Two 2,300-year-old artifacts exhibited for first time in İzmir

İZMİR

Two statuettes identified as rare pieces from the Hellenistic period are now on exhibition for the first time at the Izmir Archaeological Museum.

With the “12 Months and 12 Exhibitions” project implemented by the Izmir Archaeological Museum Directorate, the two artifacts that have been registered in the museum inventory and have not been presented before are now on display for visitors to see.

Dating back to 2,300 years, the terracotta statuette with a length of 10 centimeters depicts a creature resembling both a human and a monkey in a boat. Found in the ancient city of Klazomenai in the Urla district in 2014, the statuette depicts a creature sitting on a boat with his knees pulled to his stomach.

The other work in the exhibition was the statuette of the same age depicting a swan which Zeus, the god of Greek mythology, masquerades to seduce the daughter of King Thestios of Aitolia and Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta.

The 15-centimeter-long artifact made of terracotta material was found in the ancient city of Kynma in the Aliağa district in 2010.

Klazomenai is one of the Ionian city-states in Western Anatolia. It is one of the most important ceramic production centers in the region, especially in the Archaic period, in the sixth century B.C.