Zeugma (; ) was an ancient Hellenistic era Greek and then Roman city of Commagene; located in modern Gaziantep Province,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was named for the bridge of boats, or , that crossed the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

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 Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and Macedonian founder of the Seleucid Kingdom, on the site where he had the first bridge over the

built. In 64 BC, the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

gained control of the city. Zeugma was of great importance to the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

as it was located at a strategically important place. Up to 70,000 people lived in the city, and it became a center for the military and commerce for the

ancient Romans The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens (; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...

. In 253 AD, it was destroyed by the Sassanids, but was later rebuilt. In

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, Zeugma was a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

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 The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

lived there temporarily in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. 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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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 In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

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

Gallery

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

References

External links

*
"Zeugma, A Roman Town in Anatolia"
a short documentary video

Pictures of the Zeugma site

a
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
{{Authority control Populated places established in the 3rd century BC Archaeological sites in Southeastern Anatolia Populated places along the Silk Road Populated places in ancient Commagene Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Seleucid colonies in Anatolia Roman fortifications in Cappadocia Roman legionary fortresses in Turkey Twin cities Former populated places in Turkey History of Gaziantep Province World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Euphrates Submerged places Seleucus I Nicator

History

Preservation

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links