KARABÜK PROVINCE, TURKEY—Hurriyet Daily News reports that a slab of limestone thought to have been engraved some 1,800 years ago has been unearthed at the site of Hadrianopolis in northern Turkey. Ersin Çelikbaş of Karabük University said the woman shown in the carving is wearing a traditional dress, a snake-shaped belt, and is holding ears of wheat. She may depict Demeter, the Greek goddess of harvest and agriculture, he explained. The inscription on the slab reads, “Herakleides, son of Glaukos, presented this.” The excavation of the ancient city has also uncovered two public baths, two churches, defensive structures, a theater, and villas. The churches feature mosaic floors with images of a bull, a lion, two peacocks, horses, elephants, griffins, and deer. To read about the destruction of a Bronze Age settlement in southeastern Turkey, go to "The Wrath of the Hittites."
