2,500-Year-Old Colossal Statue Unearthed in Turkey's Ancient Sardes

A colossal marble statue dating to between 470 and 450 BCE has been discovered in the ancient city of Sardes in western Turkey, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2025. The statue, over two meters tall, was found beneath a Roman road, broken in two and missing its feet and some other parts, yet remarkably well-preserved due to being buried as fill. The figure's hybrid style combines archaic conventions like frontal posture and long hair with classical facial and hand treatment, and it wears a unique horizontally striped garment over a himation and chiton, possibly a Lydian tradition. The statue holds a fruit, possibly a quince, in its right hand, suggesting a ritual offering. Archaeologists have not yet determined the figure's gender or identity. After restoration, it will join the collections of the Manisa Museum. Sardes, the ancient capital of Lydia and later the western satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, was renowned for the wealth of King Croesus and the gold-bearing Pactolus River.