29 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ancient Hippodrome, Subject of Ben-Hur Movie, Will Become “Arkeo Sports Park”

Ben-Hur, a wealthy prince living in Jerusalem, is a historical figure who struggled for the freedom of the Jews during the Roman period. He is best known for the 1959 feature film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, starring Charlton Heston.

It is planned to be the hippodrome “Arkeo Spor Park” in the Antakya district of Hatay (Turkey), which was the subject of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which went down in cinema history as a successful film that received 11 academy honors.

Head of the excavation, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University (HMKU), Head of the Archeology Department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Prof. Dr. Hatice Pamir, with the hippodrome excavation, said, “Our goal is to make this structure visible and bring it to the city and to contribute to domestic and foreign tourism mobility,” she said.

“To bring the structure to tourism as Arkeo Sports Park”

“The first excavations in the hippodrome, which was built in the 1st century AD, were carried out between 1932 and 1939, some archaeological material was found, but it was taken abroad because it was the French mandate period. We started excavations here in 2013 and we want to reveal the archaeological values ​​of Antakya in the context of these studies,” said Hatice Pamir, “We aim to uncover the remains of the hippodrome, the most important structure of the ancient city. The ancient hippodrome is a very important structure, it is a place where the most important sports games of the Antiquity, the Olympic Games, were held for 350 years, 2,000 years ago. Everyone from the most important cities of the eastern Mediterranean participated in the competitions held here every four years. Right now, there is Tokyo Olympics and the whole world is watching it. The Olympic games held in Antakya in the same way in Antiquity attracted a lot of attention, and we are talking about a sports structure with 80 thousand people here, it shows us how many people came. Our goal is to make this structure visible, to bring it to the city within the concept of an Arkeo Sports Park, and to contribute to domestic and foreign tourism mobility,” she said.

The ancient hippodrome in Antakya will be Arkeo Sports Park
The ancient hippodrome in Antakya will be Arkeo Sports Park. Photo: DHA

According to news in the DHA, Pamir stated that the ancient hippodrome occupies a large area with the structures surrounding it and that it is the most lively center of the ancient city, Pamir stated that excavations still reveal the structures surrounding it as well as the hippodrome.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Stating that Antakya Hippodrome is unique in terms of structure, Professor Pamir said,  “The length of the hippodrome in the north-south direction is approximately 500 meters, and its width is close to 100 meters from outside. It has a two-story grandstand and a U-shape surrounds this entire area. There is no sports structure in Turkey, which has a capacity of 80 thousand people and has these dimensions at the moment. Of course, there are stadiums, hippodromes, and amphitheaters where gladiator games are played in other ancient cities, but we can say that this is a very special structure in terms of both its size, capacity, and versatile usability, the only and the largest.”

The foundations are being unearthed in the hippodrome excavation, which is the subject of the movie Ben-Hur. Photo DHA
The foundations are being unearthed in the hippodrome excavation, which is the subject of the movie Ben-Hur. Photo DHA

“It was the subject of the movie Ben-Hur”

Archaeologist Sevingül Bilgin Kopçuk, the deputy head of the excavation, said that there was a spina wall in the ancient hippodrome during the excavations and said, “We are aware that there are statues and fountain devices on this structure. This spina part is a row of buildings in the hippodrome where horse races are held, around which the horses turn 5 or 7 times. We even know that the 1959 movie Ben-Hur was shot based on this place,” she said.

“We reveal the foundations”

Stating that they are continuing the excavation work in the eastern tribune area of the hippodrome, member of the excavation team, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University (HMKU) Art Vocational School Lecturer Büşra Kocaman Sakin said:

“Our aim here is to excavate the foundations of the area on the east side of the hippodrome. The areas saw actually belong to the stairs leading to the second floor of the two-story tribune, and these existing ruins were actually covered with cut stone blocks and were much more magnificent. The block stones here were moved over time and used in other structures. Currently, in our work in the eastern tribune area, we descend from the surface soil at about 1 meter depending on the soil slope, revealing the foundations.”

Related Articles

Evidence of Medieval Plague Victims Buried With “Significant Care” Found

23 June 2021

23 June 2021

The Black Death, which killed between 40 and 60% of Europe’s population in the mid-14th century, was a devastating epidemic...

Researchers solve the mystery of Mayan 819-day calendar

24 April 2023

24 April 2023

Researchers at Tulane University in Louisiana have solved the mystery of the 819-day ancient Mesoamerican calendar used by ancient Mayans....

Women May Have Ruled El Algar in the Bronze Age

12 March 2021

12 March 2021

The diadem found in the Bronze Age tomb belonging to the El Algar culture may have belonged to a queen....

Unexpected Results Of Ancient DNA Study: Analysis sheds light on the early peopling of South America

3 November 2022

3 November 2022

Around 60,000 years ago, modern humans left Africa and quickly spread across six continents. Researchers can trace this epic migration...

Researchers Examine 4,000 Bricks to Solve the Secrets of an Ancient Roman Metropolis of Trier

12 April 2025

12 April 2025

Trier, once a significant economic and political center in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire, is set to be...

Archaeologists unearth 6,000-year-old two monumental mounds containing wooden grave chambers in Germany

16 March 2024

16 March 2024

Archaeologists from the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt (LDA) have uncovered a significant Neolithic burial landscape on...

New Neolithic structure unearthed at Tas-Silġ in Malta

8 October 2021

8 October 2021

Archaeologists excavating at Tas-Silġ in Marsaxlokk have discovered the remains of another Neolithic structure, Heritage Malta said. The discovery substantially...

Infinite Embrace: New research sheds light on Bronze Age family relationships that link Britain to Luxembourg

30 January 2024

30 January 2024

A new study of early Bronze Age examples from Luxembourg and Britain, led by researchers from the universities of Mainz...

A Large Copper Age Necropolis Discovered in Italian Town

16 February 2024

16 February 2024

In the town of San Giorgio Bigarello, near the northern Italia city of Mantua, a large Copper Age necropolis dating...

Archaeologists Reveal First Settlement of Cimmerians in Anatolia

23 June 2023

23 June 2023

Continuing excavations in Türkiye’s central Kırıkkale province have revealed new findings indicating that Büklükale village was the first settlement of...

Archaeologists find sunken ancient Egyptian warship under Abu Qir Bay

26 July 2021

26 July 2021

According to a press release by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Egyptian French archaeological mission of the...

The Earliest Evidence of a Domesticated Dog in the Arabian Peninsula

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

Dogs have been the best friend of humans since ancient times. Although it is not known exactly when dogs were...

History of 8,500 years waits for a museum

19 June 2023

19 June 2023

The conservation process of the Yenikapı shipwrecks, which were discovered during the Marmaray project and considered the largest collection of...

A rare 2,500-year-old shipwreck found off the Greek island of Kythera

5 November 2021

5 November 2021

A rare shipwreck from the ancient era was discovered during the maritime survey for the Crete-Peloponnese subsea link. The Independent...

Citizen scientists discover more than 1,000 new burial mounds in a Dutch archaeological project

29 January 2023

29 January 2023

A Dutch archaeological project in which thousands of amateur sleuths combed specialized maps and high resolution photographs resulted in the...