Posted 30.07.2012 08:56:00 UTC
Updated 31.07.2012 13:41:55 UTC
An excavation team of 47 people from 8 countries headed by the University of Toronto's Dr. Timothy Harrison has uncovered a 3,000-year-old statue of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma near the village of Demirkprü in Reyhanlı district. The upper part of the statue has a beard, curly hair and its arms are decorated with special wristbands. The statue has been well-preserved whereas the remaining part is yet to be located.
The basalt statue on the back part of which an inscription identifies it is Suppiluliuma is 1.5 m in height and weighs about 1.5 tons. The most important characteristic of the statue is that its eyes have been made of special stone in black and white and placed in it afterwards.
Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said that he has not seen such a magnificent statue. It holds a lance in one hand, and a corn plant in the other and symbolizes fighting and producing. It is a significant statue" Günay said. The eyes of the King have been emphasized.