A 2,500-year-old marble statue has been uncovered from the ruins of the biblical city of Sardis, the ancient capital of the Lydian Kingdom, located in modern-day Turkey.
Researchers made the discovery at a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Salihli district of Manisa, east of İzmir, and the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced it in August.
“The statue, which appears to be holding a fruit in its hand, provides important evidence that will contribute to our understanding of life, religious beliefs and cultural interactions in Sardis during the period,” wrote Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister, in a translated social media post.
He added that it was an “extraordinary discovery.”
Pictures show the 7.2-foot-tall statue, which depicts a young man, has retained well-preserved facial features.
It was discovered in two main pieces. Its feet and several smaller fragments were missing.
According to the Daily Sabah, researchers believe it was originally a statue that was later repurposed during the Roman period as paving material, with its face down in the sidewalk, which helped preserve its remarkably detailed features.
“The young man is depicted wearing a thick himation, a thin chiton and beneath them a distinctive garment featuring horizontal lines,” Ersoy wrote.
“This type of clothing is not seen on comparable statues from Anatolia and Greece, highlighting the work’s local characteristics and its connection to Lydian culture.”
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has initially dated it to between 470 and 450 B.C.
The statue will be on display at the Manisa Museum in western Turkey after conservation and restoration work is complete.
Often, such art was painted, and conservators say they will work to remove a layer of deposit that has gathered on the outside, hoping to preserve any paint underneath.
The church in Sardis is one of the seven churches of Asia Minor mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 3:1–6 reads, “To the angel of the church in Sardis write...”
The other churches are Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Smyrna, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
“It’s a wonderful piece, and we’re still kind of astounded and a bit perplexed by it,” field director of the Sardis Expedition Nicholas Cahill told The Art Newspaper.
“I’m always struck by how little we know about the Lydians. There is only one major Lydian site, and that’s Sardis. We’re still almost in the infancy of our studies of ancient Lydia, despite working at Sardis for more than 70 years. And we have never been fortunate enough to find such a monumental sculpture—indeed these things come up very rarely worldwide.”
