FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2000 Treasures saved from rising waters in Turkey by Molly Moore The Washington Post November 14, 2000 ZEUGMA, Turkey - Inch by inch, the rising waters of the newly dammed Euphrates River have been swallowing this ancient city of the Roman Empire: the 2,000- year-old public piazzas, the lav ish villas with their exquisite mo saic tile floors, the still-undiscov ered buildings with unknown trea sures. For four months, nearly 200 ar chaeologists worked frenetically to record and save artifacts from one of the best-preserved Roman cities ever uncovered. Last month, the race ended, with the waters of an artificial lake lapping at the last visible remnants of ancient stone work. The archaeologists rescued 10 complete mosaics depicting scenes from mythology and litera ture, the largest collection of Ro man government seals - more than 50,000 - ever found at a single site, bronze statues of Venus and nearly 2,000 other antiquities. “The degree of preservation and quality of the artifacts we're un covering could be compared to Pompeii,” said Robert Early, se- nior project manager for the Brit ish-based Oxford Archaeological Unit, which specializes in salvag ing endangered ancient sites. Now the water has submerged a third of Zeugma, including buildings and artifacts archaeolo gists simply ran out of time to ex plore and others that they pre served in mortar and sand to be rediscovered if ever the dam is Lott challenged to unite a divided Senate by Helen Dewar The Washington Post November 14, 2000 WASHINGTON - With his margin of control sharply reduced by last week's elections, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., is coming under pressure from both parties to aban don confrontational tactics that con tributed to the chamber's paralyzing partisanship over the past few years. Hard as it was to run the Senate this year with a 54-46 GOP majority, law makers say, it will be even more dif ficult for Lott to move legislation now that voters have given him the clos est Senate margin in nearly a half century: no more than a vote or two to spare. “We simply cannot continue the status quo,” said Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, a leading Republi can moderate, referring to the gridlock that occurred during the 106th Congress when Democrats pushed for votes on their initiatives, Lott blocked them and they retaliated with stalling tactics. Although he does not face a chal lenge to his reelection as majority leader, at least not so far, Lott is in a vise. He has to deal with Democrats to get anything done and satisfy GOP moderates, but if he tilts too far to the left, he could face an uprising on his right flank that could jeopardize his job. In comments since the election, Lott has sent mixed signals about his intentions. Lott took a couple of jabs at Sen.- elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, D- N.Y., prompting some angst in both parties. But by the weekend he was indicating - at least in general terms - that he is ready to work with Demo crats. “There are some things we can do together, and we'll have to,” Lott said on Fox News Sunday. Senators re ported that, within days of Tuesday's elections, Lott was soliciting views of colleagues by phone. As a result of the balloting, Demo- taken out of service The race to explore and preserve Zeugma - once a wealthy trading city and military post on the Silk Road, ancient Rome's route to China - is part of a broader struggle between Turkey's drive to modernize its economy and schol ars' efforts to save rare treasures from 10,000 years of history here in the ancient region of Mesopotamia. To provide electricity to its en ergy-starved cities and irrigate a broad swath of the arid, impover ished southeast, the Turkish gov ernment is building a network of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric plants and canals, at a cost of about $34 billion, across the Euphrates and Tigris river valleys. But the dams of the Southeast Anatolia Project will inundate hundreds of ancient archaeologi cal sites, only a few dozen of which researchers say they have any hope of salvaging from the reservoir waters. In the areas that will be submerged by just the next two dams built, archaeologists say they have identified 250 significant sites, only 30 of which are sched uled to be surveyed or partially ex cavated. As a result of modernization, ar- chaeological evidence is being de stroyed in an irreversible way,” said Numan Tuna, a Turkish pro fessor involved in surveying the newly threatened sites. “Culture needs to be protected. For many of our sites, it is already too late." Of all the threatened historical sites, none has attracted more in ternational attention than Zeugma, a city that disappeared 800 years erats are emboldened. Republicans are demoralized anil restive, and mod erates of both parties - despite few successes in recent years - are poised to push both parties toward compro mises that neither would choose if left to its own devices. Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle, D-S.D., whose clout was significantly enhanced by Tuesday's vote, has called for “power-sharing," including equal or near-equal repre sentation on committees, a voice for Democrats in scheduling Senate votes and an end to the GOP practice of blocking votes on Democratic amendments. Daschle's staff is al ready deep into research on how other legislative bodies divide power when the parties are closely balanced. Unless Lott gives Democrats the power their numbers warrant, “We will have total legislative chaos,” Daschle said in a post-election inter view. Perhaps more significant, some Re publicans, including conservative mavericks as well as moderates, are urging a vastly more cooperative ap proach by Lott and other GOP lead ers. “There's got to be more coopera tion ... more consultation,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who intends to pursue the reform agenda from his presidential campaign when the new Senate convenes in January. “The entire leadership has to change the way it does business,” including giv ing Democrats more committee seats and allowing allowing votes on their amendments, he said. GOP leaders must schedule action on major issues, some of which they tried to thwart this year, such as strong HMO regu lations, a prescription drug benefit for seniors, tighter budget controls and “a reasonable approach to gun con trol,” McCain added. When a Republican leadership that pushed for a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority only a few years ago is now straining to keep 51 votes, “You've got to know something's wrong,” said McCain. WORLD & NATION Archaeologists say the For four months, nearly 200 archaeologists worked frenetically to record and save artifacts from one of the best-preserved Roman cities ever uncovered; last month, the race ended, with the waters of an artificial lake lapping at the last visible remnants of ancient stonework. Work ers pictured here clean a rare stone tablet showing the Ist century king Antiochus I clasping hands with Apollo, the sun god. mosaics found here, which Poseidon perched in a golden adorned the floors ol reception chariot drawn by a pair of silver rooms and hallways in the city's horses, most opulent villas, are some of the Although archaeologists cover your butt, better yet, help cover your College can mean maneuvering through a lot of different things, but tuition payments shouldn't be one of them,;Tint’s where Army ROTC comes in. Here, you’ll develop skills that’ll last a lifetime. Meet friends you can count on. And have a shot at getting a 2- or 3-year scholarship. Talk to an Army ROTC advisor today, and find out more about our scholarship program. We’ve got you covered. ARMY ROTC Unlike any other college course you can take* best f inds of their kind from Roman days. One shows the sea god intact Call Marty at 898-7279 thieves - slowly chipped away at Zeugma's mysteries for nearly four decades, it was not until June that scientists began racing the rise of a 17-square-mile lake behind the Birccik dam, a half-mile away. With only four months remaining before the lake would claim Zeugma, the California-based Packard Humanities Institute of fered $5 million to finance an emergency rescue effort. “Normally excavations are planned years in advance and take years to complete," said David W. Packard, president of the institute. “This was compressed into a very brief period, with an extremely in tense rush of activity.” Archaeologists estimate they ac complished in four months here what usually would take about 10 years. Even so, they excavated only the one-third of Zeugma to be sub merged. No funds are available to explore the rest of the city. Archaeologists were amazed by what they discovered beneath 15 feet of khaki-colored soil and or chards of leathery-leaved pistachio trees. Zeugma contained more ex traordinary relics and was far bet ter preserved than had been be lieved. [til "This site is special because of the level of preservation" and the scale of the find, said Harlx. "This was about an entire city, not rooms in a house. We have a representative sample of the city of Zeugma from evolution to decline." Whether it was destroyed In earthquake or invasion - archaeolo gists and historians cannot yet >av Zeugma remained relatively un touched by later civilizations. The htst of its estimated 50,000 inhabit ants disappeared so quicklx that ar chaeologists have discovered ex pertly crafted figurines of copper al loys, coin-filled leather purses and a gold ring for sealing official docu ments - all items that normally would have been pilfered from such a site centuries aeo. Thbse artifacts will give histori ans extraordinarily detailed insights into the way the early Romans lived, worked and played. Already, ar chaeologists have examined the re mains of what they ate olive pits, lentils and wheat grains and glimpsed the lifestyles of the wealthy traders and militaiy com manders who resiiled in the citv's poshest suburbs. *■' •- ** ition]
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