Excavations at Alalakh Are Shaping a New Late Bronze Age Cuneiform Archive
At Alalakh, archaeologists have identified the remains of a new Late Bronze Age cuneiform tablet archive during the 2025 excavation season. The discovery offers a rare, context-rich view of how administration functioned in one of the Levant’s key ancient cities. The work forms part of the long-running Tell Atchana excavations in Hatay, Türkiye, carried out
3,000-Year-Old Honey-Barley Bread Recreated in Ancient Hasankeyf
Researchers in Türkiye’s historic district of Hasankeyf have successfully recreated a 3,000-year-old honey-barley bread, using instructions preserved in cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia. The experimental culinary project, conducted by faculty members at Batman University’s Hasankeyf Vocational School, brings one of the world’s earliest documented bread recipes back to life. The academic team—İlker Aksoy, Hüseyin Gül,
Digital Pathways to the Hittite World: AI and Archaeology Unite to Decode an Ancient Empire
A new research initiative from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) is reshaping how scholars study the Hittite Empire—one of the most formidable powers of Bronze Age Anatolia. The project, titled “Digital Pathways to the Hittite World,” merges archaeology, philology, and artificial intelligence to transform the long-standing Hethitologie-Portal Mainz (HPM) into a next-generation research platform. Rebuilding an Empire—Data
Archaeologists Discover Hittite Bird Divination Tablets and Royal Seals in the Ancient City of Samuha
Archaeologists working at the Hittite settlement of Kayalıpınar, known in antiquity as Samuha, have uncovered an extraordinary state archive containing 56 cuneiform tablets on bird divination and 22 seal impressions belonging to kings, princes, princesses, priests, and high-ranking officials of the Hittite Empire. The excavation was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Maner of Koç
Türkiye Returns 6,000-Year-Old Cuneiform Clay Tablets to Iraq
Türkiye has respectfully returned six ancient cuneiform clay tablets to Iraq in a formal ceremony, honoring the rich cultural heritage of Mesopotamia. These artifacts, originating from the Old Ur, Akkadian, and Babylonian civilizations, contain valuable records related to economic, administrative, and religious matters. The handover took place at the Republic Museum in Ankara, attended by