15 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The ancient city of Karkamış “House of the Seal” brings a different perspective to the Hittite-Assyrian relations with its important finds

Historical artifacts discovered during excavations by Turkish and Italian teams in the ancient city of Karkamış (Carchemish) in southern Gaziantep province have offered new insights into the region’s history and Assyrian-Hittite interactions.

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.

Ancient city of Karkamis. Photo: AA

In a report prepared by the Turkish-Italian team following the completion of the 10th season of excavations, the team kept finding artifacts from the Hittite Empire era, when the city was at its peak, in the eastern part of the lower palace area. Dozens of clay seals belonging to the highest officials of the Hittite administration were discovered in the administrative structure called the “House of the Seal” in this area. By determining which goods these seals were applied to, researchers are able to piece together the basic idea of how the administration ran the vassal kingdom of Karkamış.

Another important find in the structure called the “House of the Seal” is a bulla with seal impressions on it, thought to belong to Piradu, one of the leading merchants of the Middle Assyrian Empire. It is hoped that determining Piradu’s identification may aid in the research of Hittite-Assyrian ties, which deteriorated towards the demise of the Hittite kingdom, as well as the timing of various events during the era.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



The most important find of the city is undoubtedly the Anatolian hieroglyphic inscription on a piece of pottery that reads “X-patu, the Manager of the City,”, a discovery encountered for the first time in Anatolia.

Anatolian hieroglyphic writing example. Photo: Luwian Studies

The Anatolian Hieroglyphic script is a mixed writing system which contains both phonetic and semantographic signs. It is a native script specific to Central Anatolia, consisting of some 500 signs. They were originally known as Hittite hieroglyphs, but the language they encode proved to be Luwian, not Hittite, and the term Luwian hieroglyphs are used in English publications.

They are typologically similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs but do not derive artistically from that script, and they are not known to have played the sacred role of hieroglyphs in Egypt. There is no evidence of a link to Hittite cuneiform.

The first inscriptions confirmed as Luwian date to the Late Bronze Age, ca. 14th to 13th centuries BC.

Furthermore, the excavations indicated that the administrative building was still in use during the Iron Age. Around 100 seals from that time period were discovered, including rare Anatolian Hieroglyphic seal impressions. The fact that nearly two-thirds of the seal impressions belong to a woman called Matiya is also noteworthy.  It is emphasized that this may be an indication that women may have had an important economic role in the state administration at the time.

Related Articles

Archaeologists have found an intriguing Iron Age “shrine” in the Yorkshire Wolds

19 September 2021

19 September 2021

Archaeologists have discovered an interesting ancient Iron Age “shrine” in the Yorkshire Wolds, which was marked out by meticulously placed...

Recent Excavations Unveil Five Remarkable Statues, Shedding Light on Perge’s Roman Heritage

12 February 2025

12 February 2025

During the excavations in the ancient city of Perge in Antalya, one of the most organized Roman cities of Anatolia,...

Egyptian Pharaoh Slain in Battle Because of the Hippos

17 February 2021

17 February 2021

The mummy of Pharaoh Seqenenre Taa II, found in 1880, was re-analyzed. When it was found, the deep wounds on...

Private lodges were uncovered in the colosseum of the ancient city of Pergamon

24 September 2021

24 September 2021

Private lodges built for the elite-class people to watch gladiator or wild animal fights shows have been unearthed in the...

A Roman sarcophagus containing two skeletons was found in Bath, England

29 June 2021

29 June 2021

Stone walls, a Roman sarcophagus, and a cremation burial have been unearthed in a renovation project at the Bathwick Roman...

Fossils of sea creatures 35 million years old discovered in eastern Turkey

17 August 2021

17 August 2021

In Turkey’s eastern province of Mus, a team of researchers discovered fossils of sea creatures estimated to be 35 million...

Ancient Greeks Built a Road to Haul Cargo Overland: The Father of the Railway: Diolkos

6 May 2024

6 May 2024

The Diolkos, an ambitious road that crossed the entire Isthmus of Corinth and was partially paved with stone, was built...

On a 5,300-year-old skull, archaeologists find evidence of the first known ear surgery

20 February 2022

20 February 2022

Humans may have begun performing ear surgery more than 5,000 years ago, say Spanish archaeologists. Spanish researchers say the skull...

The Lord’s Prayer Carved in Stone with Scandinavian Runes and a Picture of a Boat Discovered in Ontario, Canada

17 June 2025

17 June 2025

Hidden deep in the northern Ontario wilderness, an extraordinary archeological discovery has puzzled researchers and captured the imagination of history...

In the city of Gods and Goddesses Magnesia, Zeus Temple’s entrance gate found

26 September 2021

26 September 2021

During an excavation in the ancient city of Magnesia, located in the Ortaklar district of Germencik in Turkey’s Aegean province...

Pot Overflowing with Persian Gold Coins from 400 BC Discovered in Türkiye

4 August 2024

4 August 2024

Archaeologists from the University of Michigan have uncovered a pot of ancient Persian gold coins in the ancient city of...

A 1,600-year-old indoor pool, the first of its kind, discovered in Albania

13 May 2024

13 May 2024

In the Albanian port city of Durrës, archaeologists have uncovered a 1600-year-old Roman indoor pool, the first of its kind....

4,000-year-old Snake-Shaped Pottery Handle Found in Taiwan

20 February 2024

20 February 2024

National Tsing Hua University archaeologists in Taiwan have discovered a snake-shaped pottery handle dating back approximately 4000 years. Researchers uncovered...

1,800 Years Old Woman Sculpture in the Ancient City of Metropolis

16 June 2021

16 June 2021

On 12 June, Turkish officials announced the discovery of an 1800-year-old statue of a woman in Izmir. An 1800-year-old statue...

Analyses of a 2,900-year-old iron chisel from Portugal revealed surprisingly high-quality steel

22 September 2023

22 September 2023

Steel tools were believed to have only become widespread in Europe during the Roman Empire, but a recent study shows...