Female statue found in Anemurium

MERSIN

A Roman-era female statue unearthed in the ancient city of Anemurium in southern Türkiye is an exciting find for the archaeology team.

Archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Anemurium have unearthed a female statue believed to represent an important person. The statue, thought to date back to 1,800 years ago, was found in the area right next to a structure called Harbor Bath.

The digging works and restorations continue on a wide area in the ancient city, located in the southern province of Mersin, throughout the year.

The statue, which is considered to have collapsed and remained underground during a great earthquake that occurred 1,500 years ago in the ancient city, excited everyone in the district, especially the archaeology team led by Konya Selçuk University Professor Mehmet Tekocak.

There are also new exciting discoveries in the city, which has many traces from 2,000 years ago due to its historical texture. The dressed female statue from the Roman era has a completely well-preserved intact body.

It is reported that the statue, which is decorated with two different clothes, a chiton at the bottom and a himation on top, represents a goddess, empress or philanthropic woman belonging to an aristocratic or important family who lived there 1,800 years ago.

It took all day long for the teams to remove the statue. Finally, since a crane could not approach the area, the statue was removed, with the help of a small work machine with great care by an expert team from the Antalya Restoration and Conservation Regional Laboratory Directorate, and taken under protection for scientific studies, cleaning, conservation and restoration works.

“The ancient city of Anemurium is located in the Anamur district of Mersin, approximately 10 kilometers away from the city center, where findings are mainly from the 2nd century to the 6th century A.D. It is like a time capsule. The moment you enter here, you are going back 1,800 years ago. We clearly know that the city existed 2,500 years ago. It is also said that it goes back to the Hittites, but we have no information about this yet,” Tekocak said.

Stating that the place which they call the lower city is an area with many public buildings, Tekocak said, “This is an area right next to the Harbor Bath. We first started excavations in this structure to determine the characteristics and functions of the spaces of the Harbor Bath. Later, we started excavations here to understand whether there was a relationship with the bath in this area right next to it, and we came across very interesting ruins and finds."

"We think that this place may be a ‘nymphaeum,’ that is a fountain monument in ancient times. And we uncovered a very beautiful female statue decorating this fountain monument. We don't know who it belongs to; its head, arms and feet are still missing. We later found one of her arms. The work continues, and I hope we will find the other missing parts. It may be the portrait of someone, and if so, we will see the silhouette, picture or statue of someone who lived here 1,800 years ago for the first time.”