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Ancient Hittite Text Reveals a 3,600-Year-Old Royal Power Struggle and a Woman Called the ‘Serpent’
An ancient Hittite text preserves the story of a royal power struggle that unfolded around 3,600 years ago, when a king rejected his intended successor and accused the young man of falling under the influence of a woman he described with a striking word: “serpent.” The episode appears in the political testament of Hattusili I,…
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Complete 2,300-Year-Old Skeleton Found at Hattusa with Knife Beside the Shoulder
Archaeologists at Hattusa have uncovered a 2,300-year-old burial containing a complete human skeleton, with a knife lying beside the deceased’s right shoulder. The grave was discovered on the northwestern slope of the ancient city in central Türkiye and dates to the late 4th or 3rd century BC. That places it long after Hattusa’s famous role…
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A 3,200-Year-Old Hittite Tablet Preserved a Language No One Knew Existe
A Hittite scribe working more than 3,000 years ago copied a ritual that included words from a language other than Hittite. Those few lines remain the only known written example of Kalašma, a language once spoken somewhere northwest of the Hittite capital. Before the tablet was identified, Kalašma was known only as the name of…
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3,500-Year-Old Hittite Storm God Figurine Found by Chance Goes on Display for the First Time
A chance discovery in central Turkey has brought an extraordinary piece of Bronze Age craftsmanship into public view. A 3,500-year-old Hittite storm god figurine, measuring just 7.65 centimeters, is now on display for the first time—revealing a level of technical sophistication rarely seen at such a small scale. Discovered by a local resident in the…