When I arrive at the site there are a number of places I am interested in seeing but what stands out the most to me were the floor mosaics and the smaller bath. I think the mosaics are fascinating because of their ability to carry meaning beyond words in a middle ground of somewhat more direct expression than architecture. There is intent behind creating something purely artfully as opposed to constructing something perhaps artfully but primarily for more direct use. In particular the mosaic of Ganymede being carried off really stands out to me because Zeus is not portrayed as an eagle or hawk but as a crane or heron. It’s a purposeful choice to move away from such usual depiction and the considerations for why it was changed are so interesting to me. Perhaps its a joke about the pygmies or a local version of the story or any other number of thing. Such meanings change over time and really hit on the power of perspective and place through physical art. Beyond that the smaller bath stands out to me because of the 17th century coin hoard discovered there. A time also far older than any living person yet similarly far from the end of the physical sites use. The hidden bodies of those violently killed as well as its initial use as a bath present this flowing image of change in this smaller less important bath which I find very compelling.
As for what I want to learn and explore, I want to see those layers being peeled back and explored and questioned. To explore the nature of a place that was made stagnant, trapped in a bubble of time, yet once alive flowing and changing for hundreds if not thousands of years. When we look through our window into the past I want to explore the natural change and effects of time. I want to learn about use and meaning, how people’s lives were affected by their environments and changed because of it. I want to see whatever piece of those forgotten and lost stories I can, and feel their history come alive in my fingers and together in my mind. I want to learn what can only be learned through physical experience and through the practice of archeology.
But before the dig begins and I arrive in Gazipaşa I would like to see the coast and the sea. The Mediterranean, the middle of the land and the connecter of so many famous and great civilizations. Yet the sea also remains far older than humanity itself. I should like to explore the district as well and see the shops and restaurants of Gazipaşa, as well as to see if there are any hiking trails near the mountains. I would like to try out my new and unsteady Turkish with the district’s people and to learn about the local culture of such peoples. But before all else I wish to view the sea.