Beautiful Mosaics From The Ancient City Of Zeugma, Turkey

MessageToEagle.com – Three new mosaics have been unearthed during the Muzalar House excavations in the ancient city of Zeugma in Turkey’s southern province of Gaziantep.

Zeugma is one of the most important centers in the Eastern Roman Empire, and excavations there had started in 2007.

“There are still unexcavated areas. There are rock-carved houses here. We have reached one of these houses and the house includes six spaces.

“We have also unearthed three new mosaics in this year’s excavations,” Professor Kutalmis, Gorkay, the head of the excavations, said.

“From now on, we will work on restoration and conservation. We plan to establish a temporary roof for long-term protection. We estimate that the ancient city has 2,000-3,000 houses. Twenty-five of them remain under water. Excavations will be finished in the Muzalar House next year.”

The region’s history, which included empires such as the Romans, the Hittites, the Assyrians and the Byzantines, was “as old as the history of mankind,” reports Hurriyet Daily News.

 

“They did not think of roads, water and infrastructure only, but they attached importance to revealing cultural values. This is the city of industry and trade and also deserves to be a city of culture and tourism. This is our mission. I hope we will be able to unearth the whole civilization of Zeugma.”

Earlier many other beautiful mosaics were discovered in Zeugma. (images above).

The ancient town of Zeugma sits on the banks of the Euphrates River in southeast Turkey. In Greek, Zeugma means “bridge”.

In ancient times, the town was the only point to cross the river between Anatolia and Mesopotamia for hundreds of kilometers. The city was founded by a commander under Alexander the Great around 300 B.C., Seleucus I Nicator.

In ancient Zeugma lived 70,000 people but a devastating attack in 256AD by Sassanid king Shapur I led to the city’s decline.

Though Zeugma remained an important Roman and subsequently Byzantine city well into the 6th century, the mounting pressure on the Empire’s borders led to its eventual abandonment and was invaded and pillaged by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire in A.D. 256.

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