Three bronze shields and a ceremonial bronze helmet, dedicated to Haldi, the chief god of the Urartians, were recently discovered during excavations at the historical Ayanis Castle in Van province, eastern Türkiye. Dated to 2,700 years ago, the shields and helmet were found at a depth of 6 to 7 meters (20-23 feet) beneath the floor of a room, protected by the collapse of the mudbrick walls caused by the ancient earthquake that devastated the castle. The placement allowed for a good state of preservation, albeit suffering minor fractures. Embed Tweet <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Türkiye’nin dört bir yanında gerçekleştirilen ve sürelerini 12 aya çıkardığımız kazı çalışmalarında her geçen gün yeni bir nadide eser gün ışığına kavuşuyor. ⛏️<br><br>Anadolu tarihinin kadim uygarlıklarından <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Urartu?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ur... Krallığı’nın son büyük kenti olan ve günümüzden 2 bin 700 yıl… <a href="https://t.co/26ON2wSlPN">pic.twitter.com/26ON2wSlPN</a></p>— Mehmet Nuri Ersoy (@MehmetNuriErsoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/MehmetNuriErsoy/status/1832296164458156172?ref_src=t... 7, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Read moreSection: ArtifactsAncient TechnologyNewsHistory & ArchaeologyRead Later