The Tryphe mosaic in Zile became public in May 2025 after an illegal excavation in the garden of a country house. The first report described a pavement with Greek lettering and a female figure in an exposed area of about 3 × 3 metres. Rescue work around that initial opening subsequently revealed further mosaic scenes.12

When a mosaic is discovered, the image tends to attract attention first. As excavation proceeds, its surroundings become crucial: a wall, a threshold between rooms, the deposits beneath the floor. These relationships help establish what the building was, how it was used and when it changed. They define the larger task facing archaeology at Zile.34

From the first reports to rescue work

DHA’s report of 7 May 2025 records an intervention against the illegal dig on the previous day. The dimensions of that first opening should not be treated as the size of the entire work. A June report describes an enlarged area and newly exposed scenes. The first public photograph and the subsequent excavation therefore represent different stages of exposure.12

On 27 May, Anadolu Agency reported that Tokat Museum had begun a rescue excavation, planned to last a month with a team of about twenty. Its report of 23 June recorded the completion of that period and an application to the Ministry for further work following the discovery of additional mosaics. The initial campaign had also established the need for a wider investigation.52

Overhead view of the exposed mosaic area at Zile. İHA, May 2026; the photograph does not show the building’s full limits. İHA / Yasin Kıras; report dated 6 May 2026, video edition of 7 May, image via Tokat Haber 60 / Kelkithavadis. source page (opens in a new tab) · İHA

Two institutional notices add to the record in July 2025. Zile Municipality announced a site inspection on 16 July; Amasya University announced on 17 July that faculty members and graduate students had joined the rescue excavation conducted by Tokat Museum. These notices document the participating institutions and the chronology of the work.67

Two rooms and a possible courtyard

Specialist statements published in May 2026 brought the architecture into focus. In an İHA interview, archaeologist Semih Yaşar Çizikci described traces of two rooms and proposed a columned courtyard and a larger villa. Earlier accounts had used descriptions such as palace or important social building. These are proposals about function, rather than conclusions drawn from a fully exposed plan.829

The richness of a pavement does not by itself name the room. Entrances, adjoining spaces, water installations, wall junctions and traces of use need to be examined together. An elaborate floor can occur in a private house as well as in another kind of building. At Zile, documenting a wall or threshold may therefore be as informative as exposing another figure.103

A separate site near the theatre

According to archaeologist Murat Tekin’s statement in May 2025, the mosaic site is about two hundred metres from the Zile Castle Ancient Theatre excavation. He associates the find with the lower part of the ancient settlement. The presence of both a performance building and elaborate pavements in the vicinity provides a starting point for investigating Zela’s urban fabric.11

The theatre excavation and the mosaic rescue excavation are separate sites. Published reports for the theatre’s 2022 and 2023 seasons describe its seating, orchestra and architectural findings. They do not supply an equivalent account of the mosaic building’s rooms. How the two sites connected through streets or other structures remains a question for a future reconstruction of the town plan.312

What excavation leaves behind

Excavation must record evidence while removing deposits. Once an object has been moved, its level, orientation and relationship to other finds cannot be observed again in the same way. For a mosaic, an overall photograph is supplemented by plans, condition records, cracks and treatment histories. This documentation serves both the interpretation of the building and its future maintenance.13

Fieldwork on the mosaic pavement at Zile, published by DHA on 5 May 2026. DHA / Gökhan İçkilli–Fatih Yılmaz; report of 5 May 2026. source page (opens in a new tab) · DHA

Scientific publication of the Zile discoveries will turn today’s interest into a more detailed account. The documented story currently runs from the first inscribed floor through rescue excavation to further scenes and proposals about the building. The dates on this page belong to published records. Current fieldwork and visiting arrangements require a separate announcement from the responsible institution.28

Notes

  1. 1DHA (opens in a new tab). Tokat’ta izinsiz kazıda Antik Yunanca yazı bulundu · Demirören News Agency (DHA). source record ab
  2. 2AA (Habertürk) (opens in a new tab). Tokat’ta mozaik bulunan alanda başlatılan kazı çalışması tamamlandı · Anadolu Agency (AA) · agency copy published on Habertürk. source record abcde
  3. 3Tekin et al. 2024 (opens in a new tab). 2022 Yılı Zile Kalesi Antik Tiyatrosu Arkeolojik Kazı Çalışmaları · 43rd Excavation Results Meeting (Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı), vol. 6 (2024), pp. 151–160. source record abc
  4. 4Alberti, Bourguignon and Roby 2013 (opens in a new tab). Technician Training for the Maintenance of In Situ Mosaics · Getty Conservation Institute · Institut National du Patrimoine. source record ↩
  5. 5AA (Odatv) (opens in a new tab). Roma dönemine ait mozaik bulundu · Anadolu Agency (AA) · agency copy published on Odatv. source record ↩
  6. 6Zile Municipality (opens in a new tab). Mozaik kazısında inceleme · Zile Municipality. source record ↩
  7. 7Amasya University, Graduate School of Social Sciences (opens in a new tab). Tokat/Zile’de enstitümüz Tarih Anabilim Dalı öğretim üyeleri ve lisansüstü öğrencileri, Tokat Müzesi tarafından yürütülen mozaik kurtarma kazısına katıldı · Amasya University, Graduate School of Social Sciences. source record ↩
  8. 8İHA (opens in a new tab). İkinci Zeugma Tokat’ta gün yüzüne çıkartılıyor · İhlas News Agency (İHA) · agency copy published on Adana Masası. source record ab
  9. 9DHA (opens in a new tab). Tokat’ta ‘Çingene Kızı’ benzeri mozaik gün yüzüne çıktı · Demirören News Agency (DHA). source record ↩
  10. 10Princeton y1965-216 (opens in a new tab). Mosaic pavement depicting the drinking contest between Herakles and Dionysos · Inventory y1965-216. source record ↩
  11. 11AA (opens in a new tab). Kaçak kazıda ortaya çıkarılan Roma mozaiği Zile’nin tanıtımına katkı sunacak · Anadolu Agency (AA). source record ↩
  12. 12Tekin et al. 2025 (opens in a new tab). 2023 Yılı Zile Kalesi Antik Tiyatrosu Arkeolojik Kazı Çalışmaları · 44th Excavation Results Meeting (Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı), vol. 2 (2025), pp. 439–449. source record ↩
  13. 13Alberti, Bourguignon and Roby 2013 (opens in a new tab), pp. 7–29. Technician Training for the Maintenance of In Situ Mosaics · Getty Conservation Institute · Institut National du Patrimoine. source record ↩