Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Archaeologists dig in the ground to find old things. In Turkey, they found a very old statue.
The statue shows a god named Asklepios. Long ago, people believed he could heal sick people. Next to him is a smaller figure, his son Telesphoros.
The statue is 2.2 meters tall. It is made of marble, a kind of stone. It is about 1,800 years old.
The statue was found in an old city called Aspendos. This city is in the south of Turkey. The find teaches us about how ancient people thought about health.
- archaeologist
- a scientist who studies old objects and places from the past
- dig
- to make a hole in the ground, often to find old objects
- statue
- a carved figure of a person, animal, or god
- god
- a being that people in ancient times believed had special powers
- heal
- to make someone better after they are sick or hurt
- marble
- a hard, smooth stone often used for statues and buildings
- ancient
- very old, from a long time ago
- city
- a large town where many people live
Level 2 — Elementary
Archaeologists working at the ancient city of Aspendos in southern Turkey have uncovered a remarkable marble sculpture group depicting Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine, standing beside his son Telesphoros, the child god of recovery.
The statue group stands 2.2 meters tall and dates back to the late second century AD, placing it firmly within the Roman Imperial period. It was discovered near the ruins of Aspendos's Monumental Gate, along a street once lined with theaters and shops.
Asklepios is shown wearing a himation, a traditional Greek cloak, draped over one shoulder, while the much smaller Telesphoros stands near his foot, recognizable by his long, hooded robe.
Researchers say the find provides valuable evidence that a cult devoted to Asklepios existed in Aspendos, revealing how important health and healing beliefs were in the everyday and religious life of the ancient city.
- sculpture
- a work of art made by carving or shaping material such as stone or clay
- depicting
- showing or representing someone or something in a picture or artwork
- Imperial
- relating to an empire or its rulers
- ruins
- the remains of a building or structure that has been destroyed or fallen apart over time
- cloak
- a loose outer garment worn over other clothes
- cult
- a system of religious devotion directed toward a particular figure or object
- evidence
- information or objects that help prove something is true
- religious
- relating to belief in and worship of a god or gods
Level 3 — Intermediate
Excavations at Aspendos, a well-preserved ancient city in southern Turkey renowned for its Roman theater, have yielded a striking discovery: a 2.2-meter marble sculpture group representing Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine, alongside his son Telesphoros, the diminutive deity associated with recovery and convalescence.
Dated to the late second century AD, the sculpture was recovered from the northern wing of the Monumental Gate along what was once known as Theater Street, part of ongoing work under Turkey's "Heritage for the Future" archaeological initiative.
Stylistically, the piece reflects the artistic conventions of the Roman Imperial period, with Asklepios's himation draped in rich folds across his lower body while his upper torso remains largely bare, a common convention in classical depictions of the deity, and Telesphoros rendered at a markedly smaller scale beside his foot.
Archaeologists say the sculpture group offers compelling evidence that a formal cult devoted to Asklepios operated in Aspendos, underscoring how deeply concerns about health, illness, and healing were woven into the civic and spiritual fabric of daily life in the Roman-era city.
- excavations
- the process of carefully digging up and studying archaeological sites
- renowned
- famous or well known for a particular quality or achievement
- diminutive
- notably small in size
- convalescence
- the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness or injury
- initiative
- a new plan or program intended to achieve a specific goal
- conventions
- widely accepted practices, methods, or styles, especially in art
- torso
- the main part of the human body, not including the head, arms, or legs
- civic
- relating to a city or its citizens and community life
Level 4 — Advanced
The recent unearthing of a 2.2-meter marble sculpture group at Aspendos, depicting Asklepios alongside his diminutive son Telesphoros, furnishes archaeologists with an unusually vivid material testament to the persistence of healing cults well into the late second century AD, a period conventionally associated with the consolidation of Roman provincial religious life across Asia Minor.
Recovered from the northern wing of the Monumental Gate along the city's Theater Street under the auspices of Turkey's "Heritage for the Future" initiative, the piece adheres closely to established iconographic conventions for depicting Asklepios, his himation gathered in dense drapery about the waist and legs while the torso remains largely exposed, even as its exceptional scale and state of preservation distinguish it from more fragmentary comparanda recovered elsewhere in Pamphylia.
The juxtaposition of the imposing central figure with the markedly diminutive Telesphoros, whose hooded, mummy-like garment marks him as a distinct iconographic type within the Asklepian pantheon, reinforces scholarly consensus that the child deity functioned less as an independent object of worship than as an attendant emblem of convalescence attached to his father's healing authority.
Beyond its aesthetic merit, the find carries significant historiographic weight: it substantiates the presence of an organized Asklepian cult at Aspendos, a city whose surviving monumental architecture, chiefly its renowned theater, has long overshadowed evidence of its religious and civic engagement with public health, illness, and therapeutic ritual in the daily experience of its Roman-era inhabitants.
- furnishes
- provides or supplies something, especially evidence or information
- testament
- something that serves as evidence or proof of a fact or quality
- consolidation
- the process of making something stronger or more firmly established
- iconographic
- relating to the traditional images, symbols, or ways of representing a subject in art
- comparanda
- comparable objects or examples used for reference in scholarly analysis
- juxtaposition
- the placement of two things close together for contrasting effect
- pantheon
- the collection of gods recognized by a particular religion or culture
- historiographic
- relating to the study or writing of history and its methods
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