Yesemek Quarry and Sculpture Workshop – Islahiye, Gaziantep
Yesemek was a large Late Hittite/Neo-Hittite stone quarry and workshop on the Amanus foothills. Hundreds of unfinished basalt sculptures—sphinxes, lion-protomes, mountain gods, column bases—remain in situ, showing serial production for regional palaces and sanctuaries (c. 9th–8th c. BC). The open-air museum reveals extraction marks, transport ramps, and partly carved figures that illuminate Iron Age sculptural technology and iconography in Syro-Anatolia.
Sources
- UNESCO Tentative List – https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1398/
- Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesemek_Quarry_and_Sculpture_Workshop
- T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı – Yesemek Açıkhava Müzesi tanıtımı