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During the excavations that started in 1987 in the Zeugma Ancient City in Gaziantep, a structure called 'House of Muses' was discovered. This residence was called the 'House of Museums' by archaeologists due to the mosaic on the floor of one of its rooms depicting nine 'musas', which were considered the muses of subjects such as lyric poetry, history, music, astrology and philosophy, which were an indispensable part of Classical Greek education. With the support of İş Bankası, Prof. from Ankara University, Faculty of Languages, History and Geography, Department of Archeology. The work carried out by Kutalmış Görkay as the head of the excavation is completed and the House of Museums is opened to visitors with a special event. Prof. We talked with Görkay about the excavation process and the importance of the House of Museums.

House of Museums excavation has been completed. What was the excavation process like for you?
Excavations of the Roman House of Muzalar started in 2007. As a result of the excavation, which started in a very small area, the room containing the Muzalar mosaic, which gave its name to the Roman House of Muzalar, was partially unearthed at a depth of approximately 4 meters. However, the work continued for a long time under very difficult conditions and at intervals according to budget possibilities, as the house spread over a very large area and was located under a very deep slope soil. Work accelerated with the financial support of İşbank, which started in 2012. The excavations of the House of Muzalar were completed in 2019 with more comprehensive budget support provided by İşbank.

What new did we learn from this excavation?
Especially ZeugmaWe learned about the plans of the houses, the functions of the spaces, their decorations and how all these elements are integrated with the architecture. Compared to other houses in Zeugma, the House of Muzas was designed with a long and narrow plan according to the topography. The house has a partially symmetrical plan, the main usage axis is provided by the central corridor in the north-south direction located in the middle of the house. There are rooms on the east and west wings of this corridor, which opens to a central courtyard in the south. You can access two symmetrically placed rock rooms from the loggias (porches) formed in the east and west of the courtyard. The room where the Muzalar mosaic is located is a room reserved for men, close to the main entrance of the house. food is the room. As you move south from the corridor, on the right there is a room designed as a gynaikeion (women's room) whose walls are decorated with garland decorations made of white stucco for brightness. On the floor of the room, there is a mosaic depicting four female figures depicted in four clipeus (medallions) framed by Hellenistic style swastika meanders in perspective. The eastern loggia passing through this room has opus-setcile (wall decoration made of colored marbles) style marble imitation wall frescoes and a figured floor mosaic.
During the excavations, it was understood that the design of the House of Muzas was most likely realized in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. However, we determined that most of the interior decoration was completed at the end of the 2nd century AD and the beginning of the 3rd century AD and that the building fell out of use during the Sasanian occupation in 252 - 253 AD.

What is the importance of the House of Museums in Zeugma?
The House of Museums excavations provided us with important information about the private lives, personal preferences and identities of the inhabitants of Ancient Zeugma. As you know, the places we live in, namely houses, are where we feel most comfortable and where we can freely live our private lives; These are areas that bear the traces of our character, intellectual level and cultural background. Just like today, when you look at the living room decorated by the owner of a person you do not know, you can learn about his interests or cultural background from the items he has chosen and his books. The depicted wall figures preferred in the decoration of Zeugma houses or the rich mosaics depicting scenes selected from the literary texts of the ancient world provide us with important information about the social status of the inhabitants of that house. Knowing mythology was a culture in ancient times. Having knowledge about music, poetry, philosophy and science, which are indispensable requirements of 'paideia', which we call ancient Greek education, was also among the virtues that took you to higher levels in social stratification. The mosaic depicting 'museas', which are considered the muses of music, poetry, philosophy and science, and which gave their name to the House of Museums, gave us information about the intellectual knowledge of the owner of this house. Therefore, based on all these, we can say that the inhabitants of the House of Muzas were members of a distinguished, middle and upper class in Zeugma.

What kind of exhibition will it be?
The House of Museums is planned to be exhibited on-site in Zeugma, together with its unique architectural decoration and mosaics. In this way, visitors to the ruins will be able to see a Roman house in situ and get an idea. With the completion of the restoration and conservation works, the house will be protected with a pillbox structure, and the Dionysus and Danae houses in Zeugma, which are currently visited by visitors and under which the ruins of five Roman houses are located, will be opened to visitors as a pillbox structure.

Do you have any new work to do in the region?
It is a priority to unearth a building in Zeugma, which we think is the 'Fountain Building', one of the public buildings of the city. In addition, it is on our agenda to start excavations and research on other Roman houses located on the east side of the city, just west of the House of Museums. Apart from this, it is also aimed to carry out restoration and conservation work on the temple structure in Belkıs Hill, which is the sacred area of the ancient city, and the cult statues that we think belong to this temple structure.

'THE TURKEY OF BANANAS' IS READY
The Muzas (muses) mosaic, which was unearthed during the excavations carried out in the Roman residence called the House of Muzas in the Ancient City of Zeugma, inspired a stage show titled 'The Ballad of the Muzas'. In the show directed by Beyti Engin, the special compositions prepared by music director Sabri Tuluğ Tırpan will be accompanied by the story of the nine muses written by Özen Yula. Feryal Öney and Cem Adrian, as well as Gaziantep's local soloists Asım Kuzuluk, Mehmet Demir and Battal Sazcı, will be on stage with the orchestra under the direction of composer pianist Sabri Tuluğ Tırpan, in the show that will be staged at the opening of the ancient city in the coming months. Master actor Ayşenil Şamlıoğlu will tell the stories of the muses in the show, which includes local folk songs and different melodies from Anatolia, where dance and music meet history and mythology. The 'Song of the Muses' show will later be repeated at İş Sanat in Istanbul.

Source: Hürriyet

Belkıs/Zeugma Ancient City is located on the banks of the Euphrates River within the borders of Belkıs Village, Nizip District, Gaziantep Province. Built on approximately 20 thousand acres of land…

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