A mysterious stone with strange inscriptions has led to the discovery of a lost ancient kingdom in Turkey which may have battled Phrygia, a kingdom once ruled by King Midas.<\/p>\n
The as-yet-unnamed ancient kingdom was found after a farmer discovered a huge stone containing a message from an ancient king in an irrigation ditch.<\/p>\n
Researchers from the University of Chicago were investigating Trkmen-Karahyk, a large Bronze and Iron Age mounded settlement occupied between about 3,500 and 100 BC.<\/p>\n
A local farmer told the researchers he had found a big stone with strange inscriptions while dredging a nearby irrigation canal the previous winter.<\/p>\n
Assistant Professor James Osborne, of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, said, My colleague Michele Massa and I rushed straight there, and we could see it still sticking out of the water, so we jumped right down into the canal up to our waists wading around.<\/p>\n
Right away it was clear it was ancient, and we recognized the script it was written in: Luwian, the language used in the Bronze and Iron ages in the area.<\/p>\n
Full view of the archaeological mound at Trkmen-Karahyk (University of Chicago)<\/p>\n
The survey team immediately identified a special hieroglyphic marking that symbolised the message came from a king.<\/p>\n
The farmer helped pull the massively heavy stone out of the irrigation canal with a tractor.<\/p>\n
From there it went to the local Turkish museum, where it was cleaned, photographed and readied for translation.<\/p>\n
The inscription boasted of defeating Phrygia, the kingdom ruled by King Midas, famous from the mythical story where he developed a golden touch.<\/p>\n
Prof Osborne says that the city covered 300 acres, making it one of the largest in Bronze and Iron Age Turkey.<\/p>\n
The kingdom is as yet unnamed, but it could reshape the history of the area.<\/p>\n
We had no idea about this kingdom. In a flash, we had profound new information on the Iron Age Middle East, he added.<\/p>\n
The researchers now hope to investigate the area further, and are planning to complete a survey this summer.<\/p>\n
Prof Osborne said: Inside this mound are going to be palaces, monuments, houses. This was a marvelous, incredibly lucky find but its just the beginning.<\/p>\n
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Lost ancient kingdom uncovered in Turkey after farmer finds stone with strange inscriptions - Yahoo News UK<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A mysterious stone with strange inscriptions has led to the discovery of a lost ancient kingdom in Turkey which may have battled Phrygia, a kingdom once ruled by King Midas. Continue reading