Archaeologists unearth never-before-seen language in ancient ruins
James Rushton
12h
- video of the site at link -
Ancient clay tablets unearthed from ancient ruins in Turkey by archaeologists have revealed a language lost to the passages of time.
The new language was discovered in the ancient capital of the Hittite Empire at Hattusa (known as Boğazköy-Hattusha). The well-preserved tablets are among many incredible artworks found at the site - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Over the past four decades, researchers have dusted off nearly 30,000 unique tablets - with most written in Hittite. New research, however, shows that some of the tablet haul shows that they are written in a language previously unknown to modern man.
Of course, the meaning and words of this language have not been deciphered, but it appears from early inspection to branch off from languages used within the Hittite Empire - and is being referred to as Kalašma. archaeologist
More:
https://www.indy100.com/science-tech/turkish-ruins-kalasma-language
= new reply since forum marked as read
Look for it soon on Duolingo.
Headshot of Darren Orf
BY DARREN ORFPUBLISHED: SEP 26, 2023
mikroman6//Getty Images
Today, the ancient city of Hattusha—the capital of the Hittite empire that ruled north-central Turkey in the late Bronze Age (1650 - 1200 BCE)—is a treasure trove of ancient languages. At the Boğazköy-Hattusha archeological site, excavations over the past century have uncovered around 30,000 cuneiform tablets detailing the history, traditions, and society of Bronze Age Anatolia. This site is so rich in Bronze Age history that the once-powerful capital became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.
Although most of the tablets found in Hattusha are written in Hittite—the oldest attested Indo-European language (and the language tree through which English evolved)—many other languages of the region can be found among these cuneiform treasures, including Luwian, Palaic, and Hattic. However, this year’s excavations at the site revealed a surprising discovery—an entirely new language.
“The Hittites were uniquely interested in recording rituals in foreign languages,” Daniel Schwemer, head of the Chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Germany, said in a press statement.
And hidden in this particular ancient cultic text is a recitation written in an unfamiliar language. According to the archeologists, the Hittite text refers to an idiom from the language of the land of Kalašma—an area that would’ve lied along the northwestern edge of the Hittite empire’s frontier. Although experts have no idea what this particular cuneiform passage says, they can confirm that the language is a member of the Anatolian Indo-European family, which also includes Luwian, Palaic, and Hittite.
More:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a45304938/new-language-discovered-ruins-ancient-empire/
“BeSureToDrinkYourOvaltine”
Bookmarking to delve into later.
Thanks for sharing! 
