Rescue on the Euphrates
The ancient town of Zeugma, now flooded by the damned Euphrates
After appearing on the front page of the New York Times (‘Dam in Turkey May Soon Flood A “2nd Pompeii”’ on May 7th this year), as well as numerous other national newspapers, the Euphrates bridge-town of Zeugma, virtually unknown a few months ago, has witnessed a major rescue excavation on the lower terraces of the Graeco-Roman city as the waters from the $1.5 billion Biricek dam rose day-by-day. In the aftermath of the rescue project, all involved hope that the experience may provide a model as Turkey embarks upon work on ten more great hydro-electric dams in the archaeologically rich region between the Euphrates and the Tigris.
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