As 2024 Ends

The founder of our Republic, our Great Leader M. Kemal Atatürk, knew that the foundation of the country he established depended on a strong sense of history and culture. He never severed his connection with archaeology. After the establishment of the Republic, he emphasized the importance he placed on archaeology with his words, "We must protect what lies beneath the ground as much as we protect what is above it."Toprağın üstündekilere ne kadar sahip çıkıyorsak, toprağın altındakilere de o kadar sahip çıkmalıyız.” Sözleri ile  arkeolojiye ne denli önem verdiğini belirtmiştir.

In 1963, under the leadership of Halet Çambel and in collaboration with Robert J. Braidwood from the University of Chicago, surface surveys initiated the excavations at Çay Önü, marking the beginning of an adventure that ultimately led to Göbeklitepe-Karahantepe.

Inspired by the insightful words of these esteemed individuals, our association's vision is to raise awareness and understanding within society regarding the discovery, preservation, and ownership of our cultural and natural riches through the Karahantepe excavations, and to ensure that Karahantepe becomes more widely known both domestically and internationally.

Our aim is to carry out the following activities for Karahantepe in the fields of research, education, art, communication, and information dissemination.

To provide financial and moral support for restoration, conservation, development, and scientific activities, primarily including archaeological excavations at the mound.

To create social awareness, to create financial resources for the protection and promotion of the historical heritage and cultural, natural and human riches of the mound and its surroundings, and to provide the equipment needed for the archaeometry laboratory, which is planned to be established in the area to be allocated on the campus of Istanbul University Faculty of Letters.

Dünyaca ünlü sanatçılarla Karahantepe’nin daha iyi tanınmasını sağlayacak sergi ve galaların yapılması konularında faal olan derneğimiz.  15 Haziran -23 Eylül 2023 tarihleri arasında dünyaca ünlü fotoğraf sanatçısı Isabel Muñoz’un büyülü fotoğrafları ile açtığı “Yeni Bir Hikaye” sergisi Our association is active in organizing exhibitions and galas that will help Karahantepe become better known through collaborations with world-renowned artists. After the exhibition "A New Story," featuring the enchanting photographs of world-famous photographer Isabel Muñoz, was displayed at the Pera Museum between June 15 and September 23, 2023, it continues to meet art lovers in various countries around the world.

The findings unearthed in Karahantepe in 2023 brought a new perspective and definition to the entire understanding of the Neolithic era. The statue, which adorns the symbolic world of prehistoric humans, is now welcoming visitors at the Şanlıurfa Museum. Also found in the same area and holding the feature of being the oldest and largest of its kind from that period, the 2.45-meter-tall seated human statue evokes a living individual with its ribs resembling a skeleton on one side and its phallus on the other.

In 2023, at the 5th Shanghai Archaeology Forum held in China, Karahantepe was selected among 9 Field Exploration and Research Projects based on 973 evaluations by leading participants from 32 countries, thus securing an important place not only in Anatolia but also on a global scale.

"During the 2024 excavation season, at the end of August, a figure of a running wild donkey was found in the area. Approximately 20 centimeters long, it was placed right next to a grinding stone. However, more than its size, its dynamism, the proportionality of its depiction to the stone it is carved on, and the animal iconography and its relationship with humans and their environment during this period, all contribute to our understanding of this find."

04-08 Kasım 2024 Tarihleri arasında Şanlıurfa şehrimizde ilki gerçekleşen  Dünya Neolitik Kongresi  The first World Neolithic Congress, held in Şanlıurfa between November 4-8, 2024, brought together over a thousand scientists from 63 countries. In 13 separate halls, 45 sessions were held, representing 486 academic institutions, with 687 presentations and 63 posters. This event showcased the diversity of Neolithic cultures across different geographies and the profound richness they have contributed to our heritage, representing a highly positive development for both Turkish and global archaeology.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to the Congress, especially our esteemed Minister of Tourism and Culture of the Republic of Turkey, our governor, our local administrators, our universities, and all the institutions, organizations, and individuals who provided support, and particularly to the Board of Directors of Turkish Airlines for their five-year support of the Taş project.

The fact that the shining stars of Neolithic archaeology are in our lands gives us additional encouragement in our studies.

We hope that the symposium results will be beneficial to our country and the whole world.

Kind regards,
Secretary General
Recep Topcu