Archaelogists have uncovered charred ruins of the Turkish city Sam'al which was revealed to have been burned by the Hittite Empire on their way to destroying Babylon.
“It’s an incredibly lucky find. Every archaeologist hopes for an intact destruction layer because it gives you a snapshot of a day in the life of this town,” said David Schloen, a professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and a leading scholar of the ancient Middle Eastern world who co-directs the excavation.
“Pottery is still sitting inside the buildings where the inhabitants left it in 1650 B.C. You know that everything is where it would be on a typical day, which is really valuable cultural knowledge.”
(Image credit: Henrik Brahe)