A long - lost linguistic process that has n’t been uttered for 100 has been discovered on cuneiform clay lozenge among some ancient ruins in Turkey .
The new lyric was discovered at Boğazköy - Hattusha , aka Hattusa , an archaeologic site in north - fundamental Turkey that once serve as the capital of the Hittite Empire . The situation earned its spot as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986 owing to its impressive urban computer architecture and stunning artworks that have remain signally well preserved for centuries .
The Hittites were an ancient group of Indo - Europeans who migrated to Anatolia , the peninsula of modern Turkey , where they forged one of the region ’s most formidable empires of the Late Bronze Age ( 1650 to 1200 BCE ) .
Famed for their science in warfare , the Hittites were well - known for observe records , documenting their battles and police on clay tablets . Since the 1980s , archaeologist have bring out almost 30,000 clay tablet with cuneiform write at the Boğazköy - Hattusha situation . Most of the texts are write in Hittite , but late inquiry has revealed that some of the tablets were written in a previously unknown language .
Since this is a newly discovered linguistic communication , investigator have yet to decipher what most of it means . However , it does seem that it was most likely spoken by the people of Kalašma , an area on the north - western edge of the Hittite heartland around present - day Bolu or Gerede . characteristic of the language also carry distinct similarity with Luwian , a well - screw language used within the Hittite Empire .
Furthermore , the investigator suspect the lozenge speaks of an ancient cultic rite carry out in Kalašma .
" The Hittites were uniquely concerned in recording rituals in foreign languages , " Professor Daniel Schwemer , an expert on the ancient Near East from Julius - Maximilians - Universität Würzburg , said in astatement .
While the language is strange , it is clearly related to theIndo - European language , a family of words still verbalise today across the vast legal age of Europe , as well as the Iranian plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent .
Encompassing a huge geographical array , this family of languages include everything from Hindi and Persian to Russian and English . In fact , one of the only surviving languages in Europe that does n’t stanch from the Indo - European family is Basque , an exceptional languagespoken only in Basque Country , a small sovereign neighborhood on the western edge of the Pyrenees mountains between the borders of France and Spain .
