Colossal Apollo Statue Found At World Heritage Site of Hierapolis (But Has Anyone Seen His Head?)

A quite literally huge new discovery has been made at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis in Turkey. Archaeologists from Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce have uncovered a colossal 1st century AD marble statue of the legendary deity-of-many-talents Apollo – god of poetry, music, healing the arts and archery, among other things.

It was dug out of the white calcified cliffs surrounding the ancient city, stands four metres tall with a ripped stomach, and represents one of only about a dozen such examples that still exist in Asia Minor. Once, it may have been the chief attraction in the entire city. “It depicts the Greek god Apollo sitting on a throne and holding the cithara with his left arm,” enthused team leader Francesco D’Andria, speaking to Discovery News. “The god wears a wonderfully draped tunic. The cloth has a transparency effect to reveal mighty muscles.”

If the thing’s so darn big, why did it take such a long time for archaeologists to uncover it? Chiefly because the statue was split into two pieces, along the bust and the lower section. Some parts, including the arms and Apollo’s mighty bonce, are still missing, but D’Andria is keeping his fingers crossed that they’ll turn up yet. “We have not lost hope to physically reconstruct the statue in its entirety,” he said. “We are still digging, and we might be able to find the missing head at least.” In the meantime, the statue will be worked into a virtual reconstruction of Hierapolis during the reign of Roman Emperor Tiberius I, from 14AD to 37 AD, which is currently being built by architect Francesco Gabellone at the NRC in Lecce.

Apollo was particularly venerated at Hierapolis as he was believed to be its divine founder. The city was intentionally built over an active fault, the Pamukkale hot springs, which were famous as source of healing. They brought thousands of people to the city throughout the Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods. However, with the location came an obvious downside – the fact that it made the place particularly susceptible to earthquakes. Many tremors rocked the city over the years, before and after it was finally abandoned in the late 13th century AD; which may explain how Apollo came to lose his noggin.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

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Malcolm Jack (follow me: e-mail or )

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Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.