Archaeologists have excavated the archives of an ancient Turkish city: they found 2,000 seals depicting gods
Archaeologists have excavated the archives of the ancient city of Dolish, located in southeastern Turkey.
Researchers have found more than 2,000 well-preserved seal impressions, Arkeonews reports.
Dolish is a large ancient city of Roman and Byzantine Northern Syria. It is currently part of Turkey, which is located near the Turkish-Syrian border.
Dolish was an important religious center associated with three different faiths. The remains of the archive reflect the ancient Roman history of the city, which was a sacred place of Jupiter.
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A team of scientists from the University of Münster found about 2,000 well-preserved seal impressions. Their motives reveal insights into ancient administrative practices.
Seal impressions are made from pieces of clay ranging in size from five millimeters to two centimeters. They were used for binding papyrus and parchment documents.
Most often, the gods, in particular Jupiter, were depicted on the official seals of the ancient city.
Only the lower layers of the foundation remain from the archive building itself, built of strong limestone blocks.
| The remains of the city archive building. Photo: University of Münster |
“However, they show a sequence of rooms that connect together to form an elongated building complex.” – says archaeologist Engelbert Winter.
The exact size of the archive cannot yet be measured. According to preliminary data, the building was 8 meters wide and 25 meters long. The width of the walls indicates that it was multi-storey.
Scientists assume that the archive documents were destroyed due to a fire that occurred in the center of the city in 253 AD.
We will remind you that earlier we wrote that scientists discovered the oldest teratoma in a woman from an ancient Egyptian grave.
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