Zeugma Mosaics: A Corpus

Zeugma Mosaics: A Corpus by Mehmet Önal (Istanbul: A Turizm Yayınları, 2010) 128 pp, over 100 color pictures, hardback, English.

This oversize book comprises all of the mosaics which have been excavated at Zeugma, except for a few very fragmentary panels. Most of these panels are now on display in the Gaziantep Museum, where Önal works as an archaeologist. (The Danae mosaic was left in situ because the villa is located above the water level.) Önal was one of the scholars who worked nonstop to salvage the mosaics before the waters of the Birecik Dam inundated the site in 1999. The objective of the book was to present the Zeugma collection as a whole so that scholars could better evaluate the artistic elements of the mosaics such as decorative scheme, iconography, and comparative features with other mosaics. All of the approximately 50 mosaics date from the 2–3 C AD. Although the book is expensive, the detail and color of the plates are excellent. A map of the site with the locations of these finds would have been a helpful addition. With its collection from Zeugma, the Gaziantep Museum is clearly in the forefront to claim itself as the premier mosaic museum in Turkey. The museum in Antakya, despite its fine collection, is sorely in need of an update.