6 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

9,300-year-old Gre Filla Mound in southeastern Turkey to be relocated

While public criticism continues due to the fact that Gre Filla, known as Diyarbakır’s Göbeklitepe, is under the dam, Diyarbakır Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Cemil Alp in a statement to the newspaper Mücadele Gazete that Gre Filla will be moved as it is.

As is known, the salvage excavation at Gre Filla, carried out within the Ambar dam project brought out a PrPottery Neolithic (PPN) settlement, located on the northern border of the alluvial plain formed by the tributaries of the Upper Tigris valley.

Gre Filla Höyük in the Kocaköy district of Diyarbakır province in southeast Turkey is known as a second Hasankeyf case. Despite local and international objections, Hasankeyf’s city and its archaeological sites have been flooded as part of the Ilısu Dam project in 2020.

While the fact that the historical area will be under the dam has caused the reaction of the citizens, intensive work has started in the region in 2019, and 2022 continues, as the last excavation season. Because the dam waters began to fill slowly.

On this issue, Diyarbakır Culture and Tourism Provincial Director Cemil Alp made important statements. Emphasizing the importance of preserving Gre Filla rather than being destroyed, Alp said that the entire temple will be moved, especially as it is.

Alp said that the temple, which is the same age as Göbeklitepe that was unearthed during the excavations, is a very valuable artifact and that they recommended to the ministry that the artifacts be transported in the same manner before the historical site was flooded.

Alp stated that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism gave a positive response on the subject and said, “Our Ministry found it appropriate to provide a place belonging to the treasury and move it. We are also looking for a place. We thought of İçkale, but it is a protected area. So now our search continues. Let’s not forget, that Zeynel Bey Tomb, Mosque, minaret, and other historical buildings were moved in Hasankeyf. Preservation of artifacts is more important.”

As many as 2,687 artifacts have been unearthed after four-year-long excavations at the Gre Filla mound. The settlement was established on the virgin soil in ca. 9300 cal.BC.

The Gre Filla Höyük excavations are under the presidency of the Diyarbakır Museum Directorate and under the scientific consultancy of Professor Ayşe Tuba Ökse from Kocaeli University.

Related Articles

Most important Discovery in New Zealand Archaeology: Ocean Waka

5 March 2025

5 March 2025

What began as a routine search for wood by Vincent and Nikau Dix on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) has led to...

A mosaic floor from the 2nd century BC depicting the muse Kalliope was discovered in ancient city of Side, southern Türkiye

24 May 2024

24 May 2024

During the excavations carried out in the ancient city of Side, a mosaic floor from the second century BC, depicting...

Iron Lady of The Bronze Age “Puduhepa”

5 May 2021

5 May 2021

Puduhepa is the daughter of a priest and at the same time a priestess who served for the goddess Ishtar. ...

Europe’s oldest grave of a newborn girl found in İtaly

15 December 2021

15 December 2021

An international team of researchers has found Europe’s oldest tomb of a newborn girl, dating back 10,000 years, in Liguria....

Divers Discover 2,500-Year-Old Shipwreck and anchors Off the Coast of Sicily

23 January 2025

23 January 2025

A shipwreck dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries BC was discovered in the waters of Santa Maria del...

Ancient Rituals and ‘Devil’s Money’: Elite Pagans’ Medieval Cult Site Unearthed at Hezingen

15 February 2025

15 February 2025

Researchers in the eastern Netherlands have uncovered a medieval cult site featuring structural remains and a hoard of gold and...

KIŠIB: A Digital Archive From 80,000 Mesopotamian Seals is Being Created

19 December 2024

19 December 2024

Over the next 16 years, a research team from the Institute for Near Eastern Archaeology at the Free University of...

The Nightmare of the Roman Soldiers “Carnyx”

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

The Carnyx was a brass musical instrument used as a psychological weapon of war by the ancient Celts between 300...

Excavations at the site in the coastal city of São Luís, Brazil uncovered thousands of artifacts left by ancient peoples up to 9,000 years ago

4 February 2024

4 February 2024

Archaeologists unearthed 43 human skeletons and more than 100,000 artifacts at an excavation site in the coastal city of São...

1700-year-old weaving workshop discovered in southeast Turkey

4 December 2021

4 December 2021

Excavations carried out in the ancient city of Perre in the southeastern province of Adıyaman have unearthed a 1,700-year-old weaving...

The Surprising Fact About The Roman-Era Female Bust

24 March 2021

24 March 2021

50 years ago, foundation excavation work was started for the construction of Girls’ Institute in Akpınar Neighborhood of Bolu city...

Climate and Archaic humans caused the extinction of giant camels that lived in Mongolia 27,000 years ago, a study says

3 April 2022

3 April 2022

Camelus knoblochi, a species of giant two-humped camel, survived in Mongolia alongside modern humans—and perhaps Neanderthals and Denisovans—until about 27,000...

Archaeologists Uncovered a Unique Ancient Roman Winery with Marble Tiling and Fountains of Grape Juice

17 April 2023

17 April 2023

Archaeologists have uncovered a unique ancient Roman winery at the luxurious Villa of the Quintilii, just to the south of...

Archaeologists discover medieval a tableman gaming piece in Bedfordshire, England

26 April 2023

26 April 2023

Archaeologists in Bedfordshire, England, have made an intriguing discovery: a tableman gaming piece was discovered at a medieval site. Cotswold...

A Big, Round, 4,000-Year-Old Stone Building Discovered on a Cretan Hilltop

12 June 2024

12 June 2024

During excavations for an airport on Greece’s largest island of Crete, a large circular monument dating back 4000 years was...