 Click Photo for Larger Version
|
Image ToolbarPlease read before you download
Images and/or text from holylandphotos.org are NOT TO BE USED ON OTHER WEB SITES, NOR COMMERCIALLY, without special permission. To request permission contact us at holylandphotos@gmail.com. |
The statue in the central niche is that of the Roman Emperor Trajan (r. 98–117). He is in military garb, towering over a male Dacian captive. Trajan wears a short chiton beneath a relief-decorated cuirass with a paludamentum draped over his left shoulder and arm. The statue is just over 9 feet tall. It was crafted around 113.
The statue grouping is restored from approximately 250 fragments of various sizes that were found in the apsidal pool. Evidently, it was broken into pieces when the whole structure collapsed during the earthquake of AD 494.
The capture of Dacia in Europe was a major event in Trajan’s reign. Dacia became a Roman province in AD 106.
The nymphaeum was completely in ruins and was excavated in 2015. The current structure is a monumental rebuild based on the large building pieces that were found in the excavation. From the inscription on it and the statuary that was found in the excavation, it is evident that it was constructed during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117). Before excavation, it was known as "the Southern Nymphaeum."
