A LATE HELLENISTIC SCULPTURE OF A WOMAN IN PUDICITIA TYPE FROM STRATONIKEIA OF CARIA
OLBA, sa.XXXIV, ss.181-203, 2026 (AHCI)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Dergi Adı: OLBA
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.181-203
- Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Abstract
Stratonikeia, one of the major cities of the Inland Caria region, has yielded new and significant information regarding the city’s main transportation routes and public organization through the excavations carried out in recent years along the Western Street and its surroundings. The female statue that constitutes the subject of this article was uncovered within the scope of these investigations in 2022 at the junction where the Western Street, one of the city’s main arteries, intersects with the east–west and north–south streets. The original context of the statue cannot be determined with certainty, as it was reused as spolia in the foundations of the Byzantine Bath among the late architectural layers located along the street. This article aims to determine the role of the statue within its find context, to examine its relationship with the surrounding urban fabric, and to identify its place within the city’s historical development. In this framework, the statue’s type and the meanings attributed to it were first examined, followed by an analysis of its interaction sphere through stylistic evaluation. The composition of the statue, which can be identified as belonging to the Saufeia version of the Pudicitia type, one of the well-known Hellenistic female statue schemes, shows close affinities with comparable examples from Rhodes, the islands of Samos and Kos, and Magnesia ad Maeandrum. In addition, the analysis of proportional and stylistic features associated with Rhodian sculptural workshops has shaped the study’s direction; historically, the relationship between Stratonikeia and Rhodes was particularly close, making interaction across various fields inevitable. The statue, which is thought to have been produced in the early first century BCE, when Stratonikeia was an independent city, is considered to have fulfilled an honorific function by reflecting the ideal of a modest, restrained, and decorous female figure within the framework of the period’s prosperity and social norms. The spatial context of the statue remains uncertain due to the absence of an inscribed base; however, the fact that the findspot is located at the intersection of streets known to have existed since the Hellenistic period, together with the presence of Late Hellenistic architectural remains immediately to the northwest, suggests that the display area was not far removed. This location, which supports a public character, indicates that the statue may have been displayed either individually or together with her husband and family during the Late Hellenistic period and that it honored a woman belonging to one of Stratonikeia’s prominent families who had rendered beneficial services to the city.