Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Hama, SANA- A team from Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) has finished the restoration of a mosaic panels discovered during the Syrian Arab Army’s sweeping operations in the area surrounding Uqerbat town in the eastern countryside of Hama after Daesh (ISIS) was evicted from the area.
Speaking to SANA, Head of Antiquities and Museums Department in Hama Abdul-Qader Farzat said that in order to preserve its artistic and archaeological value, a team of technical experts and archeologists cleaned the panel and moved it to the warehouses of Hama National Museum where the necessary rehabilitation and restoration work was carried out for it to be exhibited later in an appropriate place.
He added that the 450 square-meter panel which is a church floor dating back to the fifth century AD consists of three Byzantine-era mosaics; the first of which is rectangular, 8 meters long and 7 meters wide, decorated with plant motifs of heart-shaped tree pallets and interspersed with drawings of several species of birds, such as peacocks, halves, pigeons, ducks and parrots, with a written text in the center composed of 6 lines in Greek.
There is also a symmetrical scene of several birds surrounding the peacock and a drawing of a standing animal believed to be a deer under a tree that may be a pine tree or a cedar.
The second panel is believed to be an extension of the first, containing geometric drawings, in the center of which is a rectangle within which Greek writings are inscribed confirming that it dates back to the fifth century AD.
The third painting, which is the most profound, also includes drawings of animals and plants that are not entirely clear.
These panels confirm that the archaeological site was a religious center at that time, according to Farzat.
Last September, the Syrian Arab Army reestablished control over Uqerbat town after the elimination of the last terrorist gatherings in it.
Manar al-Frieh/Manal
