2,500-year-old sculpture discovered at UNESCO site in Turkey

A rare, approximately 2,500-year-old colossal statue has been unearthed in the ancient city of Sardis in Manisa, Turkey, the country’s ministry of culture announced on Tuesday (4 August). The statue, depicting a young man holding fruit, was found in two pieces but once stood seven feet high, according to a ministry statement . It is understood to date back to the first half of the fifth century BC, around the beginning of the Classical period in Greek art. It has been exceptionally well preserved because it was reused as a Roman-era paving stone on a colonnaded street, and “offers significant insights into the art and social life of the period”, the statement adds. Sardis, inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage site last year, was the capital of the Lydians, a powerful Iron Age civilisation (eighth-sixth centuries BC) known for its wealth and early coinage production. According to Unesco , the Lydians were located at a crossroads between the Greek world and contemporary Near Eastern cultures. The sculpture dates from the period when Sardis was the capital of the western province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It presents a mixture of styles: the upright stance and long hair speak to sculptural traditions of the sixth century BC while the carving of the face and hands are typical of the first half of the 5th century BC, the ministry statement says. What’s more, the garments depicted on the figure—a Greek-style outer cloak worn over a tunic-like lighter garment and another ite…