Mapping the Past in the Present: Antioch Mosaics and ArcGIS
Using ArcGIS mapping software to visualize the distribution of extant Antioch mosaics
Our Research Stream
Our research for the Antioch Recovery Project (ARP) focused primarily on the global distribution of the surviving Antioch mosaics. Christine Kondoleon, now curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, brought these mosaics to widespread attention after her landmark exhibition, Antioch: The Lost Ancient City, at the Worcester Museum of Art in 2000. After weeks of reading through books on Antioch and sifting through museum archives from the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and the Princeton University Art Museum, we compiled a list of 32 (potentially 33) repositories containing mosaics from Antioch. Using ArcGIS Online mapping software, we then created a digital map of the mosaics’ current location.
We discovered from our extensive research that the Antioch mosaics are dispersed across 20 states (including Washington D.C.) and four countries (the United States, Turkey, France, and Cuba—the definitive location of the mosaic in Cuba has not been securely identified, but Ella is continuing to track it). Thus, Antioch, which was a global city in the ancient world, has continued to live on in the present, uniting cities across the United States and the world through these mosaics that partake in its ancient heritage.
Our Three-Phase Plan
After attending an introductory workshop on ArcGIS Pro that was offered through Data Services at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, we both decided to delve further into the ArcGIS mapping software and create an interactive map of the extant Antioch mosaics. Before beginning our research, we devised a three-phase plan for organizing our ideas and initiatives:
Phase 1: Compiling Information on Antioch Mosaic Repositories
As an initial data set, we used a graphic published in Fatih Cimok’s Antioch Mosaics: A Corpus (2000) that shows the many repositories of extant Antioch mosaics. However, from this map it is not clear how many or exactly what mosaics are located in each repository, nor is it clear the institution/museum in which these mosaics are located. Moreover, considering that this map was published about 20 years ago, we began conducting our own research to see whether new repositories of Antioch mosaics exist today.
We next looked at Frances F. Jones’ 1981 article "Antioch Mosaics in Princeton" recommended by one of our colleagues at the BMA. The end of the article lists other repositories–albeit only in the United States–in which these mosaics are located. However, given the article’s 1981 publication date, we anticipated that shifts in the acquisition, deaccessioning of mosaics, etc. might have occurred.
Thus, in order to verify and update this information, we compiled a list of all the mosaics listed in this article and cross-checked them with all the mosaics listed on a given institution's collections page.
Whether or not an institution lists mosaics in their collection on their website varied considerably across institutions. When we could not confirm a mosaic’s presence digitally, we contacted the institution to confirm and we have received written confirmation of the presence of Antioch mosaics in the collections of the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, and a university art gallery at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania.
For mosaics outside of the United States, it is far more difficult to tell how many mosaics these museums/institutions have or what mosaics are located in their collections. The Hatay Archaeology Museum in Turkey does not have an online collection, and the Louvre Museum in Paris highlights the Judgment of Paris mosaic in their online collection. However, in the Louvre there are ten more, as several catalogues and this 2012 article by Claudia Barsanti "The Fate of the Antioch Mosaic Pavements: Some Reflections," note.
Museum archival documents and old newspaper clippings, like this 1936 article from The Baltimore Sun do confirm the following to us about their distribution:
- The Syrian Government would receive 50%
- The Louvre would receive 20%
- Princeton would receive 10%
- Worcester Art Museum would receive 10%
- BMA would receive 10%
Archival documents at the BMA/Princeton also contain letters of the transfer of mosaics to other institutions beyond those listed here. These letters note a preference that the mosaics go to universities rather than going on the art market where they enter private collections.
Phase 2: Inputting Collected Data into Google Sheets
At this point in our research stream, we were both at our respective homes because of COVID-19. Luckily, however, we were able to have a private consultation over Zoom with a member of the Data Services team. She first suggested that we use ArcGIS Online instead of ArcGIS Pro for our project as it is less complex and more user-friendly, and then went into a detailed presentation of the various tools we can use for visualizing the distribution of the Antioch mosaics.
Following our private consultation, we input our collected data on the Antioch mosaic repositories into Google Sheets. We first listed each museum/institution in the United States, France, and Turkey that contains an Antioch mosaic, and then used Google Maps to find the exact longitude and latitude coordinates for each location (first four columns).
In the fifth column, we added individual links to each museum/institution website and in sixth column, we added links to images of each museum/institution listed. In the seventh and final column, we compiled a detailed list of the specific Antioch mosaic(s) found within each museum/institution.
We initially thought it might be helpful to list the exact number of mosaics housed in each collection. However, we soon realized the difficulty of counting mosaics and fragments since, in some cases, the fragments are united in collections and counted as one mosaic. In other cases, the mosaics are cataloged separately. Thus, the number of mosaics in each collection wasn't necessarily something productive to include on our map.
Phase 3: Designing a Map of the Distribution of Antioch Mosaics in ArcGIS Online
In the final phase of our research, we exported our data from Google Sheets into ArcGIS Online.
We tinkered with the visuals and display options to produce the map you see here.
When you click on a location on the map you will be able to find the following information:
- The city
- The museum/institution in which the mosaics are housed
- A link to the museum/institution website
- A list of mosaics
- A picture of the institution
