Secret text from 3,000 years ago unknown to today's humans discovered in Turkey

Tens of thousands of ancient clay tablets that were found in Turkey have unveiled a secret text. The tablets were written in the time of the Hittite Empire during the second millennium BCE.So far, the experts are not aware of the script, however, it is believed to be a long-lost language from more than 3,000 years ago.

It looks similar to other Anatolian-Indo-European languages but is different from any other ancient written language found in the Middle East.

The scribblings begin at the end of a cultic ritual document written in Hittite, which is the oldest known Indo-European language.

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It follows an introduction that, according to experts, translates to: "From now on, read in the language of Kalama."

In the translation, the reference to Kalašma is to an organised society from the Bronze Age, which probably was from the northwest fringe of the Hittite Empire in ancient Anatolia.

It was believed to be some distance from the capital city of Hattusa, where this clay tablet was later unearthed.

During an excavation at Boğazköy-Hattusha, which is a UNESCO historic site in north-central Turkey near present-day Bolu or Gerede, the cuneiform writing was reportedly discovered.

Were Hittites interested in foreign languages?

As quoted in the report, Andreas Schachner, who is the head of Hattusa Ruins Archaeological Excavations, said that he could feel the weight of its importance when he held the tablet for the first time.

He said that he was particularly impressed by its preservation as compared to more than 25,000 others found at the same site in what is now Boğazköy.

Professor Daniel Schwemer, who is the head of the Chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Germany, explained that "the Hittites were uniquely interested in recording rituals in foreign languages" as it was noted in the recent report that the discovery of another language is exciting, but not so surprising.

In news reports, Schwemer was quoted as saying that the text will be published in the seventh instalment of a series of volumes of cuneiform texts on Feb 9, 2024, with a transliteration published in the Thesaurus Linguarum Hethaeorum Digitalis, which is a peer-reviewed archive of transliterations of cuneiform manuscripts from Hittite tablet collections.