Anatolia’s Largest museum cleaned from traces of flood

The Şanlurfa Archeology and Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum, which was impacted by the flood disaster that struck the southeast city on March 15 and resulted in the deaths of 18 people and the injuries of 62 others, is still cleaning and restoring historical artifacts.

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 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 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 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.

Renovation work was done on the museum’s flood-damaged walls while police barriers blocked off the entrances to the museum. It was noted that the historical works are scheduled to be opened to visitors in January 2024, and that the work in the museum will continue through the end of the year.