5th c. mosaic floor found at Urfa Citadel

A 5th century mosaic floor has been uncovered in an excavation at Urfa Citadel in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. The mosaic is composed of black, white and red tesserae and features animals, botanical motifs and a Greek inscription. A medallion containing representations of the four cosmic elements of air, water, earth and fire is in one corner of the floor. Such a medallion was likely placed in each of the other three corners of the room, and its unusual iconography may lend new insight into the religious practices of Late Antiquity in the region.

Archaeologists believe the building was a small church, chapel or a martyr’s shrine. The inscriptions includes names and titles of religious officials who sponsored the construction of the building. Written in the epigraphic formula of the early Byzantine Empire, the inscription calls for the protection of “Count Anakas and his family.” The formula was used to invoke the intercessory prayer of a saint for the main donor who funded the construction of the structure.

The inscription mentions Bishop Kyros of the region, Elyas (Ilyas in Turkish) serving as the head priest, and Rabulus, who held the rank of deacon, a position assisting in churches where deacons held the rank of principal reader. […]

Religious personnel who served in the structure appear to have been buried at the site.

“Similar to the rock-cut tombs we found both on the southern slope of the castle and in the Kizilkoyun necropolis, we see evidence of burials here. We have found at least three, but work on these will continue next year,” Kozbe said.

“This is an important discovery. Similar floor examples exist in the southeast and other regions of Anatolia. These names provide important clues about who held religious responsibility in this area and about the religious practices and rituals of the elite class, including a local commander,” Kozbe added.

Archaeologists have been excavating the historic castle for five years. Most of the surviving citadel was built by the Abbasid caliphs during the 9th century A.D., but site has archaeological evidence of occupation going back to the Neolithic era. The mosaic was found in the interior of the upper citadel.

* This article was originally published here