admin Amid advanced artificial intelligence and language models, an important archaeological discovery took place in Boğazköy-Hattusha (Hattusa), the ancient Hittite capital of Turkey. Archaeologists have unearthed a previously unknown ancient language in a cult ritual text, adding a new dimension to our understanding of late Bronze Age Anatolia.
The Hattusa archaeological site in north-central Türkiye is an ancient Hittite stone temple and outdoor sanctuary. Boasting impressive stone reliefs depicting deities and mythological scenes, the first settlement dates from the Late Bronze Age (1650 to 1200 BC), when the Hittite Empire dominated the region .
Hattusa was the ancient capital of the Hittite Empire and by far among the most impressive finds at this UNESCO World Heritage Site is a drawing of the storm god “Tarhunt”, symbolizing strength and power of the Hittite temple.However, recent excavations have discovered a previously unknown Indo-European language.
Reaching New Archaeological Heights
Excavations at Hattusa have been undertaken for over a century, mostly under the direction of the German Archaeological Institute . Under the watch of the current site director, Professor Andreas Schachner of the Istanbul Department of the German Archaeological Institute, numerous cuneiform tablets have been unearthed.
In total, about 30,000 clay tablets with cuneiform writing were found at the site. While these tablets provide archaeologists with insight into Hittite cultural traditions, says Professor Daniel Schwemer, chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Julius-Maximilians University (JMU) in Würzburg, Germany , reports the recent discovery of a “previously unknown Indo-European language.” ” reaches new archaeological heights.
Hidden in a cult ritual text
Newly discovered language appears in a cult ritual text written on a clay tablet in Hittite, which is an attested Indo-European language longest life span. But in one section there is a quote “in a previously unknown language”, opening new doors to lost libraries of information about life in late Bronze Age Anatolia. In a paper published by the University of Würzburg, Professor Schwemer said he was currently analyzing cuneiform language “as never before”. Schwemer’s first steps allowed him to assert that the Hittite liturgical text reflected “the language of the country of Kalašma”, also known as Kaleshwar, an ancient city located in present-day Pakistan. In ancient times, Kalašma was part of a region historically linked to the Gandhara civilization, but also to the Achaemenid Empire, the Maurya Empire, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the Empire Kushan and later the Gupta empire.
Hittite priests love foreign languages
Daniel Schwemer says the revival of a currently unknown language in Hattusa “is not entirely unexpected”. He justifies this assertion by saying that the scribes of the Hittite kings “were especially interested in recording rituals in foreign languages.” However, this does not reduce its importance.
Other tablets discovered at the site were written in Anatolian, Syrian, and Mesopotamian languages, and recorded rituals serve archaeologists as linguistic maps of the Late Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Hittite Empire.
Professor Elisabeth Rieken from Philipps-Universität Marburg is an expert on ancient Anatolian languages and worked together with Daniel Schwemer on tablet research. Rieken said the newly discovered cuneiform texts at Hattusa “were written in Luwian, Palaic, Hattic and a non-Indo-European language.”
March restores lost languages
The tablets also contain the recently discovered Kalasmaic language which, according to Professor Daniel Schwemer, “is now largely unintelligible.” Rieken says that although the language is known to belong to the Anatolian-Indo-European language family, “despite its geographical proximity to the Palaic-speaking area, the text appears to have more characteristics with Luwian.”»
In an effort to push the boundaries of linguistic archeology and revive an almost lost language, scientists plan to embark on a rigorous investigation. Their main goal was to examine the linguistic nuances of Kalasma, a recently discovered ancient language, and describe its relationships with other Luwian dialects common in late Bronze Age Anatolia.
This comparative analysis is poised to unravel the complex tapestry of ancient Anatolian civilizations and linguistic evolution, marking an important step towards linguistic revival and historical understanding.
Top image: Representational image of a cuneiform tablet from Hattusa, Turkey. Source: torocat / Adobe Stock
