Excavating an Epic Excavation: The Ancient City of Antioch

By the Editorial Team · Sunday, October 25, 2026

Wellesley College’s Davis Museum is hosting an exhibition of artifacts and mosaics uncovered during the 1930s excavations of ancient Antioch, a key Roman city and early Christian center. The exhibit showcases highlights from the extensive finds, including contributions from Wellesley’s own William A. Campbell, and runs through May 20.

Antakya, Turkey—modern-day Antakya near the Syrian border—was once Antioch, one of the Roman Empire’s most prominent cities and a center for early Christianity. Known historically as the place where the term “Christian” was first applied to followers of Jesus, Antioch played a significant role in the ministries of St. Paul and St. Peter. Today, its rich legacy is the subject of an exhibition at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum of Art.

Titled “Excavating Antioch: The Archaeology of an Ancient City,” the exhibition runs through May 20 and explores findings from extensive excavations conducted in the 1930s. These archaeological efforts were led by the Committee for the Excavation of Antioch-on-the-Orontes and its vicinity, a consortium initially formed by the Louvre and several U.S. institutions, including Princeton University, the Worcester Art Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Later, Harvard’s Fogg Museum and Dumbarton Oaks also joined the project.

Wellesley College was not directly involved with the excavation committee, but the connection is significant. William A. Campbell, a Wellesley faculty member, served as field director of the excavations from 1934 to 1939. In recognition of Campbell’s contributions, the committee donated two Antioch mosaics to the college.

The collaboration uncovered more than 300 large-scale floor mosaics in addition to a variety of artifacts such as sculptures, architectural fragments, games, keys, tools, weights, jewelry, and hairpins. The exhibition includes a selection of these materials, showcasing the wide-ranging nature of the excavation’s finds. Among the highlights are several mosaics and a display case humorously dubbed “the case of legs,” containing a dozen stone body fragments recovered from a marble workshop.

Nicole Berlin, the show’s curator, described her fascination with the collection’s diversity. Her interest was sparked about four and a half years ago during a visit to the Baltimore Museum of Art, where she encountered a vast array of Antioch artifacts in storage. Among them was a box of glass beads labeled in the handwriting of Campbell, which inspired a deeper exploration of the materials.

Berlin pointed to two favorite pieces that illustrate the depth of the archaeological work: a fifth-century column capital engraved with an imperial acclamation and a colorful second-century mosaic depicting the mythological “Drinking Contest of Dionysos and Herakles.”

The exhibition offers a comprehensive view of Antioch’s archaeological heritage, highlighting its historical prominence and the lasting impact of the 20th-century excavation project. It remains open at the Davis Museum until May 20.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.