Athar Tulmaythah Things to Do

This 2nd century marble statue shows the gladiator Epomedum.

Usually, gladiators were condemned criminals, prisoners of war, or slaves bought for the sole purpose of gladiator fights. There were also mercenaries in those days - professional gladiators who volunteered to participate in the games.

This second century statue of venus shows the goddess of love and beauty . She is
also known as Aphrodite in Greek Mythology.
Venus was born of the Sea and the Sky and is also associated with the rites of Spring and Fertility.

The city of Venice was named after this goddess, and also the planet Venus. Spiritual healing and astology charts are also affiliated to the goddess.

The mosaic of Medusa was found in the Villa of Columns.

Medusa was once a beautiful maiden with glorious hair, but Athena turns her into a monster in a rage of jealousy, turning her beautiful locks into hissing serpents. She became such a cruel monster that everyone who looked at her where immideately turned to stone in sheer fear. Athena leant her shield to Perseus, who also wore Hermes' winged shoes, and he approached Medusa while she slept, making sure he did not to look directly at her, but using her image reflected in the bright shield, he cut off her head and gave it to Athena, who fixed it in the middle of her Aegis.

Although best known as a Greek goddess, Medusa was actually imported into Greece from Libya where she was worshipped by the Libyan Amazons as their Serpent-Goddess. In her images, her hair sometimes resembles dread locks, showing her origins in Africa.

The central room in the msuem is dominated by the fabulous Four Seasons mosaic which was found in a villa on the site.

Starting from the top left and going in a clockwise direction, you can see Summer, Spring, Winter and Autumn.

Underneath the Forum are Africa's largest cisterns, a big complex of 15 cisterns, six metres deep, with six million cubic metres of water arriving through an aquduct from springs some 25 km away from the city.

Steps lead down into the cisterns, but I would not recommend entring if you suffer from claustrofobia.

It is from this colonnaded 2nd century BC private palace that the famous mosaic depicting the head of Medusa (now in the museum) was found. Next door was the dining room where mosaic fragments can still be seen. The centre of the villa contains a sunken swimming pool, surrounded by gardens complete with fountains.

The original structure was destroyed during the Jewish Revolution in AD 115-117. Later the villa belonged to a wealthy Roman merchant.

This Greek Odeon or Music Hall was once covered with a roof and could seat up to 500 people. Performances of Greek music would be accompanied by dancing. The statues of Claudius, Marcus Aurelius Antonius and Archimedes which were once found here are now in the museum.

Built in the 4th century AD for a prominent Roman resident. It is from its living room we get the beautiful mosaics found in the museum. The villa had three bedrooms, cisterns, kitchen, dining room and a room for collection water, its own frigidarium (cold room) in the north-eastern corner. as well as a semicircular courtyard where the florr was covered with mosaics. The shops along the street would have belonged to the owner.