The current exhibition at the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations (RCAC) – as is often the case with the Centre’s exhibitions – offers a fascinating glimpse into a unique part of Turkey’s history. The exhibition presents excavation photographs which tell the story of how archaeologists unearthed findings from the most brilliant period in the history of Roman Antioch (modern-day Antakya), one of the most important metropolises of the Roman Empire.
Specifically, the exhibition explores the first archaeological excavations carried out by Princeton University between 1932 and 1939. The unearthed mosaics would be shared out between museums in France and the United States as Antakya, then still nominally independent, only joined the Turkish Republic after a plebiscite in 1939.
Curated by Murat Akar of the Archaeology and Art History Department at Koç University, the focus here is on the excavation itself rather than the photographs per se. The black-and-white photographs are enlarged and beautifully mounted, and clearly document the discovery of these magnificent mosaics, now held in the Hatay Archaeology Museum. The main image shows a rare glimpse of the expedition’s photographer Fadeel Nasser Saba, a Palestinian from Nazareth. In the photo, Saba uses a large-format camera to photograph the opulent mosaics in the Constantine villa at Daphne (Harbiye), nine kilometres south of Antioch, while his assistants steady the camera; July 20, 1935.
Quotes from field staff, including the field director William A Campbell from Wellesley College and the art historian and chairman of the Antioch Excavation Committee, Charles Rufus Morey, are peppered throughout the exhibition offering interesting titbits of information. The above image shows the members of the excavation staff with visiting dignitaries of Antioch. First row, left to right: Muhammed Yusuf, Haider Wazan, Rashid Bey Barrakat, Nassib Arzouzi, Richard Stillwell, Khalil Zarawend, Najm ed Din Bey Wajihi Basha, Mahmud Tukhani, Charles Rufus Morey, Zaki Arzouzi, Fadil Ghabousi, and Suleiman Hindie. Second row, left to right: Mustafa Yusuf, Jean Lassus, Adib Ishak, Apostolos Athanassiou, W.H. Noble, Barbari Mahmud Isa, Joseph Numani, William A. Campbell, Ibrahim Agha Tukhani, Suleiman Wazan, Samaan Totah, Ali Agha Tukhani; July 5, 1936.
‘Few people realise that ancient Antioch was larger than Rome within the Aurelian walls,’ said Campbell in 1934, also noting the city’s natural beauty, fine climate, productive soil and strategic location. The above image shows an aerial view of Antioch with the Orontes River (modern-day Asi Nehri), and the mountain range capped by Mount Silpios (Habib Neccar Dağı) in the background. The long main street which runs diagonally across the centre of the photograph follows the route of the ancient Roman road from Latakia (ancient Laodicea) to Aleppo (ancient Beroea); August 17, 1937.
The excavations began on March 7, 1932 with the opening of the trench seen in the above photo. This revealed a part of the system of pipes that distributed water throughout the ancient city. These conduits, constructed of cylindrical terracotta tiles laid end to end, brought water from the aqueduct to a residential area near the Byzantine stadium.
The above image shows the excavation of the Theatre of Dionysus, which was buried beneath more than nine meters of soil which had washed down the slope of Mount Silpios. Workers removed earth from the deep trench by passing baskets to each other. After one side of this deep trench collapsed, the walls were battered and stepped to protect the workmen and staff; April 29, 1936.
The collapsed arch of the Market Gate in the city wall at Seleucia Pieria (Samandağ-Çevlik), located on the coast about 25 kilometres southwest of Antioch, can be seen in the above photo. The fourth-century gate, which was located in the lower town, opened onto a colonnaded street that led to the marketplace of Seleucia; August 10, 1937.
‘These masterpieces of mosaic art were made for the rich villas on the hills of Daphne, where the wealthier class lives for the sake of the springs and the breezes, and the view down the valley towards the sea,’ said Morey in 1936. He had in mind, amongst others, the above mosaic of the dining room of the House of the Buffet Supper. The central roundel, which depicts Ganymede serving wine to Zeus, is surrounded by a delectable multi-course dinner laid out on silver platters. The rectangular panel at the top is decorated with a large wine vessel, two peacocks and other birds; May 22, 1937.
Morey was also referring to the excavations done at Yakto (Camus Ayna), a small village north of Daphne, which brought to light an extensive complex that was built in the third century and modified in the fifth century. The mosaic in this small room depicts a female bust framed by an octagonal perspective meander. A white marble torso of a youth rests in the doorway of the room (now in the Princeton University Museum of Art); April 13, 1933.
The above image shows another marble male torso found during an excavation in the House of the Phoenix, a late Roman villa in Daphne. This finely carved statue (now kept in the Baltimore Museum of Art) was used, along with blocks of stone, to close the opening of a unused well from an earlier structure; October 19, 1934.
In 1936, Campbell said that one of the aims of the expeditions was to preserve the mosaic pavements accidentally discovered by natives. The above image shows a section of a mosaic floor uncovered by a landowner digging a drainage ditch in his mulberry orchard just inside the Roman wall at Seleucia Pieria in August 1938. The large curving mosaic depicted a procession of a variety of exotic animals, including elephants, zebras, giraffes and flamingos in a landscape of exotic plants; October 20, 1938.
The above shows an enormous cruciform church at Kaoussie (Kapısuyu) which was paved with a vast carpet of geometric mosaics. An inscription discovered in one of the four aisles that formed the original structure dates the foundation of the church to March 387 CE; June 14, 1935.
The exhibition is displayed until April 20, 2014.
All photos are from Princeton University’s Department of Art and Archaeology.