A group of German archaeologists from the University of Tübingen, while excavating the ancient city of Bassetki in Iraq, discovered 93 Assyrian clay tablets with cuneiform writing over 3.2 thousand years old.
The archive was discovered during a survey of a building in the city of Bassetki, which was opened only in 2013. The building was destroyed in ancient times for unknown reasons. Of the 93 tablets found in it, 60 were in ceramic vessels. Presumably, they were deliberately hidden in order to preserve and convey to posterity.
Preliminary analysis indicated that the tablets were made around 1250 BC. They belong to the period of the Middle Assyrian Empire. At the moment, only a short fragment of one of the texts has been deciphered. It talks about a temple in honor of the goddess Gula. Perhaps other texts contain business and legal records.
The researchers note that deciphering cuneiform is a very difficult task. It will take a long time. Some of the tablets are poorly preserved. Archaeologists took detailed photographs and sent them to Germany, where specialists will try to read the mysterious texts.
"Our findings indicate that this city in northern Mesopotamia existed continuously from about 3000 to 600 BC," says expedition leader Peter Pfalzer. "They also point out that Bassetki was a very important center at the intersection of key trade routes."
Denis Peredelsky