31 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A female executive’s seal from 3000 years ago was discovered in Turkey

During the excavations carried out in southeastern Turkey’s Gaziantep’s Karkamış (Carchemish) Ancient City, seals and prints determined to belong to a female administrator named Matiya were found 3,000 years ago during the called “Late Bronze Age”.

The seal impressions, which were determined to belong to a female administrator named “Matiya”, revealed the fact that women could also take part in the state administration in Mesopotamia in 1225 BC.

Carchemish, a strategically important place due to being on the Syrian trade routes, was a valuable kingdom for the Hittites, Mitanni, and Hurrians. The Kingdom of Carchemish, which was joined to the Hittite lands by Suppiluliuma I, has always been a vassal of the Hittite kingdom.

Karkamis was the most important administrative center in the region of the Hittite Empire, which ruled over Anatolia and Mesopotamia for centuries.

Istanbul University Hittitology Department Lecturer Assoc. Dr. With the assistance of Hasan Peker, excavations continue under the direction of Professor Nikolo Marchetti from the University of Bologna, Italy.

Seals and prints determined to belong to a female administrator named Matiya were recently discovered during excavations carried out in the ancient city of Karkamis in southeastern Turkey’s Gaziantep province.
Seals and prints determined to belong to a female administrator named Matiya were recently discovered during excavations carried out in the ancient city of Karkamis in southeastern Turkey’s Gaziantep province.

The findings were among dozens of clay seals belonging to the highest officials in a hierarchical order unearthed by an excavation team headed by Nicolo Marchetti, an archaeology professor at the University of Bologna in Italy, according to a statement by the Gaziantep metropolitan municipality.

It was determined that two-thirds of the Anatolian hieroglyphic seal impressions belonged to Matiya from the period defined as the “Late Bronze Age.”

The new discoveries are expected to shed light on the role of women in state governance during the Hittite Empire.

The ancient city of Karkamis
The ancient city of Karkamis.

A bulla, an amulet worn like a locket, containing seal impressions belonging to Piradu, one of the important merchants of the Middle Assyrian Kingdom, was also found during the excavations, said the statement.

“The identity of Piradu will contribute to the analysis of Hittite-Assyrian relations which deteriorated towards the collapse of the Hittite State and the chronology of some events of the period.

The ancient city of Karkamis
The ancient city of Karkamis

“In addition to these findings, in the Iron Age Cemetery just below the modern cemetery area, salvage excavations were carried out in order to prevent damage to the ancient tombs. Within two years, findings pointing to the cultural and traditional understandings of the 7th and 8th centuries BC were found,” it added.

Among these was a calcite tomb stele, or carved piece of stone, of a man named Sanai from King Kamani’s reign in the first half of the 8th century BC.

Gaziantep municipality also built an excavation house for newly unearthed archeological finds.

Gaziantep Municipality

Related Articles

Infinite Embrace: New research sheds light on Bronze Age family relationships that link Britain to Luxembourg

30 January 2024

30 January 2024

A new study of early Bronze Age examples from Luxembourg and Britain, led by researchers from the universities of Mainz...

A well-preserved comb discovered in a 4th-century rare Alemannic chamber grave in Germany

4 September 2024

4 September 2024

During a rescue excavation in the center of the village of Gerstetten, located in the Heidenheim district of southwestern Germany,...

The first settlement of the Cimmerians in Anatolia may be Büklükale

7 June 2022

7 June 2022

Archaeologists estimated that the first settlement in Anatolia of the Cimmerians, who left Southern Ukraine before Christ (about 8th century...

Iznik Archaeology Museum reveals 2,500-year-old love letter

16 January 2023

16 January 2023

İznik is an ancient habitation that hosts various civilizations due to its fertile lands, trade routes, and many other reasons....

Xujiayao hominid’s brain in China had the biggest known brain of the time

17 January 2022

17 January 2022

A study showed that the ancient relatives of modern humans in northern China may have had an “Einstein’s brain” at...

DNA from 20,000-year-old deer-tooth pendant reveals woman who wore it

4 May 2023

4 May 2023

A pendant made of a deer tooth that was exposed to DNA about 20,000 years ago has yielded clues about...

1700-Year-Old ‘Cursed’ Sarcophagus on Display in Amasya Museum

30 March 2021

30 March 2021

Expressions made of Greek letters were encountered in the Roman sarcophagus found in the rescue excavation carried out by the...

Viking Ship Burials Shrouded in Mystery on Danish Island

25 May 2021

25 May 2021

Archaeologists studying the origins and makeup of the Kalvestene burial field, a famed place in Scandinavian legend, have undertaken new...

Rescue work begins on a 160-year-old shipwreck, the largest and best-preserved wooden shipwreck ever discovered underwater in China

3 March 2022

3 March 2022

Rescue work has begun on a 160-year-old shipwreck in China, the largest and best-preserved wooden wreck ever discovered underwater. This...

In the excavations at Tepecik Mound in Aydın, Türkiye, a palace-like structure dating back to the 13th century BCE was discovered

13 August 2023

13 August 2023

Excavations at Tepecik Mound in the Çine district of Aydın province, located in the western part of Turkey, revealed a...

The Celts’ Astronomical Secrets: The Chão de Lamas Lunula and the Coligny Calendar Connection

2 March 2025

2 March 2025

A groundbreaking study published in the journal Palaeohispanica has shed light on the ancient timekeeping practices of the Celts, centering...

Relief masks discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Kastabala

7 January 2022

7 January 2022

In the ancient city of Kastabala (Castabala), which dates back to 500 BC, located in Turkey’s southern province of Osmaniye,...

A new temple was discovered in the ancient Thracian city of Perperikon

17 August 2022

17 August 2022

Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reports that archaeologists have discovered a new temple at Perperikon. Perperikon, an archaeological complex located at...

A stunning fresco depicting Helen of Troy is revealed during excavations at the ancient Roman city

11 April 2024

11 April 2024

Archeologists have uncovered remarkably preserved ‘fresco’ paintings on a wall in the banqueting room of a large house along Via...

Saxon ‘London’ was Bigger Than Previously Believed

23 February 2024

23 February 2024

Archaeologists digging at the northern end of Trafalgar Square found evidence that Saxon London’s center was bigger and extended further...