Cuneiform inscriptions made visible on bronze plates from the Upper Anzaf Fortress, Turkey.

Cuneiform inscriptions made visible on bronze plates from the Upper Anzaf Fortress, Turkey. X-ray study of bronze plates from a fortress of the 1st millennium BCreveals cuneiform cuneiform(kynē`ĭfôrm)[Lat.,=wedge-shaped], system of writing developed before the last centuries of the 4th millennium B.C. inscriptions on metal surfaces that are now whollyhidden by corrosion.The Anzaf fortresses and the bronze hoardThe two Anzaf fortresses of the Urartu period are located in eastAnatolia, near the Van lake. The older is the Lower Anzaf Fortress,constructed by King Ispuini (830-810 BC); the younger and larger UpperAnzaf Fortress was constructed on a higher hill 600 m to the south.The Upper Anzaf Fortress is 11 km northwest of the Urartu capitalTuspa (today Van) in eastern Anatolia, near the modern highway andrailway from Van to Iran; with its magnificent appearance, the UpperFortress is considered to have been constructed for economic andmilitary aims.The excavation of the Upper Fortress by Belli's team is the onlyofficial excavation of the Urartu period in Turkey (Belli 1992). Thetemple in the Fortress is the oldest of the Urartu period in easternAnatolia.During the 1991 excavation, a big bronze hoard was found in thevicinity of the west gate of the temple precinct. It consists of variousbronze fragments, parts, plates and weapons, separated by fire intohundreds of pieces (Tugrul & Belli 1992).Cleaning and conservation has revealed that some fragments areornamented. On some fragments, the figures are easily perceived; onothers, more affected by the fire, they have to be traced closely. Inthis study, some of the bronze plates are investigated by radiography radiography:see X ray. .The study and the inscriptionsAs usual, radiography was used to determine the inner structure ofthe matter by penetrating radiation (Halmshaw 1971; Mix 1987); for thisstudy X-rays were used.On a bronze plate, no inscriptions are seen; on the radiograph radiograph/ra��dio��graph/ (-graf?) the film produced by radiography. ra��di��o��graphn. , acurving line of cuneiform can be seen. It carries the name of KingIspuini.On two little bronze plates, again no inscriptions are seen; theradiograph also reveals cuneiform.King Ispuini and the Anzaf fortressesThese artefacts are the first fragments from a scientific excavationto provide cuneiform scripts from the time of King Ispuini. The UpperAnzaf Fortress, from where the plates come, was constructed by KingMenua (810-786 BC), son of King Ispuini. The inscriptions of hisfather's time show the plates are earlier than their findspot wouldhave us think.Acknowledgements. We are grateful to the personnel of IstanbulTechnical University's Institute for Nuclear Energy, and IstanbulUniversity's Department of Ancient History for helping us in thisstudy.ReferencesBELLI, O. 1992. Excavation of Van-Anzaf Urartu fortresses,Archaeology and Art 54-5: 13-30 [in Turkish].HALMSHAW, R. 1971. Industrial radiology radiology,branch of medicine specializing in the use of X rays, gamma rays, radioactive isotopes, and other forms of radiation in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. techniques. London: Wykeham.MIX, P.E. 1987. Introduction to nondestructive testing. New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of (NY): John Wiley John Wiley may refer to: John Wiley & Sons, publishing company John C. Wiley, American ambassador John D. Wiley, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison John M. Wiley (1846–1912), U.S. .TUGRUL, A. & O. BELLI. 1992. Evaluation of bronze artefacts fromvan-Arzaf Urartu fortress by the radiography techniques. The 14thInternational Symposium of Excavations, Surveys and Archaeomentry,Ankara. Proceedings of Results of VIII. Archaeometry Meeting: 441-52.(In Turkish)