In the southeast of Turkey, in the ancient city of Zeugma, archaeologists have discovered two rooms carved into the rock, dating back to the 2nd or 3rd century BC, according to the Daily Mail.
Experts believe that the found rooms were used as a "dining room", and the house itself belonged to an influential family who held dinner parties here many centuries ago.
The found rooms are decorated with intricate mosaic patterns. The head of the excavation, an archaeologist from the University of Ankara, Kutalmis Gerkay, noted that this proves that "the owners of the building were intellectuals and aesthetes."
Now work in the chambers has been suspended, as Gerkay's team is busy reinforcing dangerous cracks in the ceilings. Still, archaeologists hope to complete the excavation later this year so that visitors can see the ruins.
In this area, many other ancient mosaics, frescoes and architectural structures were previously found (excavations have been underway since 2004). Some are several thousand years old.
The ancient city was founded by the Greeks in 300 BC. not far from the Taurus Mountains and the Euphrates River and was originally called Seleucia. At the peak of its development, about 80 thousand inhabitants lived here. Around 64 BC. the city was conquered by the Romans, who renamed it Zeugma.
