A rare early Christian gold amulet and a roughly 3,500-year-old stone seal bearing a hieroglyphic inscription were discovered during excavations by Turkish archaeologists, Turkish outlet Turkey Today reported in late July.
According to Turkey Today, researchers from Bilkent University, the University of Chicago, and Bilecik Seyh Edebali University found the artifacts during the third excavation season at the Turkmen Karahoyuk archaeological site.
The Christian amulet, which is believed to date back to the fourth or fifth century CE, according to Turkiye Today, was found within a small copper container.
Inside the amulet, archaeologists found a thin sheet of gold that is reportedly thought to carry a passage from the bible.
“Inside a copper box, we found an extremely thin gold sheet, only 0.1 millimeters thick, most likely carrying a passage from the Bible,” Turkey Today cited Michele Ruzgar Massa of Bilkent University as saying.
Amulet likely was a protective charm
Massa explained that the amulet likely belonged to a small child, and that “we can think of it as something like a nazar boncugu, a traditional evil-eye charm.”
Such amulets are rare, noted Massa, adding that a similar artifact was discovered in Germany.
The stone seal, which was also discovered at the site, bore hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions, reported Turkey Today.
Luwian, also known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient Anatolian language used during the Bronze and Iron Ages.
The inscription includes a personal name and an official title, which, Massa explained, indicates that it belonged to an individual who held a lower-ranking position in an organized state bureaucratic system.
The name on the seal is “Kurunti-ziti,” according to Turkey Today, related to the Hittite stag god and a guardian deity of the countryside, Kurunta.
Further, the discovery suggests that Turkmen Karahoyuk had functioned as a major administrative center at the time.
Two additional copper seals and a clay seal impression bearing a different name were also unearthed at the site.