this post was submitted on 13 May 2026
164 points (100.0% liked)

HistoryArtifacts

856 readers
214 users here now

Just a community for everyone to share artifacts, reconstructions, or replicas for the historically-inclined to admire!

Generally, an artifact should be 100+ years old, but this is a flexible requirement if you find something rare and suitably linked to an era of history, not a strict rule. Anything over 100 is fair game regardless of rarity.

OTHER COMMS IN THE HISTORYVERSE:

founded 10 months ago
MODERATORS
Deceptichum@quokk.au
PugJesus@piefed.social
164
The Green Stone of Hattusa (media.piefed.social)
submitted 4 days ago by JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social to c/historyartifacts@piefed.social
30 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The Hattusa Green Stone is a roughly cubic block of what is believed to be nephrite standing in the remains of the Great Temple at Hattusa, capital of the Hittites in the late Bronze Age. Now on the hill above Boğazkale, in the Turkish Province of Çorum, Hattusa is a World Heritage Site.

The original purpose is unknown, but serves as a tourist attraction today.

The stone measures 69cm (27in) per side, and weighs about 1,000 kilograms (2,200lb). It is supposed by some to have had a religious use or purpose, but what that may have been is unknown. The suggestion has been made that it may have been merely the base of a statue, however the stone is the only one of its kind found at Hattusa. --WP, with some JE edits

So, not quite the Voynich Manuscript, but an interesting object nonetheless. And quite a bit heavier(!)

In the Lebanese city of Tyre, I visited the ancient ruins & saw an identical stone --u/Msqueefmaker

top 30 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 36 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Surely it was a tourist attraction back then too.

“Hey guys look at our cool green rock! Bet you wish you had a cool green rock too.”

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 13 points 4 days ago

I'm daydreaming that giants once walked the earth, and those giants liked to game. One time a die fell of the table and rolled itself far enough that it got lost...

Years later the Hittites came along.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

It’s 2026, I’m in my 40s, I would love to have a cool, green rock.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 days ago

“MoooOOOM! Why can’t we get cool green rock?”

Then by the time everyone else has cool green rock, you finally get one for Christmas.

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago

Whomever lifts it gets a free hernia repair!

[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Thank msqueefmaker for the info.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 7 points 4 days ago

Lol, I was barely looking at their username when I copied it over. XD

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I am so glad i know about this now wth. That rules

[–] Yosmonkol@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If its inside the remains of a temple then wouldn't it likely be a Huwasi or Baetyl? AFAIK there was a long tradition of using stones as an effigy of a deity in Anatolia and Cyprus. A notable example would be the Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Palaepafos.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm just a layperson here, but wouldn't those normally be more upright-shaped?

[–] Yosmonkol@piefed.social 2 points 3 days ago

I'm no expert either I just vaguely remember it from a class years ago. There are multiple translations of Ḫuwaši it can be refering to the ritual object and the place of ritual. As far as I can tell the only extant examples are the Huwasi temples and not the objects. While Huwasi has been translated as 'standing stone' there is no criteria for their size or shape, with portable stones also being attested. They aren't always stone either.

[–] Vinylraupe@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If it weighs roughly 1000 kg maybe it was used to depict a ton?

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 6 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Interesting thought, but such a measure didn't get invented until well over two millennia later, by the English. Not that it couldn't have been a weight measure of some sort of another.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What do you mean "by the English"?

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 4 points 3 days ago (3 children)

The English peoples. Via the word "tun." Which was something like ~240 wine gallons.

My source was WP on that.

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

WordPress?

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Wikipedia

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Oh phew. 😋

Fun fact: speaking of wine cargo terms, "buttload" is real. 🤣

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Are you certifiably insane? You would be my first one. This is very exciting..

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago

Dude...
Is this your first time on the internet, or something?

You asked me literally:

What do you mean “by the English”?

As if there was some great, cosmic mystery about all that.

However, I answered your Q, and then you proceeded to get upset, for whatever reason(s). The fuck is up with you, matey?

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I'm going to assume that you are some kind of AI thing I'm too tired to figure out a proper name for your perversity.

[–] Vinylraupe@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Ancient cultures get underestimated all the time because we have smartphones and computers now which makes us cool and advanced.

Edit: The old way of measuring 1 kg was 1 Liter of water. You would get something like that i guess since its not precise.

[–] Uruanna@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The litter, kilo, meter all come from the metric system, which didn't exist in the time of the Hittites. It's not about underestimating them, they had other units of measurement, but that obviously wasn't metric.

[–] Vinylraupe@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 days ago

The Egyptian "Elle" was 50 cm, so 1/2 a meter. So they could have measured 125 Liter using 1x1x1 "Elle".

I dont know the density of the material, that would be interesting to know. The cube looks like it was important to them. Maybe it was to measure big shipments of wares. Since they probably used scales back in that time.

Long story short: Seems like quite the coincidence, even more so if you consider the work that had to be put into carving the stone.

But well, maybe it was a doorstopper?

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

@extrapartsleft@lemmy.world, @extrapartsleft@piefed.zip,

What is that Y2mGqHoaiKxK2sq.png symbol you've reacted with?

Also, I tried searching around for that specific "n" letter, but came up zippo.

[–] ExtraPartsLeft@piefed.zip 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I have no idea, I didn't even mean to react to the post. I thought I only hit the like arrow.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 0 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Are you using an app to browse, maybe?

[–] ExtraPartsLeft@piefed.zip 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm using Waterfox on GrapheneOS with Heliboard. I don't see that symbol on my phone anywhere.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago

Interesting, thanks for explaining.

I'm going to lightly assume that such cross-connection is one of those things that can accidentally create slight Fediverse hiccups, as (far as I can tell) one can't directly choose that little symbol as a reaction via the standard FV interface.

TBH, it's kind of cute, though. I'm a fan of obscure symbols, so me like. 🙂