IN THE HITTITE MUSEUM - ANKARA |
When Travis adapted the Mary Stewart novel “Airs Above the Ground” into a screenplay for Cine-Media in 1979, he and Bond Johnson had been discussing co-ventures for some time. Then, in 1981, Bond asked Travis to consider setting “The Jerusalem Concert” in Turkey and arranged for them to scout locations and to determine the cost in hard currency and available blocked funds. The first leg of their journey took them from the Hittite homeland in Ankara to Kayseri in Cappadocia, then through the pass in the Atlas Mountains, through Tarsus and then on to the Mediterranean Sea. They exchanged insights regarding the places they visited, Travis discussing them in terms of their ancient civilizations and pagan philosophies, Bond, a Methodist minister, in terms of their Biblical significance. |
SCULPTED CATHEDRAL IN CAPPADOCIA |
According to Travis, “Bond
explained the Christian history and I gave him fresh insights to the beliefs
of the peoples the early Christian fathers confronted and why, for example,
Saint Paul was lucky (or blessed) to get out of Ephesus with his life!
And we discussed the faith that inspired the crusaders to create this
'cathedral.' The illusion in both the photo and in real life is magnificent,
but this is not a ruined 'building.' It is a collapsed sculpture,
carved right out of the hillside!”
Ever since Bond first suggested Turkey, Travis had been toying with alternative story lines and the conversations were as inspiring as the locations they visited. |
PASS IN THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS - TARSUS |
As they traveled south with their Turkish guides through the pass in the Atlas Mountains, they were very much aware that this was the same pass through which Alexander the Great brought his army to invade Persia, and that the Tarsus they passed along the way, was the home of Saul of Tarsus, who became, after his personal revelation of Christ, Saint Paul! This was, after all, the Holy Land of the New Testament and early Christianity, spread by Saint Paul across the length and breadth of Asia Minor. And as they walked in those footsteps, talking about the sacrifices and deprivations of those early days, a tale of skullduggery began to stir in Travis' brain. |
