Excavation teams from Turkey, Italy, Syria and Tunisia participate in a project that is being carried out in the southeastern city of Gaziantep”s Zeugma ancient city. The goal of the project titled ’Displaying on Site” is to keep the artifacts in the ancient city in their own place and to display them there. EU will give a fund of one million euros for the project
A cultural education project ’Displaying on Site,” prepared jointly by Zeugma Excavation Team and Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, has been accepted by the European Union to receive funding of one million euros.
’Apart from Turkey, also Italy, Syria and Tunisia are participating in the project,” said Zeugma Ancient City Excavation Team Chairman assistant professor Kutalmýţ Görkay.
Noting that Turkey, among four participants, will be the main recipient of the funds, Görkay said, ’I estimate that the project will be put into effect this or next year. Our aim is to train people on how to display on site. Professional Italian restorers, Tunisian museum experts and Syrian archaeologists will come to the ancient city of Zeugma to work together.”
Görkay said Tunisia is among the most experienced contributors on museum excavations, adding, ’We will develop mutual concepts with Tunisian partners. In the past remains used to be replaced after the end of excavations, now people can see historical artifacts at the places they were found. Europeans and Americans are used to put them on museum display. They are learning about the world in closed spaces. In the past traveling was much more difficult. But today people are interested in discovering cultural artifacts, as they can see mosaics in their own countries anyway. When they travel, they want to feel the difference.”
Görkay said the best example of the project were the Ephesus hillside houses, which after renovation, made the visitors experience the atmosphere of ancient households. ’One cannot have the same impression in museums, where usually random objects can be seen. For this reason we wanted to carry out this project. Seeing something is quite different from feeling something, and we hope to achieve it in Dionysus houses in Zeugma.”
Example to others
Görkay believes that the project will be a good example to others in Turkey. ’There are many ancient cities around the country, but the biggest problem is their preservation. If we transform them into open-space museums, the issue will be solved,” he said, adding that in these type of secured places different types of long-term works can be held.
Domestic News - Anatolia News Agency
