4,000 Year Old Cuneiform Tablet Unearthed In Central Anatolia

– In Central Anatolian province of Yozgat, within excavation works at four different ancient zones, a cuneiform tablet was unearthed in Uşaklı Mound of Büyük Taşlık village in Sorgun district.

Predicted to date back to first half of 2,000 B.C., the cuneiform tablet show symbols of lord Ishtar, known as the goddess of love, war, fertility and sexuality, more clearly than the ones on other unearthed tablets, according to the findings in Uşaklı Mound.

“Considering the intensity of archaeological materials on the surface and diffusion area, the Mound tends to bear traces of Hittite Civilization. It is predicted that the Mound had been affiliated to another Hittite site ‘Zippalanda’, which is thought to be the center of worshiping to Typhoon, Greek god of thunder, and in two-three days of walking distance to the Hittite capital Hattusa” said the excavation report.

In Yozgat province having hosted various civilizations in the history, excavations at three regions among four were recently completed by the team consisting of Italian and American archaeologists. The remaining field has been unearthed by a team from the Yozgat Museum in Sarıkaya district. Following the surface exploration at Uşaklı Mound, the works are resumed in attempt to unearth the history of Yozgat. The excavation works had been launched in 2008 by the team led by Professor Stefania Mazzoni from Italian Florence University.

Meanwhile, excavations were completed in Çadırhöyük near Sorgun district’s Peyniryemez Village, where works have been launched in 1994 by a team led under Professor Gregory McMahon from New Hampshire University of U.S. Among the findings, reports show a large number of artefacts dating back to five different ancient periods including Chalcolithic, Bronze, Hittite, Hellenistic and Byzantine ages.

Additionally, a team continues their work to excavate the ‘Roman Bath’ with 2,000-years of history, that had been constructed by the Roman king in Sarıkaya district of Yozgat, with attempt to cure the public’s diseases, after the scars on his daughter’s skin were recovered. Within these works, having been directed by the Directorate of Yozgat Museum under two archaeologists in the last four years, traces dating back to Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman terms were unearthed.

Works at Tavium Ancient Site in Büyüknefes Village, known as the metropolis of Galatian tribes, on the other hand, has stopped in 2012, due to lack of aspirants to excavate the artefacts of this particular region.
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