Archaeologists Unearth World’s Oldest Temple in Turkey
BalkanTravellers.com
The site first came into the archaeologists’ knowledge in 1986, when a farmer working the fields in Sanliurfa stumbled upon a statuette in the ground, according to the Radikal newspaper, cited by the United Press International (UPI).
Archaeological excavations since then uncovered the foundation of a 12,000-year-old Neolithic Age temple, as well as carvings of pigs, foxes, snakes, fawns and headless humans.
The culture and belief system of the people who built the temple have yet to be identified by experts from the Harran University Archaeology Department, who are currently working on the excavations.
Before them, the site was explored by German teams who excavated it in 1995. After it was placed on the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry’s first-degree protection list in 2005, however, the Ministry took control of the research.
Until now, according to UPI, the world’s oldest known temple, dating to 5,000 BC, was in Malta.
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A Perfect Shot
Koprivshtitsa Fair, Bulgara. Photographs by Neva Micheva
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
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360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
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Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
