2,700-year-old shields and helmet from ancient kingdom unearthed at castle in Turkey

While excavating at an ancient castle in Turkey, archaeologists unearthed several martial artifacts: three bronze shields and a bronze helmet dating to 2,700 years ago, back when a mighty kingdom known for its metalwork thrived there.

The team found the armor within a temple complex at Ayanis Castle, a fortress near Lake Van in eastern Turkey that was built by the Kingdom of Urartu (also known as the Kingdom of Van), which flourished between the ninth and sixth centuries B.C. The kingdom was known for its military might as well as its art, especially metalwork. The discovery of the shields and helmet was announced by Mehmet Ersoy, Turkey's minister of culture and tourism, on Instagram and X.

The temple complex was devoted to Haldi, the chief god of Urartu, Ersoy said in the translated posts. The martial artifacts would have been offerings to Haldi.

These finds "would be big news at any other site, but for Ayanis they are nothing out of the ordinary," said Paul Zimansky, a history professor at Stony Brook University who conducted archaeological work at Ayanis between 1997 and 2009 but was not involved with the recent discovery. "This castle is proving to be the richest Urartian site in Turkey for many reasons, not the least of which is the quantity of bronzes associated with the temple," Zimansky told Live Science in an email.

"Similar shields and helmets have been found at Ayanis in the past, including a much more elaborate one in 1997 with the head of a lion attached to it," Zimansky said.

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Atilla Batmaz, an archaeology professor at Ege University in Turkey who is not involved with the excavation, agreed that these finds were not unusual for Ayanis Castle, noting that "a dozen or more such shields and helmets" have been found at the site in the past.

Zimansky noted that a more important find was made in 2023 but didn't get attention in the popular media. In that case, archaeologists found "a bronze cart or miniature chariot — probably a wagon for transporting a cultic statue," Zimansky said, noting that it "was really a blockbuster find."

The current excavation at Ayanis Castle is led by Mehmet Isikli, an archaeology professor at Ataturk University. He is in the field and wasn’t able to answer questions by time of publication.