Roman-Era Marble Bath and a Male Statue Found in Ancient Ephesus in Turkey's Aegean Region

A team of archaeologists working in the ancient city of Ephesus, Turkey's Aegean region, have unearthed a Roman-era marble bath and a fragmented male statue that had been reused as paving stones last month, officials said.

The discovery was made during ongoing excavations and restorations at the UNESCO World Heritage site under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's "Heritage for the Future: Endless Ephesus" project, which aims to open new tourist routes and uncover previously buried artifacts.

The marble bath was found along Jalan Stadion and is believed to belong to Rumah Teras, which was once home to a wealthy Roman family.

Carved from the regional Greco Scritto marble, the bathtub measures 1.46 meters (4.8 feet) long, 0.73 meters (2.4 feet) wide and 0.6 meters (2 feet) high.

Serdar Aybek, an archaeologist at Dokuz Eylul University and project coordinator, said the bath dates back to the first century AD, highlighting the importance of bathing culture in ancient times.

"During the Roman period, large public bath complexes were very common," Aybek said, citing the Port Baths in Ephesus as one of the most significant examples.

"With an area of almost 70,000 square meters, this is one of the largest structures in the Roman world," he said, as reported by Anadolu (5/1).

"However, this is a public building that serves many people. In addition, there are smaller bathtubs intended for domestic use," he continued.

"The bathtub we found was one of them," said Aybek.

"This is an unusual discovery because it's not something we often come across. We believe it belonged to the Teras House and was used in the first century AD. We found it while working on the theater, and its size indicates that it was used in a house," he said.

Aybek said the bathtub's workmanship suggests it belonged to a high-income family and noted that the bathtub was later reused during repairs in the city's late period.

The archaeologists determined that the bath had been converted into a fountain trough, with holes cut to allow water to flow in from above and out from below, altering its original structure.

Another major find from Stadium Street is a statue of a man carved in several parts, with the head, arms, and legs made separately and then joined.

Based on the characteristics of the style, the statue dates back to between the first century BC and the first century AD, said Aybek. It is 1.23 meters (4 feet) tall and 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) wide.

The statue was found in a prone position after being reused as a paving stone on the highway.

"It was really unexpected," Aybek said.