A rare, approximately 2,500-year-old colossal statue has been unearthed in the ancient city of Sardis in Manisa, Turkey, the country’s ministry of culture announced on Tuesday (4 August). The statue, depicting a young man holding fruit, was found in two pieces but once stood seven feet high, according to a ministry statement . According to Unesco , the Lydians were located at a crossroads between the Greek world and contemporary Near Eastern cultures. The sculpture dates from the period when Sardis was the capital of the western province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The ministry statement suggests the work sheds light on the “clothing traditions and visual language of Lydia”.