Unique 3,300-Year-Old Hittite Bracelet With Symbols Discovered By Farmer

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - It was just an ordinary working day and ancient treasure hunting was not part of the farmer’s agenda, but his day turned out to be quite different when he stumbled upon something unexpected.

While plowing his farm in Turkey’s central Çorum province the farmer discovered a rare 3,300-year-old ancient bracelet from the Hittite era.

The beautiful Hittite bracelet on display at the Çorum museum. Credit: AA photo

The Hittites were once one of the most powerful ancient civilizations that occupied the ancient region of Anatolia.

This long-gone culture has been of great interest to archaeologists and historians but unraveling the truth about the Hittites has been a difficult task.

Hattusa served as the capital of the Hittite Empire, which was one of the civilizations that played an important role in the development of urban life, in the late Bronze Age.

Ancient artifact such as the 3,300-year-old bracelet gives scientists a better understanding of the lost Hittite civilization.

Left: Neo-Hittite storm god "Tarhunzas" in the Aleppo museum. Credit: Verity Cridland, Wikipedia, CC BY 2.0 - Right: Sphinx Gate, Hattusa, Turkey. Credit: Bernard Gagnon, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

The bracelet has been examined by experts who confirmed it is from the Hittite era. The ancient object has now been recorded in the museum’s inventory and put it in the collection.

“The beautiful bracelet is made out of bronze, nickel, silver and gold and is adorned with depictions of Hittite symbols, including imagery of the Itar/Auka and his servants Ninatta and Kulitta,” the Daily Sabah reports.

Resul Ibis, an archaeologist at the museum, told Ihlas News Agency (IHA) that the bracelet has been put on display for visitors.

Ibis also noted that the bracelet was deformed when it was brought to the museum and some of its pieces were missing, but they restored it.

Credit: IHA

The archaeologist also noted that there are very few pieces of Hittite-era jewelry and this piece sheds light on the jewelry styles of the civilization.

“After initial evaluations, we realized that this piece is unprecedented and we’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said, adding that it is from the 13th century B.C.

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As explained by the Daily Sabah, “Çorum is home to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, one of the most significant tourist destinations in Turkey. It serves as an open-air museum with 6-kilometer-long (nearly 4-mile-long) city walls, monumental city gates, a 71-meter-long (78-yard-long) underground passage, the Hittites palace in Büyükkale, 31 unearthed temples and ancient wheat silos.

It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1986 due to its well-protected architectural structures and excavation site. It also has also held UNESCO’s title of "Memory of the World" since 2001 with its cuneiform scripts representing the oldest known form of Indo-European languages."

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer