Lebanon, again

Beirut (in the distance) seen from Byblos

For the second time in less than a year, I had the privilege to visit Lebanon. Starting in Beirut, where we visited the splendid National Museum again, we embarked upon a very, very leisurely trip around. At the Nahr al-Kalb, we managed to reach the inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, which is covered by all kinds of vegetation, and will soon have disappeared.

Byblos, which I could not really appreciate during my earlier visit because I did not understand its stratigraphy, turned out to be a lot more accessible now that I knew what to expect. It was interesting to think where Wen Amun must have built his tent and where the king must have had his throne.

We proceeded to the Kadisha valley, which is the heartland of Maronite Christianity. Before entering it, we visited Amioun, Bziza, and Aïn Akrine, three sites with Roman temples. In Bsharre (the town of Kahlil Gibran), we climbed to a Phoenician tomb, and had lunch with a view of the snow-covered cedar trees.

Cedar tree

After this, we visited the Bekaa valley and Baalbek. Because we had started early and had slept in a hotel in the valley, we could arrive very early in the morning, and were almost the only people at the site, except for the guards. Returning to our hotel, we passed along Qsarnaba, Niha, and Nabi Ayla.

We also saw the Palestinian refugees who had been bombed away from Damascus – but this is not the place to write about those poor people, who most certainly did not deserve this.

Sidon

Next day, it was raining cats and dogs, but we were in Sidon, where we greatly enjoyed watching how the storm pushed the surf against the sea castle. Some of the waves must have been fifteen meters high and it was really spectacular. The same can be said of the lovely mosaics in the Beiteddin palace. The last place we visited in Beirut was the museum of the American University.

There was a bonus, though: our airplane was delayed and we were unable to catch the connecting flight in Istanbul. So, our trip lasted an additional day, and we saw a snow-covered Hagia Sophia and, in the archaeological museum, the royal sarcophagi from Sidon.

Beiteddin

I cannot wait to go back to the only place in the world where you can listen to “o come let us adore him” and at the same time hear a mu’ezzin’s call for prayer. My Facebook photos are here and here; and today I added photos of the temples of Aïn Akrine, the rock tombs of Amioun, the Phoenician tomb at Bsharre, the sanctuary at Bziza, and the temple at Qsarnaba. Some older stuff from Lebanon is here.

Viminacium

Explaining the gate of the legionary base

The ancient city of Viminacium is situated at the place where the river Mlava empties itself into the Danube. This means that here, three important roads came together: the road upstream along the Danube to Pannonia and the Adriatic Sea, the road downstream to Moesia and the Black Sea, and the road along the Mlava to Naissus and the Aegean Sea.

It comes as no surprise that in Roman times, a legion, VII Claudia, occupied the city, while subunits of IIII Flavia and V Macedonica must have been stationed here as well. It would seem that Trajan used this place as his headquarters for the invasion of Dacia.

Today, there’s a big quarry, which is slowly “eating” the ruins. As is customary, the organization that destroys an archaeological site, has to pay for the excavation, and this means that Viminacium is now being excavated at a truly grand scale. It measures 450 hectares. A necropolis has already been investigated: there were no less than 13,000 tombs.

If you visit the place today, you can see the remains of an amphitheater (currently excavated with some American help), the northern gate of the legionary base, a bathhouse, and a mausoleum. Now this was really something! The pretty large tomb was the final resting place of a young man, and an older woman has been buried close to him, in a separate tomb within the enclosure. It has been assumed that these were the tombs of one of the sons of Decius, Herennius, and of Herennia Etruscilla. If this identification is correct, it’s the first time that archaeologists have found the actual physical remains of a Roman emperor.

The so-called “Mona Lisa”

If you visit the place, a guide can show two underground tombs, both Christian, with very special paintings. You must not be claustrophobic, because the very low corridor is deep underground. Nevertheless, this visit is certainly recommended, if only because here you can see a beautiful portrait of a woman, called the Mona Lisa.

Viminacium is, from Belgrade, an easy drive to the east. It takes about an hour an a half. There are many road signs and you cannot possibly miss the place. The finds from the necropolis, and other finds as well, are now in the three room museum of nearby Požarevac. We found it closed, perhaps because it was lunch time, but when we stayed in the garden to admire the nice tombs, someone arrived and opened the door. (If there’s one thing I learned during my visit to Serbia, it’s how very kind the Serbians are.)

Generally speaking, I think Viminacium is going to be a very, very important site, comparable to Xanten, Carnuntum, or Aquincum. There’s already a hotel for visiting scholars and scientists, and I expect this to become a real meeting place for visitors from all countries. I am really looking forward to returning to Viminacium every now and then, every time seeing how new things have been excavated.

The official website is here, my webpage is there.

Sremska Mitrovica, Archaeological Museum

Harpocrates

Situated on the North bank of the Sava, not far from the Danube, Sirmium was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. The Second Legion Adiutrix stayed here for a while, Trajan used it when he attacked Dacia, it was the place where Marcus Aurelius presided the trial of Herodes Atticus. No less than ten emperors were born in or near Sirmium, which became an imperial residence in the fourth century.

Today, it is a provincial town in northwestern Serbia, not far from the Croatian border. There is a beautiful church in the center, dedicated to Saint Demetrius. Next to it is the small archaeological museum. In the neighborhood, there are two excavations – the one in the northwest may have been a bathhouse, the other is a building next to the ancient hippodrome, which is now covered by a park.

The ancient imperial basilica – is this the place where Theodosius was presented as Gratian‘s coruler? – is now in a special hall, which I was not able to visit because it closed earlier than I had expected: at four o’ clock in the afternoon. Nevertheless, there were large windows, which allowed you to see quite a lot.

The museum is nice. Upstairs, there are several rooms with archaeological finds from the ancient city. You will see many objects from daily life, some small sculpture, weapons, a couple of frescos, a few inscriptions, and a bit of pottery. I liked the roof tile, made in 582, containing a prayer: Christ was asked to help the city halt the Avars, to protect the Roman Empire and the maker of the tile.

There’s also a courtyard with inscriptions. I saw records of II Adiutrix, XIII Gemina, I Minervia, and VIII Augusta, several nice reliefs, a couple of beautiful tombs, a mosaic, and – most of all – a wooden boat that lay almost unprotected. I was surprised to see a dedication to Neptune, so far from the sea. It is of course not the most beautiful museum in the world, but the people are friendly, and it is certainly worth a visit.

My article on ancient Sirmium is here, with many photos from the museum.

Edge of Empire

Cover

So, here it finally is: the cover of Edge of Empire. Rome’s Frontier on the Lower Rhine. The book is about the Roman occupation of the Low Countries – say Belgium, Netherlands and northern Germany – and contains every relevant literary text, the more interesting inscriptions, and a lot of archaeological information. Basically, my coauthor Arjen Bosman and I use the archaeological data to illustrate that all sources are prejudiced about the people living on the edge of the earth; at the same time, we try to show that you cannot interpret archaeological finds without a profound understanding of textual analysis.

The book has a history of its own. I wrote it in 1999 and it was published in 2000. The reviews were extremely favorable and it was recommended to university students. However, there was a quarrel within the publishing house, and the woman whose project it had been, went away. My book was sort of forgotten and disappeared from the bookshops. Still, I continued to keep notes and improve the text.

The “Lord of Morken”, a Frankish warrior (drawing Johnny Shumate)

Two years ago, another publisher, Athenaeum, decided to reprint it. I asked my colleague Arjen Bosman, who is a professional archaeologist, to contribute, because he knows a lot about the ancient Frisians, a subject that needed more attention. The book was adapted, renamed, and republished with all kinds of illustrations. Again, good reviews and even an award.

And now, Karwansaray publishers makes it available in English. This is also the publisher of Ancient Warfare, which means that it will have the same superb illustrations by people like Johnny Shumate, José Antonio German, and Graham Sumner, and maps by Carlos Garcia.

Publication date is, probably, November 11; ISBN 9789490258054. And if you want to order a copy, you can do it here.

Das goldene Byzanz

Saw and mill

“A series of one thousand years of crime, weakness, iniquity, and lack of character”: that is how Georg Hegel described the history of the Byzantine Empire. This image still exists – if there is an image at all, because the western world has almost forgotten Byzantium. In our schools, there is hardly any attention paid to the medieval empire, and in our daily conversation “Byzantine” is almost synonym to luxury, decadence, splendor, corruption, and overcomplexity.

One example may suffice: during last year’s primaries, the Republican candidate Herman Cain called for abolishing America’s “Byzantine tax system”. As a matter of fact, the Byzantines knew only two taxes: a poll tax and a land tax. Compared to this, Cain’s own 9/9/9 plan was quite, eh, Byzantine.

My fascination for Byzantium started when a friend took me to the Byzantine Museum in Thessaloniki. Since then, I have visited several other museums, churches, castles, and other monuments, in Istanbul, Greece, Syria, Israel, Italy, and Turkey. I have read several sources and once made a detour to Manzikert. So, it was inevitable that I would visit the exhibition “Das goldene Byzanz” in the Renaissance castle of Schallaburg in Austria, along the road from Munich to Vienna.

I do not regret it. There are beautiful animations, nice models (of a ship, for example), and good maps. The first thing you see is an engine that used a water-mill to saw natural stone. The number of objects is not very large, but they have been chosen well: beautiful busts, icons, and manuscripts.

Not just Byzantine objects, by the way. Sassanian, Arabian, Slavonic, and Turkish objects show Byzantium’s relations to surrounding nations. You will see both objects from daily and courtly life, although the stress is on the latter. (The title “Golden Byzantium” illustrates this.) The final room illustrates Byzantine influence on western civilization, and was the one room that might have been better: there is more to say about the subject and we also must say more about it. The catalog, on the other hand, is a good one.

If I may offer one point of criticism: the castle is a bit too small and dark for this exhibition. During my visit, two groups occupied entire rooms, making it difficult for other visitors to enjoy the many, many beautiful objects, which are certainly worth a detour.

“Die Welt der Kelten”, Stuttgart

Glass bracelet

When archaeologists talk about the Celts, they are usually referring to the Hallstatt and La Tène civilizations: the Iron Age cultures of the people living in Central Europe between, say, 850 and 50 BCE. Right now, there are two exhibitions in Stuttgart about the Celts, together called “Die Welt der Kelten”.

The first exhibition, “Kostbarkeiten der Kunst”, is in the Altes Schloβ. I liked it, even though I profoundly hate it when objects are left in the half-dark, just being beautiful in poorly-illuminated rooms. The quality of the information – important questions like “is this art?” were not ignored – offered sufficient compensation. Moreover, this exhibition is important. The idea is still alive that the Celts were making primitive imitations of classical art. The fact that Paul Jacobsthal’s Early Celtic Art, which was published in 1944, is still a standard work, proves that the subject is a bit ignored.

Princely tomb

The other exhibition, “Zentren der Macht” in the Kunstgebäude, was even better. It is about the history of the Celts, and while the first exhibition was a successful attempt to explain an unusual type of aesthetics, the second one is an extremely successful attempt to introduce you to the ancient people themselves. The two first rooms allow you to understand the problems (“what is a Celt?”, “how reliable are the sources”), and after that, there is the real story.

Dying Gau (Rome): a Celt from the migration age

You can see how social stratification came into being when Celtic leaders managed to control the trade in Mediterranean products. These people were very rich, as you can deduce from their splendid tombs. Agricultural innovations made them even wealthier. After 400, the Celts started to migrate: peasants and bands of warriors reached Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

The end of the exhibition illustrates its high quality. You learn that around 80/70, the great settlements came to an end, and after that, you get information about the campaigns of Julius Caesar (58-50) and Augustus (20-15). In this way, the traditional account, based on written sources, that the Roman conquests put an end to the Celtic states, is challenged. You learn that textual and archaeological evidence are asymmetric.

Yes, this is a good exhibition. And it is so nice to see al those objects together: the Coligny calendar, the Warberg warrior, the finds from Eberdingen-Hochdorf, a copy of the Vix crater. There are animations, models, and drawings; quotes from the ancient authors are written on the walls, and are clearly secondary to the archaeological evidence.

I would have loved to know more about the place of the Celts in nineteenth-century European culture. It was believed that they were, for their own good, subdued by the Romans, and this made them the ancient counterparts of the subjects in the European colonies. I am not convinced that this image is now completely dead.

Heuneberg

Another point of criticism is that photography is prohibited. Granted, there is a good catalog, but catalogs never show the objects from the angle from which you want to study the object. There ought to be some kind of rule against this prohibition, which is the museological equivalent of the paywalls that scientistific publishers use to keep information away from the people who are most interested.

There are two small additional exhibitions, one for school classes and one about the excavations at the Heuneberg (“das Schwäbische Troia”). You will need about five hours to see it all.

Meanwhile, in Syria

Shelled: Crac des Chevaliers

There’s a civil war in Syria. I always feel it is somehow inappropriate to talk about archaeology, classics, or heritage, when people are fighting to survive. Nevertheless, I think it is not unimportant to pay some attention to the damage to the cultural damage. Here is a report by the Global Heritage Network. It’s quite depressing. Below is a quote from page six. After that, there are forty-five other pages.

Sites known to have been affected by the shelling are:

• World Heritage Site – (parts of the) Archaeological Villages of Northern Syria, in particular al-Bara, Deir Sunbel, Aïn Larose.
• World Heritage Site – Bosra.
• World Heritage Site – Crac des Chevaliers.
• Tentative World Heritage Site – Apamea and the citadel of Qal’at al-Mudiq. Also the town surrounding the citadel, which is known to date from at least the 16th century. Damage has been confirmed at the 16th century Mosque al-Tawhid, and is suspected at the Islamic caravanserai which forms the museum.
• Tell Sheikh Hamad (Dur Katlimmu) – Assyrian temple collapsed after shell fire and the site was “transformed into a battlefield between deserters and army”.
• Mosque of Idlib Sermin (Fatimid era).
• Mosque of al-Tekkiyeh Ariha minaret destroyed.
• Al-Qusaayr – Great Mosque and Mar Elias monastery damaged.
• Mosque al-Herak in the Dara’a region.
• Oldest mosque in city of Sermin.
• Our Lady of Seydnaya Monastery – Earliest part of monastery dates to early Christian era (circa 547AD) – shell through back wall.
• Tomb of the Sheikh Dahur al-Muhammad in Rityan, in Aleppo province.

Additions to Livius.org (very minor)

The entrance of the Hellespont

I visited Turkey and returned with some new photos. You can find them on the pages dedicated Tenedos, Abydus, to Adana (a nice photo of Hadrian), the Hellespont, Alexandria in the Troad, Alexandria near Issus, the river Scamander (I like this page because it combines photos from four places), and the funeral mound of Caracalla’s favorite Festus at Üvecik Tepe (scroll down a bit). It’s mostly from museums I visited, and not really important.

There’s also a photo of the battlefield at Aigospotamoi, but the steep shoreline on the site made me wonder whether the identification was right.

Çanakkale, Archaeological Museum

Phial from Tenedos

Çanakkale is a few kilometers east of the ruins of Troy, but it appears that few visitors of the ancient city also go to the museum. We were the only ones over there, and the guards had to switch on the light for us.

It’s a shame, because the four large rooms of the Çanakkale museum are very much worth a visit, and the collection is larger than you realize when you are standing in the garden. The finds are from several archaeological sites on both sides of the Dardanelles.

Among the highlights are some figurines of musicians from Assos, ceramics from Tenedos (Bozcaada), a sarcophagus from Atikulac with obvious Persian influences, and a late archaic sarcophagus with the killing of Polyxena that ought to be shown in any textbook of art history. You will be surprised to see the finds from the Dardanos tumulus, which reminded me of the rich funeral mounds from fourth-century Macedonia: very nice wreaths made of gold for example, and fine statuettes, including a beautiful Aphrodite, inspired by the Cnidian statue of Praxiteles.

I was surprised that there were so few finds from Abydos, ancient Çanakkale. Nevertheless, they include a splendid archaic Perseus and the lovely tombstone of one Agathe, daughter of Papos, buried by the Boule of Abydos.

So, this is a museum that is certainly worth a visit, and a visit can easily be combined with a trip across the Dardanelles, to Eceabat, ancient Sestus: the ferry is not far from the place that was once bridged by Xerxes. On the European shore are the monuments of the soldiers who fell during the Great War; after a visit to that delightful and nice museum, where you realize which beautiful things humans can make, a visit to the battlefield memorials makes you realize that we’re also capable of doing the worst.

Amphipolis

Orestes and Electra

The site of Amphipolis is known under various names. It was originally named Nine Roads, its port was called Eïon but in Late Antiquity renamed Chrysopolis. The changing name suggests a stormy history, and that’s more or less true: Thracians, Persians, Athenians, Macedonians, Romans, and Byzantines all play there roles. It is not exaggerated to say that the history of Amphipolis is a summary of all classical history.

The Livius-website already had a page on the town, but today, I added lots of photos. It’s about half of what I have, but I plan a second improvement. For the moment, go here.

Lebanese Antiquities

The Great Temple of Niha

When we announced that we wanted to visit Lebanon, many people thought that we had gone mad. After all, when we in Holland read about the country of the ancient Phoenicians, it is usually because of some eruption of violence. And indeed, the last chapter of the Footprint Handbook for Lebanon is a depressing catalog of disasters.

Nevertheless, the country appears to have come to rest, and I think it is useful to write briefly about our too short holiday. We were not disappointed and have already decided to return. Lebanon has much to offer to tourists, and tourists – for example, the lovers of ancient history that read this little blog – may help the country overcome some of its traumas. I promise you: you will like it.

• A Nation Divided
• Travel
• Hotels and Restaurants
• Books
• What to see
• Other

And related:

• National Museum, Beirut
• Archaeological Museum of the American University, Beirut
• Google Earth markers of ancient monuments in Lebanon
• The abduction of Europe
• Gaius Velius Rufus
• Aïn Akrine
• Amioun
• Baalbek
• Beyrut
• Bsharre
• Bziza
• Faqra
• Lebanon and Bekaa
• Machnaqa
• Nahr al-Kalb
• Nihata
• Qsarnaba
• Tyre
• My Dutch notes

Lebanese Antiquities: What to see

The cella of the Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek

[Back to overview]

The main ancient monument in Lebanon is, of course, Baalbek. The temple of Bacchus is bigger and better preserved than the Parthenon in Athens; the temple of Baal-Zeus-Jupiter next to it must have been one of the largest shrines of the ancient world (after the Egyptian temples, of course).

National Museum

Beirut is a very modern city, which is currently being rebuilt, so don’t expect too much of the ancient ruins. This is the place to be if you like modern architecture. Still, it has two of the best museums in the Middle East: the National Museum and the Archaeological Museum of the American University.

We loved the Roman ruins of Faqra and Machnaqa, but were unable to visit Yanouh, Afqa, and Sfiré. The Roman temples at Niha were splendid – do not forget to go into the cellar of the great temple.

The Crusader Castle of Byblus

To the north, there is Byblus, which has been inhabited for thousands of years. You can see Neolithic and Chalcolithic buildings, temples from the Bronze Age, Phoenician royal tombs, a Persian terrace, Greek and Roman structures, a mosque, a perfectly preserved Crusader castle and ditto church, and so on. If you go up north from Beirut, do not forget to visit the reliefs at the Nahr al-Kalb, where about every army has left an inscription – from Ramesses II to the Lebanese army that forced out the Israeli troops in 2000.

Remains Tyre’s Crusader church, with pillars from the Temple of Melqart

I really loved Tyre, which offers two big excavations. At Al-Bass, there’s a hippodrome and a large necropolis, while at Al-Mina, you will see the remains of the city itself. Here are also the remains of a Crusader church, which is more or less on the place of the ancient temple of Melqart.

This was only a selection. If you want to see all sights mentioned by Guillaume Gernez and Ingrid Périssé-Valéro, you will need about two weeks.

[Back to overview]

Beirut: Archaeological Museum of the American University

Sarcophagus in the garden

What is the best archaeological museum in the world? If size matters, it’s not unreasonable to mention the Louvre and the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul. For art historical impact, go to the Vatican. The quality of the information? Maybe the museums of Berlin. Or the Archaeological Museum of the American University in Beirut.

This comparatively small museum cannot boast that it owns very famous works of art, but nevertheless, it is very interesting. Take, for instance, the display of Chalcolithic objects, which explains the differences between the Hassuna, Samara, and Halaf styles; next to it is a display that helps you understand Naqada. When you look at the display of ancient glass, you will also see a picture of a fresco from Rome’s Villa Farnesina that helps you understand how those small phials were used. This is not a museum for art lovers, but for archaeology students who have to learn how to recognize the ancient cultures.

Among the objects I liked were a nice bronze statuette of Reshef; two fish-shaped jugs from Byblus; some Phoenician inscriptions; a fine black bust of a pharaoh of the twenty-fifth dynasty; a nice dromedary (Persian period); a splendid Greek philosopher; busts from Palmyra, and a large mosaic from a Byzantine church, ‘said to be from Beirut’, which made me wonder how you could possibly forget where you discovered a mosaic of twenty-five square meters. Some objects – like milestones, inscriptions, and a sarcophagus – can be seen in the garden.

In short, this museum is almost perfect. If I have to express a wish: I would have liked explanatory signs that told where objects had been found, or indicated that this was unknown.

There is something odd about this place. Even though admission to the museum is free, and although it easy to find, we found ourselves the only visitors, except for the cleaner. This is undeserved, because this is an archaeological museum of exceptional quality.   Photography is not allowed, but you can ask for a permit.

Beirut: National Museum

Vatican VIPs

The National Museum of Beirut is one of the most interesting museums I have ever visited. The first surprise is the building itself, which is in some kind of Egyptian style. Inside, it is essentially a very big hall with lots of fine sculpture, surrounded by a gallery (on the first floor) with other types of ancient objects.

Among the highlights are a stela of Ramesses II from Tyre; the sarcophagus of king Ahirom (or Ahiram) of Byblus, with the oldest known inscription in Phoenician letters; a splendid Egyptian colossus, also from Byblus; several ‘thrones of Astarte’; a Persian-style column from Sidon; a beautifully sculpted, Hellenistic tribune from the sanctuary of Eshmun at Bustan esh-Sheikh; a fine bust of Septimius Severus; a third-century mosaic of the Seven Sages from Baalbek; some mosaics and several sarcophagi, including one with scenes from the final book of the Iliad.

In the gallery on the first floor, you will find all kinds of statuettes, weapons, and idols from Byblus; lots of jewelry; coins; a very fine Dionysus from Tyre; Byzantine carvings and some finds from the Islamic age. The last display contains some objects that were damaged during the Civil War. After all, the museum is built on what was once known as the Green Line: the frontier that divided Beirut. A badly damaged house, just northwest of the museum, is a reminder of the horrors.

It is quite a distance from the center of Beirut, so you need a taxi to go there. You need several hours to see all, and there is a nice bookshop. Across the street is a small restaurant, where we had some pizza and ayran.

Rome, Museo delle Mura

View from the tower

The museum of the Roman city walls may not be the most famous of Rome, but it is worth a visit. Situated in the ancient Porta Appia, now known as the Porta di San Sebastiano, it offers a lot of information about the history of the defenses of the eternal city.

You enter the museum through the western tower. The two main rooms are situated over the gate itself, and when you look through the windows, you can see what the soldiers must have seen when they operated the catapults. In these two rooms, texts and photos explain the history from the age of Romulus until 1870: Roma Quadrata, the Servian Wall, the Aurelian Wall, and the medieval expansions surrounding the Borgo and connecting it to Trastevere.

The rooms in the eastern tower offer a couple of models, while a small room upstairs above the entry contains stone decorations from medieval towers. From here, you can ascend to the crenellations and the roof of one of the towers. The terrace offers you a splendid view of the Aurelian wall, the Parco degli Scipioni and the Roman countryside, dominated by the Alban Mount.

Perhaps you will remember that some ten years ago, part of the southeastern sector of the Aurelian Wall collapsed after some heavy rains. You will see photos of the situation in the 1990s, after the collapse, and after the repairs. An inscription commemorating earlier repairs by pope Innocent X and his coat of arms are now on display.

In general, a nice museum, although perhaps more for people fascinated by army matters than for a more general audience. A visit can easily be combined with a trip to the Via Appia, which starts at this very gate.

Death of a Museum

Today, the authorities of the Dutch province of Gelderland decided to terminate their support of Orientalis near Nijmegen, a beautiful, century-old museum park, dedicated to the cradle of monotheism. To renovate the park and make it ready for another century, 14 million euro were necessary and had been agreed upon: 2 million from private donations, 6 million from provincial funds, and 6 million from state funds. The Dutch government, which is trying to save on museum expenditure, had already decided to stop paying, while the province cannot pay an additional 6 million.

The end of one the most lovely “living history” parks in the world does not come as a surprise; still, it is a shock. Of course, a state monument is just a monument and 6 million is a lot of money. They could throw away only a few billions to bail-out our banks. Below, you can find an article I wrote in happier days.

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Synagogue, reconstructed

Sometimes, the history of a museum is as interesting as its collection. The Dutch Museum Orientalis near Nijmegen was founded almost a century ago -in 1911 to be precise- and was meant to offer a taste of the Holy Land to Christians who were unable to travel to the Levant.

It was unique. Of course, there were other living history parks, like the Pompejanum (1848), the Saalburg (1897), the Kerylos villa (1902), but these were inspired by Greece and Rome. The Holy Land Foundation, as the Dutch museum park was originally called, concentrated on Palestine. In an age in which Catholic art was inspired by the Neogothic architecture and the Beuron Art School, it was revolutionary to show Christ as a human being living in Palestine.

My parents took me to the Holy Land Foundation in the early 1970′s. You could see a Jewish village with a synagogue (photo above), reconstructions of the Sanhedrin and the Palace of Pilate, Golgotha and the empty tomb. In the late afternoon, we attended a passion play. Although I was six or seven, I thought it was too pious, too devote.

Roman street

It must have been one of the last passion plays to be performed over there, because at that moment, the original museum park was already changing. It had been intended to bring people closer to Christ, and give them more love in their heart. There is nothing wrong with that. But the old kind of devotion was no longer popular. Instead, the museum started to stress the Jewish-Roman environment in which Jesus lived. For example, a nice street in Roman style was added (second photo), with expositions in the houses. From a visit in the 1990′s I remember beautiful models of Deir el-Medina, the Athenian Acropolis and Jerusalem.

The Temple, model from Orientalis

Nowadays, the museum park is meant as a meeting place, where people can learn about the three main monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. You can see some multimedia presentations about, for instance, religious dress, food, and habits, and about more serious themes like religious hatred and religion as source for peace. The oriental landscape serves, as the museum says, as background for a “meeting of minds”.

Reenactors

Some time ago, I was in Nijmegen and made a walk though the park. It must have been my fourth or fifth visit. I was amazed by the high quality of the earliest reconstructions. The men who designed it, had travelled widely through the Middle East, and their Jewish village is an exact copy of a Palestine town.

Of course, we can now see that their orientalist philosophy was wrong: they believed that modern Palestine could help us understand the life of Christ, which implied that they thought that nothing had really changed over there – a rather unkind vision on the creativity and originality of the people living in Palestine. Still, their idea to put that Jew of Nazareth back in his original context, instead of reducing him to a European, artistic icon, is worth consideration, and I am glad that the old buildings are now on the Monument List.

Edge of Empire

Yesterday, the Bryn Mawr Classical Review published a very kind review of De rand van het Rijk, the book about Germania Inferior that I published with archaeologist Arjen Bosman. What I like very much about this piece is that the reviewer, Birgitta Hoffmann, stresses an aspect that I also consider to be very important:

… the rise of the Frankish kingdoms as very much influenced by and the direct result of the history of Germania Inferior and Gallia Belgica from the third century onwards, rather than as a separate historical phase distinct from the preceding Roman empire.

The review was a complete surprise, because I did not know that my publisher had sent a copy of this Dutch book to a foreign journal. Even better, the article appeared just one day before I met the director of my English publisher, Karwansaray.

Today, we discussed the translation. For example, there will be some changes, because the Dutch version assumes knowledge of the topography of Holland and Belgium. Some photos need to be replaced, we need to take into account some new finds (like this one), we can benefit from other maps, we will add a long list of nice museums in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

The project will start in January, and I think it’s not unreasonable to expect that the book will be in the shops in the Spring of 2013. The book already won an award and now has a very good review. As we say in Holland, this will be “an unrelenting bestseller”.

Maastricht, Derlon Museum Cellar

Derlon Museum Cellar

The beautiful Derlon Hotel in Maastricht is very much part of the city’s history. It is situated on the lovely square Onze Lieve Vrouwe-plein, in the very center of the old town, and it is almost a century and a half old. That does not mean that the hotel itself is old-fashioned. Several years ago, it was completely rebuilt. During the construction works, archaeologists found several Roman remains, which have been left visible in the Derlon Museum Cellar.

It is all very neatly explained. There are several levels, the oldest of which dates back to the first half of the first century. There was a small paved road over here. Other levels date to post-70 and to the middle of the second century. From about 200, there is a layer of gravel, which covered a field between a sanctuary, a gate, and something that was probably a shop. The gate has been rebuilt in Museum Park Archeon.

Reconstruction of the temple gate, Archeon

To be honest, we are not really certain that there was a sanctuary. However, the remains of a Jupiter column have been found, and although these monuments may have stood anywhere, they suggest that the gods were venerated in the neighborhood. Besides, next to Derlon Hotel is the basilica of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, a very, very old church, which may well have replaced an older, pagan sanctuary. One day, excavations may take place over there. (BTW: the pilgrim is to say a beautiful but curious prayer, in which he almost blackmails the Virgin.)

If you want to visit the Museum Cellar, just go to the hotel and ask. The people are really kind, and will usually allow you to go there. Perhaps they will ask you to return a bit later. However, officially, it is only open on Sunday. Hotel guests can always visit the place.

Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe; two oval enclosures visible

If someone would have asked me which excavations I would have liked to visit, I would have answered, without a monent´s thought, that my favorites would be Jiroft en Göbekli Tepe. Jiroft I will visit, inch’Allah, within a couple of months, but I no longer have to wait for Göbekli Tepe.

It is, to exaggerate a bit, the place where we can see the rise of mankind as a civilized being. Some 12,000 years ago, when the latest Ice Age was over, a process started that is known as the Neolithic Revolution: the rise of agriculture.

Göbekli Tepe proves that, when this process had only just started and mankind still consisted mainly of hunters and gatherers, monumental architecture was already possible. Hundreds of people must have been working on this site, so there must have been some kind of efficient leadership. We can even speak, very tentatively of course, about their beliefs, because Göbekli Tepe is a sanctuary and some of the statues may represent deities or ancestors. We will never be completely sure, of course, but it remains a fascinating thought.

Pylon 12

The first thing we saw was a couple of dromedaries and the caravan in which the German excavator, professor Klaus Schmidt, has his office. We saw Enclosure E (“the rock temple”, but essentially a wide, rocky plain) and Enclosures A, B, C, and D, where tall, T-shaped pylons used to stand in a circle or oval. The satellite photo above shows two of these ovals. They date back to the age that archaeologists call “Preceramic Neolithic A”, or the period between 9500 and 8300 BC.

Several pylons are decorated with arms and must resemble humans. The sides often show animals, like snakes, foxes, and ostriches. These statues are very primitive, but radiate a kind of power that I find hard to describe. This is art, and these pylons show that humans are cultural beings. To quote Schmidt: it is like a theater, and although we can no longer see the play itself and can only see the set, we know that the actors have put on the scene a truly grand play.

The visitor of the world’s oldest known sanctuary will be accompanied by a guard, who will, at the end of the tour, sell a book, Sie bauten die ersten Tempel, written by professor Schmidt. I have now read about half of it and am very enthusiastic about the way he explains everything: very seriously and without unnecessary hypotheses. The guard offered me to ask Schmidt’s autograph; the scholar made it clear that he was actually a bit too busy, which I liked. Academics who waste time giving autographs, are to be treated with some distrust.

Getting there

From Sanli Urfa, where some of the beautiful finds are shown in the museum, it is easy to reach the excavation. Leaving the city center, you take the road in the direction of the suburb of Kara Köprü. At the great roundabout on the city’s northern edge, you take road D400 to the east, to Mardin. You will already have seen the brown signs to Göbekli Tepe. After 13 kilometers, you turn to the left and continue, even when the road is, for a short distance, unpaved. If this doesn’t work, ask directions for Örencik.

Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gazi Antep

Theonoe

Zeugma, “bridge”, was the Greek name of a Hellenistic town on the banks of the Euphrates. When a dam was built in the river, about 30% of the archaeological site was submerged. There were excavations, and the archaeologists found beautiful mosaics, which were brought to the museum of Gazi Antep.

Now, they have a museum of their own, which was opened last week. You can still smell the paint.

The Zeugma Mosaic Museum is splendid. It consists of two wings; the left one is finished, the right one still has to be completed, although we found the door open and were able to admire the collection as well.

A visit to the left wing starts with a little movie in which Zeugma is explained. The voice-over is a bit overenthusiastic and the music is at times bombastic, but it’s nicely done. Unfortunately, there’s similar music in the museum itself; not too loud, but still sufficiently annoying to distract.

You can see the mosaics from two levels: on ground level, you can see them as they must have been experienced by the people of Zeugma themselves, from the first floor, you have a better view. On this floor, you can also see some other mosaics, including a 20 meter wide one from a church near Zeugma.

One of the finest displays is a mosaic of which a part was stolen. In the old museum, there was a large question mark; now, they project a slide of the missing part.

Explanations are Turkish and English, and very interesting. The catalog costs no less than 245 lira, or 110 euro, which was more than I was willing to pay.

The comparison with Athens’ Acropolis Museum was inevitable. In the museum in Gazi Antep, some improvements are possible – the music and an affordable catalog for instance. Yet, photography is allowed, which makes the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, from the point of view of the student who wants to recall what he has seen and share it with others, a better museum.