Archaeologists solve ancient mystery after decoding 2,600-year-old text in Turkey

have finally revealed the meaning of the text inscribed on an ancient Turkish monument known as Arslan Kaya.

The 2,600-year-old monument, whose name translates to “Lion’s Rock,” features figures of sphinxes, an image of the goddess flanked by lions and a nearly erased inscription written in the Old . 

Multiple attempts have been made to decode the inscription since it was first discovered in 1884; however, due to time and vandalism, only four of the letters were visible, causing the monument to become damaged and making the inscription hard to read. 

That was until recently. 

Researchers have now discovered that the text inscribed in the Indo-European language spells out the name “Materan” – a  recognised by the Greeks as the mother of gods.

Using the shadows from mid-morning light and old photographs of the monument, the researchers were able to decode the remaining letters of the inscription and obtain a translation.

The researchers first used the shadows from the mid-morning light to highlight the remaining traces and help decode the letters of the inscriptions.

They then used old photographs of Arslan Kaya from the 19^th century to compare them with their hypothesised inscriptions, which gave them the result of the text spelling out “Materan” and other characters often used in Phrygian inscriptions. 

Materan refers to the mother goddess, who was respected as a protector and supreme being. Scientists believe that the inscription dates back to the first half or middle of 600 BC.

If that is the case, the ancient monument was created during the Lydian Empire, when it dominated the area with the eastern Turkish Phrygian Empire.

It is claimed that the Lydians were the originators of gold and silver coins, with Lydian coins being the oldest in the world.

Researchers say their discovery supported the idea that the two empires shared a connection of worshipping Materan as the mother goddess.