Underwater archaeologists have announced the discovery of a sunken marble frieze block off the coast of Sicily. Experts claim that it belonged to the ancient temple of Zeus in Akragas.
The Temple of Zeus is a large Doric temple located in the Valley of the Temples. This valley was a ceremonial center associated with ancient Acragas (Agrigento) and included the Temples of Concordia, Juno, Hercules, Castor and Pollux, Hephaestus (Vulcan), and Asklepios. .
The Temple of Zeus was 112 meters long and 56 meters wide, making it one of the largest Doric temples ever built.
Historical accounts by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus indicate that the construction of the temple remained unfinished and was destroyed during the Carthaginian conquest of Akragas in 406 BC. It was stopped. The temple was eventually destroyed by an earthquake, and extensive quarrying took place in the 18th century to provide building materials for the surrounding settlements.
Underwater archaeologists discovered the marble block 300 meters off the coast of Sicily, nine meters below the water's surface, according to a press release from the non-profit organization BCsicilia.
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| Image Credit : BCsicilia |
The block is approximately 2 meters long and 1.6 meters high and is made of Proconesian marble from a quarry on Marmara Adas Island, Turkey.
On one side is carved a frieze depicting a prancing horse, which probably decorated the façade of the outer tympanum of the temple building. Horses were a typical artistic theme for important buildings in ancient Greece and served as a symbolic representation of power and strength. A BCsicilia representative told HeritageDaily: "The unusual find was immediately reported to the Marine Inspectorate for recovery of the unusual find, and it was finally returned to shore this morning."
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