Statue With Realistic Expressions

Photo: The Ministry of Culture and Tourism

New finds were discovered in Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe. At around 12,000 years old, Göbekli Tepe is the world’s oldest megalithic site – and it has a “sister site” called Karahantepe.

A recent discovery in the world’s oldest religious sanctuary, Göbeklitepe, “Potbelly Hill” in Turkish, which is described as the “zero point of history” has revealed a painted wild boar statue.

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Göbeklitepe has changed the way historians and archaeologists think about the cradle of civilization. And there is so much more to be discovered.

A painted wild boar statue was discovered during ongoing excavations in Göbeklitepe. The artifact, which contained red, white, and black pigment residues on its surface, was the first painted sculpture found from its period to the present day.

As part of the Taş Tepeler project, which sheds light on prehistory and has seen highly significant discoveries on a global scale, the archaeological excavations carried out in 2023 in 9 different areas have recently led to the discovery of human and animal statues.

The Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism has released a written statement providing the following information:

In the D structure of Göbeklitepe, a life-sized wild boar sculpture made of limestone was discovered. The wild boar sculpture found in Göbeklitepe was situated on a pedestal adorned with decorations believed to include an H-shaped symbol, a crescent, two snakes, and three human faces or masks.  READ MORE...

Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the last remaining artefact in the seven wonders of the ancient world, a fascinating emblem of the ancient civilization that once ruled over Egypt. Along with the surrounding pyramids in the Giza complex, the Great Pyramid is remarkably well preserved, and has become a UNESCO World Heritage site which is under extensive protection. 

Built over 4,000 years ago, it is the largest pyramid in the world, and remained the tallest structure made by human hands for over 3,000 years, until the Eiffel Tower was constructed in Paris in 1889.

How, exactly, such a colossal structure was built has been a subject of fascination for centuries. The purpose of the Great Pyramid of Giza has also been a source of extensive study and research. Below we outline some of the most widely accepted purposes of the Great Pyramid that attracts millions of tourists every year.

Historians believe the primary role of the Great Pyramid of Giza was to act as a tomb for the great Egyptian King Khufu. Egyptians believed that their pharaohs would go on to become gods in the afterlife, but in order to prepare for a safe transition into the next world, they had to have the right burial chamber. 

King Khufu spent 27 years planning the construction of his pyramid with his cousin and vizier, the architect Hemiunu.

In its day it was the most impressive structure in the world, unlike anything anyone had seen, and its sheer scale and ingenuity seemed to represent the almighty power of the man who once ruled over the ancient kingdom, although it was more likely a demonstration of his kingdom’s wealth, which waned in subsequent generations. 

When Khufu died, his sarcophagus was placed inside the king’s chamber, deep inside the pyramid, although his remains were never found. However, his pyramid was surrounded by several satellite pyramids built for his wife and family.              TO READ MORE...

Karahan Tepe

KARAHAN TEPE, KNOWN LOCALLY AS “KEÇILITEPE”, IS A PREHISTORIC SITE IN AN UPLAND AREA OF THE TEKTEK MOUNTAINS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA REGION OF TURKEY, KNOWN AS THE TAŞ TEPELER.

Taş Tepeler contains a collection of ancient monuments that includes the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Göbekli Tepe, for which Karahan Tepe is often referred to as its sister site.

Karahan Tepe was first discovered in 1997, but the first systematic survey was carried out in 2000 that revealed basin-like pools carved in bedrock, and a considerable number of chisels and adzes, beads, stone pot fragments, grind stones and pestles.

The discovery of arrowheads, scrapers, perforators, blades, and stone tools made from flint, or obsidian, suggests that the inhabitants mainly survived through hunter-gathering or animal husbandry, unlike most Neolithic settlements which relied on agriculture (evidenced by the lack of farmed vegetation in situ).

The finds also suggest that the site was active during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (10,000 – 6,500 BC), corresponding with contemporary sites such as Sefer Tepe, 15km north, Sanlıurfa-Yenimahalle, 63km west, and Göbekli Tepe, 40km west.  READ MORE...

Halloween Born in "Hell Caves"

The current archaeological site of Rathcroghan displays an artist’s impression of the temple that once stood there. It was the main meeting place of the Connaught kingdom 2,000 years ago.PHOTOGRAPH BY RONAN O'CONNELL

In the middle of a field in a lesser known part of Ireland is a large mound occupied by sheep. These livestock wander freely, chewing the grass beneath their feet. Yet, had they been in that same location 2,000 years ago, these animals probably would have been stiff with terror, held aloft by chanting, costumed pagans while being sacrificed to Celtic demons that inhabited nearby Oweynagat cave.

Considered by the ancient Celts to be a passage between Ireland and its devil-infested “otherworld,” Oweynagat (pronounced “Oen-na-gat” and meaning “cave of the cats”) was the birthplace of the Samhain festival, the ancient roots of Halloween, according to Irish archaeologist Daniel Curley. Far from the child-friendly event it has become, Halloween can trace its origins to a bloody and eerie ritual marked in Rathcroghan, a former Celtic center buried beneath the farmland of Ireland’s County Roscommon.

Curley is an expert on Rathcroghan, which was the hub of the ancient Irish kingdom of Connaught. At the heart of Rathcroghan, on that monumental mound, animals were sacrificed at a mighty pagan temple during Samhain. Now Ireland is pushing for UNESCO World Heritage status for Rathcroghan (“Rath-craw-hin”), a 5,500-year-old mystery slowly being decoded by scientists and historians.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Northwest Turkey

HALFWAY BETWEEN ISTANBUL AND ANKARA, in one of the most historic and beautiful parts of northwest Turkey, is a deep valley covered in dense pine forests and blessed with thermal springs. 

And in this valley is something that seems right out of a Disney movie: row upon row of identical, castle-like, turreted chateaus. When the occasional morning mist enshrouds the blue towers, it’s a dreamy scene, but when you look a little closer, something seems off. The roads between them are unfinished. 

Construction debris litters the ground. And there’s not a soul in sight. It’s a fairy tale ghost town, an ambitious, luxurious development project that fell victim to mismanagement and global financial currents.

Burj Al Babas, as the place is known, is located a few miles from the historic town of Mudurnu, once at the crossroads of the Silk Road and the Crimean Road. 

Over the years it lost its position as a trading hub, was reborn as the center of Turkey’s poultry industry, and most recently has turned to tourism to drive the local economy, partly through the efforts of the Mudurnu Cutural Heritage Site Management Directorate. 

Turkish officials have even proposed making the town a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including its characteristic black-and-white Ottoman mansions.  READ MORE