Archaeologists have discovered in the east of Crimea the head of the statue of an ancient king in the form of Zeus
CrimeaPRESS reports:
The estimated age of the find is 2,000 years.
Archaeologists during excavations of the ancient settlement Artezian near Kerch discovered a marble head. Presumably, this is a fragment of the statue of King Pharnaces in the form of Zeus. An artifact found in the east of Crimea dates back to the 1st century BC. e.
Artesian makes us happy! Archaeological happiness and luck… Temple of Zeus Genarch reveals its secrets. Slowly. Right. Dazzling. Like a flash of lightning in a night storm. At a great depth of artesian ores… In the gap between the foundations of the temple of Zeus Genarchus and the square base under the monumental marble altar, the head of a large white marble statue was found. It was discovered in the late antique utility pit 778 under the backfill massif— said on his page In contact with Head of the Archaeological Expedition, Professor of the Department of the History of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages of the Moscow State Pedagogical University Nikolai Vinokurov.
According to him, the head lay under a large slab on the back of the head. It is quite possible that it was not thrown into the pit, but placed in it during a certain religious ritual, which remains to be seen in the near future.
According to a preliminary conclusion, the found head, apparently, could belong to the statue of the Bosporan king Pharnaces, represented in the form of powerful Zeus. She portrayed a long-haired, mature, bearded man, with a calm, commanding expression on his face.
Whether such an image of the Bosporan sovereign could testify to his deification during his lifetime is difficult to say. But the find itself is unique. Small fragments of statues were previously found on the settlement, but for the first time in all the years of research, it was possible to find an artifact in such a relatively good state of preservation and in an understandable historical and archaeological context.
Judging by the size of the head, the statue was sculpted to the height of a man by a high-class craftsman in the late Hellenistic tradition from a solid mass of white marble with small light gray veins. The sculpture was intended for a circular view. It may have stood in the temple itself or in front of it, on a rectangular marble elevation, fragments of which were also found in the southern part of the settlement at excavation site II. The front part of the statue is damaged, the nose and part of the upper lip are broken off in antiquityVinokurov noted.
It remains the case … for small: to find the torso of the statue.
Excavations at the Artezian settlement continue. Amazing finds, testifying to the high status of our settlement, are yet to come.
The real Zeus the Thunderer will be another gem of the Kerch lapidary collection, which may soon open a special hall dedicated to artesian monumental antiquitiesarchaeologists say.
The Artezian tract is located 20 km from the city of Kerch in the Eastern Crimea. Artezian is a former ancient Greek colony, and later a fortified settlement in the rural area of the Bosporan kingdom. It existed in the VI century. BC e. — IV century. n. e. and was destroyed as a result of the Hun invasion.
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