Archaeologists excavating Kayalıpınar, in Sivas province in central Turkey, found 131 more cuneiform tablets and fragments in 2026. Together with 53 pieces found in 2025, they form an archive of 184 documents from the reign of the Hittite king Tudhaliya II, about 3,400 years ago. The mission is led by Çiğdem Maner of Koç University.
The texts describe an epidemic of high fever that spread between cities and killed many children, a breastfed princess who fell ill and died, and her funeral rite. There is also a letter from generals asking the king for soldiers, horses and chariots, and a diary of diviners who read omens in the flight of birds.
The team describes it as the most substantial Hittite-language archive found in the 21st century. Written in Hittite and Hurrian, the documents shed light on how the state, army, religion and royal family worked in that Anatolian empire.
