fabulously expressive mosaic in the Mosaics Museum in Ma’arat al-Numan
Because they are so nice, and so intricately produced, I have selected a few more photos from the mosaics of the museum in Ma’arat al-Numan – photos from the mosaics that were exposed, or were being exposed for us; there are numerous works still covered, hidden under cloth or another form of protective material.
The amount of detail, and the expression that speaks from the mosaics, is incredible, given that the artists produced this with coloured pieces of stone only, some 2000 years ago. As is the fact that so many of these works have been brought together here, in the middle of a war zone, and have not been looted in the process.
mosaic with geometrical patterns
a young cow, perhaps? lovely excexuted, look at how the body shapes, especially the stomach, have been formed to create a sense of perspective
a lake scne, probably, with birds and ducks, and a fish at the bottom
some of the birds in close-up, and another fish
The museum was founded in 1987, in an old caravanserai, the Murad Pasha Caravansary built in 1565. The mosaics collected here come from the Roman and Byzantine Dead Cities. Opposition forces captured the museum in 2012, after which the place has been subject to government aerial bombing several times, with devastating results. Thanks to an organisation called The Day After Heritage Protection Initiative (TDA-HPI), in partnership with the Syrian Heritage Center (SHP), the works have been protected, and most of the immediate damage to the caravanserai restored.( https://www.asor.org/chi/reports/incident-report-feature/Ma%E2%80%99ara-Museum)
back to the Apamea entry of the blog. Or forward to Hama.
lion hunting a deer
the deer really loking frightened
and the lion, well, damaged by recent bombings, I suppose
another hunting scene, even more elaborate than the previous one; this one is dated 567 AD and used to be a church floor in a place called al-Hawwat
with anothher lion
jumping what is probably an ox
a bird watching
and another one, too, protesting with its wings
brightly coloured birds around a drinking vessel
and these ones, two white pigeons in a black-coloured tree
and what about this fish? fabulous!
The mosaics are really amazing!