18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The Surprising Fact About The Roman-Era Female Bust

50 years ago, foundation excavation work was started for the construction of Girls’ Institute in Akpınar Neighborhood of Bolu city (in Turkey) center. During the foundation excavation, workers found a marble female bust and handed it over to the Bolu Museum authorities. Museum officials determined that the bust of women they examined belongs to the Roman period and has continued to be exhibited in the museum as a Roman-era female bust ever since. However, recent studies have revealed a surprising fact about the female bust of the Roman period.

According to the news on the Cumhuriyet Newspaper website; The Bolu Chamber of Commerce and Industry formed a delegation of archaeologists in order to promote historical tourism in the city. The delegation examined the sculptures in the Bolu City Museum. The work was started on the thought that the statue, which has been exhibited for 50 years as the “Female Bust of Roman Period” in the museum, may belong to Artemis. As a result of the study, it was determined by the experts that the statue belonged to the Greek mythology goddess Artemis.

“IT IS A HIGHLY HIGH-LEVEL ARTWORK”

Providing information about the statue, Düzce Konuralp Antique Theater Excavation Team Member Archaeologist Dr. Güzin Bilir, “The” painted woman’s head “in front of you is Artemis, which is the symbolized form of wild nature, abundance, hunting, and archery. The head of Artemis, which is a kind of personification of the natural resources of Bolu, is a very high-level work of art, probably made of island marble or Athens marble. The work, which attracts attention with its quality and craftsmanship, was probably imported, and its workshop may have originated in the southern Italy region. As for its stylistic features, the striking point of the work is that there are traces of intense dye, especially the presence of dark red dye on her hair. The red dye was preferred for women’s hair, as red hair is seen as a symbol of beauty, ”she said.

Goddness Artemis
Düzce Konuralp Antique Theater Excavation Team Member Archaeologist Dr. Güzin Bilir, “The” painted woman’s head “in front of you is Artemis, which is the symbolized form of wild nature, abundance, hunting, and archery.” PHOTO: DHA

Produced for propaganda during Augustus

Güzin Bilir stated that the statue might have been sent to important cities for propaganda during the period of the first Roman Emperor Augustus, “It is an ‘eclectic’, that is, a mixed work, showing the sculpting features of both the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Such works were produced for propaganda purposes, especially during the period of the first Roman emperor Augustus, and were erected in important places in the Roman provinces. The artifact, which we can date to 27 BC and 14 AD, was found during the construction of a girls’ institute in the most central part of the city of Bolu, Akpınar district, and since it was very well preserved, it must have been in a closed area within an important public building in the city center. The presence of such a quality work of art in Bolu proves to us that there are historical and cultural beauties as well as natural and natural beauties. In fact, this work is a kind of combination of Bolu’s natural riches and cultural heritage, ”she said.

Explaining that the statue found in the city shows the importance of Bolu in the Roman Empire, Bilir said, “Foreign tourists want to see this head of Artemis in a beautiful area when they come. Other examples in the world are exhibited in very important museums. A small number of them are the subject of printing a continuous model in their era. However, this is such a statute; it is being printed and its repetition is not printed. That is why it is very important and very valuable in terms of the marble used. This means that it is an indication of how important Bolu’s place and value were in the Roman Empire. “It is made in Naples and sent here.”

Source: DHA Cumhuriyet Newspaper

Related Articles

2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal with Nails Found in Germany

25 June 2024

25 June 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman Military Sandal near an auxiliary Roman camp in Germany. Archaeologists from...

An ancient “fridge” have uncovered at the Roman legionary fortress of Novae, Bulgaria

30 September 2022

30 September 2022

Polish archaeologists, during excavations at the Roman legionnaires’ camp in Novae, discovered a container that could be described as an...

Cave paintings discovered in western Turkey carry the region’s past back to prehistory

18 December 2021

18 December 2021

During the archaeological survey carried out in and around the ancient city of Alinda in Aydın province in western Turkey,...

3 Bronze Shields and Helmet of 2700 Years Old Belonging to Urartians Found in Ayanis Castle

8 September 2024

8 September 2024

Three bronze shields and a bronze helmet dedicated to Haldi, the chief god of the Urartians, were discovered during excavations...

134 ancient settlements discovered north of Hadrian’s Wall

26 May 2022

26 May 2022

134 ancient settlements have been found during a survey of the region north of Hadrian’s Wall in the United Kingdom....

Mosaics found in Türkiye’s Sinop belong to dining room of a wealthy family

24 June 2023

24 June 2023

The pebble mosaics unearthed during the excavation of a building complex in the province of Sinop on Turkey’s Black Sea...

An Ampulla was discovered for the first time in the ancient city of Dara, Turkey

11 January 2022

11 January 2022

An ampulla was found for the first time in the ancient city of Dara, located in the province of Mardin...

8000 years old fingerprint and ceramic production workshop found in İzmir Ulucak Mound

22 August 2022

22 August 2022

It was understood that the structure unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the 8850-year-old Ulucak Mound (Ulucak Höyük), the oldest...

Extraordinary discovery in France: An unlooted 1800-year-old Roman Sarcophagus discovered

27 September 2023

27 September 2023

Archaeologists from France’s National Institute of Preventive Archeology (INRAP) have unearthed an unlooted ancient stone sarcophagus in the vast ancient...

Excavation of the Temple of Athena Began in the Ancient City of Aigai

15 October 2021

15 October 2021

The foundations of the Temple of Athena were unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Aigai, located...

Roman-era structures unearthed in northwestern Turkiye dam site rescue excavations

18 May 2024

18 May 2024

Rescue excavations at the Reşitköy Dam site in the northwestern Turkiye province of Balıkesir have unearthed Roman structures, including a...

Sacred Hill of Moon God Sin “Sogmatar”

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Sogmatar, Şanlıurfa is 53 kilometers from Harran. It is located in Yağmurlu village, where there are important springs in the...

Could the Kerkenes Settlement be Gordion the Second?

1 August 2022

1 August 2022

Although the settlement on the Kerkenes mountain, located within the borders of Sorgun district of Yozgat, has been known and...

“Mosaic of the Wine Harvest” mosaic to be exhibited in November in Turkey’s Hatay

26 October 2021

26 October 2021

The mosaic depicting the grape harvest, which is considered to date from the Late Roman period, equivalent to the 5th...

Hiker found a place of holy worship at an altitude of 2,590 meters in the Swiss Alps

15 March 2023

15 March 2023

A trekking enthusiast stumbled upon an ancient Roman coin buried in rubble in a remote area high in the Alps...