3,400-year-old fragment of world’s oldest peace treaty found in Turkey with a powerful message; here what it reveals

In a remarkable discovery, archaeologists have discovered a 3,400-year-old fragment of the world's oldest known peace treaty, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced. Known as the 'Treaty of Kadesh', the researchers identified the fragment and it is about an agreement between an Egyptian pharaoh and a Hittite king. The discovery, which contains lines from provisions concerning people seeking refuge from one country to another, was announced on World Peace Day, September 21st, by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. He stated, "We have found traces of peace, thousands of years old, in the soil of Anatolia!"

During excavations at the Boğazköy/Hattuşa archaeological site in the Boğazkale district of Çorum, a new tablet fragment belonging to the Kadesh Peace Treaty, one of the most important documents in the history of world diplomacy, was unearthed. Scientific examinations revealed that the fragment, discovered in Büyükkale, where the Hittite royal palace was located, belongs to the front of one of the Akkadian cuneiform copies of the treaty. Nuri Ersoy shared the discovery with the public on his social media account, drawing attention to Anatolia's deep-rooted place in the history of peace and diplomacy.

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"We have found traces of peace, thousands of years old, in the soil of Anatolia,” Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said in a translated press release. "It reminds us of our responsibility to protect human life and dignity."

Minister Ersoy stated that the new document contains lines relating to provisions regulating the treatment of people seeking refuge from one country to another, and used the following expressions:

“The statements regarding the non-destruction of people's homes carry a powerful message from thousands of years ago to the present day. This valuable discovery, which we shared with the public on September 21st, World Peace Day, once again reveals Anatolia's deep-rooted place in the history of peace and diplomacy.”

In her post, Ersoy also touched upon the events in Palestine, stating, “This heritage, which has reached us from thousands of years ago, reminds us of our responsibility to protect human life and dignity. We wish for a future in which all people, especially our Palestinian brothers and sisters, will live in safety, peace, and tranquility.” Ersoy congratulated the excavation team and scientists who contributed to the discovery.

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Determined after a year-long investigation

The tablet fragment was found during excavations near building “E” in Büyükkale. Detailed scientific studies were conducted on the cuneiform inscription, one side of which is preserved, for approximately a year.

Studies have revealed that the fragment belongs to one of the copies of the Treaty of Kadesh, concluded between the Hittite King Hattusili III and the Egyptian King Ramses II.

The new find contains excerpts from articles 12–20 of the treaty, which regulate the treatment of people fleeing their respective countries and seeking refuge in the other. The legible parts of the text, which has broken and missing sections, mention people fleeing from Egypt and Hittite, and also include statements regarding the non-destruction of homes.

The Egyptian text of the Kadesh Peace Treaty was inscribed in hieroglyphs on the temple walls in Egypt. Fragments of clay tablets containing the Akkadian text were unearthed during the first phase of excavations in Hattusa between 1906 and 1912.

Previously discovered pieces are in the collections of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, the Berlin Near Eastern Museum, and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

The new discovery contributes to the work of completing the clay tablet copies of the treaty in Hattusa. The ongoing excavations in Büyükkale aim to find the remaining missing parts of the treaty.