Dating the foundation of Apamea

It has taken much time and in-depth study, but in the end, Prof. Marek T. Olszewski from the University of Warsaw has reached the conclusion that Apamea was founded in 320 BC by Antipater and his son Cassander.

The theory had been suggested earlier (see: New theory about the foundation of Apamea) upon examination of the photographs of sections of a large mosaic that was discovered and looted in 2011 (see: The unique mosaic from Apamea). As the mosaics disappeared through illegal channels, the scholars only had these pictures taken shortly after the artwork had been unearthed to go by.

[Credit: Anonymous photographer, image modified and sharpened by D. Zielinska]

It had been established that the mosaics were probably made in de 4^th century AD but the presence of Antipater and Cassander was still raising questions. Until now, archaeologists thought that Apamea had been founded around 330 BC by Alexander the Great as Pella. A closer examination led them to believe that Pella was a Macedonian fortress founded after Alexander died in 320 BC; or that it was built by Antigonus Monophthalmus between 307 and 304 BC.

The latest analysis, however, is leading to a different conclusion. The mosaics do indeed show the foundation of the city (apparently on top of the fortress of Pella) in 320 BC by Antipater, who was still Regent of Alexander’s Empire after his death, and Cassander, who was commanding the Macedonian cavalry.

Around 300 BC, Seleucos I Nicator took the city calling it Apamea, as he named it after his wife, Apame. As an exception, she is being shown in the picture as well (a rare and unique event) sitting behind the table on which gold and silver coins are piled up to be used for the (re)construction of the new city (see: More illegal mosaics from Apamea).

Based on their latest analysis, researchers now agree that the discovery of these mosaics is very important for the history of the Middle East in Hellenistic times. They also believe that these pictures are inspired by paintings and texts from that era that have not reached us.

Apamea remained a powerful military center under the Seleucids and beyond when it became part of the Roman Empire. In the 4^th century AD, when these mosaics were created, the city was promoted to the capital of the Roman province of Syria Secunda. As such, it survived till the Persians destroyed it in the 7^th century AD. Apamea was eventually rebuilt to be finally abandoned after the severe earthquake of 1152.

It is most unfortunate that so much of the archaeological site of Apamea has been destroyed by IS and looters since my visit in 2009, hardly two years before the outbreak of the civil war in Syria. It will take more time still before law and order are restored in that part of the world.

New theory about the foundation of Apamea

In an earlier blog (see: Apamea, heritage of Alexander), I mentioned how the Macedonian military camp of Pella may have been founded by Alexander when he returned from Egypt in 331 BC.

The Hellenistic mosaics of Apamea that surfaced after clandestine excavations in October 2011 (see: The unique mosaic of Apamea and More illegal mosaics from Apamea) have triggered a new interpretation of the city’s history.

An in-depth study made by Marek Titien Olszewski and Houmam Saad and published by Academia.eu establishes that the foundation of Pella took place shortly after the Treaty of Triparadeisus in 321 BC upon the initiative of Antipater and inspired by Cassander.

By 300 BC, Seleucos renamed the city Apamea after his wife, Apame. Under his rule, it was turned into a military base where he kept 500 elephants and an extensive stud of 30,000 mares and 300 stallions.

A Census carried out in the year 6 AD, established that the population of Apamea reached at least 130,000 people – maybe even 500,000. All in all, a major city worthy of Alexander and his Successors!

More illegal mosaics from Apamea

When I wrote my previous blog, The unique mosaic from Apamea, I was not aware that there was more of the kind to follow. There is a much larger mosaic estimated to cover at least 19 m2 that is also high on INTERPOL’s list of illegal digs at Apamea in Syria.

Besides the panel discussed previously showing the foundation of Apamea by Seleucos I with his son Antiochus I, there are three more panels coming from the same source. Because of their size and magnificence, this entire mosaic is assumed to belong to a large room from a wealthy Roman residence. The top one depicts the foundation of Pella (as Apamea was called previously) by the legendary Archippos. The bottom panels illustrate the construction of a fortification wall around the city that holds monumental public buildings.

Based on the clandestine photographs of this floor, it seems that the very lower part and half of the central zone are missing. What remains is, however, of the highest quality and has been compared to the paintings from the tomb of Agios Athanasios (see: The Macedonian Tomb of Agios Athanasios in Thessaloniki) – not without ground.

The top mosaic portraying the religious foundation of Pella shows five Macedonian cavalrymen with their horses, shields, and spears on the right-hand side and five figures making cult offerings in the left corner. Three of these men have been identified as their names are inscribed in Greek. We read Archippos as the legendary founder of the city sacrificing a bull, flanked by Antipater and his son Cassander – all richly dressed in their best tunic and cloak and wearing a diadem.

The central part of the mosaic depicts the key moment of the foundation of Apamea, where Seleucos holds the ktistes, an architectural measuring instrument symbolizing him as being the founder. Around a large table filled with silver and gold coins, we find once again Archippos and Antiochus I, together with Antipater and Cassander, and most importantly, Seleucos’ wife Apame, who contributed lavishly to the construction of the city. All these figures are dressed in the same sumptuous outfits as mentioned above.

I fail, however, to understand the presence of old Antipater in the company of his not-so-beloved son Cassander. We will remember that Antipater named Polyperchon as his successor and not Cassander, so why would he have dragged his son along to Pella/Apamea? And for what reason would they both be present in Pella/Apamea in the first place? The article published in Popular Archaeology seems to place the entire scene around 321-319 BC when Antipater was regent and Cassander was the commander of the Macedonian cavalry in Pella/Apamea. Still, I wonder what their contribution was to the foundation of Apamea. The Roman vision of history in the 4^th century AD, some seven centuries after the facts, appears to be shrouded in mystery.

The background of this mosaic is, however, as exciting as the figures in the foreground, to say the least. We see huge defense walls encircling the city. Inside those walls, there is a large roofed temple with a high pediment supported by five columns. This temple is flanked by several other smaller and roofed buildings. Also recognizable is the large hippodrome or Roman circus, not unlike the one that has been unearthed in nearby Gerasa (which was founded about the same time) with a central spina delimited by little turrets. The figures on the left bottom part of that section are less obvious. They seem to be men working on the fortification wall, and a large ox is pulling something heavy.

The very bottom of the mosaic depicts a more idyllic suburban scene with, on the right-hand side, a lovely Roman Bath. Two distinct entrances can be seen, one probably leading to the cloakroom used by two women with small children and the other opening up above a ramp from which children are sliding down into the pool below. Very important, however, is the large noria (waterwheel) depicted on the left of this section. Until now, it was generally accepted that the oldest norias dated from the 5^th century AD, but this picture confirms that they were used already one full century earlier! Norias are still standing along the Orontes River in Hama (see: Hama and its norias), where in the 5^th century, some one hundred of them were still functioning. This makes you wonder how many of them were aligned along that same river here in Apamea!

All in all, these mosaic scenes are very revealing while, at the same time, they rise many new questions. It is not surprising to find them among the most valuable objects wanted by INTERPOL. It would be great if these masterpieces could be recovered someday, enabling professionals to examine them more closely.

[Pictures of the mosaics from Popular Archaeology]

Apamea, heritage of Alexander

If we believe ancient Egyptian, Ugarian, and Hittite texts, Apamea goes back to 2000-1000 BC. Under Persian rule, it was called Pharnake. Still, the city entered my field of interest with Alexander the Great, who left a garrison behind and renamed it Pella after his hometown. The name Apamea appeared in 300/299 BC when Seleucos, a successor of Alexander, created one of the grandest cities in the east.

We have to go back to the mass wedding in Susa in 324 BC when Alexander arranged a mixed wedding party for about one hundred of his close friends and generals to bring Greece and Persia together. Seleucos' bride was to be Apame, the daughter of Spitamenes of Bactria. This union must have been happy, for it is the only one to survive Alexander's untimely death in 323 BC. Apame accompanied her husband during all of his expeditions and campaigns, which could not have been very comfortable traveling. In any case, after conquering the east, Seleucos decided to move the capital of his empire from Babylon to Antioch-on-the-Orontes, today's Antakya, Turkey. The region pleased him so much that he decided to dedicate another beautiful city to Pella, which was founded initially for Alexander's veterans. He renamed it Apamea after his wife. Apamea became his most important city, together with Antakya mentioned above. Laudetia, as Antakya was known by Seleucos, was named after his mother. Seleucia-on-the-Tigris was named after himself – yes, his empire reached all the way from the Mediterranean to the Indus! Seleucos truly moved in Alexander's footsteps!

The location of Apamea is worthy of Alexander, high above the fertile valley of the Orontes River, right on the junction of the busy road that connected the east with Antioch. Approaching today's town of Afamia, the visitor will see antique Apamea atop a trapezoidal hill just behind the new settlement, shining like a crown jewel. Vast parts of the 16 km-long city walls from the 2nd century BC and more than one hundred watchtowers can still be seen, sometimes reaching as high as 10 meters. Apamea, I'm told, is four times the size of the more familiar Palmyra.

Pompey showed little consideration for Apamea when, in 64 BC, the city became part of the Roman Empire. Yet it rose again and peaked at the beginning of the 1st century AD when the total population ran close to half a million (of which 380,000 were slaves), counting 40,000 horses and 500 fighting elephants. Unfortunately, Apamea was entirely destroyed during the cataclysmic earthquake on 13 December 115 AD (an estimated 7.5 on the scale of Richter).

This was the time to reform Apamea from a typical Hellenistic city into a Roman one. We may owe it to Emperor Trajan, who resided in nearby Antioch-on-the-Orontes at the time of the earthquake and nearly lost his life in the disaster, to rebuild Apamea. He kept the original Hippodamian plan, which fitted the known Roman pattern anyway, with a Cardo and a Decumanus. Apamea was enhanced with bath houses and public fountains, and near the original Hellenistic Agora, a new temple was dedicated to Belos or Baal. Near the city walls, a vast theater was built on the prior Hellenistic foundations, and it equaled the theater of Ephesus with a seating of over 20,000 persons! Roman/Byzantine Apamea lasted until it was conquered by the invading Muslims in 636 AD.

I have great expectations when I finally visit Apamea. For years, I have been in awe of the magnificent columns and mosaics that are the showpieces at the Archaeological Museum in Brussels. There, I saw the spiral columns for the first time, and when I met them later on in Sardes and Ephesus, I mentally kept calling them "Apamea columns." It is worth mentioning that the area was first excavated by Belgian archaeologists in the 1930s, and the restorations started in the 1970s – hence the museum pieces.

I enter Apamea from the north, next to the Antioch Gate. I immediately stop in my tracks since what I see is a Hellenistic city gate, two round towers just like the better-preserved ones that guard the entrance to Perge, Turkey – definitely a piece of the heritage left by Alexander through Seleucos, of course.

Turning to the south, I face the most impressive Cardo Maximus, once a busy commercial thoroughfare and as Roman as you can find. And amazing it is: nearly two kilometers long and 38 meters wide, lined initially with 1200 columns, of which 400 are still standing, each approximately 9 meters high and generally crowned with Corinthian capitals. The spiral columns, I expect, show up further down the road next to the Agora; till then, they are just plain.

On my left, behind the colonnade and paved sidewalk, stand well-preserved facades of shops, up to the first floor with decorated window and door frames – ready for use, it seems. The pavement of the Cardo is pretty much intact and clearly shows the traces left by the many carts that delivered the goods up and down the street.

The Cardo, which almost resembles a boulevard, is crossed by two Decumani. The first crossing is marked by a 14-meter-high votive column resting on a triangular base, smack in the middle of the straight road – something I haven't seen anywhere before. Walking over this centuries-old pavement flanked by these giant guards looking down on you is quite something! The gray clouds blend with the gray weathered columns and contribute to the melancholic atmosphere.

Further down the Cardo, I find the Roman Baths built by Emperor Trajan (116-117). They are positioned so that the water can flow down with gravity from the city walls. They were rebuilt and renewed time and again until the 7th century and were still functioning during the rule of the Ayyubids and Mamluk. Excavation works are underway, and earthen water and sewage pipes have recently been exposed. A little further on, I recognize the inevitable Nymphaeum, and behind it, I discover the public latrines fit to receive 80-90 people – a cozy place. Closer to the city center stands a column decorated with a relief of Bacchus carrying the thyrsus staff and framed with vine motifs. This was once the basis of an arch signaling the entrance to a side street.

Finally, I reach the immense Agora (300 x 45 meters), where the typical spiral columns along the Cardo replace the otherwise unfluted ones. For me, this is how Apamea should be! After closer scrutiny, I noticed that the spirals twist alternatively to the right and to the left, which, from a distance, make a V-pattern creating a zigzag effect. Apparently, they date back to 166 AD. Three of these columns have a console holding a statue of Antoninus Pius, Lucius Verus, and Marcus Aurelius. Another one carried a statue in honor of Lucius Julius Agrippa, a leading citizen of Apamea, set up by Quintus Munatis Marinus, who had the title of Beneficiarius as he helped to rebuild the city after the devastating earthquake of 115 AD. Further West are the remains of the famous Temple of Zeus Belos, known for its oracles and heavily visited by the believers, which included Emperor Septimius Severus. This temple was used without interruption till Christianity took over in 384-385 AD.

This is where I have to end my visit. The day is hiding behind the lead-colored clouds, and I deeply regret that I cannot take a picture of the golden sunrays illuminating these majestic colonnades. It is too late to walk down to the famous and grand theater at the end of the next Decumanus.

Apamea is a top location to visit as the remains from Hellenistic and Roman times are so vividly present. As I mentioned above, the city suffered heavily from the Muslim invasion, leading to its decline. During the 7th century, however, Apamea experienced a short revival with the coming of the Crusaders. In 1106, Prince Tancredi from Normandy arrived at the head of the First Crusade, later to be promoted to Prince of Galilea and Regent of the Principality of Antioch. In 1157 and again in 1170, northern Syria was hit by a series of severe earthquakes, destroying Apamea and cities like Hama, Emesa (Homs), and Antioch-on-the-Orontes (Antakya).

It is certain that even in antiquity, Apamea appealed to everyone's imagination and received many important guests. Cleopatra VII stopped here on her way back from the Euphrates when she accompanied Marc Anthony on his campaign against the Armenians. Septimius Severus arrived in 179 as Legatus of the Fourth Scythian Legion, and later, in 215, Emperor Caracalla paid a visit on his way home after staying in Egypt. And now it is my turn!

At the foot of this marvelous city lies a caravanserai built around 1524 by the Ottomans, where merchants and pilgrims could rest and spend a night on their way to the Orontes Valley. The building has recently been restored and serves as a museum for the finds from Apamea, mainly grave steles and mosaics from private houses, among which is the exceptional mosaic of Socrates and the Wise Men. However, the largest and probably the best-preserved mosaic is to be found in the Archaeological Museum in Brussels.

[Click here to view all the pictures of Apamea]