3,300-year-old Hittite tablet discovered in Kırıkkale

The clay tablet found in Kırıkkale has been identified as being written in cuneiform in both the Hittite and Hurrian languages.

While the Hittite inscription describes the beginning of a war, the Hurrian inscription contains a prayer for victory.

A 3,300-year-old clay tablet found during excavations in Kırıkkale describes a foreign invasion that resulted in disaster for the Hittite Empire, a Bronze Age state.

According to the translation of the tablet's cuneiform text, the invasion was carried out with the intention of assisting one of the warring factions during a Hittite civil war.

The palm-sized tablet was found in May 2023 by archaeologist Kimiyoshi Matsumura of the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology among the Hittite ruins at Büklükale, approximately 60 kilometers southeast of Ankara.

WORK HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR 15 YEARS

Archaeologists believe that Büklükale was a major Hittite city. New discoveries indicate that it was on the same level as the royal residence in Hattusa, the Hittite capital located approximately 112 km to the northeast.

Matsumura and his colleagues have been excavating the ruins at Büklükale for approximately 15 years.

Archaeologists believe that Büklükale was an important city of the Hittite Empire 3,000 years ago.

Matsumura states that the Hittites used the Hurrian language in religious ceremonies and that it is understood that the tablet is a record of a sacred ritual performed by the Hittite king.