Archaeological discoveries in Turkey include 2,000-year-old Zeus head and 11,000-year-old relief

Turkish authorities have seized a 2,000-year-old marble sculpture of the Greek deity Zeus during an anti-smuggling operation in the Konak district of Izmir. Believed to date from the Roman period, the artifact was identified as protected cultural property. Three suspects were detained in connection with the investigation, though the original archaeological site of the sculpture remains unknown.

In a separate archaeological development, researchers at the Sayburç site in Turkey have identified an 11,000-year-old stone relief that may be the oldest known representation of a carved narrative scene. Found within a circular community building at a Neolithic settlement, the relief depicts five figures: two men, two leopards, and a bull.

The composition shows a man with six fingers on one hand interacting with a bull, while another figure is positioned between two leopards. Archaeologists, including Eylem Özdoğan from Istanbul University, suggest the interconnected figures could represent encounters with dangerous animals or ritualistic rites of passage.