April 2025 brought several significant discoveries from the area of Türkiye, many of them related to ancient burial customs. For instance, ongoing excavations at Stratonikeia unearthed a remarkable 2,000-year-old sarcophagus adorned with intricate garland motifs. During the ongoing restoration of the 540-year-old Gulbahar Hatun Mosque in Tokat, historical tomb remnants were discovered. Moreover, a group of tourists exploring an ancient Roman aqueduct in Bursa’s Iznik (Nicaea) stumbled upon an unexpected relic — a tombstone believed to date back to the Ottoman Empire. Finally, a Roman-era chamber tomb was uncovered near the Tralleis ancient city in Aydin’s Efeler district during road renovation works initiated by the local municipality.

The Büyük Menderes (Great Meander) river in Türkiye begins its 382-mile-long journey from a spring in Dinar (ancient Phrygia), twisting and curving its way through the countryside until it reaches the Aegean Sea near the Ancient city of Miletus. It was a critical water source which had contributed to the development of many ancient civilisations, including Priene, Magnesia, Myus, Tripolis etc.

In the 6th century BCE, the poet Thespis is reputed to have lept on the back of a cart to recite his poetry, he acted it out as if he were the character in the story, and thus the first known actor was born. According to Aristotle, he was the first to ever appear on stage, and it is from him that we get the word Thespian (actor). The first actor on a stage in any production is still referred to as a thespis, he was also credited with being ‘the inventor of Tragedy’.