The oldest shopping list decoded: what was bought 3500 years ago (photo)
During archaeological excavations in southern Turkey, scientists came across a well-preserved clay tablet with Akkadian cuneiform writing. As it turned out, this is the oldest shopping list known to us, made by a person 3500 years ago.
The ruins of the ancient city of Alalah, located in the south of Turkey, attracted the attention of archaeologists in the first half of the 20th century. However, due to the World War, excavations were suspended, and only in the 2000s were researchers able to resume work.
Archaeologists discovered numerous clay tablets with inscriptions, which, after deciphering, turned out to be ancient analogues of modern official documents, as well as commercial agreements and reports.
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Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Ersoy recently announced that another clay tablet with cuneiform writing was found during restoration work begun at the Alalah settlement after the 2023 earthquake.
This tablet, created in the fifteenth century BCE, measures 4.2 by 3.5 centimeters and is 1.6 centimeters thick. After deciphering the inscriptions, it turned out that this is a shopping list. In particular, the document lists wooden tables of various types, chairs and stools, and also contains the names of the buyer and sellers.
According to Turkish archaeologists, this is the oldest "shopping list" that has survived to this day.
Earlier, we told you that a metal detector in Poland came across a unique 2500-year-old bronze brooch.
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