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Ancient Hittite tablet revealing new language now on display at Boğazkale Museum

A newly discovered Hittite tablet revealing an extinct Indo-European language is now on display at the Boğazkale Museum. Found in Hattusha and deciphered to show a ritual invocation, the tablet provides insights into ancient Anatolian languages and practices.

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Ancient Hittite tablet revealing new language now on display at Boğazkale Museum

The tablet discovered in the Hittite capital Hattusha in Boğazkale, Çorum,Türkiye, which led to the discovery of a new language, is now being exhibited at the Boğazkale Museum.

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The tablet, found during an excavation led by Professor Andreas Schachner from the German Archaeological Institute last year, contains texts in Hittite and an extinct language from the Indo-European language group, believed to be from the land of Kalašma.

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Measuring approximately 15 centimeters long and 8 centimeters wide, the tablet was delivered to the Boğazkale Museum after scientific analysis was completed. The tablet, found in a Hittite building at Hattusha and inscribed with texts in Hittite and later Kalašma, is now on display in the museum's second-floor exhibit alongside other important tablets.

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Professor Schachner told AA that the museum has acquired a unique cuneiform tablet. He explained that the tablet reveals a language from the Indo-European group used in Anatolia 3,000 years ago, a language previously unknown in the region.

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He noted that the tablet's distinctive feature is its instruction to "read from here in the Kalašma language," which helps determine the language's regional origin. Schachner added that the tablet's Kalašma text has been deciphered, revealing a ritual invocation to the sky god of Kalašma and indicating that sacrifices were made in response to this invocation.