The Treasure Hunt in Çorum | A True Horror Story
True Horror Story: This tells of the terrifying events, nightmares, jinn infestation experienced by unemployed Özkan and friends while searching for treasure in Çorum, and their salvation with a hodja’s help.
My name is Özkan. I live with my family in Ankara. I want to share with you a troubling incident that happened to me years ago.
I had just finished university and returned to Ankara. Of course, I had no job. I arranged a taxi and occasionally drove it, sometimes helping out an elder brother who was an estate agent in the neighborhood; I was trying to earn my pocket money, but what I earned wasn’t even enough for myself. My mother is an angel, but my father is very grumpy. Just being in the same environment at home was psychological pressure for me. That’s why I often went out to get away from home.
My university friends Fatih, Mehmet, and Orhan also lived in Ankara. Since Fatih and Mehmet had found jobs and were working, we couldn’t see each other often, but I could meet with Orhan. He was unemployed like me, just hanging around here and there, although he didn’t worry about it as much as I did.
One day during our meeting, the conversation turned to finding a good job and making a lot of money. That was our only concern anyway. Orhan was more interested in easy money. One way or another, Orhan brought up the subject: “Look guys, there’s a Grocer İsmail Abi in our neighborhood. The man constantly goes treasure hunting. We’re on very good terms; sometimes he leaves the shop for me to look after. He hasn’t gone digging for a month or two. The other day I asked him, ‘Abi, what’s up, no new treasure business?’ After hesitating a bit, he replied: ‘Orhan, my boy, we actually found a solid spot. But we got exposed too much; the villagers figured out our intentions. They reported us to the gendarmerie, and we couldn’t go back to the village. We already lost the metal detectors to the gendarmerie. The prosecutor’s office has initiated proceedings against our friends. But thank God, I wasn’t with them that day. To be honest, my enthusiasm waned a bit, but the last place we found is solid. If I could find someone to dig it, I’d definitely have it dug. But I need to stay out of it for now. You know, I have kids; they’d be left stranded if I get caught,’ he said.”
Orhan offered, “Abi, tell me the location, I’ll find a couple of friends and we’ll dig it.” İsmail Abi replied, “Look, that could work. I trust you completely anyway. If you give me my share, there’s no problem. Besides, even if you find it, you can’t sell it; they’ll take it from you. You’ll have to come back to me to sell it anyway,” he said. The place was in a village in Çorum. Since ancient civilizations like the Hittites lived there in the past, it was a frequent spot for treasure hunters.
Since I was both unemployed and wanted to get away from home, I accepted without even thinking. “Let’s go, man, what do we have to lose?” I said. When Fatih and Mehmet started hemming and hawing, we said, “Guys, get yourselves together, let’s go. Are you going to get rich on minimum wage?” They were immediately convinced by this sentence. Mehmet’s father had a Doblo van, suitable for loading equipment. “Mehmet, you arrange that, and we’ll get the materials from Grocer İsmail Abi,” we said. So we decided and set off.
We got the necessary materials from İsmail Abi and procured the missing ones. We were ready to go. We learned the location and position: it was a place called “Höyük Dibi” (Bottom of the Mound) by a riverbank, outside a village in Çorum. This place was very close to caves. They had seen two large rocks there as markers. They had received a signal with the detector. “You’ll find it before you reach 5 meters,” İsmail Abi said.
We set off from Ankara on the weekend. Around 6:00 PM, we reached the village in Çorum using navigation. Now it was time to find the place called Höyük Dibi. It was a small village. The village had a coffeehouse, but thinking it would be better not to be seen around there much, we passed it. We came across three elderly uncles sitting near the mosque. After greeting them, we asked the uncles, “We are university students, touring Çorum and camping. Our path led us here. Is there a nice place by the riverbank where we can camp and set up our tent?” The uncles first looked at each other, then one of them asked, “Son, why are you wandering around empty fields and lands?” I interjected, “Uncle, we are visiting historical sites for school and preparing a project.” When the uncles heard about the project, they said, “Oh, is that so? Then okay. There are a few historical places in our village. For example, there’s King’s Hill, the old castle, Höyük Dibi. Look, there are caves there too, right by the riverbank.”
Our eyes lit up when we heard Höyük Dibi, of course. “Uncle, where is Höyük Dibi? Let’s go there, set up our camp by the riverbank. In the morning, we’ll visit the places you mentioned,” we said. The uncles gave us detailed directions. We jumped into the car and went straight to Höyük Dibi. It was 5-6 kilometers outside the village. The location was simple; finding it was easy. Now it was time to find the marked stones. We parked the car near Höyük Dibi, hidden from view. Before it got dark, we started searching for the markers. There was quite a rocky area beyond the caves. We were lucky; before long, two stones marked with crosses, buried up to their waists, were clearly standing there. We rejoiced as if we had found the treasure. “Let’s light our barbecue here, eat our fill, and wait for the evening,” we decided.
We ate and drank, and around 10:00 PM, we started digging. We shared the work; two people dug for half an hour, while two rested. The car was about 20 meters away. When the digging turn passed, I asked my friends for permission and went to the car, saying, “Let me take a nap.” As soon as I put my head down, I fell asleep within three to five minutes due to exhaustion.
In my dream, I was in the neighborhood where our old shanty house was. I was walking towards the house. There was a large crowd in front of the shanty house. At first, I thought there was a wedding, but as I got closer, I saw everyone staring blankly at the house. I asked one of the people standing there, “What’s going on, is there a wedding? Why have you gathered?” I had said this in a low voice, but everyone there suddenly turned and looked into my eyes. The person I asked shouted, “Get out of here! This is our house!” I was terrified. In a trembling voice, I said, “How can that be? This is our house; my childhood was spent here.” The man repeated: “Get out of here! This is our house!” Something was wrong with this. “Where are my mother and father?” I asked. The man replied to my question, “If you don’t leave here, your house will become our house!” The place he referred to as “here” suddenly turned into the excavation site. He turned his back and started walking towards the crowd. The man’s walk was quite strange. When I looked at his feet, they had a very different structure. I looked at the others; theirs were even worse. Suddenly, an extreme fear came over me. Saying Bismillah (In the name of God) and waking up happened simultaneously. “Oh Lord, thank goodness it was a dream,” I said and took a deep breath.
I got up and immediately went to the edge of the pit. The friends were continuing the digging. It was well past midnight. After the pickaxe and shovel changed hands several times, the pit was now deeper than our height. I was digging with Orhan. We had even started daydreaming inside the pit. Orhan said if we found treasure, he would buy a latest model car, while I said I would invest in real estate. As we were talking, a clump of dirt (kesek) came from above. If you ask what a kesek is, it’s a mass of soil compacted like stone. It doesn’t cause much harm, but it hurts where it hits. Anyway, the kesek shattered and scattered on my back. Calling out to those above, I said, “Hey guys, what are you doing? Don’t throw that dirt clump!” and continued digging. No answer came from above. Then one clump, two clumps kept coming from the side. One hit my head, some hit my arm, hurting me. “Man, I’m gonna lose it with your joke! You’ve filled the pit back with dirt! Don’t throw it, man! Is this the time for jokes?” I said.
When I stuck the shovel back into the ground, the clumps started coming down like rain this time. “Damn it, I’m gonna lose it with this job!” I said, grabbed the flashlight, and Orhan and I threw ourselves out of the pit. We got out, but clumps, sand, stones, whatever there was, kept coming at us. I pointed the flashlight in the direction they were coming from; nobody was there. “Orhan man, let’s run to the car!” I said. We were running towards the car, but clumps were coming down behind us like hail. We kept running. When we got away from the pit, it suddenly stopped. When we threw ourselves into the car, we froze.
Mehmet and Fatih were sleeping in the car, unaware of what had happened. I woke them both up frantically. “Get up, guys, get up! Someone is stoning us!” I shouted. Mehmet rubbed his eyes, muttering, “What’s going on, man? How did it get to be our turn so quickly?” Getting angry, I said, “He’s still talking about turns! Let’s get out of here, strange things are happening, I’ll explain on the way,” and turned the ignition. The moment I turned on the headlights, a dark figure about two and a half meters tall dashed past in front of us. “Bismillah! What was that, man?” I said. Then 4-5 dark figures appeared and started circling the car. We were frozen with fear. I told the guys, “Recite prayers!” They only said “Bismillah.” I gathered myself and stepped on the gas. We fled from there so fast that we left behind the pickaxes, shovels, and camping gear; we left everything as it was.
With trembling hands and feet, we reached the main road. We composed ourselves a bit at a gas station on the way. We bought gas and headed towards Ankara. After arriving home, I wanted to rest a bit and get what happened out of my head. We didn’t see the friends for a few days. Then we contacted each other, got together, and assessed the situation. When I asked Orhan, “What does İsmail Abi say about this?” he said, “He said, ‘It’s possible; jinn can claim treasures. I should have realized, but how could I know? It never happened to me before.'” It didn’t sound convincing. I had a feeling inside, “It’s like İsmail Abi set us up.”
A few days passed, and strange things started happening at home. At night, I felt someone standing at the head of my bed; I could hear their breathing. I would jump out of bed in fear and turn on the light, but nobody was there. I started having strange dreams. Even though I tried to do things to distract myself, my mind became even more confused. I started seeing shadows in my room. I couldn’t sleep with the light off anymore. I get up to go to the toilet at night; as I walk down the corridor, noises come from the living room. I open the door asking, “Who’s there?” The shadow suddenly hides. I see it, but I can’t muster the courage to go near it. I started sleeping with the corridor light on as well. Of course, my father noticed this and got angry. “How old is this man, sleeping with the light on like a child! The electricity bill will be huge,” he complained to my mother. Because of this, I started wanting not to go home in the evenings.
I have a paralyzed uncle who has been bedridden for about 13 years. I thought I’d visit him and get away from home. After calling and finding out he was available, I went for an evening visit. Uncle asked, “Well Özkan, you finished university. What are you doing now, any job?” I replied, “I’m hustling, uncle, no permanent job, but I take day jobs.” He asked, “How are the jobs you take, do they pay well?” Since that day was always on my mind, I absentmindedly blurted out, “If we had found it, it would have paid very well…” My uncle got curious: “Found what? Did you get into treasure hunting?” While wondering how he knew about treasure, I tried to cover up, “No uncle, if we had found money…” but he didn’t believe me; it was too obvious. When he insisted, asking “Are you searching for treasure?” I explained the incident without going into detail.
My uncle said, “Son, this business is not child’s play! Why do you get into things you don’t know about? I’ve dug for a lot of treasure. Look, in the end, our health went too. If you look at the result, there’s nothing to show for it.” I was very surprised by what my uncle said. Moving to the armchair next to him, I asked, “I didn’t know you were involved in treasure hunting. Didn’t you become like this because of a brain hemorrhage?” My uncle sighed deeply and said, “No, son, what brain hemorrhage? We tell people that, but that’s not the real story.” “How did it happen then?” I asked, and he began to tell:
“A few friends and I used to search for treasure in the old days. Our intention was to get rich quick, but wherever we tried, it turned up empty. Then one day, one of the friends said he found a solid place, that we would definitely find it this time. We got excited, of course. Back then, there weren’t technological devices like today. Our work was done with Cinci Hodjas (jinn experts); we collaborated with a reliable hodja for both treasure detection and protection. We first went to the place we found with the hodja. After the hodja spoke with the jinn, he said, ‘There is a great treasure in this area.’ We said, ‘Then let’s secure it and dig, hodja.’ The hodja encircled the area with prayers. We started digging, but since the treasure was deep, we were digging horizontally, not vertically. We were progressing like digging a tunnel. Since the night digging took a long time, we rested in shifts. It didn’t finish in one day anyway; it took a few days. But as we dug, we unknowingly went outside the hodja’s circle. The hodja wasn’t going to wait for us every day, right? Sometimes he came, sometimes he didn’t. Digging and digging, at the end of the fourth day, we reached the treasure. I found a rather large pot. After cleaning around it, I fainted as soon as I grasped the pot with my hand. I opened my eyes in the hospital. My left side was paralyzed. Physical therapy and such didn’t help,” he said.
“So what happened to the treasure, uncle?” I asked. “The friends brought the hodja and took it. They gave me a small share, but it was little. When I asked, they said, ‘Not much came out.’ But it was a huge pot! How could I prove it? Besides, I was worried about my own life,” he said. Then he advised me, “Don’t you ever get involved in this business again! I fell into this state despite knowing.” I said, “No uncle, never! Treasure hunting is not for me anyway.”
It was night by then. Although I didn’t want to go, I returned home. As I walked down the corridor towards my room, I saw that the bathroom door was left open. Thinking, “I’ll brush my teeth and close the door,” I headed that way. When I reached the bathroom, inside there was an ugly thing about one and a half meters tall, misshapen, with big ears, looking at me! My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. I immediately turned back and headed to my room. Since I didn’t know many prayers, I just kept saying “Bismillah, Bismillah…”
This wasn’t my last encounter with that creature. In the following days, I saw it many more times. I open the toilet door, see a foot, and immediately close it. I couldn’t even use the toilet at home anymore. At night, I couldn’t sleep until the morning call to prayer sounded. Whenever I closed my eyes, it felt like someone was running around in the room. I was on the verge of going mad.
My mother had also noticed lately that I was afraid of everything. She took me aside and asked, “Son, what’s wrong? Something’s been up with you lately. You get startled by the slightest sound. You sleep with the lights on at night. Are they scaring you?” I couldn’t bear it anymore and said, “Yes, mom, they are scaring me a lot! I can’t even sleep!” My mother patted my back, saying, “Son, why didn’t you say so before? You used to get scared a lot when you were little too. I had an amulet made for you. You wore it until you were five, then it got lost. Since the fear passed, I didn’t have another one made. It seems it has started again. Let me have another one of those amulets made for you.” I couldn’t tell my mother about the treasure incident. “Who will you have it made by? Let me go get it made,” I said. My mother said, “Son, that hodja is in Kırıkkale. He doesn’t just make amulets for anyone. He’s old now, retired from that work, but your father solved a problem for him once. He likes your father; he wouldn’t refuse him. If your father calls, he’ll make one again. Just say he wants an amulet.”
Actually, I thought it would be good to meet with a hodja and explain the real situation to him. I told my mother, “You tell dad to call him. Our friend Orhan is also scared; let’s go together.” The next day, my father called and informed him we were coming. Our friends didn’t have as much trouble as I did, but they were also scared sometimes. The four of us got together again and headed to the hodja’s house.
We arrived at a detached house with a large garden in a village and knocked on the door. An uncle aged 75-80 opened the door. This must be the hodja they mentioned. When I said we came for the hodja, he said, “Come in, my son, that’s me.” When I conveyed my father’s greetings, he replied, “Welcome, children, come inside. Your father already called.” He led us to the living room, said, “Make yourselves comfortable, I’ll be right back,” and left us. After 2-3 minutes, an auntie came in with fruit juices and offered them to us. The uncle had also returned. He sat opposite us and said, “Well, what have you been up to? What’s your trouble, tell me.”
The friends spoke up: “Hodja, honestly, we just get scared at home for no reason,” they said. I took the floor and said, “Hodja, my situation is worse. They appear to me! I’m about to lose my mind!” I hadn’t told the guys, not wanting to scare them. They were surprised when they heard what I said. “What appearing, son? Who appears?” they asked. The hodja seemed to understand the situation. After nodding his head up and down, he said, “We’ll sort it out, God willing.” He stood up and took a few incense sticks from his drawer. He gave the incense to our friend Fatih and said, “Light these in those corners.” Then he took out a copper bowl and placed it on the coffee table. Turning to Mehmet, he said, “Son, tell your auntie to bring some water.” Our Mehmet dashed off, “Auntie, Hacı Amca wants water!” Two minutes later, she entered with a one-and-a-half-liter Şaşal bottle. Our Orhan, seeing the Abant brand water from BİM market, jokingly asked, “What’s up, hodja, does the branded water make the vision clearer?” trying to be funny. The hodja smiled and said, “Son, tap water is chlorinated; it doesn’t work with that. This is spring water; I fill it specially from the fountain.” Orhan had asked jokingly, but he got his answer.
After filling the bowl with water, the hodja began to read prayers and blew on the water. He started the session by asking us our mother’s and father’s names. After pausing for a bit, he asked, “Son, did you go digging for treasure?” Orhan panicked, “No hodja, what treasure?” Mehmet nudged Orhan, “Son, stop lying! It’s obvious the man sees everything like watching TV, what are you denying?” Interjecting, I said, “Yes hodja, we went to dig a treasure site in Çorum.” “Son, I understand you are ignorant, but are you out of your minds too? You went completely unprotected!” he said. “What protection, hodja?” asked our Fatih. The hodja said, “Look children, since you embarked on such a thing, you should have gone there with someone knowledgeable in havas ilm (esoteric knowledge). You should have encircled the treasure and driven away the jinn. Treasure business is not that easy. You started digging directly at a treasure claimed by jinn.”
“So hodja, are they haunting us?” I asked. The hodja said, “There are no entities with you right now. The three of you were only touched, but Özkan, you are not as lucky as them. Özkan my son, these things have claimed your house! These entities don’t claim just like that. Didn’t they make themselves known to you? Didn’t they warn you with something?” After thinking for a bit, I said, “Honestly hodja, I had a dream while digging for treasure. They told me, ‘This place is ours; if you don’t leave, your house will become ours too.’ I didn’t pay much attention, thinking it was just a dream.” The hodja said, “Özkan, let me explain it to you this way: Your letaif (subtle energy centers) are more open compared to your friends. They only give fear to them in their sleep, but they can appear to you even when you’re awake.” “Hodja, excuse me, but what are letaif?” I asked. The hodja said, “Never mind now; it takes a long time to explain. Let’s focus on our task.”
He wrote things down for my friends and gave each an amulet. As I waited, wondering if he wouldn’t write one for me, he said, “Özkan my son, your problem is significant. I will write something for you too, but this alone is not enough.” “What else is needed, hodja?” I asked. “Do you perform salat (prayer)?” he asked. A bit ashamed, I said, “Honestly hodja, I’ve been to Friday prayers once or twice, but that’s it.” “Okay, do you know the prayer surahs (chapters)?” he asked. I lowered my head and said, “I don’t know, hodja.”
“Özkan, now I will write an amulet for you too. I will also give you something for your house. You will follow these instructions for one month. During this time, you will learn the prayer surahs and start praying. You must not leave that house without worship. You must definitely perform tasbihat (post-prayer dhikr). Don’t forget Ayetel Kürsi in the tasbihat. When going to bed, you will recite the prayers Felak, Nas, Ayetel Kürsi. In fact, if you draw a circle around your bed while reciting Ayetel Kürsi before sleeping, God willing, they cannot approach you. You didn’t get the treasure anyway; they just scared you.”
“May Allah be pleased with you, hodja, I will do whatever you say,” I said. The hodja wrote what he needed to write and gave a few recipes made with herbs. “Give my regards to your father. Now, get well soon. Don’t tell anyone else, don’t bring shame upon yourselves or me,” he said and saw us off.
As soon as I returned to Ankara, I followed the hodja’s instructions. I memorized the surahs and started praying. As I read the surahs and performed the prayers, I began to feel relief. Especially when I recited Ayetel Kürsi, Felak, and Nas before sleeping, I slept like a baby. The noises inside the house stopped, and the apparitions ceased. I only felt something in my room, but it couldn’t approach me. It was as if it was waiting at the doorway, unable to enter. My self-confidence had significantly returned.
May Allah be pleased with our hodja. After three months, nothing was left with me. I went to visit the hodja. “My child, do not abandon your prayers. What protects you, by Allah’s permission, is the Quran you read and your prayers,” he said. “I am aware, hodja, may Allah be pleased with you,” I said. Thank God, I was saved from such a calamity in this way.
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