Ancient sculpture of woman found in Turkey's Hatay

Excavations at the Tayinat Mound in the southern Turkish province of Hatay have uncovered an ancient sculpture of a woman, around the same size as the statue of King Suppiluliuma previously discovered at the site.

The sculpture, which is made up of a head and body, is thought to date back to the late Hittite period in the 9th century B.C. 

It is thought that the sculpture, which has some broken parts, belongs to the wife of the King Suppiluliuma, but more concrete results will be obtained after works. 

Works have been continuing at the mound with a team of 20 people, under the leadership of Professor Timothy Harrison of Toronto University. 

Harrison said excavations have been continuing at the Tayinat Mound for 13 years. 

"We found the sculpture of King Suppiluliuma in 2012. Now in works in the same area we have found a sculpture of a woman, the upper part of which has been preserved. Both sculptures are from the same period and their size, dimensions and iconographic elements are very similar," he added. 

"We think that the original sculpture was huge, around four or five meters high. We have found lots of pieces of the sculpture, and we believe it is most probably the wife of the king because they were found in the same field. It may also be the sculpture of the Anatolian goddess Kubaba, but this sculpture looks more like a human. Alternatively it may be a sculpture of a noble person from the royal family," Harrison said.