Excavation of a high-quality 2nd century mosaic in Tokat, nothern Turkey, that was seized by authorities last year after looters live-streamed themselves illegally excavating it, has revealed a finely-detailed figure that some are comparing to the iconic Gypsy Girl mosaic in Zeugma.
The mosaic was discovered in the courtyard of a vineyard house. Police raided the site last May after receiving a tipoff to the looting activity that had been so stupidly but so helpfully posted on the internet. The looters had already arranged to sell it abroad on the black market before they were done excavation, but the Provincial Gendarmerie Command foiled their plans and archaeologists began to carry out official excavations.
The mosaic is a large rectangle with multiple panels of geometric and figural designs employing a variety of techniques including opus vermiculatum and opus tessellatum. A female figure inscribed “ΤΡΥΦΗ” (Tryphe), the Greek word for “luxury” or “abundance” suggests an obvious interpretation that the floor decoration was meant to emphasize the luxuriousness of the surroundings. However, now that more of the panel has been exposed, you can see the labrys, the double-headed axe that was a symbol of the Great Goddess going back to prehistory in Anatolia, in each of the four corners of the panel. The figure is flanked by two mandorla (almond) or pointed oval shapes that in antiquity was a symbol of new life, fertility and the junction of the spiritual and the physical world.
The structure that housed the mosaic appears to have performed a social function rather than having been a private luxury villa, but what that function may have been has not yet been determined. The area was an important center for the Cult of Cybele, which could have a connection to the labrys designs, but the newly uncovered figure appears to be a nereid or an Oceanus. The face has green hair and long, thin horns (perhaps the stylized crab or lobster claws seen in depictions of Oceanus). A curled fish tail is visible at the side of its reclining body.
The vineyard house where the mosaic was found is located a few hundred feet from the site of a Roman amphitheater in the ancient city of Zela. Zela is famous as the place where Julius Caesar declared “Veni, vidi, vici” after his swift defeat of Pharnaces II, King of Pontus, in 47 B.C. The excavation of the mosaic and of the theater continue, and archaeologists believe their proximity will lend new insight into Zela’s urban design, cultural and religious practices.
* This article was originally published here
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