Zeugma (; ) was an ancient Hellenistic era Greek and then Roman city of Commagene; located in modern Gaziantep Province, Turkey. It was named for the bridge of boats, or , that crossed the Euphrates at that location. Zeugma Mosaic Museum contains mosaics from the site, and is one of the largest mosaic museums in the world.

History

Zeugma was founded soon after 300 BC as the city of Seleucia by Seleucus I Nicator, a Diadochus (successor) to Alexander the Great and Macedonian founder of the Seleucid Kingdom, on the site where he had the first bridge over the Euphrates built.

In late antiquity, Zeugma was a diocese of the early Roman church, but the place seems to have been abandoned in the 7th century due to Sassanid Persian and then Arab raids by the Umayyad Caliphate. Arabs lived there temporarily in the Middle Ages. By the 17th century the Ottoman Turkish village of Belkis was built near the ruins.

Preservation

Initially the site was excavated sporadically, but in 2000, was flooded during construction of the Birecik Dam. With only a fraction of the site excavated, archaeologists feared that many mosaics would be permanently lost. After reading about it in The New York Times, and with only few months left, American philanthropist David W. Packard donated USD 5 million to fund an emergency excavation of the archaeological site, allowing archaeologists to preserve the mosaics that would otherwise be inundated by the dam. The mosaics that were excavated were initially stored at the Gaziantep Museum, and are nowadays displayed at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum.

Zeugma has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Site tentative list since 2012. Extant archaeological remains at the site include "the Hellenistic Agora, the Roman Agora, two sanctuaries, the stadium, the theatre, two bathhouses, the Roman legionary base, administrative structures of the Roman legion, the majority of the residential quarters, Hellenistic and Roman city walls, and the East, South and West necropoles."

Three large glass mosaics were discovered at Zeugma in 2014, including one depicting the nine Muses.

The Zeugma Mosaic Museum attracted a record 340,569 visitors in 2019, according to the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry.

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File:Zeugma dec 2008 7417.jpg|Zeugma, the lake

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7410.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7369.jpg|Zeugma excavations and dam

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7368.jpg|Zeugma, the dam nearby

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7367.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7376.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7378.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7380.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7382.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7383.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7393.jpg|Zeugma excavations

File:Zeugma dec 2008 7405.jpg|Zeugma excavations

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See also

  • Birecik Dam Cemetery
  • Seleucia at the Zeugma
  • Hasankeyf

References

Further reading

  • ICOMOS Heritage at Risk 2001/2002: Zeugma, Turkey, Icomos Heritage at Risk 2001/2002.
  • Kennedy, David. The Twin Towns of Zeugma on the Euphrates: Rescue Work and Historical Studies (Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series). Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1998.
  • Wagner, Jörg (1976). Seleukeia am Euphrat/Zeugma. Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, series B, volume 10. Wiesbaden: Reichert, .
  • "Zeugma, A Roman Town in Anatolia", a short documentary video
  • Zeugmaweb.com
  • Pictures of the Zeugma site
  • Zeugma at Livius.org, article and photos
  • BBC: The Secret Treasures of Zeugma
  • UWA Classics and Ancient History Research: Zeugma on the Euphrates
  • Gaziantep Archaeology Museum
  • Some photos from the Zeugma Museum (Gaziantep, Turkey)
  • Description of Zeugma on Gaziantep website