| | | | The sewerage system was found by archaeologists working on excavations at the site of a Urartian castle in Gurpinar region of eastern Turkey.
According to Professor Dr. Oktay Belli, the director of Istanbul University’s Eurasian Archaeology Institute, the find was of particular significance. The discovery of a toilet in the western part of Cavustepe Castle built by Urartian King Sarduri II in 764 BC pushed back the dating for such systems, he said in an interview with the Anatolian news agency.
“We revealed that Urartian architects had formed a sewer system before building the castle. The toilet and sewer system in the castle is similar to today’s toilets,” the professor said.
The Urartu Kingdom gave great importance to architecture,” Belli said. “Their architects used the most developed techniques of the prehistoric period. They had built their castles in strategic areas after carrying out ground studies. We believe that Urartu Kingdom was the first civilisation to use toilet and sewer systems.”
The Urartu Kingdom was formed in eastern Anatolia at the beginning of the first millennium BC after the fall of the Hittite empire and survived for three centuries.
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