5 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

10,000-year-old Sculptures and Figurines holding Phallus of the Taş Tepeler in the southeast Turkey

One of the common features of male depictions with similar features found in the region called Taş Tepeler (Stone Hills), located in southeast Turkey, is holding a phallus, either standing or sitting.

The numerous findings of male sculptures and male figurines in the Taş Tepeler region may be an indication of a culture that symbolized the importance of fertility and population.

From the end of the Epi-paleolithic era, human figurines and idols begin to appear, as well as animal figurines found in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. While figurines of animals continue into the Neolithic period, there is a significant increase in findings of human figurines.

Especially the increase in male statues in the region called Taş Tepeler is remarkable. These statues are made out of limestone, while the figurines are made out of limestone or baked clay.

One commonality among these male depictions is that the hands join in front of the figure, sometimes holding a phallus, either standing or sitting.

The Urfa-Yeni Mahalle male statue that stands in the Şanlıurfa city center, the male figurine found at Karahan Tepe (Hill), and the figurines found at Göbekli Tepe, Harbetsuvan, Nevali Chori, Kilisik all have similar portrayals of the male form and phallus.

Karahantepe statue.

Excavations at the Nevali Chori settlement resulted in the first discovery of T-shaped columns. And among the finds found in the layers of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement identified, there were also some statues of male figures. In addition, thanks to the presence of arm and finger reliefs on the T-shaped column, it was understood that these were stylized male sculptures.

In 1993, during a landscaping project in the Yeni Mahalle area of şanlurfa, a limestone sculpture depicting a human figure with a phallus and no legs, about 1.93 m in height, carved as a column, was discovered by coincidence. This sculpture, which displays arm and finger reliefs, is comparable to the T-shaped pillar in style. The Yeni Mahalle sculpture is the oldest known human-sized statue.

Male statue in Göbeklitepe.
Male statue in Göbeklitepe.

The pillars discovered in the Göbekli Tepe settlement’s III layer, the lowest layer, were dated to 9100 BCE. These pillars, which also stylize humans and stand around 5 meters tall, are formed of monolithic stones and are the first known specimens of this time.

Male figures; male sculpture heads, totems, masks, torsos and phallus pieces, male sculptures in the settlement of Göbekli Tepe are plentiful.

Aside from the pillars which stylize the human form, two styles of statues of the male form emerge. One of them is the sitting male statues, and the other is the standing male statues.

Kilisik statue
Kilisik statue.

In 1964, the residents of Kilisik Village, located inside the limits of Adıyaman’s Kahta region, gave a T-shaped column to the Commagene Excavation team. Two human reliefs with arms, fingers, and heads may be seen on this stone. What makes this pillar unique is that instead of a phallus, there is a hollow region beneath the bodies of the figurines. It is uncertain if this empty part is original or was added later.

The aceramic Neolithic Period is also represented in a piece of sculpture on exhibit at the Gaziantep Museum. The existence of two facial reliefs, in addition to the arms on both sides, is the most notable characteristic of this statue from an unknown location. The possible area where the phallus will be located at the front of the statue is completely scraped. The sculpture in Gaziantep is a significant example of the shift from the T-shaped pillar tradition to the sculpture tradition.

Harbetsuvan male  statue
Harbetsuvan male statue.

The man figure discovered at Harbetsuvan Tepesi may be considered as a continuation of Göbekli Tepe’s male sculpting tradition. This sculpture belongs to the same category as the Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe seated male sculptures.

One of the most striking of these male depictions is undoubtedly a scene with five figures consisting of a human, a leopard, and a bull in Sayburç in Taş Tepeler, Şanlıurfa.

In the figures that are thought to be related to each other, there are two leopards with their mouths open on either side of the male figure holding his phallus with one hand. To the left of them, there was a man holding a snake and a bull standing in front of him with his big horns.

Sayburç

Considered to be contemporary with the last periods of Göbekli Tepe, the Sayburç is also one of the Taş Tepes in Şanlıurfa, which consists of Göbekli Tepe and eleven other archaeological sites around it.

The common similarities of all these male statues and male figurines may indicate the importance of population development in this period. In the following periods, this importance may have evolved towards the sanctity of women’s fertility.

Source: Celal ULUDAĞ, Bahattin ÇELİK, Kaya TOLON, “A MALE FIGURINE FROM HARBETSUVAN TEPESİ”, Karadeniz Journal, 38.

https://doi.org/10.17498/kdeniz.423948

Related Articles

4,000-year-old settlement found during Balasore town India

9 July 2021

9 July 2021

A 4,000-year-old settlement and ancient artifacts have been discovered in the Balasore district, India. The Odisha Institute for Maritime and...

Scottish Archaeologists unearth ‘missing’ Aberdeenshire monastery linked to first written Gaelic

19 November 2023

19 November 2023

One of the biggest mysteries in Scottish archaeological history has been solved with the discovery of the monastery site where...

4,500-year-old rare Canaanite goddess sculpture found by a farmer in Gaza Strip

25 April 2022

25 April 2022

A farmer in the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, found a rare 4,500-year-old stone sculpture while...

Explore 1,400-year-old ruins, submerged in Eastern China – Atlantis of China

10 June 2023

10 June 2023

Deep in Qiandao Lake, between China’s Five Lion Mountains, lie the mysterious ruins of two ancient cities, dating back to...

Egypt dig unearths 41 mln-year-old Whale in desert -Tutcetus rayanensis-

12 August 2023

12 August 2023

Paleontologists in Egypt announced the discovery of a new species of extinct whale that inhabited the sea covering present-day Egypt...

Rare and Unusual Fossil Shows Small Mammal Attacking Larger Dinosaur

20 July 2023

20 July 2023

An unusual fossil from about 125 million years ago that depicts a dramatic event when a carnivorous mammal attacked a...

Mesopotamian bricks reveal the strength of Earth’s ancient magnetic field

19 December 2023

19 December 2023

Ancient Mesopotamian bricks reveal the details of a curious strengthening of the Earth’s magnetic field, according to a new study...

Ancient Three Fortresses: Layered Defense on Egypt’s Eastern Border at Tell Abu Saifi

11 May 2025

11 May 2025

Archaeological excavations at the strategically significant Tell Abu Saifi site in North Sinai have unearthed compelling evidence of Egypt’s long-standing...

A 2100-year-old inscription found İn Türkiye: Antiochos of Commagene calls on the people to ‘obey and respect the law’

15 March 2024

15 March 2024

The ancient inscription found near Kımıldağı (Kımıl Mount) in Önevler village of Adıyaman’s Gerger district in 2023 will shed light...

One Of The Largest And Most Significant Iron Age Hoards Ever Discovered In The UK Has Been Unveiled

26 March 2025

26 March 2025

In a remarkable archaeological breakthrough, the Melsonby Hoard has emerged as one of the most significant Iron Age discoveries in...

Pictish ring believed to be more than 1,000-years-old found during Burghead fort dig in Scotland

5 September 2024

5 September 2024

A “remarkable” Pictish ring thought to be more than 1,000 years old has been unearthed by an amateur archaeologist on...

The oldest meerschaum artifact found in Anatolia; of Çavlum Seal

18 July 2021

18 July 2021

The stamp seal unearthed during the rescue excavations of Çavlum Village on the Eskişehir Alpu Plain is the oldest meerschaum...

A woman in the Czech Republic found a medieval jackpot during a walk

29 May 2024

29 May 2024

A woman walking in the town of Kutná Hora in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic found a...

One More Missing Links of Evolution Found

29 April 2021

29 April 2021

There is a phenomenon of missing links in the theory of evolution. Theorists of evolution continue to find these missing...

Ancient cooking vessel found in northern Minnesota dates back more than 1,600 years

28 February 2022

28 February 2022

Dating of Ceramic sherds found in 2003 at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota revealed the vessel...