68 - ROMAN MOSAICS - ZEUGMA

Roman Mosaics of Zeugma (Turkey).

Zeugma City

Zeugma is located at the ancient crossing Bridge across the river Euphrates, on the Silk Road

Originally, the ancient city of Zeugma was founded as a Greek settlement by Seleucus I Nicator, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, in 300 BC.
The population in the city at its peak was approximately 80,000.
In 64 BC the city was conquered and ruled by the Roman Empire. During the 5th and 6th Centuries the city was ruled over by the Early Byzantine domination. As a result of the ongoing Arab raids the city was abandoned.

Zeugma, means "bridge-passage" or "bridge of boats". 
During Roman rule, the city became one of the attractions in the region, due to its commercial potential for its geo-strategic location : the city was an important point in the Silk Road that connecting Antioch to China.

Zeugma mosaics have long been recognized for their exquisite detail and beauty. One of the most famous is the Gypsy Girl.

Gipsy Girl 

The team led by Prof Kutalmis Görkay of Ankara University unearthed three remarkably intact glass mosaics at the site.The finds are estimated to be 2,200 years old.

                                   The nine Muses. Image credit: Ankara University.

                           Ocean and his sister Tethys. Image credit: Ankara University.    

The Mosaics

Roman mosaics probably evolved from Greek art and were used in private or public mode as floors of a building , featured on walls and vaults.

Techniques

Mosaics were created with small pieces of materials . An individual tile of these materials is called a tessera; the plural is tesserae. Originally, naturally small, colorful stones were used for tesserae, but the ancient Romans began the practice of cutting large panels of stones into tesserae to ensure the same shape and size of each piece.

Marble and limestone were two of the most commonly used stones because they are soft, break easily into predictable shapes, and naturally appear in a variety of colors.

Later , glass were occasionally used as tesserae, as were small pebbles and precious metals like gold.

 Traces of guidelines have been found beneath some mosaics, either scored into or painted onto the mortar bedding.

The design might also be pegged out in string, or mounted in a wooden frame.

The mosaic technique developed the "Emblem", the "heart" of all mosaics, one small mosaic featuring a little genre scene or still life, characterised by particularly thin tesserae made separately and mounted in a central or important position in the main panel.

Sources :

-http://www.sci-news.com
-https://en.wikipedia.org
-http://study.com
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