Journal of Mosaic Research

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Mosaique de Dionysos découverte à Hiérapolis (Manbij) en Syrie du nord
(Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2023-06-28) Abdallah , Komait; al-Kaied , Mouhamad
In 2017, the remains of the two mosaics were accidentally found in the city of Manbij, 60 km northeast of Aleppo in northern Syria. These mosaics seem to be part of the same architectural context that has completely disappeared. The best preserved mosaic has a very interesting theme. It is the Dionysus scene with his thiasos including Satyr and Bacchant and leopard. There is also an other scene of landscape with river god and animals. The last one, so damaged, conserve just a mask and the rest of two personages and an amphora, beside it, there is an inscription mentioning Eros. The scene of Dionysus evokes the well-known figures in Zeugma and Antioch, Turkey, dated to the end of the 2nd century AD and the beginning of 3nd centuries. Perhaps, it represents the epiphany of the god. The others scenes are probably linked with Dionysus iconography. The mosaic could be dated, according to the stylistic criteria, to the end of 2nd century AD and the beginning of 3nd century AD. It attests the diffusion of the Dionysus cult in the city of Manbij (Hierapolis) in the roman period.