Bronze Age finds at the Hala Sultan Tekke site near Larnaca include over 150 human skeletons and about 500 objects, including gold jewelry, precious stones and ceramics, dating from around 1350 BC.
The discovery was made by archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg. Since 2010, as part of the Söderberg expedition, they have carried out several rounds of excavations in Cyprus. In 2018, archaeologists discovered two tombs in the form of underground chambers with a large number of human skeletons. The bones had to be handled with great care due to the fragility spent 3,000 years in the salty soil, so the research lasted for almost four years.
Grave of the elites
In addition to the skeletons of 155 people, the team also found 500 artifacts. The skeletons and ritual burials were layered on top of each other, showing that the tombs had been in use for generations.
“The finds indicate that these are family tombs of the city’s ruling elite. We found, among other things, a 5-year-old skeleton with a gold necklace, gold earrings and a gold diadem. It was probably a child from an influential and wealthy family, says prof. Peter Fisher.
The finds include jewelry and other items of gold, silver, bronze, ivory and precious stones, as well as ornate vessels from many cultures.
“We also found a ceramic bull. This hollow bull has two holes in its body: one on the back to fill it with liquid, possibly wine, and one at the nose to drink from it. Apparently, a feast was held in the ward in memory of the victims, the researcher pointed out.
Millennial message
One particularly important find is a cylindrical hematite seal written in cuneiform from Mesopotamia. Thanks to this, scientists were able to read it.
– The text consists of three lines and lists three names. One of them is Amurru, a god worshiped in Mesopotamia. The other two are historical kings, father and son, whom we recently managed to find in other texts on clay tablets from the same period, that is, the 18th century BC. We are currently trying to find out why the seal came to Cyprus more often than 1000 kilometers from the place of production, – says prof. Peter Fisher.
An important shopping center
Finds include carnelian, a red gem from India, a blue gem, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, and amber from all over the Baltic Sea, indicating that the city played a central role in trade during the Bronze Age. Gold jewelry, as well as scarabs (beetle amulets with hieroglyphs) and fish remains brought from the Nile Valley indicate intensive trade with Egypt.
By comparing the artifacts with similar finds from Egypt, archaeologists were also able to date the jewelry.
– Comparative studies show that most of the items date from the time of Nefertiti and her husband Akhenaten around 1350 BC. This is confirmed, among other things, by the Gold pendant we found: a lotus flower inlaid with precious stones. According to the research director, Nefertiti wore similar jewelry.
Ceramic finds are no less important.
– The way ceramics changed its appearance over time, as well as how the material from which it was made changed, allows us to date it and study the relationship of people of that time with the outside world. What I admire the most is the extensive network of contacts that they had 3400 years ago, – the researcher adds.
The next step is to analyze the DNA of the skeletons.
“This will show how closely people are connected to each other and whether there were immigrants from other cultures among them, which is possible, given the vast retail networks,” says Peter Fischer.