Statue of Hygieia and Eros uncovered in southern Turkey

Archeologists discovered a statue of the Greek goddess Hygieia and god Eros in Turkey's southern province of Adana, shedding light on the region's ancient history.

The limestone sculpture, broken into two parts and missing a head, was discovered in the Anavarza Antique City of the Kozan district. It is believed to date back to the third or fourth century B.C.

The discovery confirms the city's rich history, explained Nedim Dervişoğlu, Director of the Adana Museum.

"The famous pharmacologist Dioskurides, who worked in the army during the Roman period and who attracted attention with the medicines he made, lived in Anavarza," Dervişoğlu told Doğan News Agency.

Hygieia is the Greek goddess of hygiene, one of the six daughters of Asclepius, god of health, pointing back to the city's medicinal progress.

"In this sense, we can call Anavarza the city where medicine and pharmacology developed," said Dervişoğlu.

The sculpture has been added to the UNESCO Temporary List of World Heritage Sites, he added. Dervişoğlu also said work continues to find the statue's missing head.

Anavarza Antique City is one of Turkey's major historical sites, dating back to the second century B.C. The city's ruins are surrounded by 20 bastions and a 1500-meter-long wall with four entrances.

Excavations which began in 2013 uncovered the first known colonnaded double-lane road of the ancient world, 34 meters wide and 2700 meters long. Archeologists also uncovered the ruins of a church and a bathhouse at the site.