Marble Statue of Pan Unearthed in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, TURKEY—According to a Live Science report, a badly damaged marble figure of Pan, the ancient Greek god of the wilds, woods, fields, shepherds, and flocks, has been discovered at the site of St. Polyeuctus, an early Christian church in what was the city of Constantinople. The statue’s surviving head, torso, and an arm measure less than one foot long and show Pan playing a reed pipe. The sculpture was likely transferred to the site with backfill from another location in the city in the 1960s after an archaeological investigation, explained Mahir Polat of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He added that the figure is thought to have been sculpted during the Roman period and brought to Constantinople between the fourth and sixth centuries A.D. as an historical work of art for display in a public place or a palace. To read about an ancient bronze mask of Pan found in Israel, go to “Mask Metamorphosis.”