Hattusha yields new cuneiform fragment bearing part of Kadesh treaty's refugee clause
Turkey's culture ministry says excavators found a fragment carrying part of the 1269 B.C. Egyptian-Hittite treaty's rules on returned escapees, a passage already published in translation from other copies.
The Scientist · Science desk
What happened
- Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism says excavators at Hattusha, in north-central Turkey, recovered a cuneiform tablet fragment from a building in the old Hittite capital.
- The ministry identifies the text on the fragment as coming from the section of the treaty dealing with the treatment of refugees.
- The treaty was signed around 1269 B.C. by the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III, and is regarded as the oldest known peace treaty.
- The statement says excavations are continuing and may recover the remaining parts of the treaty text.
Why it matters
- What's now possible capability Another excavated copy of the same clause lets the Hattusha reconstruction be checked against a second Akkadian witness instead of against the Egyptian temple version alone.
- What it limits constraint Until a photograph or transliteration is published, scholars outside the excavation have to take the section identification on the ministry's word, and cannot collate the fragment themselves.
- What doesn't add up contradiction The ministry presents the find as a reminder about human dignity, while the clause it comes from orders escapees handed back across the border because flight was treated as a crime.
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The passage the ministry points to is one scholars can already read in translation. The treaty forbids punishing people sent back across the border: "Their tongue and their eyes are not to be pulled out; their ears and their feet are not to be cut off; their houses with their wives and their children are not to be destroyed" [13]. Part of that text is what appears on the new fragment, according to the ministry's statement [14]. So what has come out of the ground is another copy of wording already published. Whether unread lines sit on the same piece is not stated.
That still does work. A text surviving in pieces is read by matching overlapping copies, and the Akkadian version has been assembled at Hattusha since fragments were first identified there in the early 20th century [9]. The Egyptian version was read earlier, from hieroglyphs on the walls of a temple to Ramesses II at Thebes, modern Luxor, found in the early 19th century [8]. Roughly a century separated the two readings [23].
The age in the announcement and the treaty's own date do not quite line up. A document signed around 1269 B.C. [25] is about 3,294 years old this year [21], while the ministry describes the fragment as 3,400 years old [1], roughly a century older than the signing date implies [22].
The clause is an extradition rule with a limit on what may be done afterwards. Any refugee from Egypt to Hattusha was to be returned to Egypt, and any from Hattusha to Egypt returned to Hattusha, because fleeing was treated as a crime [12]. The United Nations displays a copper replica of the treaty in its Conference Building in New York [19], and according to the U.N. "the treaty pledges eternal friendship, lasting peace, territorial integrity, nonaggression, extradition, and mutual help. The pledges in this treaty are similar to the United Nations ideals" [20].
"We have found traces of peace, thousands of years old, in the soil of Anatolia," Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkey's minister of culture and tourism, said in a translated statement on Sept. 21 [4]. He also said, "It reminds us of our responsibility to protect human life and dignity" [6].
The document is also called the Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty, the Eternal Treaty and the Silver Treaty, and it does not mention the Battle of Kadesh, which had happened several years earlier [18]. It closed a two-century war over lands in the eastern Mediterranean [10], and it carries provisions on coming to the other country's aid in case of invasion [16]. Hittite control of central Anatolia ended around 1200 B.C. [17], about 69 years after the signing [24].
What to watch
- A photograph, transliteration or excavation report showing how many lines survive on the fragment and whether any run beyond the known passage.
- Publication of the fragment's exact findspot inside the Hattusha building, which would indicate a tablet archive or a secondary deposit.
- Whether further digging recovers parts of the treaty not yet attested in the Akkadian version at all.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence60
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the discovery of a 3,400-year-old fragment of the Treaty of Kadesh, described as the world's oldest known peace treaty.
- [2]
The fragment was unearthed during an excavation at Hattusha, in north-central Turkey, from a building in the ancient Hittite capital.
- [3]
Other parts of the treaty had already been found before this fragment.
- [4]
"We have found traces of peace, thousands of years old, in the soil of Anatolia," Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkey's minister of culture and tourism, said in a Sept. 21 translated statement.
- [5]
The newly discovered cuneiform tablet fragment contains text from a section of the treaty related to the treatment of refugees, according to the ministry statement.
- [6]
"It reminds us of our responsibility to protect human life and dignity," Ersoy said.
- [7]
Diplomatic documents found at Hattusha, including other fragments of the Treaty of Kadesh, were written in Akkadian, the earliest documented Semitic language.
- [8]
In the early 19th century, archaeologists first discovered the treaty inscribed in hieroglyphics on the walls of a temple dedicated to Ramesses II in Thebes, modern Luxor.
- [9]
Fragments of the Akkadian cuneiform text of the treaty were first identified at Hattusha in the early 20th century.
- [10]
The treaty marked the end of a two-century-long war over lands in the eastern Mediterranean.
- [11]
A translation of the treaty provided by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism includes the line "He is a brother to me and he is at peace with me; and I am a brother to him and I am forever at peace with him."
- [12]
The treaty text states that any refugee from Egypt to Hattusha will be returned to Egypt, and any Hattusha refugee to Egypt will be returned to Hattusha, as fleeing was considered a crime.
- [13]
The treaty forbids punishing refugees: "Their tongue and their eyes are not to be pulled out; their ears and their feet are not to be cut off; their houses with their wives and their children are not to be destroyed."
- [14]
Part of the text forbidding the punishment of refugees appears on the newly discovered cuneiform fragment.
- [15]
Ongoing excavations may help uncover the remaining parts of the treaty, according to the ministry statement.
- [16]
The treaty has further provisions for coming to a country's aid if it was invaded.
- [17]
The Hittite Empire controlled central Anatolia from about 1650 to 1200 B.C. during the Bronze Age.
- [18]
The treaty does not mention the Battle of Kadesh, which occurred several years earlier, and is also called the Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty, the Eternal Treaty or the Silver Treaty.
- [19]
A copper replica of the Treaty of Kadesh is displayed in the United Nations Conference Building in New York City.
- [20]
According to the U.N., "the treaty pledges eternal friendship, lasting peace, territorial integrity, nonaggression, extradition, and mutual help. The pledges in this treaty are similar to the United Nations ideals."
- [21]
A document signed around 1269 B.C. is about 3,294 years old in 2025.
- [22]
The 3,400-year age given in the announcement is about 106 years more than the treaty's 1269 B.C. signing date implies.
- [23]
The Akkadian cuneiform fragments at Hattusha were first identified roughly a century after the hieroglyphic version was found at Thebes.
- [24]
The treaty was signed about 69 years before Hittite control of central Anatolia ended.
- [25]
The treaty was signed around 1269 B.C. by Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II and Hittite king Hattusili III.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- discovermagazine.comA Newly Discovered Fragment of the World's Oldest Peace Treaty Reveals Protections for Refugees and Their Homes
1 article · September 23, 2026
- livescience.comFragment of world's oldest peace treaty unearthed in Turkey
1 article · September 22, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Ancient diplomacy and treaties
- Ancient Near Eastern archaeology
Entities
- Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism
- United Nations
- Ramesses II
- Mehmet Nuri Ersoy
- Treaty of Kadesh