Colossal 2,500-year-old statue unearthed at ancient Sardis in Turkey

Sardis, in western Turkey, was once the capital of the kingdom of Lydia and home to the legendary King Croesus, whose proverbial wealth is linked to the striking of the first coins made from precious metal in the 6th century BCE. The site, excavated for decades by an American-led archaeological mission, continues to yield major discoveries that shed light on the history of this pivotal city of ancient Anatolia.

Archaeologists have now announced the discovery of a colossal statue, roughly 2,500 years old, found beneath an ancient roadway at the site. The scale of the find and its state of preservation make it an exceptional contribution to understanding monumental sculpture from a period straddling the archaic and classical eras of the Greek and Anatolian world.

The statue's location, buried under a thoroughfare, suggests it may have been moved or repurposed at a later date, a common practice in late antiquity when older materials and monuments were recycled into new construction. This complex stratigraphic context will require further analysis by the research team to precisely date the work and understand the circumstances of its burial.

Sardis ranks among the major archaeological sites of western Turkey, valued for its historical significance and its contribution to understanding both the Lydian and later Greco-Roman worlds. This new find is expected to fuel ongoing research at the site and, depending on further study, could eventually be restored and presented to the public.

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Written by the ADM desk based on Beaux Arts Magazine. Read the original article for the full story.