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My personal experiences and, for example, a chapter on a visit to an Indian Goddess Temple reported by CA Hume in ‘Devi’, (an anthology by Hawley and Wulff),  suggest that perhaps the only way to understand the ancient realities of the Artemisium is to make such a pilgrimage. (Other than time travel, that is!  For which see Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and comments thereon in Gribbins’ ‘Timewarps’).

Sadly, for most visitors to Kuþadasý, Artemis and her cult must remain a cold, white, abstraction, an anemic pile of stones explained only by museum catalogues.  A real temple experience involves colour, taste, smell, crowds, thieves, astrologers, and a great human ambience, a consciousness of deep antiquity.    Imagine, too, the sellers of garlands and sacrificial animals and memorabilia, and the guides, police, prostitutes, money changers and cleaners.  Matters of food and lodgings, pageantry, noise, blood, quietude, holiness, abstruse knowledge, and piety are the very stuff of pilgrimage.

On the other hand, with empathy and imagination, the Seljuk museum can provide a fascinating one-to-one contact with The Mother.  And this could, profitably, be enhanced using Virtual Reality techniques.

Great Artemis is thought to be earlier, and is taller and with a polos of temples and enthroned griffins. She lacks feet.  Her ‘manner’ is severe.  The ‘breasts’ incline to reptilian-egg shape.  She is more ornamented and Old European.  Beautiful Artemis is equally ‘aloof’, but inclines to ‘Patriarchal’ symbolism because of height, context, and motif-choice and style.  BA’s ‘breasts’ are olive-like, and ‘quasi hexagonal’.   In both cases 7 and 21 are relevant numbers for the ‘breasts’. BA stands on a small pedestal. An underskirt hem shows.  The hands of both are lacking, but are unlikely to be transmitting blessings as in the constrained statue of The Blessed Virgin of modern times.

The narrow, constrained lower body is herm-like.

a)  Kilt Panels:
Each statue has a central panel, subdivided into 6 row-levels of 3* motifs, a total of 17 for GA and 18 (a moon/sun cycle number) for BA.  Both have horizontal rows of sphinxes, griffins, deer and leopards.  GA has 2* bulls, BA, 3.   Instead of goats, BA has patriarchal lions in the highest panel, and ‘downgrading’ Her griffins and sphinxes.   The Schwallers see these composite creatures as descriptive of Royal Power.  The spaces underlying the top three rows of creatures on GA’s skirt may be a significant defacement.

Side panels
One row of side motifs is missing from GA because of (??) arm supports.  Both have two pairs of winged, half-draped, semi divine figures, one pair male, and one pair female.  Both have two pairs of bees, Both have ‘rosettes’, many roses for BA but  poppies for GA.
Great Artemis’ sub-panels are framed.  She has a belt of bees and poppies.

b) Torso
Both have a built-out ‘jacket’ on the upper body, with inward-looking lions on the sleeves.  From a feminist view point, these may be compared adversely with the vigilant leopard pets of Kybele.  As in the Theran frescoes, necklaces are worn.  Both GA and BA have a heavy, crescent-moon-shaped, assemblage of spherical eggs.  In both cases the garments of the upper body are cut to echo the necklaces and to frame the ‘breasts’. On BA the clothing is stylized.   But GA has two layers of much more realistic, tasseled, weighted, ornamented apparel.  The statues were probably once painted.  It seems possible that they could have been draped with silk garments, to reflect seasonal or other liturgical functions.  Signs of the Zodiac, focused on Scorpio, feature on BA’s upper garment.  Chrysalides, mulberries (silk worm linkage) and leaves adorn GA,