Ancient city of Hasankeyf in Turkey is about to be flooded by the Tigris River

HASANKEYF, TURKEY - SEPTEMBER 23: Shepard Eyüp Agalday (27) milks his goats by the caves that surround the ancient town of Hasankeyf, one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements on earth, dating as far back as 12,000 years. Eyüp's family have been shepherds in the town for generations, with his father and grandfather before him walking the same paths. Today he and his brother Davut (32) have over 100 goats and will have to sell their herd when the waters come, they have no plan or idea what they are going to do. The Turkish Government have given residents until October 8th to evacuate the area before they permanently submerge the area for a controversial Ilisu dam project which will mean flooding 199 settlements in the area and displaying up to 80,000 people. Hundreds of still inhabited man made caves, churches, tombs and historical sites will be forever lost in the scheme. The ancient city has been part of many different cultures in its history, ancient Mesopotamia, Byzantium, and Arab and Ottoman empires with only an estimated 10% of the area having been explored by archaeologists. The Turkish government has built a new settlement for the 700 households 3km away but some will be left homeless with nowhere to go and many being forced to give up both their homes and their income from the land they own as they watch their homes slowly submerge when the government forcibly floods the city. Photo by Kiran Ridley

Eyup Agalday, 27, milks his goats by the caves that surround the ancient town of Hasankeyf. His family of shepherds have lived and worked there for generations. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Oct. 2, 2019 1:30 PM PT

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For some 12,000 years, the Tigris River has sustained the people of Hasankeyf, one of the oldest known human settlements. Now time is running out for the ancient town. Soon a controversial dam project will swell the Tigris until its waters swallow the city whole.

Ramazan Agalday, a former shepherd in his 80s who has lived in Hasankeyf all his life, climbs the hills to the caves that surround the town. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Hasankeyf, on the banks of the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey, is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Mazlum Yildirimer, a local tourist guide, looks out at Hasankeyf from the caves that surround the town in southeastern Turkey. Yildirimer, who was born and raised in Hasankeyf, says he often sleeps in the caves. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Work continues around historic Hasankeyf Castle. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

The Zeynel Bey Mausoleum is one of the few ancient artifacts that the Turkish government has moved from Hasankeyf to the New Hasankeyf settlement. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Waiter Furkan Bayram, 17, brings in the umbrellas at a cafe on the banks of the Tigris River in Hasankeyf. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

A boy plays with a tourist telescope on the outskirts of Hasankeyf. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Hasan Cigci, 17, fishes on the banks of the Tigris. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Cetin Bato, 38, looks out on the Tigris. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

A cow roams Hasankeyf. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

A shepherd carries a sheep on his donkey. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times )

A restaurant displays a photograph of the town of Hasankeyf before the preparations for flooding and landmark monuments were moved. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

A child sits in the doorway of a home in Hasankeyf. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

The Salkan family load their possessions onto a truck as they prepare to leave their home in Hasankeyf. The Turkish government has built a new settlement for the 700 households nearby, but few of the displaced can afford them. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

A chicken at the Salkan family home. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Feyziye Salkan helps load her family’s possessions onto a truck as they prepare to leave Hasankeyf. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)

Deniz Tas, 38, looks out from the truck with all his family’s possessions as he moves to his new house in New Hasankeyf. (Kiran Ridley / For The Times)