Experts painstakingly decipher ancient 3,500 year-old stone tablet – only to find a VERY common message written on it
EXPERTS have managed to decipher an ancient 3,500 year-old stone tablet – and the message on it is something we still do today.
The amazing artefact was discovered after works were carried out in Old Alalah City, Turkey‘s Hatay’s Reyhanli district, following two earthquakes.
The artefact is believed to date all the way back to the 15th century BC.
According to the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Ersoy, the stone tablet contains records of, bizarrely, a shopping list.
Written on it is a large list of furniture purchases, including wooden tables, chairs and stools.
The writing originates from the Akkadian cuneiform era, What’s The Jam reports.
While the earthquakes took place last year in February 2023, the findings were only just announced on Monday.
John Hopkins, a university faculty member and associate doctor worked with Jacob Lauinger and his doctoral student, Zeynep Türker.
According to their measurements, the ancient tablet is up to 4.2cm thick and weighs 28g.
It’s hoped this incredible find will shed new light on the economic and state structure of the Late Bronze Age, bringing forward its “rich” heritage to future generations.
Currently it’s still being studied to decipher the number of items bought, as well as who purchased the items or perhaps even who they were gifted to.
The Akkadian Empire ruled parts of ancient Mesopotamia in what is now Iraq and Syria from the 24th to 22nd Century BC.
Based in the ancient city of Akkad, the group rose to prominence through innovations in farming and irrigation.
But it isn’t the first time a mysterious tablet has been found in the country.
In May 2023, a perplexing 3,300-year-old clay tablet was unearthed in Turkey.
The small tablet was found by Kimiyoshi Matsumura, an archaeologist at the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology
It was found in the Hittite ruins of Büklükale, located around 37 miles southeast of Ankara.
The clay artefact detailed a “lost” language, which described a catastrophic ancient “disaster” that allegedly struck four cities.
The Hittite was a Bronze Age state centered in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).
Despite its significance, much about the Hittite Empire remains shrouded in mystery.
This is mainly due to its language not being deciphered until the early 20th century, in the 1930s.
On this particular tablet are inscriptions in both the Hittite and Hurrian languages that detail a devastating invasion.
The invasion struck four Hittite cities during a tumultuous period of civil war.
Researchers believe the tablet was used in a religious ceremony, as possibly a plea for victory by the Hittite king.
The Akkadian Empire - key facts
Here's what you need to know...
- The Akkadian Empire was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia
- It was based in the ancient city of Akkad in what is now Syrria
- The empire ruled the city and surrounding region from the 22nd to 24th Century BC
- Some consider it to be the first true empire in world history
- It stretched from what is now Iraq and Syrria all the way to Jordan and perhaps even Cyprus
- It exelled in innovative farming and irrigation techniques
- The empire mysteriously vanished around 4,000 years ago