The world’s oldest emoji has been found in Turkey on a 3,700-year old pitcher. Discovered as part of a seven-year long excavation in the ancient Hittite city of Karkamis, today at the Turkish-Syrian border, the pitcher dates back to 1700 BC. Found in a burial chamber, the pitcher was used to hold a sweet, sherbet-like drink for the deceased to enjoy in the afterlife. The Hittites hailed from Anatolia and built an empire stretching from modern-day Greece, to Egypt, Turkey, and well into Syria.
During an excavation at an ancient city whose remains are in modern-day Turkey near the Syrian border, archaeologists found the ancient pitcher with three visible paint strokes on it – two dots for eyes and a curve for a smile.
The pitcher, which dates to about 1700 BC, was found in a burial site beneath a house in Karkemish, said Nikolo Marchetti, associate professor at the University of Bologna in Italy.
The pitcher was likely used to drink sherbet, a sweet beverage, Marchetti was quoted as saying by ‘Live Science’.
The archaeologists also found other vases and pots, as well as metal goods in the ancient city.
The name Karkemish translates to “Quay of (the god) Kamis,” a deity popular at that time in northern Syria.
The city was inhabited from the sixth millennium BC, until the late Middle Ages when it was abandoned, and populated by a string of different cultures, including the Hittites, Neo Assyrians and Romans, researchers said.
It was used once more in 1920 as a Turkish military outpost, they said.
Credit : Hindustan Times
Picture Credit : Google
