Re-examination of the Kültepe Tablet (Kt. g/t 42+z/t II) (Summary)

The first fragment (g/t 42) of the tablet (Kt. g/t 42z/t It), which is to be the subject of study here was found in the palace of Warsama during the excavations of 1955 at Kültepe. This fragment together with the other two tablets (g/t 36, h/t 330), found also at the same place, was published by E. Bilgiç' in the Anatolia VIII (1965) under the title "Kültepe Hüyügünde Çıkan Üç Tablet”.

I recognized the second missing part of the fragment (z/t II), which had been found during the excavations of 1972, while I was occupied in the work of joining the fragments of the Kültepe tablets at Ankara Mu­seum of the Anatolian Civilizations. I think that it would be of great use to re-examine the tablet as a whole, since it also contains the names of persons, places and a certain title all of which we meet first in the texts of Cappadocia.

Although the number of the tablets we posses are subtantial, yet our knowledge of the administrative structure and institutions of the states, either big or small, of which the exitence and political activites in Ana­tolia during the period of Old Assyrian Colonies we know to some extent, is poor, due to the fact that their contents are mainly commercial.

The shortage of official documents in this field involves US to infer, as far as possible, certain ideas from their right interpretations.

This tablet, containing the names of men under certain magistrates, as understood, the titles of some of whom have been given and containing also the names of towns where these civil servants were sent to, is a kind of official document of, either registration, or distribution of civil servants to magistrates. What is of the highest importance to US here is the fact that this distribution of men was made directly from the palace of Kanis.

It is remarkable that it shows US a large variety of jobs and the extent of the administrative arrangement and economic activities. These as a whole, give us, though not solid, yet some evidence that at the begin­ning of historical ages in Anatolia there was a state well organized for central governing.

I do not hesitate to say that, a wider and solid knowledge will be gained in some near future through the examination of thousands of other tablets in hand, not yet published and scrutinized.