Archaeologists have discovered a 2,500-year-old marble statue in Sardis, an ancient city located in what is now western Turkey. The city is historically significant as one of the seven churches of Asia Minor addressed by Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation. The statue, standing approximately 7.2 feet tall, depicts a young man and dates back to the fifth century B.C., a period when Sardis was a key center of the ancient Lydian Kingdom and later the Persian Empire.
The discovery was announced by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The statue was found repurposed as paving along a Roman-era colonnaded street, positioned face-down, which likely contributed to the preservation of its features over millennia. Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy described the find as an "extraordinary discovery."
Details of the statue's clothing, including a thick himation, a thin chiton, and a distinctive garment with horizontal lines, are noted as unusual and not commonly seen on comparable statues from Anatolia and Greece. These characteristics suggest a connection to Lydian culture and local artistic traditions. The statue also appears to be holding a fruit, providing potential insights into the period's life, religious beliefs, and cultural interactions.
Sardis is one of seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation, with the text beginning, "To the angel of the church in Sardis write..." Other biblical cities listed alongside Sardis include Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Smyrna, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
Researchers plan to examine the statue for any remaining traces of pigment, as ancient marble statues were often painted. Conservators will carefully remove hardened deposits from the artifact, working to protect any surviving color. Specialists will also investigate the surrounding soil for color remnants.
Following conservation and restoration, the statue is slated for display at the Manisa Museum in western Turkey. This find adds to a series of recent archaeological discoveries in ancient cities mentioned in the Book of Revelation, including a mosaic found in Smyrna and a Roman-era marble bathtub and statue fragment discovered in Ephesus.