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Sivas excavations uncover 131 cuneiform tablets from King Tudhaliya II's reign
Minister Ersoy announced that 131 cuneiform tablets and fragments from the reign of King Tudhaliya II were found during the 2026 excavations at ancient Samuha in Sivas's Kayalıpınar area.
Minister Ersoy announced that 131 cuneiform tablets and fragments from the reign of King Tudhaliya II were uncovered during the 2026 excavations at ancient Samuha in Sivas's Kayalıpınar area.
After the 53 tablets and fragments found in 2025 were also assessed as belonging to the same royal archive, the total reached 184. According to the excavation team's assessment, the archive at Kayalıpınar is the most extensive Hittite-language archive uncovered in the 21st century.
Documents shed light on Hittite state life
Written in Hittite and Hurrian, the documents address state administration, military developments, the world of belief and events affecting the royal family approximately 3,400 years ago. The archive contains texts on omens, divination, letters, rituals and prayers.
The Kayalıpınar excavations have been conducted since 2021 by a team led by Associate Professor Çiğdem Maner of Koç University's Department of Archaeology and History of Art.
Records of an epidemic affecting children
Some of the tablets contain traces of a high-fever epidemic that spread from city to city and particularly affected children and infants. The texts show that the health of young princes and princesses, as well as the children of high-ranking Hittite officials, was monitored through divination inquiries.
The records describe concern over the health of a baby princess who was still being breastfed and efforts to determine her future through divination. Another tablet recounts that the baby princess died and describes the funeral ritual held for her.
Letter requesting military support
Documents in the archive also contain information about the military threats faced by the Hittite state. In a letter sent by Hittite generals in western Anatolia to the king at Samuha, the generals report that the region has been surrounded by enemies.
The generals request that soldiers, horses and chariots be sent to defeat the enemies. The letter warns that the situation will worsen and the Hittite army will be destroyed if the support does not arrive. The generals also tell the king that they will not assume responsibility for the consequences if the necessary assistance is not sent.
New information on bird divination
One tablet in the archive records, in daily entries, observations made by bird diviners in different regions outside Samuha. The cities where the diviners stayed, the routes they followed and the birds they observed are recorded in detail.
The cuneiform texts also provide previously unknown information about how bird divination was assessed and interpreted.
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