3,400-year old cuneiform tablet unearthed in Turkey

A cuneiform tablet believed to be around 3,400 years old was unearthed in southern Turkey, according to the head of an excavation team.

"This finding is so important for us. It is not that easy to reach such cuneiform text especially from Bronze Age," said Murat Akar.

He said that the ancient Alalakh city where they have been conducting archaeological excavations for 20 years, was the capital of the regional city state of Mukish, located in the Amik Valley.

The team has been trying to understand the tradition, culture and sociopolitical structure of the region in the Bronze Age, he added.

Akar explained that the cuneiform tablet states the payments made to a king.

"However, we do not know who the king was and what his name was.

"The tablet which dates back to 1400-1500 BC is still very important to us. We know that there was a fight between Mitanni Kingdom and Hittite Empire at that time and the regional Mukish city state was right in the middle of that fight.

"The city state came under the influence of Hittite Empire and Mitanni Kingdom time to time. In this sense, the tablet is so important for us. We hope to find out who the city state's ruler was."