The Turkish farmer comes across the unique Roman mosaic

Artnews – Late last year, a farmer in eastern Turkey discovered a rare, largely intact Roman mosaic while planting a cherry orchard. Spanning almost a thousand square meters, the mosaic is thought to be the largest example of its kind discovered in the country.
 

Hidden for hundreds of years under 50 centimeters of soil in the village of Salkaya in Elaziğ province, 300 miles east of Turkey's capital, Ankara, the mosaic is believed to have been made in the late XNUMXrd century.
"It is the first of its kind that has survived to this day as a whole and in the portrayal of animals, all of which were once found here," said Emre Çayır, the lead archaeologist on the dig. "There may be larger mosaics in Turkey, but they consist of geometric patterns or mythological subjects." The State Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of Elazığ is supervising the excavation.
Featuring a rare Anatolian leopard, the mosaic is designed as the "Salkaya mosaic". It shows a series of hunting scenes, including a lion chasing a goat, a leopard killing an ostrich, cornered hounds, a wild boar, and a deer escaping the clutches of a bear. Quieter moments are depicted, birds of prey resting under pomegranate trees and near blooming roses. Çayır said the scenes portray "an expression of the eternal cycle of nature".

"The lion and the bear represent authority in the Roman tradition and the depiction of hunting dogs reminds us that humans are part of the food chain, the masters used the metaphor to convey these ideas," he added.

Farmer Mehmet Emin Sualp bought the land and started planting cherry trees in 2023. In September, he reportedly came across the mosaic while digging and contacted the state museum in Elaziğ. Archaeologists completed the conservation work this year. They said a bathhouse, a cult house and several other buildings may have existed in the nearby area spanning 65,000 square meters. A basalt road, irrigation canal and a potential wine-making calcatorium have also been discovered by archaeologists.

Turkey's Ministry of Culture has not yet decided whether the mosaic will be moved. One possibility is to build a complex on the site so that the mosaic can remain in place. Those plans will depend on what else is found during the excavation process, provincial governor Numan Hatipoğlu said.