Archaeology News Online

The head of excavations at Perge in Turkey's Antalya province, Antalya Museum Director Mustafa Demirel, has announced that a new mosaic has been found in the ancient city. The 1,800-year-old mosaic depicts the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the daughter of King Agamemnon in Greek mythology, during the Trojan War. Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) Demirel said that during the initial years of the excavations, important projects were conducted in terms of rehabilitative efforts at the site. In the context of the excavation project, the area which includes the Kesos Fountain in the north to the south was rearranged and excavations along the West Street were accelerated. Throughout the archaeological excavations, numerous sculptures and artefacts have been unearthed, and Demirel noted that a particular mosaic has been unearthed to the "excitement" of researchers. "During the ongoing excavations in Perge, a mosaic was discovered which depicts the scene of the sacrifice of Iphigeni...

The Association of Greek Archaeologists has been informed about unsettling developments regarding the intended conversion of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to an Islamic mosque and in an announcement it made, expresses its strong concern in view of such a prospect. The Association of Greek Archaeologists requests the Greek government and international organizations to stay vigilant  and intervene so that this supremely important monument remains the property of all humankind,  an inseparable part of global cultural heritage [Credit: Shutterstock] As the AGA mentions in its announcement : “Hagia Sophia that was inaugurated in 537, has been operating as a museum since 1934 and due to its significance, constitutes a World Heritage site included, since 1985, in the relevant list of UNESCO. ”The repeated reading of the Koran and of prayers for a second consecutive year within this emblematic monument acts as a harbinger, with the ulterior motive being the cancellation of its function as ...

An excavation in the Dargecit district of the southeastern region of Turkey, which will soon be left under the reservoir waters of the Ilisu Dam, has revealed crucial information about the North Mesopotamian people’s social life 10 millennia ago, particularly about burial rituals and the ancient belief in life after death. Bodies buried in the fetal position, with their knees pulled up to their stomach, were found in the basements of houses in the site, symbolizing the position of a baby in the womb, according to information provided by Nihat Erdogan, the manager of the Mardin Museum who conducts the excavation of the site. The findings point at belief in rebirth after death, Erdogan told the Dogan News Agency. The decades-old Ilisu Dam project, which was first planned under Southeastern Anatolia Project’s investments in the 1960s, was first tendered in 1997. The potential damage caused by the dam’s construction, which is planned to be finalized this year, has been discussed for a quar...

Covered by Tokat's Sulusaray district in the Black Sea region of Turkey, the ancient city of Sebastapolis faces expropriation problems, leading to illegal excavations. Dating back to the first century B. C., the ancient city of Sebastapolis is thought to have been one of the five largest cities  in the Black Sea region about 2,000 years ago. Once visited by Charles Prince of Wales, the site now faces  illegal excavations due to expropriation problems [Credit: AA] Sebastapolis has been looted many times and has seen illegal excavations, as it is located in a town center and excavations to saving the ancient ruins continue with cooperation from Gaziosmanpaşa University (GOÜ) and the Tokat Museum Directorate. An academic from the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Science and Literature at GOÜ and the adviser of Sebastapolis Ancient City Excavation Works, Associate Professor Şengül Dilek Ful, said the excavations are now continuing at the baths section of the city. The b...

An 800-year-old Orthodox church in Turkey’s Muğla province is poised to fall into ruin due to its delayed restoration and neglect. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the necessary permits for restoration of a small, dilapidated monastery and church situated in on Kameriye Island in Marmaris in 2013. The proposed project for the restoration was approved, but restoration has yet to begin. Mehmet Baysal, chairman of the Marmaris Chamber of Commerce, said there were adequate resources when the project was approved but that they did not have the authority to use them since the funds belonged to the Union of Municipalities. According to Baysal, due to problems in allocation of funds between different municipalities, the issue was taken to court and is still awaiting a decision. According to Turkish media, the Marmaris Trade Center (MTO) launched a project in 2010 to open the church for faith and marriage tourism after restoration. The project to convert Kameriye Island was approve...

The origins of smiley could be nearly 4,000-years-old after archaeologists in southeastern Turkey excavated a pot that bore the ubiquitous symbol, which today is one of the most frequently used emoticons online. The roots of the symbol are widely believed to be from the early 1960s, with the classic smiley version bearing a bright yellow background said to have emerged in the early 1970s. However, the latest discovery in Turkey would now force a rethink of the origins of the symbol, versions of which have also been widely featured in several pieces of popular literature such as the graphic novel, The Watchmen. The pot was discovered during seven-year long excavations in Gaziantep province’s Karkamis district along the Syria border under the guidance of Nicolo Marchetti, an archeology professor at the University of Bologno in Italy. Marchetti said his team found a variety of objects at the site depicting the era of the Hittites, an ancient civilization and empire that is believed to hav...

A Turkish-Italian team has completed the first part of their seven-season-long excavation works in an ancient site in the town of Karkamış, located in the Turkish province of Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkish media have reported. The works at the site, which dates back to the Hittite Empire in 2,000 B.C., have been undertaken under the leadership of Nicolo Marchetti, a professor at Bologna University, and with the support of the Turkish and Italian governments, the Gaziantep Metropolitan University and SANKO Holding. Marchetti said the excavations, which started on May 2 this season, were executed by a team comprised of 25 experts with a special focus on the place site and the tumulus site, adding that the whole area was taken under protection until September, when the excavation works would be resumed. The Karkamış Ancient City Archaeological Park will open after a seven-year excavation period on May 12, 2018, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avcı announced earl...

Excavation and restoration work has resumed in the ancient city of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey. Monumental centre of Sagalassos: The urban quarter of Upper Agora  [Credit: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism ] A team of 90 people from different countries will work in the excavation area this year and the works will continue for the next three months. A team of five experts from the city’s Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ) will give academic and technological support to the excavation. The head of the excavation team, Professor Jereon Poblome, said the most excavation would be done in the ancient agora area. “Our biggest excavation will take place in the eastern part of the upper agora, as the oldest building of Sagalassos was found there two years ago. As far as we have learned, there was a trade building in this area. This building was constructed in the second century B.C. and is the oldest official building of Sagalassos. Here is a rich place and our building is stan...

A two-thousand-year-old lion sculpture at an ancient burial site dating back to the Kingdom of Commagene in Turkey’s Adıyaman province has been destroyed, the Milliyet daily reported on Friday. The destroyed lion sculpture [Credit: Ensonhaber] The lion sculpture, which was located within the ancient site of the Karakuş Tumulus in Adıyaman, was destroyed by unknown parties who broke the left side of the sculpture. Also, some parts of the sculpture are missing. Recent incidents in the treatment of historic and natural assets reflect negligence on the part of officials concerning their protection. Two-thousand-year-old granite columns, discovered in 1996 in Antalya, were recently found in front of a building. The columns were used for decorative purposes until an art history teacher recognized the columns and informed officials. A historically significant UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Library of Celsus at Ephesus, witnessed a cultural ceremony with images of decorated tables and chairs ...

The head of excavations at Perge in Turkey's Antalya province, Antalya Museum Director Mustafa Demirel, has announced that a new mosaic has been found in the ancient city. The 1,800-year-old mosaic depicts the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the daughter of King Agamemnon in Greek mythology, during the Trojan War. Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) Demirel said that during the initial years of the excavations, important projects were conducted in terms of rehabilitative efforts at the site. In the context of the excavation project, the area which includes the Kesos Fountain in the north to the south was rearranged and excavations along the West Street were accelerated. Throughout the archaeological excavations, numerous sculptures and artefacts have been unearthed, and Demirel noted that a particular mosaic has been unearthed to the "excitement" of researchers. "During the ongoing excavations in Perge, a mosaic was discovered which depicts the scene of the sacrifice of Iphigeni...

The Association of Greek Archaeologists has been informed about unsettling developments regarding the intended conversion of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to an Islamic mosque and in an announcement it made, expresses its strong concern in view of such a prospect. The Association of Greek Archaeologists requests the Greek government and international organizations to stay vigilant  and intervene so that this supremely important monument remains the property of all humankind,  an inseparable part of global cultural heritage [Credit: Shutterstock] As the AGA mentions in its announcement : “Hagia Sophia that was inaugurated in 537, has been operating as a museum since 1934 and due to its significance, constitutes a World Heritage site included, since 1985, in the relevant list of UNESCO. ”The repeated reading of the Koran and of prayers for a second consecutive year within this emblematic monument acts as a harbinger, with the ulterior motive being the cancellation of its function as ...

An excavation in the Dargecit district of the southeastern region of Turkey, which will soon be left under the reservoir waters of the Ilisu Dam, has revealed crucial information about the North Mesopotamian people’s social life 10 millennia ago, particularly about burial rituals and the ancient belief in life after death. Bodies buried in the fetal position, with their knees pulled up to their stomach, were found in the basements of houses in the site, symbolizing the position of a baby in the womb, according to information provided by Nihat Erdogan, the manager of the Mardin Museum who conducts the excavation of the site. The findings point at belief in rebirth after death, Erdogan told the Dogan News Agency. The decades-old Ilisu Dam project, which was first planned under Southeastern Anatolia Project’s investments in the 1960s, was first tendered in 1997. The potential damage caused by the dam’s construction, which is planned to be finalized this year, has been discussed for a quar...

Covered by Tokat's Sulusaray district in the Black Sea region of Turkey, the ancient city of Sebastapolis faces expropriation problems, leading to illegal excavations. Dating back to the first century B. C., the ancient city of Sebastapolis is thought to have been one of the five largest cities  in the Black Sea region about 2,000 years ago. Once visited by Charles Prince of Wales, the site now faces  illegal excavations due to expropriation problems [Credit: AA] Sebastapolis has been looted many times and has seen illegal excavations, as it is located in a town center and excavations to saving the ancient ruins continue with cooperation from Gaziosmanpaşa University (GOÜ) and the Tokat Museum Directorate. An academic from the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Science and Literature at GOÜ and the adviser of Sebastapolis Ancient City Excavation Works, Associate Professor Şengül Dilek Ful, said the excavations are now continuing at the baths section of the city. The b...

An 800-year-old Orthodox church in Turkey’s Muğla province is poised to fall into ruin due to its delayed restoration and neglect. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the necessary permits for restoration of a small, dilapidated monastery and church situated in on Kameriye Island in Marmaris in 2013. The proposed project for the restoration was approved, but restoration has yet to begin. Mehmet Baysal, chairman of the Marmaris Chamber of Commerce, said there were adequate resources when the project was approved but that they did not have the authority to use them since the funds belonged to the Union of Municipalities. According to Baysal, due to problems in allocation of funds between different municipalities, the issue was taken to court and is still awaiting a decision. According to Turkish media, the Marmaris Trade Center (MTO) launched a project in 2010 to open the church for faith and marriage tourism after restoration. The project to convert Kameriye Island was approve...

The origins of smiley could be nearly 4,000-years-old after archaeologists in southeastern Turkey excavated a pot that bore the ubiquitous symbol, which today is one of the most frequently used emoticons online. The roots of the symbol are widely believed to be from the early 1960s, with the classic smiley version bearing a bright yellow background said to have emerged in the early 1970s. However, the latest discovery in Turkey would now force a rethink of the origins of the symbol, versions of which have also been widely featured in several pieces of popular literature such as the graphic novel, The Watchmen. The pot was discovered during seven-year long excavations in Gaziantep province’s Karkamis district along the Syria border under the guidance of Nicolo Marchetti, an archeology professor at the University of Bologno in Italy. Marchetti said his team found a variety of objects at the site depicting the era of the Hittites, an ancient civilization and empire that is believed to hav...

A Turkish-Italian team has completed the first part of their seven-season-long excavation works in an ancient site in the town of Karkamış, located in the Turkish province of Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkish media have reported. The works at the site, which dates back to the Hittite Empire in 2,000 B.C., have been undertaken under the leadership of Nicolo Marchetti, a professor at Bologna University, and with the support of the Turkish and Italian governments, the Gaziantep Metropolitan University and SANKO Holding. Marchetti said the excavations, which started on May 2 this season, were executed by a team comprised of 25 experts with a special focus on the place site and the tumulus site, adding that the whole area was taken under protection until September, when the excavation works would be resumed. The Karkamış Ancient City Archaeological Park will open after a seven-year excavation period on May 12, 2018, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avcı announced earl...

Excavation and restoration work has resumed in the ancient city of Sagalassos in southwestern Turkey. Monumental centre of Sagalassos: The urban quarter of Upper Agora  [Credit: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism ] A team of 90 people from different countries will work in the excavation area this year and the works will continue for the next three months. A team of five experts from the city’s Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ) will give academic and technological support to the excavation. The head of the excavation team, Professor Jereon Poblome, said the most excavation would be done in the ancient agora area. “Our biggest excavation will take place in the eastern part of the upper agora, as the oldest building of Sagalassos was found there two years ago. As far as we have learned, there was a trade building in this area. This building was constructed in the second century B.C. and is the oldest official building of Sagalassos. Here is a rich place and our building is stan...