land

and sea into Italy.

Illyrians engaged in commerce and war-

fare with their neighbors. Ancient Macedo-

nians probably had some Illyrian roots, but

their ruling class adopted Greek cultural

characteristics. The Illyrians also mingled

with the Thracians, another ancient people

with adjoining lands on the east. In the

south and along the Adriatic Sea coast, the

Illyrians were influenced by Greeks who

founded trading colonies there. Present-day

Durrës evolved from a Greek colony

known as Epidamnos, founded at the end

of the seventh century BC. Another fa-

mous Greek colony, Apollonia, rose be-

tween Durrës and the port of Vlorë.

Illyrians produced and traded cattle,

horses, agricultural goods, and wares fash-

ioned from locally mined copper and iron.

Feuds and warfare were constant facts of

life for Illyrian tribes, and Illyrian pirates

plagued shipping on the Adriatic Sea.

Councils of elders chose chieftains who

headed each of the numerous Illyrian

tribes. From time to time, local chieftains

extended their rule over other tribes and

formed short-lived kingdoms. During the

fifth century B.C., a well-developed

Illyrian center existed north to the upper

Sava River valley in Slovenia. Illyrian

friezes discovered near present-day Ljubl-

jana depict ritual sacrifices, feasts, battles,

sporting events, and other activities.

The Illyrian kingdom of Bardhyllus

became a formidable power in the fourth

century BC. In 358 BC, however, Mace-

donia's Philip II, father of Alexander the

Great, defeated the Illyrians and assumed

control of their territory as far as Lake

Ohrid. Alexander himself defeated Illyrian

chieftain Clitus in 335 BC, and Illyrian

tribal leaders and soldiers accompanied

Alexander on his conquest of Persia. After

Alexander's death in 323 BC, independent

Illyrian kingdoms again arose. In 312 BC,

King Glaucius expelled the Greeks from

Durrës. By the end of the third century, an

Illyrian kingdom based near today‟s Alba-

nian city of Shkodër controlled parts of

northern Albania, Montenegro, and Her-

zegovina. Under Queen Teuta, Illyrians

attacked Roman merchant vessels plying

the Adriatic Sea, gaving Rome an excuse

to invade the Balkans.

In the Illyrian Wars of 229 and 219

BC, Rome overran Illyrian settlements on

the Neretva River. Romans made new

gains in 168 BC, and captured Illyria's

King Gentius at Shkodër, which they

called Scodra, and brought him to Rome

in 165 BC. A century later, Julius Caesar

fought his decisive battle with rival

Pompey near Durrës (Dyrrachium).

Rome finally subjugated recalcitrant

Illyrian tribes in the western Balkans dur-

ing the reign of Emperor Tiberius in AD

9. The Romans divided the lands that

make up present-day Albania among the

provinces of Macedonia, Dalmatia, and

Epirus.

For about four centuries, Roman rule

brought Illyrian-populated lands economic

and cultural advancement and ended most

of the clashes among local tribes. Illyrian

mountain clansmen retained local authority

but pledged allegiance to the emperor and

acknowledged the authority of his envoys.

During a yearly holiday honoring the Cae-

sars, Illyrian mountaineers swore loyalty to

the emperor and reaffirmed their political

rights. A form of this tradition, known as

the kuvend, has survived to the

present day in northern Alba-

nia.

Romans established

numerous military camps and

colonies, completely Latinizing

coastal cities, and oversaw the

construction of aqueducts and

roads, including the Via Egnatia, a famous

military highway and trade route that led

from Durrës through the Shkumbin River

valley to Macedonia and Byzantium.

Their main exports were wine, cheese,

oil, and fish from Lake Scutari and Lake

Ohrid. Imports included tools, metal ware,

luxury goods, and other manufactured arti-

cles. Apollonia became a cultural center,

and Julius Caesar sent his nephew, later the

Emperor Augustus, to study there.

Illyrians distinguished themselves as

warriors in the Roman legions and made up

a significant portion of the Praetorian

Guard. Several Roman emperors were of

Illyrian origin, including Diocletian (284-

305 AD), who saved the empire from disin-

tegration by introducing institutional re-

forms, and Constantine the Great (324-37

AD), who accepted Christianity and trans-

ferred the empire's capital from Rome to

Byzantium, which he called Constantinople.

Emperor Justinian (527-65 AD), who codi-

fied Roman law; built the most famous

Byzantine church, the Hagia Sofia; and

extended the empire's control over lost

territories, was probably also an Illyrian.

From http://ancienthistory.about.com

Provided by SSG Greg Sell

History: The Illyrian Connection to Albania

Balkan Ways Balkan Ways

An example of Illyrian bronze work.


Guest Speaker Bio: Professor Edi Shukriu, University of Pristina Ms. Edi Shukriu is a professor,

archaeologist, poet, playwright,

and politician who was born in

Prizren, Kosovo in 1950.

Professor Shukriu earned her

master‟s in archaeology at the

University of Belgrade and her

doctorate in archaeology at the

University of Pristina. She

worked initially for the Kosovo

Museum and now teaches archae-

ology and ancient history at the

University of Pristina. She heads

archeological excavations at sev-

eral sites in Kosovo: Ulpiana,

Tumuleses in Porodime, Tumulus

in Ulpiana, Vermica, Gjonaj, and

the foothills of Vlashnja.

Dr. Shukriu‟s academic background includes

appointment as Visiting Scholar at Vienna

University in 2001, and Visiting Scholar at

Harvard University in 2002. She participated

in the International Writing Program of the

University of Iowa in 2005.

Active in the political arena, Dr. Shukriu was a

member of Parliament from 1992 to 1998 and

again from 2000 to 2004. She

chaired the parliamentary commis-

sion for culture, youth and sports

from 2002 to 2004, and served as

Co-Head of the United Nations

Interim Administration in Kosovo

(UNMIK) Department of Culture

from 2000 to 2001.

She joined the Democratic League

of Kosova (LDK) in 1989, and

founded the region's first women's

democratic organization, the

Women's Forum, in 1990. She

was President of the LDK

Women's Forum from 1995-2000,

and a member of the Presidency of

the LDK Party from 1995-2001.

In 2004, she co-founded a new

political party, the Democratic

Alternative of Kosova, and cur-

rently serves as its Vice-President.

Dr. Shukriu‟s literary work in-

cludes six books of poetry and

three plays as well as several scien-

tific publications: Ancient Kosovo

(2004), Distinguished Albanian

Women (2003), and Pre-Urban Dar-

dania: Archeological Studies in Kosovo (1996).

Dr. Shukriu speaks five languages: Albanian,

English, Serbian, Croatian, and Turkish.

From Robert Elsie, Historical Dictionary of Kosovo

and Curriculum Vitae, Ms. Edi Shukriu

Photo from http://othervoicespoetry.org/

Provided by Ganimete Pashoja-Myftiu

Archaeology in Kosovo: In Brief There have been traces of organized settle-

ments in Kosovo at least since the Neolithic

age (5000-2500 BC). Of noted interest are

the terra cotta figurines such as the so-called

“Goddess on a Throne” from Tjerrtorja

near Pristina, dating from about 3500 BC,

that have come to symbolize Kosovo.

Dardanian and Illyrian tribes inhabited the

Kosovo region in pre-classical and classical

times. Roman settlements such as Ulpiana

near Gracanica have left noticeable remains.

The field of Kosovo archaeology can be

dated from the 19th century with the works

of Sir Arthur Evans, who wrote Antiquarian

Researches in Illyricum (London 1885-1886).

The first excavations in Kosovo were carried

out by Austro-Hungarian troops at Nepre-

bisht near Suhareka during World War I.

The Catholic priest Shtjefen Gjecovi also

carried out excavations in the Has area near

Prizren until his murder in 1929.

Archeological research escalated after

World War II with the founding of the

Kosovo Museum in 1949, the Kosovo

Institute for the Protection of Cultural

Monuments, and the Archeological

Museum of Prizren. Initial excavations

were carried out in Novoberda in 1951

and Ulpiana in 1953. Other archeologi-

cal excavations were undertaken in

Tjerrtorja (1955); Vallac (1955), Zhitkoc

(1955) and Fafos (1956) near Mitrovica;

Glladnica (1956) near Gracanica;

Samadrexha; and Reshtan near Su-

hareka. The Roman settlement know as

Municipium DD near Socanica in the

Iber valley was excavated by Emil Cer-

skov in 1956-1965, as were tumuli in

various locations. The most productive

period of archeology in Kosovo was the

decade from 1970 to 1980, concentrating on

the Bronze Age and Dardanian culture.

Numerous scholars have made noted contri-

butions to archeological research and exca-

vations in Kosovo. Among the most recent

contributors are Kemajl Luci, Haxhi Meh-

meti, Fatmir Peja, Luan Perxhita, Gezm

Hoxha, Adem Bungari, Tomor Kastrati, and

Edi Shukriu. A new Archeological Institute

of Kosovo, active in the field of monumemt

protection, was founded in 2003.

A particular loss to archeology in Kosovo

have been the exhibits of the Kosovo Mu-

seum in Pristina that were taken off to Bel-

grade in their virtual entirety in 1998-1999,

ostensibly for an exhibition there, and were

never returned.

Excerpted from Robert Elsie,

Historical Dictionary of Kosovo

Provided by Ganimete Pashoja-Myftiu

http://othervoicespoetry.org/vol18/shukriu/bio.htm


Ulpiana: Observations and Background

After arriving in Kosovo, I heard of an

ancient site located near Pristina and took

the opportunity last October to locate and

visit the on-going work outside Gracanica,

approximately one mile south of the mon-

astery.

The best way to proceed is to park near the

center of Gracanica and follow the path

south along the stream approximately one

mile. Driving a vehicle, from the road to

Laplje Selo and Lipjan, involves a worn and

rutted tractor path past cornfields and two

new orchards. Getting stuck in the mud

would involve recovery assistance on pri-

vate farm land.

The necropolis is located closest to the

stream; main gate foundation, aqueduct,

baths and basilica are a short hike east to-

ward the road. One will come upon two

40-foot containers locked with tools, etc.,

for those seasonally working the project

sponsored by the University of Pristina and

archeology departments from Germany

and the Netherlands.

The pictures below provide an excellent

view of what to expect after arriving.

Security off-season is not in evidence; I

recommend visiting during the day and

avoiding ground under cultivation.

By Michael Cox

Ulpiana was an ancient Roman city lo-

cated in what is today Kosovo. It was also

named Justiniana Secunda. Ulpiana is situ-

ated in the municipality of Lipljan. In

1990, Ulpiana was added to the Archaeo-

logical Sites of Exceptional Importance

list, protected by Republic of Serbia.

Under the Roman Empire, Ulpiana flour-

ished and it is mentioned as a glorious city

"urb splendidissma". Ulpiana suffered

numerous attacks from barbarian tribes

(Huns, Goths), and was destroyed in 479

when the Goth King Theodemir sent his

son Theodoric the Great with 3,000 sol-

diers to destroy the city. A final blow

came when an earthquake struck in 518

AD and destroyed what remained.

In the 6th century during the rule of Justin-

ian the city was rebuilt. Procopius writes

that Justinian “rebuilt all the falling walls of

the city (Ulpiana) and after he decorated

them with a splendour, he gave them the

beauty of the present day and called them

„Justiniana Secunda‟.”

Remains of this city - destroyed and rebuilt

several times throughout history, with basil-

ica, mosaics, and tombstones - have been

unearthed west of Gračanica. In the early

Christian period, Ulpiana was an important

episcopal center. A number of articles were

discovered here such as coins, ceramics,

weapons, jewellery, and similar.

The remains of the city, only partially exca-

vated, are situated approximately 1.3 km

(0.81 mi) west of Gračanica, immediately to

the north of the road connecting Gračanica

with Laplje Selo.

From Wikipedia

Photos of Ulpiana

excavation provided

by Michael Cox


Food: Ćevapi, a Bosnian National Dish Ćevapi or Ćevapčići is a

Balkan dish of grilled minced

meat, a legacy of the Otto-

man Empire found in the

countries of South Eastern

Europe. They are considered

a national dish in Bosnia-

Herzegovina and Serbia.

They are also common in

Croatia, Montenegro, and

Slovenia, as well as in Mace-

donia, Bulgaria, Romania,

the Czech Republic, Slovakia and on the

border between Italy and Slovenia in

the provinces of Trieste, Udine and

Gorizia.

They are typically served on a plate

or in a flatbread (lepinja or somun). A

serving usually consists of 5-10 pieces

with minced red pepper, salt and

chopped onions. They are often

served with kajmak, ajvar, sour cream,

cottage cheese, and so on.

Ćevapčići arrived in the Balkans

during the Ottoman Turk expansion

into southeastern Europe and developed

through the middle ages into a regional spe-

cialty similar to the kebab. They became

especially popular among Muslims due to

their exclusion of pork.

In Bosnia, it is customary to consider

ćevapi as a traditionally Bosnian dish that

spread to other parts of former Yugoslavia

from Bosnia. To support this theory there

are a variety of Bosnian versions of the same

dish. For example, Travnički ćevapi from

the traditional cattle herding area of Travnik,

and Sarajevski ćevap from the Sarajevo area

look similar but taste slightly different due to

variations in seasoning and meat

content. Some varieties contain

lamb or other non-pork meats.

Banjalučki ćevap differs not only

in taste, but also by being grilled

and served in connected tuples

(usually of four).

The dish is kept simple, and tra-

ditionally served in somun with

onions and/or kajmak and yo-

ghurt or kefir as appetizer,

whereas outside Bosnia, it's com-

mon for ćevapi to be served with variety of

vegetables and seasonings. In Austria, the

Czech Republic and Slovakia, čevapčiči is

generally served with mustard mixed with

finely chopped raw onions and potatoes or

French fries.

We are into the grilling season,

folks. Why not put the burgers and dogs

aside for a minute and try something

different, something delicious and Balkan?

Something like Ćevapi!

From www.kosovoguide.com

by 2LT Abbas Farooqi

Above: An Illyrian helmet

Below: Illyrian bronze work

Ancient Illyria in perspective.

For more information and discussion, see the European Heritage Library

online: euroheritage.net/illyrianalbanians.shtml

WHAT? The Balkan Club is a voluntary learning community which meets once a week (Friday evenings, 1830 hours) to explore the history, geography, culture, politics and economy of the Balkan region. Activities include but are not limited to lectures, presentations, film viewing, and cultural excursions.

WHO? Membership is open to all KFOR soldiers and civilian employees of Camp Bondsteel.

WHY? The Balkan Club is a place to cultivate an understanding of and appreciation for the Balkan region and to stimulate further, self-directed study.

The Balkan Club, KFOR 14, Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo

President: SSG Greg Sell

x4136, [email protected]

Vice President / Secretary /

Newsletter Coordinator: Asst. Newsletter Coordinator

SFC Don Eggert SGT Elizabeth Diehl

x6629, 049 774 713 x4736

[email protected] [email protected]

Program Coordinator:

Mrs. Ganimete Pashoja-Myftiu


Travel Coordinator:

2LT Abbas Farooqi


Culture: The Croatian Cravat Present-day office workers have 17th century Croatians to thank for that

ubiquitous piece of business attire – the necktie. The cravat originated

during the 1630s, and is a corruption of the French pronunciation of

Croat. Called “hivat” in Croatian, cravats started out as around-the-collar

scarves worn by Croatian military. Enlisted wore coarse clothes whereas

officers wore fine linens or silks.

King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu of France organized a regiment of

Croatian mercenaries as protection against Duc de Guise and the Queen

Mother, Marie de Medici. The distinctive scarves of Croatian soldiers,

worn knotted around the neck, soon aroused considerable fashion interest

in Paris. A military style cravat had broad, laced edges, while a gentle-

man's cravat could be of fine lace.

King Charles II of England became familiar with the cravat during his

exile in France. Upon his return to the English throne in 1630, Charles II

introduced the new fashion, describes as follows: "A cravatte is another

kind of adornment for the neck being nothing else but a long towel put

about the Collar, and so tyed before with a Bow Knott; this is the original

of all such Wearings; but now by the Art and Inventions of the seamsters,

there is so many new ways of making them, that it would be a task to

name, much more to describe them".

Only much later, after the Battle of Waterloo (1815), would this neckwear

began to be called the “tie”.

From Wikipedia

Submitted by COL Fernando Villa

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