Earthquake precaution in the world's largest mosaic museum

400 small artifacts in the Hatay Archeology Museum, which some of it were damaged in the earthquakes, were sent to the Kırşehir Museum for protection against aftershocks and about 150 historical artifacts weighing tons are preserved in the museum with the formula of in situ preservation.

Debris removal works continue uninterruptedly in Hatay, which suffered the most damage in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, and there is a concern for historical artifacts in the Hatay Archeology Museum, which was partially damaged in the earthquakes. Noting that the museum, which was built in 2014, is built on bored piles and that the majority of the works in the museum are intact, Hatay Archeology Museum Director Ayşe Ersoy said, “Our museum is one of the most important museums in the world with an area of 10 thousand square meters, and it is also the largest mosaic museum in the world. A total of 3,000 works were exhibited here, of which 1,500 were small works and the others were large ones. Hatay is a city famous for its mosaics. Mosaics of Antiocheia Ancient City, Seleukeia Pieria, Alexandretta Ancient City, other ancient cities, villas and baths of this region are exhibited in this museum. All of the floor mosaics brought after the excavations of the 1930s and 1938 and the museum's recent excavations are also exhibited here.

Statue of King Suppiluliuma preserved in situ

Stating that the statue of King Suppiluliuma, which the people of the region showed the most interest and wondered about its latest status after the earthquake, Ersoy said, “After the Great Hittite Kingdom collapsed, the Hittites came to Southeast Anatolia and established small empires and city kingdoms. In this region, the Unqi/Patina Kingdom was established. He is a king belonging to the Unqi/Patina Kingdom. The 1.5-ton and 1.5-meter-high King Suppiluliuma statue was protected in situ because it was too heavy to carry.”

“150 artifacts were protected in situ against aftershocks”

Stating that the same practice was applied to the Antakya Sarcophagus, Arsuz Steles and the gigantic immovable artifacts, Ersoy said, “All the artifacts on display here have been moved to the Kırşehir Museum. Heavy artifacts, which are difficult to transport, were wrapped with geotextiles and etaform, and then surrounded by a light material, pozzolana, which we call lava ash, and protected in a steel cage. About 150 artifacts in heavy tonnage in our museum were protected in situ against aftershocks.