Philosopher’s Court 24

The Philosopher's Room consists of a 64-square-meter courtyard surrounded by six columns titled guild. It is surrounded on three sides by corridors and opens to a large reception room from the south. This room is almost entirely decorated with marble panels. The corridor extending from the entrance to the courtyard served as the communication center of the house and as a reception area for guests.

There are three stages of wall decoration arrangement. The oldest layer of painting has been preserved only on the eastern wall and played a role in the emergence of the name "Philosopher's Room": the two red-framed areas of the first layer of plaster symbolize the philosopher Socrates and Cheilon, a member of the Seven Sages. A lisen (vertical rectangular decorative area) was placed between the areas. It is estimated that the lost wall decoration showed the symbols of the other six members of the Seven Sages. Later, this layer was chosen to be covered with white marble slabs, making the third and final surface layer. The socle region of the second layer is decorated with a zigzag pattern with white windows on a black background. On the western wall, there is the faded part of a type of budgerigar specific to Asia. The bird exactly matches the paintings of the bird rooms SR 15 and SR 26-27. In the final construction phase (around 230 AD), the peristyle courtyard was completely covered with marble slabs covering the paintings. Therefore, the older painted layer was used for taking the plaster in the fixing of the slabs. Marble reliefs are still preserved in the socle area of the north and west walls.