Unique book on Zeugma supports museum, captures the interest of tourists

The book, about the ancient city of Zeugma discovered on the outskirts of Gaziantep's district of Nizip, located in southern Turkey, is part of an ongoing effort to publicize the ancient city that was founded in 300 B.C. and contains mosaics from the Roman era. Önal, in statements made to an Anatolia News Agency reporter, said that they planned on having the book for sale, of which 5,000 Turkish and 5,000 English copies have been printed so far, on the special provincial administration's stand located in the museum.

Önal said the 224-page book had 111 photographs, and added: "There is very profound information in the book supported by Gaziantep University (GAZÜ) about the chronological history of Zeugma, excavations, research, and the introduction of villas and mosaics. Especially the quality of the pictures that have been taken from bird's eye view of the ancient city of Zeugma, as well as the Eros-Psikhe mosaic that symbolizes love and the soul and featured on the cover of the book, brings an exceptional visual element to the publication."

Önal indicated that of the 10,000 copies that have been printed, 1,000 have been distributed so far, adding that, "We give the book out free of charge both within Turkey and abroad to public and private organizational representatives and archaeological experts."

There will be an emphasis on the publicizing the museum

Stressing that in 2007 there will be an emphasis on publicizing the museum, Önal said: "We have taken an important step in the publicity of the museum with this book; we plan on following this with other efforts such as booklets, introductory CDs and brochures. We have also been able to qualify for the finals of the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA). I definitely consider this to be a success in the publicizing our museum internationally."

Publicity events held both within Turkey and abroad have resulted in a surge of visitors to the museum, Önal said, adding: "In 2005, 42,000 visitors came to the Gaziantep Archaeology Museum, of which 4,000 were foreigners. In 2006, this number went up to 68,000, with 4,000 of the visitors being foreigners. Our goal is to increase our visitors to 150,000 in 2007."