Revelations from Kibyra in Turkey

It appears that I left my disclosure of Kibyra with the news that the site would open to the public in 2017 (see: The tempting site of Kibyra).

Last year's excavations yielded two important artifacts: an Asclepius statue and a Zeus-Serapis bust.

The 38-centimeter-high statuette of the Greek god of Health, Asclepius, was uncovered inside the so-called Caesarian, the Cult Temple of the Emperor. Kibyra was famous for its knowledge of medicine; thus, this discovery didn't come as a surprise. The figurine has been dated to the 2^nd century AD and was found in a layer of soil that showed traces of fire. It was broken into six pieces but could be restored and pieced back together.

[Picture from The Greek City Times]

The other object unearthed this time in the Roman Baths was the head of a bearded man. To the greatest joy of the archaeologists, the head fitted a bust made of Afyon marble discovered in these baths in 2019. The bust represents Serapis, an Egyptian god who was worshiped in combination with Zeus at the time. Zeus-Serapis was the god of the Underworld and Fertility, the main god of Alexandria.

Both artifacts have been moved to the Archaeological Museum of Burdur, where they will be exhibited very soon. 

Kibyra sat at the crossroads of important trade routes connected to Caria, Phrygia, and Pisidia. It was famous for its metallurgy, and as a result, the city minted its own coins from the mid-first century BC until the middle of the 3rd century AD.

Today's buildings are mainly constructions from Roman times and, more precisely, from after 23 AD, i.e., when the city was destroyed by a major earthquake. It was Emperor Tiberius who financed its reconstruction and renamed it Caesarea Kibyra.