A 3,000-year-old wooden ladder in pristine condition has been discovered in the Oymaağaç Mound, identified as the sacred Hittite city of Nerik in Turkey’s Central Black Sea Region. Archaeologists discovered the wooden remains and some hazelnut shells in an area the Hittites called “holy water” at the end of a long tunnel. Noting that 3,000-year-old hazelnut shells were extracted from the sacred water inside the tunnel, the excavation team said, “We believe that the temple there was used for many years. We see in the Oymaağaç Mound that it was used in the Old Hittite period, that is, from the 16th century B.C. to the 12th century B.C. We found a tunnel above the temple, and as we excavated the tunnel, we moved toward the water. At a depth of approximately 8 meters, we reached the area that the Hittites called ‘holy water.’” “We believe that Nerik had a history of 3,500 years. But we were shocked when we found wooden remains inside the pool as there is no wet material in Anatolia. When we dug a little more in that area, we also found hazelnut shells. The 3,000-year-old hazelnut shells confirmed that the Black Sea Region was a hazelnut production center. Carbon dating tests on the wooden findings and hazelnut shells revealed they are approximately 3,000 years old.” The city was built by the Hattians, an Early Bronze Age people who the inhabited central Anatolia before the Hittites. They dedicated the city to their storm god Teşup. After the Hattian territories were absorbed by the expanding Hittite Empire, Nerik continued to be a sacred city where the Hittites maintained the ancient worship of Tesup. Numerous clay tablets attest to the ceremonies held in the city, recording that Hittite King Hattusili III visited Nerik from the Hittite capital of Hattusa several times a year to pay his respects to the storm god. The objects recovered from the excavation of Nerik — cuneiform tablets, seals, vessels, grave goods — are on display at the Samsun Museum.