Bronze Tablet

The Bronze Tablet, also known as the Kurunta Treaty, (Bo 86/299) is a bronze tablet with a Hittite language cuneiform inscription dating to the Bronze Age and setting forth a vassal treaty between Hittite King Tudhaliya IV and his cousin, King Kurunta of Tarhuntassa.^[1] While thousands of Hittite clay tablets have been unearthed, the Hattusa Bronze Tablet is the only Hittite metal tablet discovered so far.^[2] It was discovered near the Sphinx Gate of the Hittite capital Hattusa (modern day Bogazköy, Turkey).^[2] The tablet is housed at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.

Photograph of the tablet

The text includes a detailed description of the boundaries of the kingdom of Tarhuntassa.^[1] For that reason, the tablet is an important source for Anatolian geography in the Bronze Age.^[3]

The tablet is one of only three Hittite diplomatic documents so far discovered that are believed to be originals, rather than archival copies or drafts.^[4] According to the tablet, it was written by a scribe named Ḫalwaziti.^[5]

Analysis of the tablet showed that it consists of bronze with a very high tin content.^[2] The use of tin-heavy bronze may have been deliberate, in order to create a "light silverish color and sheen."^[2]