Please click for download - Türkiye

MUSEUMS / 164
At the end of the tour, you can
drink tea, in the cafeteria, and
shop for some souvenirs for your
loved ones.
Gaziantep Zeugma Mosaic
Museum, Convention and
Cultural Center
The idea for a museum to display
the history of Zeugma was first
brought up by Gaziantep Metropolitan
Municipality. When it is
completed, the mosaics, which are
currently being displayed in an
area of 550 square meters, will
be exhibited in a 1,500 square
meters area. It will be the second
biggest mosaic museum in the
whole world, and the biggest mosaic
museum in the history of Turkish
Republic.
Gaziantep Zeugma Mosaic Museum,
Convention and Cultural Center
is being built on a land which
is 6,250 square meters. According
to the blueprint of the museum,
it will consist of 3 main buildings,
and each building will have
3 levels. If we go into the details:
the first of these buildings will be
a Mosaic Museum, the second one
will be an Archeology Museum,
and the third one will be used as
an exhibition and conference hall.
When it is completed, there will
be 2 conference rooms and a convention
center for exhibitions and
cultural activities. Besides the
cultural functions, it will have
places like food courts, gift shops,
and social activities.
Hasan Süzer Ethnography
Museum
This Museum was converted from
an old Antep House, and restored
as a museum by Hasan Süzer. It
is located at the parish of Bey in
Hanifo¤lu Street. After the restorations,
the building was given to
Republic of Turkey Ministry of
Culture and Tourism to be used as
Hasan Süzer Ethnography Museum.
The building was constructed in
XIX century on a stone cellar. It
consists of three stories. It also
has two doors in the front and one
in the back. When you go in from
the engraved door in the front,
you enter the court called “Hayat”.
If you go in from the small
door, you enter the section called
“Selamlik”, which was the part
of the house reserved for the men.
Hayat is decorated with colorful
stones. In the studio downstairs,
you can see some handmade artifacts
and reenactment of people
knitting, and weaving. Other than
the two rooms in the groundlevel,
there is a kitchen / bathroom called
“ocakl›k”.
In the first floor’s hall, there is a
water fountain that catches attention
with its stonework and colored
surface. Other than that, there
are three rooms facing the court
of the house.
In the past, the families lived really
close to each other. Most of
them lived in the same house. On
the second and third floors, there
are designated rooms for the bride,
mother-in-law, sister-in-law,
tandoor, and workshop. These rooms
were decorated with local artifacts,
and mannequins to reenact
the past. Also there is a section
called “Güvercinlik”, a quiet
place to relax on the way to terrace.
In the basement, there are
earthenware jars which were used
to store molasses and olive oil,
pantries, and two water wells.
MUSEUMS / 165
Also, there is a room to display
some documents and the pictures
of martyrs, ghazis, the weapons
and the vehicles used during the
Defense of Antep.
Yesemek Open Air
Museum
The Yesemek Open Air Museum
and Sculpture Workshop, a part
of Gaziantep Museum Administration,
is located in the southeast
of Yesemek Village of ‹slahiye
District of Gaziantep, on the side
of Karatepe Hill. It is known as
the Sculpture Field in the region.
It is considered as a unique places
in the world.
Between XIV century and VII
century BC, it was the biggest
stone quarry and the sculpture
workshop in the near east.
It is about 113 kilometers away
from the downtown of Gaziantep,
and 23 kilometers from ‹slahiye
District of Gaziantep. The road is
completely paved, and there is
transportation from ‹slahiye District
and also from Akbez – Kilis
intersection.
In the literature, the museum is
known as Yesemek Stone Quarry
and Sculpture Workshop. The field
consists of purplish grey basalt
stones. These basalt stones
are very durable and have very
small openings. Therefore, they
are considered as top quality. Yesemek
starts from the banks of
the river and goes up 90 meters
high. The total size of the area it
covers is about 300 X 400 meters.
So far researchers have located
over 300 basalt statues and
inscriptions in different stages of
sculpting.
The site was first discovered and
introduced to the world in 1890
by Felix Von Luschan while he
was doing excavations. After a
series of systematic archeological
excavations, researchers were ab-
le to uncover about 300 sculpture
pieces and sketches. Gaziantep
Museum Administration has done
the landscaping in the area and
transformed it into an open air
museum.
According to the historical documents,
the worksite was opened in
the second part of 2000 BC by
the Hittite Emperor Suppiluliuma
I. Some text states that it was not
opened by Hittites; it was already
opened during Hittite occupation.
With Hittites, it was improved.
Also, historical documents state
that, besides Hittite artists, there
were also Hurrian artists sculpting
in the site. The stone quarry
and sculpture workshop were closed
right after Sam’al (Zincirli)
Kingdom was defeated by Assyrians.
The locals who work in the
mine evacuated the region.
In VIII century BC, the workshop
was closed by Assyrians and all
the artists were taken to Assyria.
Therefore, the life in the worksite
stopped and remained like that
till it was discovered in 1890.
In the museum, there are sphinxes,
guardian lion statues, sitting
lion statues, statues of a lion with
wings, God of mountain embossments
representing Amanos Mountains,
war scene embossments,
architectural remainders are being
displayed in a natural atmosphere.