As you read the exciting tale about the effort to save the fabulous Roman mosaics of Zeugma in eastern Turkey (“After the Flood!”), an interesting question may occur to you, as it did to me. What are they doing so far from the center of Roman civilization? This is in the hinterland of the Roman Empire, 1,400 miles from Rome itself.
You will note that in the article itself the quality and the extent of these mosaics are said to compare with those from—where? Answer: Tunisia. Modern Tunisia boasts that it has more ancient Roman mosaics than Italy. And here in eastern Turkey are more of that caliber. Another instance of the finest surviving products of a glorious ancient civilization not at its center, but at its periphery.
The most fabulous paintings from any ancient synagogue are found where? Jerusalem? No, at another eastern outpost of the Roman Empire, in modern Syria, at a site called Dura-Europos.
The earliest archaeological inscription that mentions Israel—from the 13th century B.C.—was found not in the Promised Land but in Egypt.
And the only ancient reference to King David outside the Bible was also found far from Jerusalem, at a site in northern Israel called Tel Dan.
What does all this mean? In my mind, it emphasizes several things. One, of course, is that only infinitesimal bits and pieces of ancient civilizations have survived. Another is that often comparatively little survives at the centers of civilization, especially where people have continued to live over the centuries, destroying what lay below in order to create their own later structures. The archaeological situation is further complicated when a contemporary modern city thrives on the same site as the ancient one.
This suggests that we must be very cautious in our interpretations—for at least two reasons: the very paucity of surviving remains and the skewed nature of the remains that are available to us.
A final thought: If the peripheries have produced so much beauty, imagine how glorious the centers must have been.
But perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps there are factors I have failed to consider. Or assumptions I have made are contrary to the facts. If so, I know our readers will not be reticent in telling me so.
As you read the exciting tale about the effort to save the fabulous Roman mosaics of Zeugma in eastern Turkey (“After the Flood!”), an interesting question may occur to you, as it did to me. What are they doing so far from the center of Roman civilization? This is in the hinterland of the Roman Empire, 1,400 miles from Rome itself. You will note that in the article itself the quality and the extent of these mosaics are said to compare with those from—where? Answer: Tunisia. Modern Tunisia boasts that it has more ancient Roman mosaics than Italy. And […]
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