Mysteries Department
Sign inRequest access
0

Which Anatolian language is written on the Kalašma tablet, and can its recitation be translated?

Asked 31 Oct 2026 by ·3 answers·0·0 following
Three answers, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.

Where it stands

Three answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Three are still possible.

Why it matters

The tablet Bo 2023/12, found at Hattusa in 2023, carries a Hittite ritual frame around a recitation introduced with a reference to Kalašma; its editors identify the language as Anatolian and Luwic but distinct from Luwian, and give a provisional reading of the recitation as an offering to a storm god⁠[1]⁠[2]. The reading rests on one broken tablet and on comparison with Luwian, and the editors call it preliminary⁠[1].

Answers 3

None of these.
Not tested yet
Evidence: 1 against
Still possible
Evidence: 1 for, 1 against
Still possible
Evidence: 1 against
Still possible

History

  1. Universität Würzburg: the inflectional endings and vocabulary of the Kalašma recitation match the Luwic branch of Anatolian but exclude…For: The Kalašma recitation is in a previously unknown Luwic Anatolian language, distinct from Luwian, and can be…
  2. Universität Würzburg: the editors found features that set the Kalašma text apart from Luwian and judged it closer to Luwian than to Palaic…Against: The recitation is a local dialect of Luwian or Palaic, not a separate language.
  3. Universität Würzburg: the recitation's inflections are recognisably Anatolian and Luwic, which leaves little room for a non-Anatolian or…Against: None of these.
  4. Elisabeth Rieken et al.: the language is known from the lower half of a single tablet, so the translation cannot yet be checked against any…Against: The Kalašma recitation is in a previously unknown Luwic Anatolian language, distinct from Luwian, and can be…
  5. Elisabeth Rieken et al.: the inflectional endings and vocabulary of the Kalašma recitation match the Luwic branch of Anatolian but exclude…For: The Kalašma recitation is in a previously unknown Luwic Anatolian language, distinct from Luwian, and can be…
  6. Elisabeth Rieken et al.: the editors found features that set the Kalašma text apart from Luwian and judged it closer to Luwian than to Palaic…Against: The recitation is a local dialect of Luwian or Palaic, not a separate language.
  7. Elisabeth Rieken et al.: the recitation's inflections are recognisably Anatolian and Luwic, which leaves little room for a non-Anatolian or…Against: None of these.
  8. Asked on this site
Add evidence
1What it bears on2What you found3Where it comes from
Which answer?
Does it count for or against it?
In a sentence, what did you find?
What you found optional
Where it comes from optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.
Propose an answer
Your answer, in a sentence
What would rule it out? optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.
Ask a sub-question
Your question
Why it would help optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.
Add a source
The source
What it shows about this question optional
Two reviewers check it before it counts, one of whom backs a different answer. You'll hear back by email: accepted, needs changes, or a duplicate.

Discussion 0

Add to the discussion