Why Was Urkesh Hidden Beneath Syria's Tell Mozan

Clay tablets helped turn Hattusa from a field of ruins into the lost capital of the Hittite Empire. But who uncovered the evidence, and how did researchers know what they had found? We follow Charles Texier’s early account of the site, then the 1906 work of Hugo Winckler and Theodor Makridi. The tablets revealed records of rulers, laws, and diplomacy from a powerful ancient kingdom. The story also follows Bedřich Hrozný’s work on the Hittite language and looks at what the evidence can—and cannot—tell us about Hattusa’s past. If you enjoy lost cities and the clues that restore them to history, this one’s for you.  @UnearthedLostCities 0:00 The Mystery of the Silent Ruins 1:25 The Partnership Behind the Excavation 2:40 Voices from the Clay Archives 5:28 Decoding a Lost Language 7:03 The Collapse of an Imperial Order