A 3,500-Year-Old Ancient Clay Tablet Inscribed With A Furniture Shopping Receipt Was Unearthed By Archaeologists In Turkey
At the archaeological site of Alalakh in what is now known as the Hatay Province of Turkey, an ancient tablet with a furniture shopping receipt written on it was unearthed during excavations, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The city of Alalakh thrived in the 2nd millennium B.C. It served as the capital of the Mukis Kingdom.
It was inhabited by the Amorites, a Bronze Age people from the Levant, an Eastern Mediterranean region. The remains of the city are in the form of a large mound that takes up about 55 acres of space.
The 3,500-year-old clay tablet found at Alalakh measures around 1.6 by 1.4 inches and is 0.6 inches thick. It weighs approximately one ounce. Experts think that it dates back to sometime in the 15th century B.C. The text on the tablet is written in cuneiform, which is the oldest known writing system.
Cuneiform was developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago. Mesopotamia was an ancient region in modern-day Iraq. Cuneiform was a script that was used to write the Sumerian language.
Later on, it was adapted to write in several other languages of the ancient Near East, such as Akkadian and Hittite.
The tablet contains Akkadian cuneiform. Akkadian is a dead Semitic language that was spoken in the ancient Near East starting in the 3rd millennium B.C. Around the 8th century B.C., it began to be replaced by Aramaic. Akkadian is the earliest Semitic language.
When experts examined the writing on the tablet, they discovered that it was a receipt of a “large amount of furniture shopping.”
“We believe that this tablet…will provide a new perspective in terms of understanding the economic structure and state system of the Late Bronze Age,” said Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the Minister of Culture and Tourism in Turkey. “We work meticulously to carry the rich heritage of Anatolia to future generations.”
nejdetduzen – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
The cuneiform is still being studied by linguists. The first lines of the tablet describe the purchase of a large quantity of wooden tables, chairs, and stools.
Additionally, there was information about the buyers and sellers of the items. Further study of the tablet could help provide insight into the economic processes of the city during the Late Bronze Age.
The area in which the tablet was found contains ruins that date as far back as 4,000 years ago. It was first excavated in the 1930s by a British archaeologist named Leonard Wooley.
At the time, Alalakh was located along a trade route. So not only did the city have the important status of being the capital, but it was also a center of commerce.
Other similar discoveries have been made in the region. For example, another cuneiform tablet detailing the purchase of an entire city was uncovered in 2023.
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