A library of empires in Anatolia, at the site of the ancient Hittite capital, Hattusa, German archaeologist Hugo Winckler uncovered nearly 30,000 cuneiform clay tablets in 1906. This collection, now known as the Boğazköy Archives, is the state records of a major Bronze Age power that flourished for 600 years during the second millennium BCE. The tablets were inscribed using a wedge-shaped cuneiform script adapted from Mesopotamia.
The scientific analysis of these tablets provided new information about the ancient world. In 1915, Czech linguist Bedřich Hrozný deciphered the primary language of the texts, identifying it as Hittite—the oldest attested Indo-European language. This linguistic breakthrough reshaped the understanding of language evolution. The archive is a polyglot collection, featuring at least eight distinct languages, including Akkadian, the diplomatic lingua franca of the era, as well as Sumerian, Hurrian, and Palaic. This linguistic diversity indicates the extent of the Hittite Empire's international interactions. In 2023, researchers even identified a previously unknown language within a ritual text, referred to as the language of the land of Kalašma.
The science of diplomacy
The archives contain treaties and other records. They hold royal annals, legal codes, religious rituals, mythological epics, and even a horse-training manual, one of the earliest known. This gives a view of Hittite society, from state administration to daily life. The legal texts show a sophisticated system of laws, and administrative documents detail the inner workings of the empire.
The most famous document is the Treaty of Kadesh, the world's oldest known peace treaty based on principles of equality. Following the indecisive Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE, the Hittites and Egyptians negotiated an end to their long-standing conflict. The treaty was concluded around 1259 BCE between Hittite king Hattusili III and Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. Written in Akkadian on silver tablets—which are now lost—the clay tablet copies found at Boğazköy survive. The text establishes a pact of non-aggression, mutual defense against external and internal threats, and the extradition of political refugees. A large replica of the tablet now hangs at the United Nations headquarters, early international diplomacy. The scientific study of these documents continues; new AI-powered tools are now used to decipher handwriting on tablet fragments, dramatically accelerating the process of piecing together this ancient record.