The richness of Perge once again in the limelight

In spite of all the excavations, explanations and reconstructions we still cannot really imagine what a city like Perge  must have looked like during its heydays. Walking through the wonderful collection at the Museum of Antalya, it is amazing to see how many of the statues have been found at Perge  alone. This great city has a room of its own in Antalya’s Museum but is bursting out of it seams. It is quite exciting to read that even more near-intact statues have been recovered over the past three years.

No less than 13 rare sculptures have been unearthed at Perge’s necropolis at the end of the western street. In a Nymphaeum close to the northern baths a complete statue of Emperor Caracalla nearly 2.20m high was found, the only complete one so far. Also a 1.30m tall sculpture of a horse with perfect anatomic details was recovered in the area.

And then an impressive number of Greek gods and goddesses have been deterred as well: a 2-meters-high Selene, the moon goddess and sister of the sun god Helios; a strong and handsome Helios venerated on the same level as Apollo; a 1.70m high statue of Nemesis in a transparent dress; a statue of Tyche, the Latin Fortuna; a great Asclepius, god of medicine and health holding a plate of medicine in his right hand and a ferula plant in his left; a reassembled Aphrodite (since she was found in bits and pieces), the goddess of love and beauty; and an armored and finely sculptured Athena, the goddess of peace and intelligence. Last but not least there was a headless statue of a woman in long dress and coat, that of a headless man holding a sword, and finally the statue of a priest holding a horn-of-plenty in his right hand and showing two snake reliefs on his neck.

All these beauties have meanwhile made their appearance in a new Perge  Hall at the Archaeological Museum of Antalya. Time to return for a new visit at the museum as well as to the site of Perge  itself since according to the picture released in the Hurriyet Daily News more of the ancient city has been cleared, including the hill behind the main fountain that leads to the acropolis.

[All pictures are from the Hurriyet Daily News]