Mosaic Floor Uncovered in Southeastern Turkey

MARDIN, TURKEY—A 1,500-year-old mosaic has been found under an abandoned water mill in the Cag Cag Stream Valley of southeastern Turkey, according to a Turkey Today report. The mosaic features a geometric pattern and the inscription “Tittos Domestikos.” Idris Akgul of the Mardin Museum said that mosaic represents flooring in a building that may have belonged to a civil official named “Tittos.” “Domestikos,” he added, may refer to a title in a military unit or church hierarchy. The pattern of the flooring combines squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles with wave, knot, cross, and infinity motifs. The mosaic appears to stretch over a larger area than has been explored to date, Akgul explained. To read more about this period, go to "Byzantine Boomtown."