Archaeologists in Turkey have unearthed a cuneiform tablet nearly 3,500 years old that turned out to be an ancient “shopping list” for furniture. The discovery was made during restoration work following an earthquake in the ancient city of Alalakh (modern-day mound of Tell Atchana).
According to Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Ersoy, the tablet dates back to the 15th century BCE and is inscribed in Akkadian, one of the East Semitic languages of Mesopotamia. The artifact weighs just 28 grams, measures 42 by 35 mm, and is 16 mm thick, yet it holds valuable information about the domestic economy of an ancient society.
Linguists have deciphered that the tablet contains records of the purchase of wooden tables, chairs, and stools, as well as details about who made the purchases and where. “We believe this tablet will provide new insights into the cultural and economic heritage of Anatolia for future generations,” Ersoy noted.
The discovery confirms that people’s domestic lives thousands of years ago were well-organized and that the practice of keeping shopping lists existed long before modern supermarkets.
