The Urfa Man, also called the Balıklıgöl Statue, is an ancient statue shaped like a human. It was discovered during digging near Balıklıgöl, close to Urfa, in the area known as Upper Mesopotamia, which is in the southeast of modern-day Turkey. The statue is dated to about 9000 BC and belongs to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. It is considered the oldest realistic sculpture of a human that is life-sized. The statue is from the same time period as the sites of Göbekli Tepe (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A/B) and Nevalı Çori (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B). It is part of the Taş Tepeler tradition, which includes large statues of men holding their erect phallus. The location where the statue was originally found, Yeni Mahalle, was carbon dated to 8600 BCE.

Discovery

The statue was discovered during construction work. The exact location where it was found is not clearly recorded, but it may have come from the nearby Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site of Urfa Yeni-Yol. This location is close to other known Pre-Pottery Neolithic A sites near Urfa, such as Göbekli Tepe (about 10 kilometers away) and Gürcütepe. It was reported that the statue was found in 1993 on Yeni Yol street in Balıklıgöl, at the same place where the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Yeni Mahalle was studied from 1997.

The statue is almost 1.90 meters tall. Its eyes are deep holes containing pieces of black obsidian. It has a V-shaped collar or necklace. The hands are joined in front, covering the genitals. The statue is believed to date to about 9000 BC. It is often said to be the oldest known statue in the world.

Context

Before the Urfa Man, many small statues from the Upper Paleolithic period are known, such as the Löwenmensch figurine (about 40,000 BC), the Venus of Dolní Věstonice (about 30,000 BC), the Venus of Willendorf (about 25,000 BC), and the realistic Venus of Brassempouy (about 25,000 BC).

Slightly later than the Urfa Man, during Pre-Pottery Neolithic C, statues that look like humans were found in the Levant, such as the 'Ain Ghazal Statues. In 2023, archaeologists announced that excavations at Karahan Tepe uncovered a similar human statue dating back to around 9,400 BC.

Gallery

• A different angle showing the entire statue
• A portrait of the Urfa Man, featuring obsidian stones placed in the eye sockets
• A close-up view highlighting specific features of the Urfa Man