Ancient Site Sheds Light On Social Life Of B.c. 4,000S

- The tablets excavated at the ancient Kültepe site crystallize the social and economic life of B.C. 4 thousands. The historical tablets illustrates slices of social life ranging from women rights to child adoption, even a bride complaining about her mother in law.

Excavations of this year at the ancient Kültepe site in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri have started in June and have revealed thatthe ancient civilisation of Kültepe-Kaniş Kerum was one of the most primordial ruins in which written documents, mostly commercial contracts had been found, in this region of Anatolia.

The western regions had been barely introducing themselves to literacy, comparing to Kültepe civilisation in that period. Director of Kültepe excavations Professor Fikri Kulakoğlu, in this respect, said, “Kültepe is the region where the history have begun.”

“People in ancient Kayseri had learned how to read and write before other areas had. We were able to trace back the history, with the help of these unearthed twenty-three year old tablets and discover that economic and other activities had been all registered with these mostly commercial documents; thanks to the merchants visiting the region” said Professor Kulakoğlu.

He also told DHA that Kültepe excavations unearth documents such as assets, debts, taxes, everything that we can find in any company’s accounting archive, which have belonged to a merchant.

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