Canadian archeologists from the University of Toronto are restoration and interpreting an Assyrian tablet from Southern Turkey. The tablet is 43cm long and 23cm wide with 650-700 lines of writing on it and according to archeologist Timothy Harrison, the tablet, dating from about 670 BC, is a treaty between a powerful Assyrian king and his weaker vassal states, written in formal language similar to that used in the Old Testament. The find is just one of a large number of finds from the same site. Over 30,000 artifacts have been unearthed so far.

At another site in Southern Turkey they are carrying out extensive restoration works in Patara, in the modern-day town of Antalya. Archaeologists have excavated and are going to restore what they believe to be the parliament building of the town, which dates from 23 centuries ago. But the restoration doesn’t stop there.

Says Prof Dr Havva Iskan Isik, leader of the excavations: “This year the most important part of our works is going on at the main street, where we also have intense excavation and restoration works. Our main aim is to have the main street as it was in old times.”

Specialists are also restoring a lighthouse, believed to date from the time of the Roman Emperor Nero, who lived in the first century A.D.

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