On Saturday, October 22, the Department of Archaeology organized a special reception to honor long-time members of the department Dr. Marie-Henriette Gates and Dr. Charles Gates for their wide-ranging contributions to Near Eastern archaeology, and the discipline at large. For the occasion, alumni of the Bilkent Department of Archaeology, now themselves academicians in Turkish and foreign universities, compiled a thousand-page Festschrift with 43 scientific articles authored by Bilkent graduates and colleagues from Turkey, Europe and overseas.
The reception started with remarks by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prof. Ali Doğramacı, followed by short but heartfelt speeches from Acting Dean and Associate Provost Hitay Özbay and Acting Department Chair Thomas Zimmermann. Dr. Yağmur Heffron, lecturer at University College London, spoke on behalf of the other Festschrift editors (Ekin Kozal, Murat Akar, Çiler Çilingiroğlu, Tevfik Emre Şerifoğlu, Canan Çakırlar, Sinan Ünlüsoy and Eric Jean), praising the honorees for their superb educational efforts, which have made possible the successful academic careers of numerous Bilkent Archaeology graduates.
In their turn, the Doctors Gates thanked the organizers and expressed their gratitude to Bilkent University for providing them a trusted and inspiring academic haven for more than 25 years.
More than 80 guests from as far away as Canada attended the reception, adding to the celebratory atmosphere while also taking advantage of the occasion to exchange news of their most recent excavation results and lay the groundwork for new scientific collaborations—a fitting outcome of this memorable event.