Mózia - Museum
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Some of the finds from Motya, from the necropolis at Birgi on the mainland and in part from Lilybaeum can be seen in the Archeological Museum in Palermo, others in the new museum at Marsala and the remainder in the museum on the island itself. Here opposite the entrance stands a large relief depicting two lions overcoming a bull. The museum contains a rich collection of Punic gravestones and ceramics.
The most important exhibit is a marble statue, which was discovered in 1978. In scale somewhat larger than life, it has been preserved unblemished except for its arms and feet. It is of a young man in a close-fitting pleated robe; round his chest he is wearing a broad band which, with the garment, suggests Carthaginian influences. Whereas the body shining through the robe does not make such a powerful effect, the head itself is sculpted totally in the austere style of Greek classicism; the skull calotte, though, is only roughly modeled, and bronze pins have been inserted in it, clear evidence that a metal object (helmet, crown?) rested here. In interpreting the statue, theories have ranged from identifying it as a high magistrate, a priest or a deity (perhaps Heracles/Melcart). What is certain is that this unusual work made of Greek marble was created in the second quarter of the fifth century- thus at the same time as the sculptures in the Temple to Zeus at Olympia - and by a Greek sculptor for a Carthaginian client.
The most important exhibit is a marble statue, which was discovered in 1978. In scale somewhat larger than life, it has been preserved unblemished except for its arms and feet. It is of a young man in a close-fitting pleated robe; round his chest he is wearing a broad band which, with the garment, suggests Carthaginian influences. Whereas the body shining through the robe does not make such a powerful effect, the head itself is sculpted totally in the austere style of Greek classicism; the skull calotte, though, is only roughly modeled, and bronze pins have been inserted in it, clear evidence that a metal object (helmet, crown?) rested here. In interpreting the statue, theories have ranged from identifying it as a high magistrate, a priest or a deity (perhaps Heracles/Melcart). What is certain is that this unusual work made of Greek marble was created in the second quarter of the fifth century- thus at the same time as the sculptures in the Temple to Zeus at Olympia - and by a Greek sculptor for a Carthaginian client.
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