r/BeAmazed • u/bortakci34 • May 13 '26
History The "Green Stone" of Hattusa: A 2,200lb block of nephrite that sits alone in the ruins of the 3,000-year-old Hittite capital. Archeologists still have no idea why it’s there.
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May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
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u/ArjJp May 13 '26
Historians a 1000 years later: ...we have evidence to believe it was a sacred shrine where human sacrifices were regularly conducted...
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u/_n3ll_ May 13 '26
...We beleive the base was routinely covered in canine urine as part of the ceremony
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u/Mutesaa May 13 '26
explains the smell, always thought it was my neighbour
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u/jamesianm May 13 '26
You thought a decorative rock was your neighbor?
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u/Bulky-Internal8579 May 13 '26
I like my neighbor , he’s quiet.
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May 13 '26
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u/Okay_Splenda_Monkey May 14 '26
You mean artisanally crafted traditional meth, made from his Uncle Walter's famous recipe?
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u/ravenschmidt2000 May 14 '26
So one person has a decorative rock for a neighbor, another has a neighbor that makes recreational rocks.
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u/pocket_nick May 13 '26
This is my neighbor Nursultan Tulyakby, he is pain in my assholes. I get a step, he must get a step. I get window of a glass, he get window of a glass. I get clock radio, he cannot afford, great success!
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u/hundredgrandpappy May 13 '26
And these guys peed on it!
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u/Environmental_Fig942 May 13 '26
Scientists were able to conclude the urine was placed every full moon. Once again science has created more questions than it has answered. Back to you in the studio.
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u/OstentatiousSock May 13 '26
And here it is adorned with bird droppings of their sacred bird: the pigeon.
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u/stol_ansikte May 13 '26
My grandparents had a decorate stone in their Summer house that we always pissed on. There they will found ample evidence of rituals.
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u/Deeeeeeeeehn May 13 '26
To be fair to actual historians and archaeologists, nowadays these claims are only tossed around if there’s some corroborating evidence.
What you have to watch out for are the goobers on TikTok who will say shit like HOW DID THIS ROCK GET HERE? ITS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A HUMAN TO LIFT IT! WAS IT ALIENS?! BUY MY VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS!!
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u/Synergythepariah May 14 '26
What you have to watch out for are the goobers on TikTok who will say shit like HOW DID THIS ROCK GET HERE?
Ah, a fellow googledebunker
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u/chefianf May 13 '26
"ritual".. when all else fails it was used for some ritual.
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u/Rattlehead71 May 14 '26
Amazingly if you multiply this 10 foot sacred shrine by 13,147,971.46 it yields the equatorial circumference of the Earth! How did they know that? Aliens?
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u/nonymousbosch May 13 '26
There is a piece of wood beside the driveway that I asked my dad about 40 years ago. He said, "just leave it there."
That is why there is a piece of wood beside the driveway.
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u/Mister_Brevity May 13 '26
I have a 60 something pound quartz crystal that was given to me by a great grandparent back in… 1984? I’ve taken it with me every time I’ve moved since then so it’s always just kinda…. There. No idea why I keep lugging it along other than it’s just kinda neat.
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u/PutConstant866 May 14 '26
Sounds like a quest item. Better hold onto it, going to be very important for something. Eventually.
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u/Mister_Brevity May 14 '26
Over the years I’ve set up a uv light under it, various different color lights.
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u/Conflatulations12 May 14 '26
Don't get rid of it, but if you must, I guess I will take it off your hands.
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u/Feeling-Stranger224 May 13 '26
I saw a post a while back of this guy that found a rock in his yard that he wanted to dig up. He started digging in the area around the exposed rock and just kept hitting the rock. The diameter kept growing. He had to rent heavy machinery to dig it out and hoist it out of the ground and he now has a 10 ton lawn ornament. Idk if 10 ton is accurate but the sucker was as big as a car. Boulder would be a more accurate description.
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u/Opening_Classroom_46 May 13 '26
we did the same thing 30 years ago. Was about as big as a car. once we got it fully out we just left it there, put mulch around it and kids climbed it.
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u/ArchaicBrainWorms May 14 '26
Good for your kids. I'm getting to be an old man, but I still go back and visit my favorite childhood boulder on occasion.
Is nice boulder
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u/evranch May 14 '26
Boulder would be a more accurate description
A boulder is just a rock that's too big for your currently available equipment to carry easily.
Just a guy with a shovel? Boulder is 200lbs
In the skid steer? That's just a rock, a boulder is 3000lbs+
Picker truck? That's a lawn ornament, a boulder is 5 tons
D9 cat? It's all gravel
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u/CheapGarage42 May 13 '26
My grandmother lived on a corner with a low curb and sometimes people would just cut through her lawn with their vehicles. She got a lawn rock so people couldn't cut the corner anymore.
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u/comics0026 May 13 '26
I'm just imagining a sitcom plot where goofy dad gets tricked into buying a cool big rock because it's a cool big rock and has to pass it off as something that will be remembered forever
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u/SteveoberlordEU May 13 '26
"That's a nice rock" thought someone and left it there. People seriously don't umderstand sometimes it's simple like that.
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u/chaoticpicklebrain May 13 '26
My mom calls them "garden anchors". She's a gardener so I just assume she knows what she's talking about. :) something about balancing, blah. Blah. Blah. That's how I spent an entire weekend rolling rocks around.
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May 13 '26
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u/capitan_dipshit May 14 '26
On one hand, I don't want people occasionally cutting the corner and driving through my yard. On the other, I don't want to mow around a rock for the rest of my life. Why is life so hard?
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u/moffman93 May 13 '26
ha, my neighbor does as well and it's like 4x as big as that. It actually looks kind of cool though. It was fun to sit on top of as kids.
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u/03263 May 13 '26
The reason mine is there is because I started digging a hole for a shrub and found a huge rock and I thought I could get it out so I kept digging. Then I had to use straps and tow it out with a tractor because it was way bigger than it seemed but I was already determined. It deserves its place of honor.
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u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance May 13 '26
My grandpa loved to move rocks around. Now we have several large boulders in our yard. Why are they there? Just cause he liked them. No more reason needed.
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u/Kind_of_random May 14 '26
I have a 60 pund rock on my balcony that the previous owner didn't remove before moving.
It's been there for more than 10 years by now. No way am I risking my back hauling that thing down the stairs and I can't tip it over the railing.
At this point I've accepted it as a family member and each time someone new asks me about it I make up a different story.3
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u/IAmRules May 13 '26
To be fair the rock also has no idea why the archeologists are there.
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u/kuschelig69 May 14 '26
Perhaps rocks think more than we imagine
that reminds me of a movie where people were transformed into rocks.
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u/DweebLSD May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
3000 years ago, two Hittite’s are talking:
H1 : why is this giant green stone here?
h2: cause it’s fucking sick
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u/SumpCrab May 13 '26
Before that,
"Hey, check out this cool green stone."
"Hell, yeah, that is cool. We should bring it back to the capital."
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u/WorkingInAColdMind May 13 '26
“This is getting heavy, let’s just leave it here temporarily”
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u/Original-Variety-700 May 13 '26
Don’t be a baby. We can carry up these stairs. We have 6 people. /takes it upstairs, it falls through the floor and lands in the place it remains today/.
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u/lesser_panjandrum May 14 '26
That really could be what happened.
Ancient Hittite palaces included not only the sturdy stone construction that survives to this day, but also intricate mezzanine floors woven from grass fibres reinforced by wood.
A large, beautiful stone makes an impressive base for a throne - see the Stone of Scone in Scotland - and bringing it into a position of honour on an upper floor would have been very prestigious for the ruler.
Of course, while the intricate woven floors were enough to support the weight of people walking upon them, the heavy stone would have been too much for them to bear, causing it to come crashing down.
The lesson to be learned from all of this is that one should not stow thrones in grass houses.
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u/Primary_Durian4866 May 13 '26
"What do you mean the budget ran out? That's it boys, leave it here."
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u/Jonny-Holiday May 13 '26
And before *that...*
"All right, Gilgamesh, roll for initiative!"
"Remember, Humbaba, I've got a +1 on this, so I only need a 3 or higher!"
*Rolls*
"You lost the dice! How are we ever gonna find it amongst all these Cedar trees?"
"All right, time for plan B: we fight for real, winner takes all!"
"Legendary, dude."
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u/Txepheaux May 14 '26
As a Gilgamesh enjoyer, and a roleplayer, I thank your for this message. I lost everything and I earned everything.
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u/dnebdal May 13 '26
Seems like a common impulse, most old capitals have a good selection of Cool Stones.
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u/Epyon1542 May 13 '26
"My lord I have brought you this stone as a gift between our two people."
"No shit! Look how green it is! I will fight with you as if you were mine own brother."
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u/MrGloom66 May 13 '26
I mean, if people fought and died for gold because is shiny and rare, I imagine that very stone has a good chance for a story of two drunk people fighting over who has the right to haul it to their home.
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u/AStrandedSailor May 13 '26
You missed the part where they disagree about the colour on religious grounds..
"It's green."
"It's blue"
"No it's green."
"It's clearly blue and to prove my devotion to the great god who made it blue, I will kill you for saying it's green"
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u/ChemTechGuy May 13 '26
Came to say the same thing. If I found that thing you'd better believe I'm hauling it home to show it off
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u/Expontoridesagain May 13 '26
My 10y old is constantly bringing rocks and sticks home. I keep some of the rocks and put them in my flowerbed. If he saw this rock he would 100% want to take it with him and just drop it off in front of the door.
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u/xenobit_pendragon May 13 '26
“What’s in your pocket?”
“Nothin’.”
“It’s another rock isn’t it?”
“No…”
“Better not be another 2200 lb nephrite is all I can say.”
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u/Expontoridesagain May 13 '26
All I can say is that if he could stuff it in his pocket or his backpack he definitely would.
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u/PlagueOfBedlam May 13 '26
I gave my Mom a weird rock sorta shaped like a heart that I found buried in the lawn when I was like 4, and she still has it on her dresser (I’m almost 40 now). If young me had known how much that would show she cares about me, I would’ve brought home a lot more cool sticks and rocks. 🥹
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u/Expontoridesagain May 13 '26
Wish I could add a picture of mine! My son gave it to me couple years ago. It's small like a pea. You have to hold it in specific angle for it to look like a heart. Said he thought of me when he saw it. I keep it in a box on my table. Love it more than any thing that can be bought in a store and I am sure your mom thinks the same about her heartshaped rock.
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u/scarletnightingale May 13 '26
My siblings and I would try to bring this home too. My mom and dad still have rocks all over their yard from us. We're in our 30s and 40s now and will still go out searching for rocks when we have time.
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u/Hoss-Bonaventure_CEO May 13 '26
When we go on vacation we look for a kitchy souvenir bowl with the place's name on it and put the rocks in that on a shelf in our livong room.
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u/Msqueefmaker May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
In the lebanese city of Tyre, I visited the ancient ruins & seen an identical stone
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u/DeReversaMamiii May 13 '26
Omg fast travel markers
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u/HauntedHippie May 13 '26
I don’t think we’ve unlocked that ability yet or else they’d be glowing.
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u/therealmenox May 14 '26
Everyone knows fast travel isn't active until you have visited at least two fast travel points!
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u/DarkwingDuckHunt May 13 '26
I thought you just had to get near enough for it to trigger
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u/HauntedHippie May 13 '26
The dudes in the photo must be NPCs lol
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u/PhantomDesert00 May 14 '26
No they just have fast travel disabled in the settings. They're doing a challenge run.
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u/RandomYT05 May 13 '26
It could be a cultural point for hitites
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u/callunquirka May 14 '26
There's also a big black rock representing Aphrodite in Cyprus. Greece had one too. IIRC some people at the time thought deities dwelt in big, cool looking rocks.
There was a lot of cultural exchange around the mediterrenean so it's possible this green rock had a similar significance. It's also possible it didn't though, lol.
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May 13 '26
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u/atomic_ring May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Hittite #1: Found a huge block of nephrite and made this cool cube!
Hittite #2: But why?
Hittite #1: No idea. I was pretty drunk yesterday
3000 years later.
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u/O_gr May 13 '26
Its clearly a fancy coffee table.
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u/Frequent-Jacket3117 May 13 '26
I'm kinda surprised it's not stolen.
Jade is expensive by itself but this one also have a historical value, and somehow still sits there after 3000 years.
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u/WilditariusAstar May 13 '26
It would take quite a few goats to pull that bad boy outta there….
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u/xFyreStorm May 13 '26
"gee, this block is kinda heavy, let's just set it down and finish moving it tomorrow"
the next day: "eh, it's no rush to get it where it's going, surely we'll get around to it"
*3000 years later*
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u/jamesianm May 13 '26
Yeah you'd think someone would've slipped it in their back pocket and walked off with it by now
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u/Frequent-Jacket3117 May 13 '26
4500 years ago they transported 80 ton granite blocks from 800km away,
i'm sure there must be a way to deal with a 800kg stone in the age of heavy machinery.
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u/jamesianm May 13 '26
Move? Sure. Steal though? I guess I'm not clear on how public a spot this is. Is it completely deserted? Because if anyone is watching the site they might notice someone rolling in with an excavator and scooping up the priceless artifact
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u/Frequent-Jacket3117 May 13 '26
It's in a field in the middle of nowhere and all you need is few guys in a Ford truck,
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u/drunkhighfives May 13 '26
Is there a block of hittite in the nephrite capital?
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u/jamesianm May 13 '26
No, but there is a block of Fordite there for some reason
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u/wafflelauncher May 13 '26
That's from painting their F-150 chariots in the same spot for generations.
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u/arftism2 May 13 '26
it's there because people found it and decided it looks cool af so they shaped it to look even cooler.
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u/Rexxer101 May 13 '26
I think the whole no idea why it’s there is a bit odd cause like the answer is pretty simple either someone thought it was neat and moved it there or it spawned there and no one bothered to move it
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u/ExtremePronoia May 13 '26
Assuming the floor can support the weight, the majority of people would prefer to have a 2,200lb block of jade in their home than not. It’s just objectively cool. Whether you live today or 3k years ago people walk in and say “holy fuck a 2,200lb block of jade! Woah!”
Maybe it’s a table, maybe it’s a place to sit. Maybe it’s a place to change a baby’s diaper. Maybe it was in the home so long that generations came and went and each used the stone slightly differently.11
u/Ok-Chest-7932 May 13 '26
Looking at its position relative to the walls, it does look a lot like a rock that was deliberately put there for the sake of being a general purpose surface to put things on, and that also happens to be made of a cool material. They've given themselves enough space between the rock and each wall to be able to move around all sides of the rock.
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u/ElowynElif May 13 '26
Yeah, when I first read about this, I assumed nephrite wasn’t found in the area. But Wikipedia says it’s common there, so it doesn’t seem so mysterious to me. We don’t know what it was used for, but that doesn’t make it any more mysterious than a lot of unidentified artifacts.
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u/bortakci34 May 13 '26
This block is located in the Great Temple of Hattusa (modern-day Türkiye). It’s made of nephrite, which is very unusual for this site as the surrounding structures are mostly limestone.
There’s a popular legend saying it was a gift from Ramses II, but historical records don't actually support this. According to the excavation director, Dr. Andreas Schachner, the stone doesn't even sit at the original Hittite ground level, suggesting it might have been moved there in a later period. Today, locals call it the "Wishing Stone" because of its strangely polished, mirror-like surface.
Sources: https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattu%C5%9Fa_Ye%C5%9Fil_Ta%C5%9F%C4%B1
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u/SoundsTasty May 13 '26
It is not unusual for the site. It was mined locally and you can buy suveniers made from the same type of stone nearby like I did in 2023.
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u/FernandoMM1220 May 13 '26
im interested to know what historical records dont support a gift from ramses.
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u/TheFatRemote May 14 '26
There are extensive letters between Ramses II and the Hittite Queen Puduhepa that were found on clay tablets at Hattusa, none mention this stone.
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u/Jazzlike-District213 May 13 '26
How much is that in Kgs ?
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u/C-LonGy May 13 '26
Just under 1000kg
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u/Agreeable_Flan_5724 May 13 '26
How many feral hogs is that?
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u/Caffeine_XD May 13 '26
What’s the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
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u/ForAThought May 13 '26
How much in bald eagles?
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u/sltydgx May 13 '26
Surprised it didn’t end up somewhere in England 🤔
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u/VolatileGoddess May 14 '26
As an Indian, I'm surprised too. They prised off the Taj Mahal's semi precious stones, I'm surprised they didn't take this whacking big piece of jade.
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u/VerboseWarrior May 13 '26
"Wow, that's a cool stone. Let's put it over there."
Archaeologists 3,000 years later: They must have had a reason for putting that stone there!
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u/Sinnivar May 13 '26
I have a GIANT boulder in my front yard that we put there when we moved in. It's huge, and it'll be there long after we're gone. I hope it's still around in a few thousand years and people are talking about it
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u/Cauliflower_Cock May 13 '26
I'm not an expert but maybe it's there because someone put it there?
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u/Naieve May 13 '26
"Honey. You didn't drag that stone you told me about over 100 miles just to put it out front of the house after I told you not to waste your time. Right?"
Guys will be guys.
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u/Phildagony May 13 '26
Imagine your lawn decoration outlasting your entire civilization, and people wondering thousands of years later the spiritual significance of it.
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u/nitrinu May 13 '26
Just came from time travelling: the rock is there because some dudes found it and though it looked cool.
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u/NaturalBornRebel May 13 '26
Looks like it may have been a fountain or pool based on the deteriorating conduit channels in the background. Jade is thought to cleanse by many so they may have had it in the water for that reason.
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u/CriticismFun6782 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Because it weighs 2000lbs? Probably delivered to the wrong temple, it was supposed to go to #2 Gozerian Dr, and they put #2 Gozer Way; and poor delivery guy, after hauling this huge spiffy rock says "sorry mate, thats the address I have, '#2 Gozer way', maybe the other manager ordered it? Either way customer servicewill have to figure it out..." And then nobody ever got through to customer service to get a return to sender slip...?
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u/qualityvote2 May 13 '26 edited May 14 '26
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