Posted 11 years ago
newmood
(2 items)
I picked up this cameo in Antakya, Turkey which is commonly referred to in the Bible as Antioch. While visiting the city, I stopped by a local bazaar and saw this interesting cameo. The vendor, eager to make a sale, picked up the cameo along with a pair of pliers and proceeded to chip a section of the cameo to prove to me that it was the real thing. He must have shown it a lot because the the entire circumference is chipped. In my broken Turkish and his broken English I was able to understand that it is a cameo from the Roman occupation of Turkey. Well, I do know for a fact that the Romans occupied the area because I located old Roman ruins where I picked up a piece of marble about 4 inches across with a Roman warrior about to let go of a lance. Yes, I picked it off the ground. Also, Antioch is the site of St Peter's first christian church. It has a nice facade but the actual church is merely a cave carved from a hill. I noticed that the walls were lined with small tunnels. At first I thought these were for children to play in but the lone Muslim guard told me they were escape tunnels for the Christians to escape the Romans. People of the 1st century must have been very small because I was able to only get my head and one shoulder in one of them. The point I'm trying to make is that the cameo could possibly be Roman as evidence by the early occupation, but I don't know for sure. I really don't know anything about cameos. The only reason I bought the piece was to save it from destruction. Can anyone give me a confirmation or at least
Welcome to CW :))))
Just stunning ! and welcome to CW glad to have you .