By the number of archaeological finds, this city deserves to be called "the second Pompeii". The once Greek and then Roman city of Zeugma is located in Turkey in the Nizip district, which is only 30 kilometers north of the border with Syria and 45 kilometers from the city of Gazinantepa, the largest industrial, transport and cultural center of Southeast Anatolia.
It is believed that Zeugma was founded around 300 BC by one of the closest associates of Alexander the Great - the commander Seleucus. As you know, after the death of Alexander the Great, his huge empire collapsed almost immediately, and eight of his friends divided the "inheritance" among themselves. Among them was the outstanding commander Seleucus Nikator.
He inherited the satrapy of Babylonia, to which he subsequently added Media, Pereida, Susiana and Bactria. He founded the Seleucid dynasty and his own empire, which included many cities, some of which were created literally from scratch. Zeugma, erected on the banks of the Euphrates River, also belonged to such new cities.
Only then was it called by the name of its founder - Seleucia. On the opposite bank of the river, another city was built, named after Seleucus' wife, Queen Apamena. The two cities were connected by a special ferry, which was called Zeugma.
When Seleucia was captured by the Romans in 64 BC, her name was changed to Zeugma. True, some researchers believe that it was originally called "Seleucia on Zeugma", and the Romans only dropped the first long name.
Zeugma was located in a very convenient place - where the channel of the Euphrates narrowed and there was an excellent approach to the coast. It was also convenient from a strategic point of view.
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But Zeugma's wealth was also the cause of her problems - the rich city more than once fell victim to the attacks of greedy invaders. One of the first serious attacks was the Sassanid attack in 256 BC. The invaders robbed and severely destroyed Zeugma. A strong earthquake followed, and the flourishing city literally turned into ruins. However, he quickly rebuilt himself to withstand the attacks of enemies again and again.
In Roman times, the "Scythian Legion" was quartered around Zeugma, and in the 5th-6th centuries AD, the city fell under the influence of Byzantium. Then the Arabs set their sights on Zeugma, who managed to capture and destroy the city. A period of desolation followed, but then the city was rebuilt again and in the X-XII centuries served as the residence of the Abbasids. It is not known what caused Zeugma to disappear from the historical map, but everything agrees that the city was destroyed by a powerful earthquake, and could no longer recover, as it happened before.
The "posthumous" destruction of Zeugma began around the 50s of the last century. A stream of unique ancient frescoes and mosaics from Turkey poured into Western auctions. At first glance, it was clear that these frescoes and mosaics are masterpieces that have practically no analogues. Collected from the smallest pieces of natural stone of different shades, all of them were made based on ancient Greek myths, with faces and details recruited with amazing skill and realism.
There were other striking features, such as the fact that the masters from Zeugma used a technique of perspective, which the artists of the Renaissance mastered only a thousand years later. In addition, 12-13 colors were used in mosaics, although ordinary mosaics, as a rule, contain no more than four or five.
In the early 1980s, it was planned to implement a project to supply Turkey with water and energy through the construction of dams. There was a danger that a large part of Zeugma and its mosaics would be flooded forever as a result of the flooding of the river.
Before the construction of the dams in 1995, excavations began in cooperation with the Gaziantep Archaeological Museum and various international organizations. During the excavations, numerous artifacts were found, including a large number of well-preserved mosaics and frescoes. In the excavated area of the former city, it is likely that high-ranking officials and officers, merchants who got rich on trade, lived.
All the artifacts were collected at the Gaziantep Museum, which, however, soon turned out to be too small for them. It was decided to build a separate museum for the collected exhibits. In 2011, a new 30,000 m² museum was opened to the public. Its size is comparable to that of the National Bardo Museum in Tunisia, the largest mosaic museum in the world.
The most famous exhibits of Zeugma, which have become, in fact, her calling cards, are three. The first is a fragment of a mosaic depicting a woman's head. She is called "Gypsy" and also - "Gay" and "Menada".
The second masterpiece is a colorful mosaic depicting the river god Aheloy, the father of the sirens. And the third is a bronze statue of the god of war Mars with minor traces of burns, almost one and a half meters in height. It is located on a column and is visible from anywhere in the building. The museum also houses 140 m² of frescoes, statues, four Roman fountains, columns, steles and sarcophagi.
Of the well-preserved ones, there is a mosaic depicting the god of the sea Ocean and his wife Tephia, surrounded by sea creatures and four people riding dolphins.
Ocean has two crab pincers on its head in the form of horns, holding an oar in his hand, and Tethys has wings. The mosaics were found at the bottom of the pool. Such images of the god of the sea with sea creatures were popular in mosaic paintings of the bathrooms of the people of the time.
The mosaic found in the Roman home of Poseidon depicts Eros and Psyche sitting on a soft sofa.
Currently, about 25% of the western coast of the ancient city of Zeugma is 60 meters under water, the eastern coast is also flooded.