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Fig. 7 The effects of the earthquake of 2 September 1754, Istanbul, depicted, with some poetic
licence, by the European press, from a woodcut print made in 1755 and published in Basel
An illustration in a contemporary flysheet shows imaginary damage in Istanbul in
an earthquake in 1754 (Fig. 7). This is a typical theme of the contemporary European
press which was wont to publish as “news” concerning the Ottomans at times when
relations were unstable, or on the occasion of an Ottoman military victory, in order
to encourage confidence that they would be overcome by the West.
Also, out of context interpretation of events written in different languages to-
gether with the confusion of place names, contribute to an increase in the number of
spurious events. A sample of mislocated places is: Alexandretta (Turkey) confused
with Alexandria (Egypt), Argos (Peloponnese) with Argostoli (Kefalinia), Bilad al
Yunan (Greece) with Bilad al Waynan (Yemen), Chalki (n. Rhodes) with Chalkis
(Negreponte or Egribos), Carinthia (Karnten in Austria) with Corinthia (in Greece),
Edessa (Urfa in Turkey) with Edessa (Vodena in Greece), Kastamonu with Kostam-
bul and Istanbul in Turkey, Karahisar-i Sahib (Afyonkarahisar) with Karahisar-i
¸ arki (Sebinkarahisar in Turkey), Kayseri (in Turkey) with Caesarea (Palestine),
Philippople (Plovdiv in Bulgaria) with Filippi (Greece), Sparta (Greece) with Isparta
(Turkey), Syros and Syra (Greece) with Syria or Styria (Steiermark in Austria), Tire
(Turkey) with Thera (Greece), Tuscia (Italy) with Turcia (Turkey), Veroia (Greece)
with Veroi (Stara Zagora, Bulgaria), Zituni (Lamia in Greece) confused with Zeytun
(Elbistan in Turkey).
This brings me to the problem of the survival of historical data. Here I am quoting
part of the discussion on the subject I had recently with Roger Bilham. One feels
uneasy with electronic repositories of historical material and supplements of words,
probably because words have survived longer than the digital revolution of the past
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