Urfa Man

Object and context

Also known as the Yeni Mahalle statue, it was found during construction in the area of a Neolithic settlement in Urfa. A detailed find context was not recorded, limiting identification of its function. The German Archaeological Institute associates surrounding material with the Pre-Pottery NeolithicPre-Pottery NeolithicA regional term for early Neolithic phases in Southwest Asia before the local spread of pottery; it does not imply an absence of settlement, architecture or cereal processing.Glossary · Click to read the explanation B, without providing an independently precise date for the statue.^[1]

It depicts a face, arms and hands, with a V-shaped necklace-like feature on the chest. A mouth and separate legs are absent; the body ends in an extension for setting it upright. The photograph documents its display in the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum.

Why compare it with the pillars?

Regional sculpture could represent human facial features more explicitly than the T-shaped pillars. The comparison does not establish the statue as a god or make style alone proof of a division between humans and deities.