The Apamea Museum, build by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman al-Qanuni in 1531, is the most deep-rooted museum in the East, displaying the rarest mosaics and showcasing the greatness of the people that inhabited Apamea two thousand years ago.

Director of Apamea Department of Archeology Abdel-Wahab Abu Saleh said the Apamea Musem was renovated in 1976 to display the most important mosaics discovered in the area, with 11 of the rarest mosaics distributed between two sections.

The Eastern section contains mosaics dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries AD, including a mosaic from the 5th century depicting Socrates surrounded by his students.

Other Mosaics include a depiction of a beauty contest, presided upon by the Greek god of the sea Poseidon along with sea nymphs and Cassiopeia, the daughter of Zeus, who is shown being crowned as the most beautiful woman.

 

The Eastern section also shows a mosaic depicting a gazelle surrounded by flowers, symbolizing fertility, in addition to a mosaic knows as "the cathedral" from the 5th century, depicting animals that symbolize good defeating evil. Another mosaic depicts the Amazons, the warrior women of Greek mythology, riding horses and chasing wild animals

The Western section contains six mosaics dating back to the 6th century AD from the Hortah archeological site, including a mosaic depicting Adam surrounded by tame animals, a mosaic the mythical Phoenix bird, and a mosaic found in St. Michael's church depicting a man leading two horses carrying a howdah with the inscription "Georgeos Claudios" above them.

Museum Director Nader Lada'a said the museum contains a number of unique statues, including a rare statue of an eagle dating back to the 2nd century AD. The statue, which is 1.5 meters high and was found in the Eastern area of Apamea, is a symbol of the Roman army.

Other notable statues include a marble statue of a headless woman depicting the Roman goddess of health, in addition to a 40 CM high marble statue of two incomplete nude male and female figures. Both statues date back to the 2nd century AD.

The Museum's also houses three 1.5-meters-high stone statues of Roman kings sitting on limestone thrones dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, in addition to two statues of the Greek sun god Helios and the Palmyran sun god Yarhibol.

Other exhibits include five stone sarcophagi, three of which were placed in church and used to keep the remains of the saints, in addition to 11 crowns of Corinthian columns which are known for their distinct plant-shaped patterns, 12 clay jars, and 40 clay oil lamps.

The Director noted that the most important exhibits in the central courtyard are 150 funerary headstones and obelisks bearing Latin and Greek inscriptions detailing the name and rank of Roman officers, in addition to other obelisks and columns dating back to the 2nd century AD.

 SANA