Archaeologists Unearth Two Aphrodite Statues in Jordan

Posted on September 12, 2016

Researchers from North Carolina State University and East Carolina University discovered two marble statues of the goddess Aphrodite in Jordan. The statues were unearthed from a site that was once the ancient Nabatean city of Petra. Dig co-director Tom Parker describes the two statues as "absolutely exquisite."

Parker says in a statement, "I've been doing field work in the Middle East for 45 years and never had a find of this significance. These are worthy of display at the Louvre Museum or the Metropolitan Museum of Art."

The research project is known as the Petra North Ridge Project. This is the third year of the project. The statues were found next to an excavation of a surprisingly sophisticated house that had its own bath house. The statues are Roman in style and linked to Rome's annexation of Nabataea in 106 A.D.

Parker also says, "The Nabateans were true geniuses in many ways, in part because they were ready and willing to assimilate to and adopt elements of other cultures around them. They adopted a lot of Egyptian culture when they were neighbors. When Romans took over, they were open to Roman influence."

Parker examines one of the Aphrodite statues in the photograph below.

ARCHAEOLOGY