Lesson 3 An unknown goddess
Some time ago,an interesting discovery
was made by archaeologists
on the Aegean(adj.爱琴海的;n.)island of Kea.
An American team explored a temple
which stands in an ancient city
on the promontory of Ayia Irini.
The city at one time must have been prosperous
,for it enjoyed a high level of civilization.
Houses--often three storeys high--were built of stone.
They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls
.The city was even equipped with a drainage system,
for a great many clay pipes
were found beneath the narrow streets.
The temple which the archaeologists explored
was used as a place of worship
from the fifteenth century B.C.
until Roman times.
In the most sacred room of the temple,
clay fragments of fifteen statues were found.
Each of these represented a goddess and had,
at one time, been painted.
The body of one statue was found
among remains dating from the fifteenth century B.C
. Its missing head happened
to be among remains of the fifth century B.C.
This head must have been found in Classical times
and carefully preserved.
It was very old and precious even then.
When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments,
they were amazed to find that the goddess
turned out to be a very modern-looking woman.
She stood three feet high and
her hands rested on her hip.
She was wearing a full-length skirt
which swept the ground. Despite her great age,
she was very graceful indeed, but, so far,
the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.