MOSAIC WITH THE FACE OF PHOBOS, C4 CE. THE BRITISH MUSEUM In 1856 the English archæologist Sir Charles Thomas Newton decided to go digging at Halicarnassus, modern Bodrum in Turkey, in search of one of the wonders of the ancient world, the Mausoleum. He found a late-antique "domos" built by a man called Charidemos, who helpfully left a verse in mosaic naming himself. He published copious excavation notes, a remarkably responsible thing to do at the dawn of modern archæology, and then carted off the mosaic floors he found to the BM, perhaps less responsibly. Here we see the screaming face, tongue out, of Phobos, Fear, at the centre of a floral design contained within round concentric frames including a beaded motif. Stylised vine leaves appear in black triangles to fill the corners of this square panel. Phobos has wild blond-orange hair. Walking over his face was a symbolic conquest of fear.
#MosaicMonday at the #BritishMuseum speaks for all of us with this C4 floor #mosaic from #Halicarnassus with the face of #Phobos, Fear, blossoming like an evil flower within a series of classical #frames. Fear radiates outward. The symbolism is clear: step on your fear and go on. #AncientBluesky 🏺
