Nereid in The British Museum, London

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The Nereid Monument stands as a sculpted tomb in classical period Lycia, near modern-day Kinik in İzmir Province, Turkey. Constructed as a Greek temple on top of a base adorned with sculpted friezes, it is believed to have been built in the early fourth century BCE as a memorial for Arbinas (Lycian: Erbbina or Erbinna), the Xanthian dynast who ruled western Lycia. The monument is thought to have stood until the Byzantine era before its decline into ruin. The ruins were rediscovered by British traveler Charles Fellows in the early 1840s. Fellows had them shipped to the British Museum, where some of the pieces were reconstructed to demonstrate what the East façade of the monument would have looked like. The monument is now named after the life-size female figures in wind-blown drapery. Eleven survive, which would have been sufficient to fill the spaces between columns on the east and west sides, and the three on the north. Jenkins speculates that there might never have been figures on the south side. They are identified as sea-nymphs because various sculpted sea creatures were found under the feet of seven of them, including dolphins, a cuttlefish, and a bird that may be a seagull. They have generally been called Nereids, though Thurstan Robinson argues that this is imposing a Greek perspective on Lycian sculptures, and that they should rather be seen as eliyanas, Lycian water-nymphs associated with freshwater sources and referenced in the Letoon trilingual inscription, which was discovered a few kilometers to the south of the site of the monument. This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.