Princess belt on display at İzmir museum

A 2,800-year-old bronze "princess belt," which belongs to the Urartian culture, will be exhibited at the İzmir Archaeology Museum for a month.

The İzmir Archeology Museum brings together 12 unique artifacts preserved in its warehouses within the scope of the "You Will See What You Don't See" project.

The project, where an artifact will be exhibited every month throughout the year, started with the 2,800-year-old bronze princess belt from the Urartu Kingdom, which ruled in the Lake Van and the surrounding geography between the 9th and 6th centuries B.C.

There are figures of the Urartian metalwork on the belt, which is supposed to be used by a woman belonging to the royal family, rulers or a wealthy group.

In the center of the belt is a feast scene for gods and goddesses. The scene features a table, the feet of which is in the shape of a bull or goat's hoof, with food in front of the goddess sitting on the throne, and a priestess offering the goddess the necessary items for the ceremony.

In the depiction on the belt, the goddess sitting on the throne, the feet of which is in the shape of a lion's claw, accepts the offerings by holding a bowl in one hand and an object with pendulum in the other.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, İzmir Archaeology Museum Director Hünkar Keser said that the museum is home to 180,000 artifacts but it is not possible to display each of them, therefore they have to preserve some very valuable artifacts in the warehouses.

Reminding that the museums were closed for a while last year as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Keser said that they continued to host their visitors after June.

Keser stated that they initiated the project with the permission of the Culture and Tourism...