ZEUGMA MUSEUM
ZEUGMA MOSAIC MUSEUM / GAZIANTEP
In the Zeugma Mosaic Museum collection, 3,000 square meters of mosaics, 140 square meters of frescoes, 4 Roman fountains, 20 columns, 4 limestone statues, bronze statues of the god Mars, tomb stelae, sarcophagi and architectural pieces belonging to Rome and Eastern Rome are exhibited. These mosaics, which are about 2000 years old, are quite extraordinary in terms of design, color, success and perfection. Three-dimensional designs and high-level techniques, the depiction of the architecture of the period, the way of life and the rich transfer of flora and fauna on mosaics make Zeugma one of the most important mosaic museums in the world. Zeugma Mosaic Museum, which is established on a total area of 30,000 square meters, 25,000 square meters of which is closed, is a complex consisting of three buildings. The museum opened on September 9, 2011. Zeugma Mosaic Museum has held the title of "the world's largest mosaic museum" for nearly 3 years; Later transferred this title to the Hatay Archeology Museum, which was opened on December 28, 2014. It currently has the distinction of being the second-largest mosaic museum in the world.
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ARTIFACTS IN THE MUSEUM
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GYPSY GIRL
The most important artifact is the mosaic named as '' The Gypsy Girl''. The Gypsy Girl mosaic was discovered beneath a fallen column in 1998 during rescue excavations of the second-century Roman settlement, Zeugma, on the banks of the Euphrates River, when the site was about to be flooded with the construction of the Birecik Dam in southeastern Turkey. The mosaic was one of many covering the floor of a Roman villa’s triclinium. The villa was looted by black market smugglers in the early 1960s, like many other ancient sites in Turkey. By chance, the looters had overlooked the Gypsy Girl, hidden beneath a column.
There has always been discussions about the mosaic’s gender. Some thought that was the face of Alexander the Great; others, the earth goddess Gaia.
Many diminutive names were given her at the time of her discovery “The Zeugma Girl,” “Our Girl”, even though these are doubtless the eyes of an adult. The name that stuck was “Gypsy Girl”and whatever debate there was about the face’s gender, age, or origin was mostly forgotten with this new mythology. In the 18 years since she has been displayed in Gaziantep’s Zeugma Mosaic Museum, close to Turkey’s Syrian border, the “Gypsy Girl” has become a symbol of the city and of Turkey’s classical heritage.
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Achilles Mosaic, depicting Achilles (disguised as a girl) being discovered by Odysseus on Skyros island, 2nd-3rd centuy AD. The Achilles Mosaic was at the bottom of a pool with a waterspout in the impluvium of the Poseidon Villa in Zeugma. Achilles has been sent by his parents to a friend-King's palace where he even dresses up as a woman. Odysseus wants to find him, an plays a trick to find him amongst the "women": he brings fine gifts of clothing, jewellery, but also fine weaponry. The one to grab that must be Achilles. Here he's found out.
This is from a mosaic with the Zeus carrying off Europa. From the Enc. Britt.: Europa [is] in Greek mythology, the daughter either of Phoenix or of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. The beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus, who approached her in the form of a white bull and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. There she bore Zeus three sons: King Minos of Crete, King Rhadamanthus of the Cyclades Islands, and, according to some legends, Prince Sarpedon of Lycia. She later married the king of Crete, who adopted her sons, and she was worshiped under the name of Hellotis in Crete, where the festival Hellotia was held in her honour. A knowledgeable viewer informed me: you can also see perhaps Astypalaia (Europa's sister who was abducted by Poseidon). She's riding a sea-leopard (pardalokampos). From the Enc. Britt.: Europa [is] in Greek mythology, the daughter either of Phoenix or of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. The beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus, who approached her in the form of a white bull and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. There she bore Zeus three sons: King Minos of Crete, King Rhadamanthus of the Cyclades Islands, and, according to some legends, Prince Sarpedon of Lycia. She later married the king of Crete, who adopted her sons, and she was worshiped under the name of Hellotis in Crete, where the festival Hellotia was held in her honour. A knowledgeable viewer informed me: this is perhaps Astypalaia (Europa's sister who was abducted by Poseidon). She's riding a sea-leopard (pardalokampos).
2nd-3rd century AD, from the House of the Maenad. It was found in a chamber next to that where the Gypsy Girl mosaic was discovered in 1998. Acrotos (“ruler, narrator”) offers holy wine taken from a divine fountain from a golden crater to the nymph Euprosyne. The Acratos and Euphrosine mosaic was a floor mosaic in a dining room. This is the Acratos and Euphrosyne mosaic. Acratos is a god symbolizing men who easily fall for women. She is one of the daughters of Zeus and symbolizes "things nice".
A Roman mosaic from Zeugma, Commagene (now in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum) depicting Daedalus, his son Icarus, Queen Pasiphaë, and two of her female attendants. The Daedalus and Icarus mosaic. From the Enc. Britt. about Daedalus: (Greek: “Skillfully Wrought”), mythical Greek architect and sculptor, who was said to have built, among other things, the paradigmatic Labyrinth forKing Minos of Crete. Daedalus fell out of favour with Minos and was imprisoned; he fashioned wings of wax and feathers for himself and for his son Icarus and escaped to Sicily. Icarus, however, flew too near the Sun, and his wings melted; he fell into the sea and drowned. The island on which his body was washed ashore was later named Icaria.
