TORONTO, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A team led by a Canadian archaeologist says it has uncovered a cache of cuneiform tablets in a 2,700-year-old temple in southeastern Turkey.
University of Toronto archaeology Professor Timothy Harrison said the tablets date to the Iron Age period between 1,200 B.C. and 600 B.C. and are part of an archive that might provide new insights into the religious dimension of Assyrian imperial ideology.
"The tablets, and the information they contain, may possibly highlight the imperial ambitions of one of the great powers of the ancient world, and its lasting influence on the political culture of the Middle East," he said.
The temple was partially uncovered last year at Tell Tayinat, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Palastin, Harrison said, noting the structure of the building where the tablets were found preserves the classic plan of a Neo-Hittite temple.
