Turkish ‘linguist’ keeps dead language alive
Only the meaning of certain words is known with certainty. So no one can claim to speak Urartian, says Professor Erkan Konyar. (AFP Photo)
Mehmet Kuşman did not spend very long at school, but he traced the ancient inscriptions chiseled into the black basalt rock and read: “Before me there was nothing. But by the power of the god Haldi I founded this city.”
Kuşman, 86, has dedicated his life to the fortress of Çavuştepe in eastern Türkiye and to learning the language of the vanished kingdom of Urartu, to honor its forgotten gods and rulers.
Brisk of step and sharp of mind despite his years and the hot winds that whip the castle, he stood at the foundations of a temple dedicated to Haldi, the warrior god of gods. Kuşman wore a cap bought in Los Angeles on which he has written “USA 2009” in the cuneiform script typical of the region’s ancient civilizations.
