Famous Hatay mosaic to be promoted in Paris

HATAY – Anadolu Agency

AA photo

A Roman-era mosaic that was unearthed at a construction site in the southern province of Hatay in April will soon be promoted in Paris. 

According to a statement made by the municipality, the “skeleton mosaic” will be promoted to the world on Oct. 25 as part of the “Mosaic Road project” by the ONE Association, which aims to promote Anatolian mosaics to the world.

The visual materials of the mosaic, which includes a message that has been interpreted as “be cheerful, live your life,” will be shown to UNESCO delegations, international investors, academics, artists and diplomatic circles. 

Hatay Metropolitan Mayor Lütfü Savaş said the unique mosaic is expected to attract great interest in Paris. 
He said the promotion of the mosaic on an international platform would contribute to cultural tourism in Anatolia.

“The artifact proves to us that Hatay was the city of peace even thousands of years ago. Even though today Hatay is affected by the incidents in the bordering country of Syria the most, we have not experienced a serious incident to destroy peace in the city. The reason is the culture of tolerance in this land,” he said.

The mosaic, which is called the “skeleton mosaic,” belongs to the dining room of a house from the third century B.C.

The phrase on the mosaic reads “run to food,” “inconvenient time” and “cheer” but it can also be translated as “be cheerful, live your life,” according to Hatay Archaeology Department Professor Hatice Pamir and Hatay Archaeology Museum Director Nilüfer Sezgin, who have prepared a report on a mosaic.

But writer and researcher Murat Bardakçı claimed the writing on the mosaic was wrongly interpreted.

“The mosaic says, ‘You get the pleasure of the food you eat hastily with death,’” wrote Bardakçı in daily Habertürk on April 27, while adding that it could be a quotation from a famous person of the era.