Yesemek Archaeological Site

Yesemek was the largest quarry and sculpture workshop of the ancient Near East between the fourteenth and seventh centuries BC. It was already active when the region came under Hittite control in the second half of the second millennium BC, and Hurrian and Hittite craftsmen worked here.

After a period of reduced activity it revived from the ninth century BC, in the Late Hittite kingdoms. At that time Hittite, Syrian, Aramaean and Assyrian elements mixed in the sculpture, giving rise to a style known as Orientalising.

Felix von Luschan first brought Yesemek to the attention of scholars in 1890. Systematic excavations in 1957-1961 under Bahadır Alkım uncovered close to 200 statue blanks, and later work by İlhan Temizsoy brought the total to about 300 sculptures and roughly shaped pieces. The area was landscaped and opened as an open-air museum, with more environmental work carried out in 2005.