July 2024 brought some sensational archaeological discoveries in the area of Turkey. Among the most fascinating ones, the Hittite royal seal warning ‘Whoever Breaks This Will Die’ was found during the excavations in Kırıkkale. Meanwhile, the archaeologists unearthed the Koressos gate, one of the three main entrances to the ancient city of Ephesus, while the underwater studies in Parion, a 2,700-year-old port city in Kemer village of Biga district of Çanakkale, revealed the second ancient port of the city. Finally, a recently published study suggests that a woman buried in the upper reaches of the Tigris River in south-eastern Türkiye around 12,000 years ago may have been a shaman believed to have had a spiritual connection with wild animals.
Turkish Archaeological News collects the most important, interesting and inspiring news from Turkish excavation sites. Here's the review for July 2024. Have we missed anything? Please let us know by using Contact tab!
July 2, 2024
A Gold Belt Weighing 432 Grams Unearthed During Excavations in Ani Ruins is on Display
The gold belt discovered 22 years ago during excavations in the ancient city of Ani, often referred to as the “City of 1001 Churches” and “City of Forty Gates”, is on display at the Kars Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum. Source: Arkeonews
July 3, 2024
Ancient church unearthed in Türkiye sheds light on historical heritage
Archaeologists excavating one of the world’s oldest settlements, Harran, have uncovered the remains of a significant 5th-century church, shedding light on the region’s historical and cultural heritage. Source: Türkiye Today
July 5, 2024
3,000-Year-Old Lost Anatolian language ‘Kalašma’ deciphered
In 2023 excavation site at the foot of Ambarlikaya in Boğazköy-Hattusha in Turkey, a cuneiform tablet with a previously unknown Indo-European language was discovered. The newly-discovered language, Kalašma, belongs to the Anatolian-Indo-European languages family. Source: Arkeonews
July 7, 2024
Hittite Royal Seal Warns ‘Whoever Breaks This Will Die’
During the excavations in Kırıkkale, a cuneiform seal used by the royal family during the Hittite Empire was unearthed. The inscription “Whoever breaks this will die” on the seal attracted attention. Source: Arkeonews
July 8, 2024
Unprecedented necropolis site found in Cappadocia, one of Türkiye’s most important tourism centers
In Cappadocia, located in the Central Anatolia Region of Türkiye, known for its unique moon-like landscape, underground cities, cave churches, and houses carved into the rocks, an unprecedented archaeological discovery of a necropolis, unlike the distinctive rock-craved graves, was uncovered. Source: Arkeonews
July 13, 2024
Excavations unearth third major gate of ancient Ephesus city
Archaeologists have unearthed the Koressos gate, one of the three main entrances to the ancient city of Ephesus, once a bustling trade and tourism site. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 15, 2024
Ancient Greek City of Phaselis in Turkey to get Tourism Management Plan
The ancient Greek city of Phaselis on Turkey’s southern coast – a site of great archaeological importance – will implement a tourism management plan to tackle the issue of overcrowding. Source: Greek Reporter
July 16, 2024
Ancient cheese discovery in Kayseri shows continuity in practices
Archaeologists have unearthed intriguing details about the daily life in ancient Anatolia, thanks to tablets found in the Kültepe-Kaniş-Karum ruins of Kayseri in Central Türkiye. These documents dating back 4,000 years, reveal the existence of a unique cheese known as “Kültepe Cheese.” Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 18, 2024
2,700-year-old Military Roman Port Found in Parion, Türkiye
Underwater studies in Parion, a 2,700-year-old port city from the Roman Empire in Kemer village of Biga district of Çanakkale in northwestern Türkiye, revealed the second ancient port of the city. Source: Arkeonews
July 22, 2024
19 cultural artifacts smuggled abroad returned to Türkiye
Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced Sunday that 19 artifacts have been returned from several countries this year, demonstrating a significant endeavor to protect the nation's cultural heritage. Source: Anadolu Agency
July 23, 2024
Excavations at the Zerzevan Castle in Diyarbakır province in the southeastern part of Türkiye have uncovered an area where participants of secret rituals stayed in a 1,900-year-old underground temple belonging to the Mithras religion. Source: Arkeonews
July 26, 2024
Turkish Archaeologists Discover a Bronze-Age Shopping List
Millennia ago, someone in the province of Hatay in Turkey made a shopping list that would surprisingly survive the ravages of time. Source: Artnet News
July 28, 2024
A Newly Found 12,000-year-old Burial in Türkiye May Belong to a Female ‘Shaman’
A recently published study suggests that a woman buried in the upper reaches of the Tigris River in south-eastern Türkiye around 12,000 years ago may have been a shaman believed to have had a spiritual connection with wild animals. Source: Arkeonews
Excavations reveal new insights into sacred Hittite city
Archaeological excavations continue in the sacred Hittites city of Nerik, located in the northern province of Samsun’s Vezirköprü village, where 3,000-year-old hazelnut shells and wooden pieces cut with bronze tools have been discovered. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
July 30, 2024
3,000-Year-Old Hazelnut Shells Discovered in the Sacred Hittite City of Nerik
In the sacred Hittite city of Nerik, located in the northern Vezirköprü district of Samsun province in the Central Black Sea Region of Türkiye, 3,000-year-old hazelnut shells and pieces of wooden cut with bronze tools were found. Source: Arkeonews
A marble ‘Zeus head’ was found in the ancient city of Aphrodisias, located within the borders of the Geyre neighborhood in the Karacasu district of Aydın province in western Türkiye. Source: Arkeonews
July 31, 2024
Ancient secrets unearthed in vast Turkish cave city
Through a basement door in southeastern Türkiye lies a sprawling underground city — perhaps the country's largest — which one historian believes dates back to the ninth century B.C. Archaeologists stumbled upon the city-under-a-city "almost by chance" after an excavation of house cellars in Midyat, near the Syrian border, led to the discovery of a vast labyrinth of caves in 2020. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
Anatolian Seljuk coins shed light on centuries-old history
A collection of 2,764 gold, silver and copper coins minted by 14 sultans and some kings who ruled the Anatolian Seljuk State between 1116 and 1308 are on display in the central Anatolian province of Konya. Source: Hürriyet Daily News
