3,000-year-old statue in Türkiye reflects feminism

A female statue discovered in Türkiye may reflect the role of women in ancient political and religious life.

Remains of a female statue discovered at the city gate complex. Photo: Tayinat Archaeological Project.

Archaeologists at the University of Toronto, Canada discovered the remains of the statue.3,000 years oldin Türkiye could change the way women's roles in ancient society are viewed, Fox News reported on August 14.

The upper part of the ruins is made ofbasaltlonger than a meter, wider than 0.5 meter, with curlsCurly hair under the headscarf that falls over the shoulders and back.The original statue is 4-5 m high.located at the outer gate complex of Kunulua,capital of the Kingdom of Patina which existed from 1000 to 738 BC. This sitewest of Aleppo, Syriaabout 7 km.

Remains of a statue discovered on basalt fragments may be a portrait of Kubaba, mother of the gods of ancient Anatolia,according to archaeologists.

However, it is also possible that the statue was modeled after the wife of King Suppiluliuma or a woman named Kupapiyas, who was the wife or mother of Taita, founder of the ancient dynasty of Tayinat, formerly known asKunulua.

"The statue suggests that women may have played a more prominent role in political and religious life in early Iron Age communities than is recognized in the surviving historical record," said Timothy Harrison, professor of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations and director of the Tayitnat Archaeological Project.

The gate complex where the statue was discovered is believed to have been destroyed during the Assyrian conquest in 738 BC. From this point on, Tayinat became the capital of an Assyrian province with its own governor and administration.

According to VNE