The basalt work, whose restoration was completed at the Diyarbakır Museum and described as an 'Emoji soldier's tombstone', was opened to visitors for the first time.
Diyarbakır Museum, established in 1934 at İçkale Museum Campus in Sur district and having 36 thousand 352 inventories, was brought to Diyarbakır Museum from surrounding provinces and protected because there were no other museums in the area at the time it was established.Many stone works that previously could not be displayed in the museum due to material conditions have begun to be opened for visitors to visit the museum garden within the project. The historic stone, which is among these works and described as 'The world's first soldier's headstone with emojis', has begun going on display for the first time.The work has been preserved in the museum warehouse since 1934, meeting visitors in the museum garden after being restored. It is believed that the basalt tombstone belongs to a soldier who went to war and sacrificed his life. Facial features, details of the eyebrows and eyes, and expressions of fear and wariness on the mouth distinguish this stone from other examples. For this reason, the work is described as an 'Emoji soldier's tombstone'.Stating that tombstones with figures of people and animals were frequently encountered in history, but this stone is one of the rare examples that accurately reflects human emotions, Deputy Director of Müjdat Museum Private Göl said: “Founded in 1934, Diyarbakır Museum is one of the oldest and most established museums in Türkiye. Since there was no other museum in the region during its founding years, many works were brought here from other provinces. We have 36 thousand 352 works in Türkiye.” inventory These pieces are available in our stone works. Due to material conditions “With the new project, we started displaying these works in the museum garden. One of them is our soldier's tombstone with an emoji, considered the oldest emoji in the world. This work has been in our museum warehouse since 1934.”''After it was restored, we displayed it in the museum's garden. There are many tombstones featuring people and animals throughout history. The characteristic of this stone is that it gives literal expression. The work, made of basalt, belonged to a soldier who served in the army and later died. An unpredictable expression caused by fear and panic is engraved on the tombstone. That's why we call it 'Emoji soldier tombstone', unlike other tombstones. We started displaying this work in the museum garden. Throughout history, human and animal tombstones were sometimes made for the dead. We call this tombstone 'the world's first soldier's tombstone with emoji' because it accurately conveys fear and anxiety. There is a helmet on our tombstone. Eyes and eyebrows are placed on the stone, and the mouth shows fear. This stone has survived to this day. “It was partially deformed in some places, but it did not prevent these manifestations.”
