Largest museum cleaned from traces of flood

ŞANLIURFA

Cleaning and restoration works of historical artifacts continue in the Şanlıurfa Archeology and Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum, which was affected by the flood disaster that occurred on March 15 in the southeastern city, causing the death of 18 people and injuring 62 people.

The museum, which has been closed for months, will be opened to visitors next year after the restoration is finished.

Şanlıurfa Archeology and Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum Complex, which is Türkiye’s largest museum, was established on an area of 200,000 square meters near Balıklıgöl, the symbol of Şanlıurfa, and opened to visitors in 2015. It was one of the places that received the most damage during the flood disaster on March 15.

The flood occurred as a result of the overflow of three streams in the city, and the basement of the archaeological museum, which has a closed area of 34,000 square meters and where approximately 10,000 artifacts are exhibited, remained under water.

The area, where works such as the warrior Amazon women are exhibited, the mosaic of the life story of Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, created on a single panel, the Orpheus and Funeral Feast Mosaic brought from abroad, and the floor on which the mosaics unearthed from the excavations in the city are exhibited, were also flooded.

After the disaster, the waters that that buried the Roman-era mosaics were drained and the mud layer began to be cleaned by restorers of the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums.

It was reported that the flood disaster did not cause any damage to historical artifacts in the museums where restoration teams still continue their work.

While the museum entrances were closed with police barriers, renovation works were carried out on the walls of the museum that were damaged in the flood. It was noted that the work in the museum will continue until the end of the year and the historical works are set to be opened to visitors in January 2024.

Opened in 2015, the museum offers visitors the opportunity to see the adventure of human beings from the first ages to the present time with historical artifacts, animations and imitations.

The finds unearthed during the excavations in many parts of the city, including the zero point of history, Göbeklitepe, and the unique mosaics depicting amazon women are being examined by restorers.