Remains of Ancient Lydian Palace Unearthed in Western Türkiye

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a Lydian palace dating back to the 8th century B.C. in the ancient city of Sardis, located in western Türkiye.

This remarkable find was made in the Salihli district of Manisa province, The Caspian Post reports, citing Anadolu.

Sardis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, once served as the capital of the Lydian Kingdom and is historically significant as the birthplace of the first state-guaranteed coinage. The discovery adds to the city’s rich archaeological and cultural heritage.

Excavations, ongoing for more than a century, are led by Nicholas Cahill of the University of Wisconsin.

"Historians once thought the Lydians only began urbanization in the 7th century B.C. and had lived in villages before that. These findings prove otherwise-Sardis was already a major monumental city in the 8th century B.C. The terrace system began then, showing the Lydians were an Anatolian civilization looking eastward, not a Greek one." Cahill told Anadolu.

He said the palace was found about eight meters underground, beneath Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine layers.

The structure’s stone walls are 1.5 to 2 meters thick and stand more than 6 meters high.

Artifacts uncovered include about 30 bronze arrowheads, human skeletal fragments, and nine silver coins, among the world’s oldest known, dating to the early 6th century B.C.

Cahill added that this year’s excavations are now complete, and work will resume next season.