Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum

The Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum is a major state museum in Şanlıurfa, a city in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border. Established in 1969 and relocated to a new purpose-built complex in 2015, it houses one of the country's most significant archaeological collections, with particular international importance for its holdings from the Neolithic period. The museum serves as the primary repository for finds from the surrounding region, including the world-famous sites of Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe, as well as materials from rescue excavations connected to dam construction in the Euphrates basin. Its collections illuminate the deep history of Upper Mesopotamia from the pre-pottery Neolithic through Islamic periods.

Plans for an archaeological collection in Şanlıurfa originated in 1948. Before any dedicated museum existed, finds were stored successively in the Atatürk Elementary School and then the Şehit-Nüsret Elementary School. Construction of a proper museum building began in 1965 on Çamlık Caddesi in the city center, and this first museum opened to the public in 1969 with 1,500 square meters of exhibition space. Annexes were added later to accommodate growth. By the early 2000s, the old facility had become inadequate for the volume of material emerging from regional excavations. The current museum building on Haleplibahçe street, near the sacred pool of Balıklıgöl, opened in 2015, replacing the Çamlık street facility entirely. The museum was closed following the February 2023 earthquake and, as of November 2023, remained closed indefinitely.

The museum holds approximately 74,000 objects spanning from the Neolithic to the Islamic period. The collection is especially strong in prehistory, with substantial materials from the early Neolithic sites of Göbekli Tepe and Nevalı Çori, where excavations have revealed some of the world's earliest monumental architecture and symbolic art. The museum also contains significant Bronze Age and Hittite materials from regional sites including Gölpınar, Sefalı, and Kabahaydar, as well as artifacts from Assyrian and Babylonian periods. Classical and later materials from Harran (ancient Carrhae), Edessa, and other localities are represented. A substantial portion of the collection derives from rescue archaeology conducted in advance of the Atatürk Dam, Birecik Dam, and Karkamış Dam reservoirs under the Southeastern Anatolia Project. The museum has maintained an active research program, collaborating since 1995 with the German Archaeological Institute's Istanbul department on excavations at Göbekli Tepe.

The most celebrated object in the museum is the Urfa Man, a life-sized limestone sculpture dated to approximately 9000 BC, considered the oldest known life-size human sculpture. Discovered near Balıklıgöl, this figure exemplifies the remarkable artistic achievement of early Neolithic communities. From Göbekli Tepe, the museum displays carved stone stelae and sculptures depicting hybrid creatures. The museum also holds the Nabonidus Stele from Harran, an important Neo-Babylonian monument. From Nevalı Çori comes a significant fragment with incised drawings. The mosaic of Orpheus, created in Edessa in 184 AD, holds particular significance for its modern history: discovered in 1980, illegally removed to the United States, and displayed at the Dallas Museum of Art before its repatriation to Şanlıurfa in 2015. The ethnographic collection includes traditional clothing, silver and bronze ornaments, calligraphic works, and handwritten Qurans.

The current museum complex, opened in 2015, is located at Haleplibahçe Mahallesi, Nisan Fuar Caddesi, across from the Şanlıurfa Piazza Mall and close to Balıklıgöl. With a closed area of 34,000 square meters, it ranks among the largest museums in Turkey. The complex comprises two principal structures: the archaeological museum to the north and the mosaic museum to the south. The archaeological building contains three floors with 2,500 square meters of indoor exhibition space, organized across four main halls on the ground and upper floors, plus an ethnographic section. The facility includes administrative offices, conference rooms, a library, and basement storage with workshops and a photographic laboratory. The outdoor area displays architectural fragments, capitals, and stelae ranging from Hittite through Roman to Islamic periods.

The Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum is a state institution under Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism administration, located in the Haleplibahçe neighborhood of Şanlıurfa's Eyyübiye district. The museum is situated in southeastern Turkey, near the border with Syria. The complex is accessible at Haleplibahçe Mahallesi 2372, Sokak, Eyyübiye/Şanlıurfa. Virtual tours are available through the Turkish national museums portal. Following the February 2023 earthquake, the museum was closed to the public and remained closed as of late 2023 with no announced reopening date.