A 2100-year-old statue of the mother goddess Cybele was discovered during excavations at the Kurul Kalesi, or the Council Fortress, site in Turkey’s north-western Ordu province by the Black Sea coast.

Cybele was an Anatolian mother goddess, personification of the earth, a symbol of prosperity and fertility.  Cybele was mostly associated with fertile nature, mountains, town and city walls, as well as wild animals such as lions. The marble statue of the goddess depicts the deity sitting on a throne with a belly indicating pregnancy.

The artefact weights around 200 kg and is 110 cm high. What is remarkable it was found in its original place, marking first ever such find in Turkey. The statue was intact within a niche in which it remained intact after the walls of the entrance of the fortress of Kurul collapsed during an attack by Roman soldiers.

The unique statue is said to be transferred to the archaeology museum in Ordu.

(after Daily Sabah)