War limits study of Roman Syrian sites, but one has yielded priceless treasures of the past

The war has so disrupted parts of the Near East that scholars have just a few Roman Empire sites to study in what was the Roman province of Syria. But archaeologists are able to work a few sites, including Doliche in what is now Turkey, where they have recently discovered a wonderful floor mosaic with a delicate pattern, houses, alleys and water pipelines that will give them a look into the ancient people’s daily lives.

It is important to study such places because urban centers of this kind have barely been explored, and others, such as Apamea and Cyrrhus, have been destroyed, say researchers from the University of Münster in Germany.