25.08.2026 12:11
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy reported that an 11,000-year-old statue, unlike any previously found, has been unearthed in Karahantepe, Şanlıurfa.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the approximately 11,000-year-old composite statue found during the 2026 excavations in Karahantepe on his social media account.
UNIQUE STATUE UNEARTHED
In his statement on his social media account, Minister Ersoy said, "They have unearthed a unique 11,000-year-old statue in Karahantepe," and noted the following:
"In the 2026 excavations we are conducting within the scope of our Heritage for the Future Project, we found a composite statue with a style never seen before.
HUMAN SITTING ON A LEOPARD'S BACK
The statue, 70 centimeters high, which has survived to the present day from where it was left approximately 11,000 years ago, depicts a human sitting on the back of a leopard. This special artifact was found on a bench extending along the wall of a structure 3 meters in diameter with a floor covered with flat stones.
I believe this discovery, which opens the door to new questions about the earliest periods of human history, will have a wide impact in the scientific world. I thank our General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, our excavation team, our scientists, and all our colleagues working devotedly in the field."