Zeugma: The City of Antiquity

The whirlwind tour that will take in Şanlıurfa and Adıyaman before we return to Gaziantep two days hence has begun. Day 1 … from Gaziantep to Şanlıurfa, some 96 miles away.

We organized this tour through a small agency that was recommended to us by friends who used to live in Gaziantep. Considering COVID-19 is still rampant, we opted for a more pricey private tour for the three of us … in the company of Ali, our driver/guide.

Our first stop was Zeugma, the archaeological site of the city of antiquity. We arrived just before 10:00a, went to the visitor center where we paid our admission, which was covered by the MüzeKart, used the facilities, and took photos of the Euphrates and the nearby lands that escaped the floods when the Birecik Dam was built. Finally, we picked up some hot tea at the café and began the short trek to the area where some of the terrace houses sat under the protection of a metal roof … a structure not unlike the one that protects the terrace houses of Ephesus.

Built by one of the generals of Alexander the Great and the founder of the Seleucid Kingdom, the city dates back to 300 BC. Situated on the hills overlooking the Euphrates where the river was at its shallowest, it was an important city both militarily and trade-wise. At the time, the name of the city was Seleucia. In 31 BC, the city became part of the Roman Empire. Together with a city that Seleucus I had built across the river to honor his wife, and which was connected by a bridge, the city took on the name of Zeugma in reference to the bridge that connected the two cities. The city was destroyed by the Sassanids in 253AD but was later rebuilt. It survived until the 7th century when it was abandoned following Persian Sassanid and Arab raids. The latter lived there for a while, but eventually the Ottomans built the village of Belkıs near the ruins (17th century).

The sporadic excavations of the site took on urgency in 2000 with the decision to build the Birecik Dam on the Euphrates. Fearing that the antiquities would be lost to the world when the land was flooded, emergency excavations were undertaken to preserve the amazing mosaics … which now reside in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum. Statues and other artifacts are now on display at various museums, including the Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology.

With our ultimate destination still hours away, and other stops planned along the way, we saw little more than the terrace houses. I’m glad we at least saw that much … and had a chance to see some of the mosaics that remain in situ.Read more