THE history of the ancient city of Ephesus stretches back 8,000 years ago, but the discovery of an amulet shows that it is at least one millennium older, the Daily Hurriyet has reported.

An amulet figure that has been unearthed during excavations at the Çukuriçi mound in Ephesus has revealed the ancient city is actually nine millennia old.

Made of black stone and believed to have been used as jewelry, the 2.1-centimeter amulet brings the history of Ephesus 9,000 years back – a full 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.

The figure is now on display at the Ephesus Museum. The museum’s director, Cengiz Topal, said the figure was found in 2013 during Çukuriçi Mound excavations and delivered to the facility.

Stating that experts had worked on the figure to determine its history, Topal said: “According to their evaluations, the figure dates back to the seventh century B.C., the Neolithic Age.

“At the time, the history of the settlement in and around Ephesus dated back to 7,000 B.C. The details on the figure completely have the traces of the Neolithic Age. Elements like breasts and hips on the figure are exaggerated; they were made with an engraving technique. The face is not detailed.

“Since it was used as an amulet, it has a hole in its neck part.”

The 9,000-year-old piece of jewelry, which changes the history of Ephesus, bears similarities with artifacts that were unearthed during excavations in other places in Anatolia, said Topal. “We know that similar examples have been found in the Hacışar Mound in Burdur, the Ulucak Mound in İzmir and in Greece.”

Topal defended the idea that the figure changed the history of Ephesus.

“According to previous data, the history of Ephesus dated back to the 4,500s B.C. and later on to the 6,000s B.C. But considering the excavations in the Çukuriçi and Arvalya mounds, we can say that it dates back to the Neolithic Age, namely, the 7,000s.

“The ancient city had a history of 6,000 years. This figure made us to reconsider the history of settlement in all of Anatolia. It dates back to the Neolithic Age – 9,000 years ago.”