The ancient clay stamps that archaeologists in Turkey have unearthed could have been used for fastening official government documents.
Ancient Clay Stamps For Official Use
The collection of stamps was found while excavations in Doliche were conducted. This ancient Roman city is situated in southern Turkey, close to Gaziantep.
The stamps appear to range from 0.2 to 0.8 inches in size. They were used for sealing parchment and papyrus documents. Parchment, specifically, was made from goat or sheep skin.
Each seal was also found to have a religious symbol or a deity depiction.
Archaeology professor Michael Blömer from the University of Münster explains that the seals are small tokens of clay that appeared to be folded around strings that closed legal letters and documents. A seal was then pressed over the clay in order to seal the records. They depict various images. Several ones show images of deities, while others depict portraits and inscriptions.
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Ancient Mysteries
Professor Blömer explains that performing analysis on the images could help with knowing the cultural affiliations of those who live in the city. At some point, the city of Doliche used to be a crucial religious center linked to three distinct beliefs. These beliefs were, namely, Mithraism, Teşup during the Hittite times, and Jupiter Dolikhenos during the Roman and Hellenistic times. The area was also established to be sacred for Jupiter Dolichenus, the Roman deity for sky and thunder.
The artifacts were found within the building ruins of a former city archive. The structure was used during the mid-second and mid-third centuries. However, all that remains are several walls of limestone. According to Engelbert Winter from the University, who also led the team alongside Professor Blömer, the blocks of limestone still show that there was a sequence of rooms that formed the stretched structure. The exact size of the structure remains unclear.
The sealed documents were apparently destroyed due to a serious fire that may have taken place back in A.D. 253. This was when King Šāpūr I of Persia destroyed several cities across Syria's Roman province. Following the fire, the center of the city was not rebuilt, which the researchers emphasize as a lucky find in archaeology as it means that the condition stayed preserved.
Professor Blömer further notes that there are not many known archive structures. Hence, they are hopeful that the excavations conducted in the archive structure in Doliche will offer insights regarding this public architecture and structure.
In earlier excavations, the professor's team was also able to find around 4,000 similar seals in the area. Professor Blömer explains that this shows that thousands of documents were accommodated in the archive structure.
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