MEHMET ÖNAL (GAZIANTEP MUSEUM ARCHEOLOGIST)
Fresco masters, who drew colorful mosaics on cloth and prepared paintings for the mosaic artist, also decorated the walls of houses overlooking the Euphrates in Zeugma with frescoes (wall paintings). They skillfully mixed earth and mineral dyes to create vibrant colors that would make mosaic artists jealous. They painted geometric decorations such as triangles and diamonds, peacocks, bald ibises, mythological figures and flower patterns on wet and dry plaster with filtered lime and fine sand.
In the Zeugma A region rescue excavations carried out in the ancient city of Belkıs/Zeugma in 2000, with the support of the Gaziantep Governorship and the financial contributions of the Special Provincial Administration, under the chairmanship of the Gaziantep Museum and under the field responsibility of the archaeologist Mehmet ÖNAL, approximately 120 artifacts were found on the walls of the Poseidon and Euphrates villas, along with mosaics, sculptures, figurines and thousands of findings. A fresco (wall painting) measuring m2 in size was also uncovered. These frescoes were made by AU with the financial contributions of PHI. It was restored by the faculty members and students of Başkent Vocational High School Restoration Department and made ready for display. Six of them are exhibited in Gaziantep Museum.
Those exhibited in the museum consist of the Hermes figure, the Wheel of Fortune Motif, the Girland motif, Penelope, Deidemeia and a human figure with the upper body destroyed. The fresco with the figure of Hermes was found on the eastern wall of the courtyard of the Poseidon villa, the wheel of fortune motif was found on the pediment of the fountain, and the figure of Penelope, Deidemeia and the figure with the upper body destroyed was found on the wall of room 12 of the Euphrates villa. Although the frescoes in Zeugma are generally made on dry plaster, there are also a few examples of frescoes made on wet plaster. In the Zeugma frescoes, at the bottom there is a 2 cm layer of coarse sand mixed with lime. thick lime plaster, 0.8 mm above it. The figures are carved in panels with natural dyes on a thick, drained lime plaster with fine sand additives.
Because the fresco, which satisfies the eyes and soul of the people of the house, has worn out over the years or the owner of the house has preferred the new painting fashion, the frescoes were painted 2-3 layers on top of each other. On the walls of some rooms, such as the Perseus room, the figures are covered with a single layer of paint. The frescoes below were destroyed because the old fresco below was notched 2-3 cm in size in order for the new fresco to hold well. The frescoes, which remained under the fire ruins in 256 AD when the Sassanids captured Zeugma, were brought to light along with the villas in 2000 and introduced to today's world.
In Zeugma frescoes, animal figures were also depicted in addition to subjects reflecting the beliefs of the period. These figures are decorated with geometric and floral motifs. The figures and motifs seen in the frescoes made one above the other are as follows:
Geometric motifs such as triangles, diamonds, circles etc. in the frescoes of the Ist Floor
II. In the floor frescoes, there are mythological (Hermes, Penelope, Deidemeia, Protoe), human and animal figures (peacock, goat, duck), herbal decorations, drinking vessels, architectural (door, column, column, marble-looking) motifs.
III. Floral motifs (Girland, corn), animals (bird, snake) and writing can be seen on the floor frescoes.
IV. Single coat of cream color paint.
As the frescoes covered the room walls for years, sometimes the furniture damaged the frescoes, and most of the time, the children of the house engraved various pictures and wrote on the frescoes (Grafitto). These consist of gladiators, a sacrifice scene, animals, triangles, stars and many inscriptions. It is thought that some of the writings were written by the distinguished guest of the house.
The stories of the frescoes of Deidemia and Penelope watching the soldiers' way, which are on display in the Gaziantep Museum:
DEIDEMEIA:
She is a soldier's wife. Odysseus deceives his wife Achileus into taking her to the Trojan War. In the “Achilles in Skyros” mosaic exhibited in the museum, Deidemeia hugs Akhileus' arm and begs him not to go to war. In this fresco, Deidemeia is sadly longing for the path of Achileus, who goes to war. His head is slightly turned to the right and he is sad. Later, she will receive the news of Achileus' death and mourn him. She wears a gray kithon and a reddish shawl. His bare right arm is spread to the side and he is holding a green ivy leaf and a pine branch. With his left hand, he holds the garment hanging from his hip and hanging down from his left shoulder, at the level of his navel. Her head protrudes from the double-lined panel. Her name is written in Greek letters in the upper right corner: She is the daughter of Lykomedes, the King of the island of Sykiros.
PENELOPE:
Penelope is also a military wife, waiting for the return of her husband Odysseus. He stands sadly with his neck bent to the left. Because her husband Odysseus had to leave her and go to the Trojan War while her son Telemachus was swaddled. Her resistance to her suitors and her loyalty to Odysseus during the twenty or thirty years she was separated from her husband, in order not to marry another husband, made her a symbol of fidelity and love in marriage.
Since her husband Odysseus was at war, Penelope's palace was filled with suitors who wanted to marry her, and the notables of the neighboring country wanted to take the beautiful woman who was left without a husband. Penelope required that the cloth she was weaving be finished in order to choose her suitors. He wove this cloth during the day and unraveled it at night. This is how he distracted his suitors.
Standing, Penelope holds a green ivy leaf in her left hand and lifts her skirt up with her right hand. It has an inscription in Greek letters in the upper right corner. She is the daughter of Ikarios.
These Zeugma frescoes exhibited in our Gaziantep museum are the only fresco exhibition of this size exhibited in the museums of our Turkey. These unique works await art and Zeugma lovers at the museum.
The writings on the fresco at the entrance of the museum: "Live Well, Germanio" and the words "Virtue, Education and Knowledge" on the mosaic, silently tell the visitors about the ancient period.
