Il y a 11 000 ans à Karahantepe en Turquie, des premiers agriculteurs du Neolithique ont sculpté dans la pierre cette statue de 70 cm représentant un homme sur un léopard, qui vient d'être mise au jour et qui me fait penser au mythe grec de Dionysos où le léopard est associé au dieu depuis son expédition en Inde.
Sous nos contrées, à la même époque, c'est encore l'âge des derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs.
As an archaeologist, these types of videos make me smile.
When docos and media visit you on sites, they often want footage of you doing “archaeology”, even if it's already excavated! The simplest thing is to grab a brush & clean already clean stone. I’ve done it so many times!
An 11,000-Year-Old Sculpture Unearthed at Karahantepe!
An extraordinary 11,000-year-old sculpture uncovered at Karahantepe in 2026 depicts a human seated on the back of a leopard. Found where it had originally been placed, the remarkable discovery adds a new chapter to one of Türkiye’s most fascinating Neolithic sites.
#Şanlıurfa
For more, follow:
https://t.co/0g4v2hm0Pm
The Neolithic site of Karahantepe is proving to be as exciting for archaeologists as its neighbor Göbekli Tepe down the road. The latest find at the site in Turkey is a two-foot-tall, 11,000-year-old sculpture depicting a person sitting on a leopard!
https://t.co/Oo3RtT4ZiZ
Benzer tasvir, Delos'taki Maskeler Evindeki mozaikte [MÖ 120], MÖ 5. yüzyıla ait Attika kırmızı figürlü vazolarında, ve Kyzikos [#Erdek] antik kentinin darb etmiş olduğu sikkeler [MÖ 400] üzerinde görülür.
WHO KNEW?
WHO WAS THE RIDER?
WHY WAS HE RIDING A LEOPARD?
WHAT DID THEY KNOW 11,000 YEARS AGO?
We don’t have the answers.
We have the statue.
CA:
4hTdciNc1jGbFJZAbpNHbqnTuWeZCBduKxArDkb2pump
Archaeologists at Karahantepe in southeastern Türkiye have unearthed a roughly 11,000-year-old sculpture depicting a human seated on the back of a leopard.
The 27.5-inch-tall (70 cm) composite figure was found on a stone bench inside a roughly 10-foot-diameter (3 m) structure with a floor paved in flat stones.
Karahantepe had previously yielded another human–leopard sculpture. In that earlier work, the relationship is reversed: the human carries the leopard on his back. What either scene meant remains unknown.
🚨New Find! At Karahan Tepe statue of a human figure proudly sitting on a leopards back has been found sealed inside a structure.
Public buildings. Dwellings. Stelae. Scores of human and animal statues.
The site keeps revealing that these ancient people possessed an architectural and artistic sensibility we are only beginning to fully grasp.
Dünya tarihine dair bildiklerimizi yeniden düşündürecek keşifler…
Karahantepe’de yaklaşık 11.000 yıllık, bir leoparın sırtında oturan insan heykeli bulundu. Bu keşfi daha da çarpıcı kılan ise Şanlıurfa’da daha önce bunun adeta karşıtı sayılabilecek bir tasvirin ortaya çıkarılmış olması: Sırtında leopar taşıyan insan.
Şimdi ise sahne tersine dönüyor: Leoparın sırtında insan…
Anadolu Neolitik sanatında leopar ile insan arasındaki ilişki, yalnızca hayvan ve insanın yan yana getirildiği basit bir tasvirden çok daha fazlasına işaret ediyor. Güç, hâkimiyet, kutsallık, koruyuculuk ya da ritüel anlamlar taşıdığı düşünülen bu birliktelik, farklı dönem ve merkezlerde tekrar tekrar karşımıza çıkıyor.
��atalhöyük’teki leopar kabartmaları ve leopar postuyla ilişkilendirilen insan tasvirlerinden, Karahantepe’de gün yüzüne çıkarılan son örneğe kadar uzanan bu sembolik dünya, Anadolu’nun binlerce yıl öncesine ait inanç ve düşünce evrenine açılan benzersiz bir pencere sunuyor.
Her yeni keşif, insan-leopar ilişkisinin köklerini, anlamını ve Anadolu coğrafyasındaki yayılımını biraz daha görünür hâle getiriyor.
Ve görünen o ki Karahantepe, 11.000 yıl öncesinden bize yalnızca heykeller değil, henüz tam olarak çözemediğimiz bir düşünce ve inanç dünyasının izlerini bırakıyor.
Karahantepe'de keşfedilen 11 bin yıllık leopar sırtına oturmuş adam heykeli ve ilişkili diğer Neolitik örneklerden bahsettik... Kronolojik hiç bir bağı olmasa da konunun Ortadoğu'da ne kadar derin olduğunu gösteren güzel bir örnek daha mevcut... 16. Yüzyıl minyatür örneğinde leopar üstünde "Lokman Hekim" betimi...
BEFORE EVERYTHING
Before writing.
Before kings.
Before empires.
Before money.
Before the internet.
There was the #beastmaster
11,000 years ago.
On @Pumpfun
FROM STONE TO BLOCKCHAIN
11,000 years ago:
STONE.
Today:
BLOCKCHAIN.
Different technology.
Same human obsession with symbols, stories and meaning.
The #beastmaster has returned.
🐆🗿
THE QUESTION
Why a leopard?
Why a human?
Why put them together?
We don’t have the answer.
And maybe that’s what makes it fascinating.
11,000 years ago, someone wanted this image to exist.
They left no explanation.
Only the #beastmaster
BREAKING: ≈11,000-year-old statue of a human riding a leopard found at Karahantepe, Şanlıurfa.
Announced today by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. 70 cm tall, found in place on a stone bench inside a round building three metres across. The ministry calls the style unparalleled.
The site has already given us its mirror. An earlier season produced a human carrying a leopard on his back, now in the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum.
One man carries the animal. The other rides it. Nobody knows what either meant.
BREAKING: ≈11,000-year-old statue of a human riding a leopard found at Karahantepe, Şanlıurfa.
Announced today by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. 70 cm tall, found in place on a stone bench inside a round building three metres across. The ministry calls the style unparalleled.
The site has already given us its mirror. An earlier season produced a human carrying a leopard on his back, now in the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum.
One man carries the animal. The other rides it. Nobody knows what either meant.
THE DISCOVERY
A 70 cm composite sculpture was discovered at Karahantepe, Türkiye.
A human.
A leopard.
One composition.
Archaeologists describe its style as unlike anything previously encountered at the site.