New Osrhoene Mosaics Discovered In Situ in Northern Syria

Abstract

In 2017, a mosaic was discovered in a plain near Tell Shioukh Tehtani, located 60 km northeast of Aleppo in the Euphrates Valley and is known for remains from the Bronze Age found by an Italian-Syrian archaeological mission. The mosaic was found during a clandestine excavation carried out before 2017. The Directorate of Antiquity in Damascus which was informed by the local society sent a team of restorers who excavated and documented all the floor mosaic before removing it to the service of antiquity at Al-Hassake province. The work of the restorers has shown that this mosaic is the remains of the pavements of a private villa. The drawing plan done by the restorers shows a part of this building composed of several rooms and a corridor. All these parts are paved with mosaics, some of them was in situ, others were looted. The apse main room is paved with a mosaic around a basin in the center; there remains only one carpet figured by the Achilles scene in Skyros; the figures are identified by inscriptions in Syriac. In another room, there is a mosaic around a basin in the center representing a foliage of vine coming out of the vases with four Eros. The mosaic of the corridor is decorated with geometric patterns. The stylistic study shows that these mosaics are very close to those found at Edessa (Urfa) and dated to the 3rd century AD. This mosaic has an exceptional importance because, on the one hand, it attests the diffusion of the Edessa mosaics workshops outside the city and its region, and on the other hand, it gives an idea on the decoration of the mosaics in the public buildings in this region in Roman times.

Keywords

• Syria
• Osrhoene
• mosaic
• Syriac
• mythology

Nouvelles mosaïques d’Osrhoène découvertes in situ en Syrie du nord

Abstract

In 2017, a mosaic was discovered in a plain near Tell Shioukh Tehtani, located 60 km northeast of Aleppo in the Euphrates Valley and is known for remains from the Bronze Age found by an Italian-Syrian archaeological mission. The mosaic was found during a clandestine excavation carried out before 2017. The Directorate of Antiquity in Damascus which was informed by the local society sent a team of restorers who excavated and documented all the floor mosaic before removing it to the service of antiquity at Al-Hassake province. The work of the restorers has shown that this mosaic is the remains of the pavements of a private villa. The drawing plan done by the restorers shows a part of this building composed of several rooms and a corridor. All these parts are paved with mosaics, some of them was in situ, others were looted. The apse main room is paved with a mosaic around a basin in the center; there remains only one carpet figured by the Achilles scene in Skyros; the figures are identified by inscriptions in Syriac. In another room, there is a mosaic around a basin in the center representing a foliage of vine coming out of the vases with four Eros. The mosaic of the corridor is decorated with geometric patterns. The stylistic study shows that these mosaics are very close to those found at Edessa (Urfa) and dated to the 3rd century AD. This mosaic has an exceptional importance because, on the one hand, it attests the diffusion of the Edessa mosaics workshops outside the city and its region, and on the other hand, it gives an idea on the decoration of the mosaics in the public buildings in this region in Roman times.
Keywords: Syria,

Keywords

• Syria
• Osrhoene
• mosaic
• Syriac
• mythology

Suriye’nin Kuzeyinde in situ Yeni Osrhoene Mozaikleri

Abstract

2017 yılında Fırat Vadisi’ndeki Halep’in 60 km kuzeydoğusunda yer alan ve Bronz Çağı’ndan kalma kalıntıları ile bilinen Tell Shioukh Tehtani’nin yakınındaki düzlükte, İtalyan-Suriye arkeolojik misyonu tarafından bir mozaik bulundu. Mozaik, 2017’den önce gerçekleştirilen kaçak bir kazı sırasında bulundu. Yerel halk tarafından konu hakkında bilgilendirilen Şam Eski Eserler Müdürlüğü, taban mozaiğini kazıp Al-Hassake şehrinde antika servisine götürmeden önce, belgeleme için bir restoratör ekibi gönderdi. Restoratörlerin çalışmaları, bu mozaiğin özel bir villanın taban döşemelerinin kalıntıları olduğunu göstermiştir. Restoratörler tarafından çizilen kroki, bu binanın birkaç oda ve bir koridordan oluşan bölümünü göstermektedir. Tüm bu bölümler mozaiklerle kaplıdır, bazıları in situ durmaktadır, bazıları ise yağmalanmıştır. Yarım kubbeli ana oda, merkezdeki bir alanın etrafında mozaikle döşenmiştir; Skyros’taki Akhilleus sahnesinin olduğu tek bir döşeme bulunmuştur; figürler Süryanice yazıtlarla tanımlanmıştır. Başka bir odada ise, merkezdeki bir alan etrafında dört Eroslu vazolardan çıkan bir asma yaprağını temsil eden mozaik vardır. Koridorun mozaiği geometrik desenlerle süslenmiştir. Stilistik çalışma, bu mozaiklerin Edessa’da (Urfa) bulunan ve İS 3. yüzyıla tarihlenen mozaiklere çok yakın olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu mozaik olağanüstü bir öneme sahiptir, çünkü bir yandan Edessa mozaik atölyelerinin kendi şehir ve bölgesi dışında yayılmış olduğunu kanıtlarken, diğer yandan mozaiklerin kamu binalarının Roma Dönemi’nde bu bölgedeki dekorasyonu hakkında fikir verir.

Keywords

• Suriye
• Osrhoene
• mozaik
• Süryanice
• mitoloji

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