GAZİANTEP PROVINCIAL DIRECTORATE OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

Zeugma Mosaic Museum

Zeugma Mosaic Museum

 

The museum is located on Hacı Sani Konukoğlu Bulvarı, in the Mithatpaşa District of Şehitkamil.  The museum tries to show its visitors a flavour of the lifestyle, culture and beliefs of the people living at that time in the city, by recreating their environment using full scale replicas of a street, fountain, building walls and foundation stones, constructed according to the architecture of the time.

 

Mosaics that were found lying nearest to the River Euphrates are displayed at the entrance, followed by those that were found in locations increasingly nearer to the city terraces. Mosaics from the Roman hamam, found immediately under the body of the Birecik Dam, are displayed on the ground floor.

 

Visitors to the Zeugma Mosaic Museum start at the lowest level of Zeugma, and complete their tour rising through the terrace levels of the city. Other cultural treasures relating to Zeugma can be seen at the Korugan Museum which has been built at the site of the Zeugma ruins. Dominating the museum, and easily seen from all floors, is the statue of Mars, the god of war and spring, which is positioned as if it were the protector of the museum, as it was in ancient Zeugma. It is one of the most important items within the exhibition project. On the second floor, a mysterious, labyrinthine room emphasizes the mournful expression of the Gypsy Girl Mosaic displayed within.

 

The Zeugma Mosaic Museum collection includes 2.448 m² of mosaics from the Roman and Late Antique period, 140 m² of frescoes, 4 Roman fountains, 20 columns, 4 limestone statues, a bronze Mars statue, tomb stelae, sarcophagi, and architectural fragments, all restored to a condition ready for exhibition.

 

12 pieces of the Gypsy Girl Mosaic, among the Zeugma mosaics which were taken to abroad in 1960s from the Zeugma Ancient City within the borders of the neighborhood of Belkis, the district of Nizip, the province of Gaziantep, and which were sold to the Bowling Green State University in 1965, were brought back to Türkiye and placed at the Mosaic Museum of Gaziantep, the original land of these mosaics, by means of the protocol executed by and between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Bowling Green State University. All initiatives, initiated in 2012 to bring 12 pieces of the Gypsy Girl Mosaic to Türkiye, were performed jointly by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Metropolitan Municipality of Gaziantep in 2018. The pieces of this mosaic, brought back from the State of Ohio, the United States of America, are the mask depicts of the border of the base mosaic, similar to the mosaic known as the Gypsy Girl.

  
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