In a profoundly exciting discovery, archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered ancient military equipment that is believed to have been used in a war that was fought between the Persians and Lydians, which spelled the end of the Lydian empire in 546 BC.

The military equipment was discovered in Sardis, which was once the ancient capital of the Lydian Kingdom, as Hurriyet reports. From the seventh century BC to the seventh century AD, scores of different civilizations called this city home, and this location also has the privilege of holding what is considered to be one of the Seven Churches of Christianity.

With new excavation now centered in a region known as the “Palace,” Professor Nicholas Dunlop explained that last year’s work uncovered a layer that dated back to the Bronze Age.

“This season we continue working inside the terrace walls in the area called the Palace region. We want to examine closely the structures of the terrace walls. Last year we were surprised during the works on the terrace walls. We found a level from the Bronze Age. We made excavations three meters deep at this level. Now our goal is to work in 10 meters depth.”

However, after uncovering a stone seal, a military shield, and ivory that may have once been used for furniture, it was swiftly discovered that these items did not date back to the Bronze Age and would have been artifacts that were used during the time of the war between the Lydians and Persians.

Traces of war found in ancient Lydian city Sardis https://t.co/rz0tECjq4c pic.twitter.com/Zf8f5oHEAY — Hürriyet Daily News (@HDNER) July 13, 2018

Other artifacts that archaeologists have also managed to recover include cooking utensils, a stupendous amount of arrows, and part of the slab of an ancient floor, according to Dunlop, and the probability is high that these items date back to the defeat of the Lydians by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire.

“These pieces make our predictions stronger that this area was the field of a palace. We also found pots, cooking bowls and a piece of floor. We found three arrowheads in this floor. These arrowheads might be from the last big war, which occurred between Kroisos and Cyrus. Nearly 40-50 arrowheads have so far been found in different fields during excavations at different times.”

Doctorate student Guzin Ersen, from Boston University, described the archaeological excavation that is currently taking place in the ancient city of Sardis, explaining that the structures that have been discovered are absolutely enormous in nature and were used to demonstrate the invincibility of their leaders.

“Currently we are continuing to work at the structures kings built to represent their own power. The huge terrace walls were built to support the monumental structures. We are talking about very big structures. They were made of 3×1-meter stones. This terrace wall goes as far as 50 meters. This was a big investment in the past. The state and the kings made these structures to show their own power.”

With excavation of Sardis continuing in Turkey, archaeologists will be able to shed more light in the future on the ancient building structures and artifacts that they continue to recover from the time of the great war between the Lydians and the Persians.