The greatest news of the past month was the inscription of Göbekli Tepe onto the UNESCO World Heritage List. Moreover, excavations continued in Sardes, Tieion, and Stratinocea. A stunning discovery was made of the earliest child sacrifice site in the region of southeast Turkey. Unfortunately, vandals damaged historic structures by spray painting them in the ancient city of Side in the Mediterranean region.
Turkish Archaeological News collects the most important, interesting and inspiring news from Turkish excavation sites. Here's the review for July 2018. Have we missed anything? Let us know by using Contact tab!
July 1, 2018
440-year-old powder mill to be restored by Istanbul Municipality
A historic powder mill in Istanbul’s Okmeydanı neighborhood will be restored by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 1. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Göbekli Tepe now a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
The Göbekli Tepe Research Team would like to congratulate the State Party of Turkey on the inscription of Göbekli Tepe on the prestigious list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Source: The Tepe Telegrams
5,000-year-old tomb in southeast Turkey gives earliest evidence of child sacrifice
Excavation work at a Bronze Age burial site in southeast Turkey has unearthed the graves of several youth, in what archeologists believe may be the earliest child sacrifice site in the region. Source: Daily Sabah
July 2, 2018
Gaziantep's old fountains and waterways fastest-registered works on UNESCO's tentative list
The constructions called "kastel" and "livas" are the water-distribution systems used in the past in Gaziantep province. Kastels were the fountains, and livas was used to describe the waterways. Source: Daily Sabah
Medusa mosaic is the biggest floor covering in Turkey to be displayed in its original place. Source: Anadolu Agency
July 3, 2018
City of love and emperors awaits guests
Dating back to 3,000 B.C. and added to the UNESCO Temporary World Heritage List in 2009, Sagalassos takes its visitors on a journey back in time with its 5,000-year-old streets. Source: Daily Sabah
July 4, 2018
Atatürk’s 1935 Lincoln goes on display at Anıtkabir after renovation
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Lincoln car went on display Friday at the Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of the Turkish Republic's founder in Ankara, following renovation works. Source: Daily Sabah
Cappadocia’s underground cities brought to light
Twelve of 15 underground cities will be unearthed and opened to visitors in the Central Anatolian province of Kırşehir, known as the western gate of the Cappadocia region in the Roman era. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Excavations set to uncover ancient underground city in northeastern Turkey
Researchers will start excavation work to completely uncover an underground city located in northeast Turkey's Bayburt province, according to Bayburt Director of Culture and Tourism Bekir Kurtoğlu. Source: Daily Sabah
July 5, 2018
Thermal heating used in ancient city of Sardis
The ancient city of Sardis in the western province of Manisa, where gold and silver money was printed and used for the first time in history, has attracted interest for its sewage system and thermal system used for heating in shops set up thousands of years ago. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 6, 2018
Works initiated for concrete structures in Santa ruins
The Santa ruins archaeological site, located within the boundaries of the Black Sea province of Gümüşhane’s Dumanlı village and dubbed a “hidden city close to the sky,” dates back to the Middle Age. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Excavations resume in Tieion ancient city in Turkey's Black Sea region
Archaeologists resumed their efforts to excavate the ancient city of Tieion located in northern Turkey's Zonguldak province, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Thursday. Source: Daily Sabah
July 7, 2018
The two-headed mummy that stirred panic in Ottoman palace
An ancient Egyptian mummy with two heads, belonging to a human child and a crocodile, has been photographed for the first time on July 6, after more than a century of its “exile” ordered by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 10, 2018
Virgin Mary Monastery welcomes visitors
Located on a route connecting the Black Sea to Central Anatolia, the rock-cut Virgin Mary Monastery is now hosting guests amid the start of the summer season. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 11, 2018
1,500-year-old church with mosaic floor unearthed in southwest Turkey
Researchers have unearthed what they believe to be a 1,500-year-old church along with a mosaic floor in the ancient city of Stratonicea in southwestern Turkey's Muğla province. Source: Daily Sabah
Ancient city of Teion photographed from air
This year, excavation works in the ancient city of Teion in Filyos in the Black Sea province of Zonfuldak’s Çaycuma district have been photographed from the air after 12 years. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 12, 2018
Vandals spray paint historic Side artifacts
Vandals have damaged historic structures by spray painting them in the ancient city of Side in the Mediterranean province of Antalya’s Manavgat district. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
2000-year-old Roman observation towers unearthed in Turkey's Konya
Archaeologists have discovered some 100 Roman-era observation towers at the Bozdağ National Park in central Turkey's Konya. Source: Daily Sabah
July 13, 2018
Traces of war found in ancient Lydian city Sardis
Military equipment has been unearthed in the ancient city of Sardis in the western province of Manisa’s Salihli district. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Austrian excavation crew wait for new Turkish culture minister to give green light on Ephesus
Austrian archaeologists who had to stop excavations on the ancient city of Ephesus in September 2016 due to a diplomatic row between Turkey and Austria will resume their works once Turkey’s new Culture Minister Mehmet Ersoy gives the go-ahead. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 15, 2018
Excavation of 'Ephesus of the Western Black Sea' resumes
This year's excavation began in the ancient city of Prusias ad Hypium, known as the "Ephesus of the Western Black Sea," in Düzce province's Konuralp district. Source: Daily Sabah
July 16, 2018
New findings at Göbeklitepe, the origin of civilization
Archaeologists have found more than 15 mega-monumental temples and 200 obelisks in Göbeklitepe, which is described as the starting point of history by historians. Source: Daily Sabah
July 17, 2018
Farmer discovers 8 million-year-old mammoth fossil in central Turkey
A farmer discovered a fossilized jawbone belonging to a mammoth, the extinct giant mammals of the Ice Age, in central Turkey's Yozgat province on Tuesday. Source: Daily Sabah
Section of Istanbul’s ancient city wall to be restored
The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry started the restoration works on Sur-u Sultani, a four-kilometer (2.5-mile)-long section of Istanbul's ancient city walls located near the Topkapı Palace, which served as the residence of Ottoman sultans for four centuries. Source: Daily Sabah
July 18, 2018
Zeugma mosaics draw huge interest in Turkey's Gaziantep
The number of tourists visiting the Zeugma Mosaic Museum in the first six months of the year increased by 70 percent compared to the same term last year. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
1,700-year-old Roman bust unearthed in ancient city in Turkey’s south
A 1,700-year-old Roman marble bust has been unearthed during excavations in the ancient city of Soli Pompeiopolis in the southern province of Mersin’s Mezitli district. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 19, 2018
Excavation season to begin at ancient Metropolis
New excavations will begin on July 20 in the ancient city of Metropolis, located within the borders of the Torbalı district of the Aegean province of İzmir. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 21, 2018
2,000-year-old mosaic-decorated villa unearthed in City of Tripolis
An archeological team has unearthed a 12-room villa with mosaic-covered floors and walls decorated with colorful frescoes and vegetative geometric figures in the ancient city of Tripolis located in Turkey’s Aegean region. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 22, 2018
Hellenistic temple unearthed in central Turkey
The 2,100-year-old temple was found in Kınık Mound, an archaeological site located in Yeşilyurt village of Altunhisar district, Niğde province, southern Cappadocia. Source: Archaeology News Network
July 25, 2018
3,000-year-old port city in Turkey silent witness to history
The 3,000-year-old ancient city of Caunos is on the Temporary List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and offers 2,400 years of rock tombs, a 3,000-seat theater, a basilica, a Turkish Bath, an agora, the Demeter Sacred Temple and 1,300-year-old mosaics. Source: Daily Sabah
July 26, 2018
Ottoman-era ‘hans’ draw tourists to Turkey’s Bursa
An Ottoman-era district full of “hans” (inns) in northwestern Turkey has been attracting local and foreign visitors, especially since the surrounding area was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Ancient city Aphrodisias amazes visitors with famous Roman-era sculptures
Regarded as the hometown of most prominent sculptors from the Roman period, the ancient city of Aphrodisias in western Turkey mesmerizes tourists with its sculptures and structures. Source: Daily Sabah
July 29, 2018
Archaeological remains from Byzantine era found during restoration of historic Istanbul station
Remains of what archaeologists believe is from a Byzantine coastal town have been found during the restoration works of Istanbul’s Haydarapaşa railway station, which stands on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey’s Letoon contains ‘memory of Lycian region’
The Letoon, which is located in southwestern of Turkey, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is “an archive containing the memory of the whole Lycian region,” said a university professor. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 30, 2018
Ancient ‘gate of hell’ in Turkey to open to visitors in September
An ancient Roman “gate to hell,” which was believed to be a passage into the underworld in southwestern Turkey, will open to visitors in September. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Turkish treasure hunters form association, archaeologists irked
Treasure hunters in Turkey have organized under an association, drawing the ire of the archaeology community who warned the move could speed up the plundering of ancient heritage. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 31, 2018
Ankara museum depicts chess through the ages
An extraordinary museum in the Turkish capital Ankara takes visitors on a long journey of chess through the ages. Source: Daily Sabah
