Archaeologists Discover Lost Language on Tablet at Ziyaret Tepe
Posted on May 26, 2012
Archaeologists working in Turkey have found evidence for a language that dates back to over 2,500 years to the time of the Assyrian Empire. The researchers found a tablet at Ziyaret Tepe, the probable site of the ancient Assyrian city of Tushan. This tablet contains of a list of women's names, many of which appear to be from a previously unknown language. The names are inscribed with cuneiform characters. The tablet was found in what may have been the throne room of the palace by Dr Dirk Wicke of the University of Mainz, working as part of a team led by Professor Timothy Matney of the University Akron, Ohio.
Dr John MacGinnis, from the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, says, "Altogether around 60 names are preserved. One or two are actually Assyrian and a few more may belong to other known languages of the period, such as Luwian or Hurrian, but the great majority belong to a previously unidentified language."
"If the theory that the speakers of this language came from western Iran is correct, then there is the potential here to complete the picture of the world's first multi-ethnic empire. We know from existing texts that the Assyrians did conquer people from that region. Now we know that there is another language, perhaps from the same area, and maybe more evidence of its existence waiting to be discovered."
Dr MacGinnis' report on the tablet's decipherment is published in the April issue of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies.
- Kermitops: Amphibian Ancestor Named After Kermit the Frog
- Fossil of Giant Freshwater Turtle Discovered
- Hubble Observes Stormy Weather on Jupiter
- Australian Spider Named After Marvel's Venom
- NASA's JWST Captures New Views of NGC 604