While emojis are taking over communication, archaeologists have discovered what may be the world’s oldest emoji – a smiley face painted on a 3,700-year-old piece of pottery. According to Hindustan Times reports, In Turkey, near the Syrian border, during an excavation at an ancient city archaeologists found the ancient pitcher with three visible paint strokes on it – two dots for eyes and a curve for a smile.
This pitcher dates back to 1700BC and was found in a burial site beneath a house in Karkemish, said Nikolo Marchetti, associate professor at the University of Bologna in Italy. It is assumed that the pitcher was used to drink sherbet, a sweet beverage, Marchetti was quoted as saying by ‘Live Science’.
The archaeologists also found other vases and pots, as well as metal goods in the ancient city. The name Karkemish translates to “Quay of (the god) Kamis,” a deity popular at that time in northern Syria. This city was originally inhabited in the sixth millennium BC, until the late Middle Ages. After which it was populated with various cultures.
It was used once more in 1920 as a Turkish military outpost, they said.
