An astonishing discovery has emerged from the ongoing excavation efforts at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Boğazköy-Hattusha, in north-central Turkiye.
This historical site, once the capital of the formidable Hittite Empire during the Late Bronze Age, has been a treasure trove of ancient artifacts for over a century. However, this year's excavation has unveiled an unexpected find – a previously unknown Indo-European language.
Professor Daniel Schwemer, a renowned expert in the ancient Near East, has taken a lead role in investigating this remarkable discovery. The language, tentatively referred to as the "Kalasma language," was stumbled upon within a Hittite ritual text at the excavation site.
Though the Kalasmaic text remains largely incomprehensible due to its recent discovery, Elisabeth Rieken, a professor of Marburg University and specialist in ancient Anatolian languages, has identified it as belonging to the Anatolian-Indo-European language family.
Notably, despite its geographic proximity to Palaic-speaking regions, the Kalasma language appears to share more linguistic features with Luwian, raising intriguing questions about its precise classification.