Kürkçüoğlu described the results of the excavations as “a marvelous discovery” and said:
“With this discovery, the history we have obtained up until now about the Neolithic age has been brought back 2,000 years. We now know that our fellow human beings built the first houses in history in the fertile area near Balıklıgöl 13,500 years ago.”
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World’s Oldest Statue
A two-meter high statue of a male (above) was discovered in Balıklıgöl in 1993. The limestone statue the eyes of which are carved out of obsidian depicts a man seizing his genital organ with both hands. It was named the “Balıklıgöl Statue” and is on display in Urfa Museum.
Kürkçüoğlu provided the following details about the statue:
“Scientists have confirmed that the ‘Balıklıgöl Statue’ is the oldest statue ever to be discovered until now. The statue, which was in a Neolithic temple, represents ‘the God of Eroticism’ or ‘the God of Reproduction.’Therefore, we are certain that the Balıklıgöl settlement is 2,000 years older than the Nevale Çori and Göbeklitepe settlements. Each exploratory excavation and the finds discovered in Urfa add to our knowledge of the Neolithic age.”
Transition to Sedentary Life and Agriculture
Karahantepe, Sefertepe and Hamzantepe.
In each of these settlements, several T-shaped stelae similar to those in Nevale Çori and Göbeklitepe were found. The team also discovered a stele with the figure of a snake carved on it and a statue surprisingly similar to the “Balıklıgöl Statue.”
Kürkçüoğlu stressed the significance of these finds as follows:
“It is certain that future excavations and discoveries will reveal much more about the unknown aspects of the history of mankind. All these finds are significant, since they indicate that the ancients who lived in the Urfa region were skilled in building structures and gathered together occasionally for religious rituals. These rituals resulted in a transition to sedentary lifestyle and the emergence of agriculture. Thus it is believed that the history of civilization began in Urfa.”
