Washington, September 9 (ANI): Italian archaeologists have unearthed a 1st century A.D. colossal statue of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music and poetry, from white calcified cliffs in southwestern Turkey.
Colossal statues were very popular in antiquity, as evidenced by the lost giant statues of the Colossus of Rhodes and the Colossus of Nero.
Most of them vanished long ago, with their material re-used in other building projects.
“This colossal statue of Apollo is really a unique finding. Such statues are extremely rare in Asia Minor. Only a dozen still survive,” team leader Francesco D’Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News.
Split in two huge marble fragments, divided along the bust and the lower part of the sculpture, the 1st century A.D. statue was unearthed at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale.
Founded around 190 B.C. by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum (197 B.C.-159 B.C.), Hierapolis was given over to Rome in 133 B.C.
The Hellenistic city grew into a flourishing Roman city, with temples, a theatre and popular sacred hot springs, believed to have healing properties.
Standing at more than four meters (13 feet) in height, the newly discovered statue, which is missing the head and the arms, might have been one of the most impressive sights in the city.
“It depicts the Greek god Apollo sitting on a throne and holding the cithara with his left arms. The god wears a wonderfully draped tunic. The cloth has a transparency effect to reveal mighty muscles,” said D’Andria.
Inspired by the great classical masterpieces, the artist did not pay the same peculiar attention to the back of the statue.
“This shows that the sculpture was placed against a wall and was supposed to be seen only frontally,” D’Andria noted.
Standing in all its massive regality, the statue was particularly important for the city, since Apollo was venerated as Hierapolis’ divine founder.
The colossal statue was probably the main sculpture at the sanctuary of Apollo, which was intentionally built over an active fault.
“Hierapolis is a unique site, and archaeologists are bringing to light incredible findings each year. As with all the other ancient buildings, the statue will be virtually reconstructed in full detail,” Francesco Gabellone, an architect at the National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News. (ANI)
NYT wins five Pulitzers
New York, Apr.21 (ANI): The New York Times picked up five Pulitzer Prizes today, the most of any publication.
Times reporter David Barstow won the Investigative prize for his report on the relationship between the Pentagon and TV military analysts.
The Times also won staff awards for Breaking News in covering the Eliot Spitzer scandal – which included as many as 25 reporters – and International for political fallout in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Art critic Holland Cotter won for Criticism, and Damon Winter took the prize for Feature Photography.
The St. Petersburg Times won two awards: National Reporting (for PolitFact) and Feature Writing (Lane DeGregory).
The Washington Post, after picking up six last year, took home one award – Eugene Robinson for Commentary.
Other awards went to the Las Vegas Sun (Public Service) Los Angeles Times (Explanatory Reporting); Detroit Free Press (Local Reporting); Mark Mahoney of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. (Editorial Writing); Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune (Editorial Cartooning); and The Miami Herald’s Patrick Farrell (Breaking News Photography).
Newsweek editor Jon Meacham won the Biography award for his book “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.”
The rest of Letters, Drama and Music were as follows: “Olive Kitteridge” by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction); “Ruined” by Lynn Nottage (Drama); “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family” by Annette Gordon-Reed (History); “The Shadow of Sirius” by W.S. Merwin (Poetry); “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II” by Douglas A. Blackmon (General Nonfiction); and “Double Sextet” by Steve Reich, premiered March 26, 2008, in Richmond, Va. (Music). (ANI)