What appears to be one of the oldest throne rooms in human history has been discovered in Turkey's eastern region of Aslantepe, Discovery News reports. Located in a 5,000-year-old adobe basement, the charred evidence of what excavation director Marcella Frangipane believes is "likely the remains of a chair or throne" was unearthed in a complex that dates back to the fourth millennium B.C. The throne, Frangipane suggests, sat on an adobe platform at the top of three steps in a small room that opened into a larger courtyard. It was probably from this throne room that the society's leader would address the public; two low adobe platforms might have sat in front of the throne, for people to stand on when they approached the king.
"This reception courtyard and building were not a temple complex, they rather appear as the heart of the palace. We do not have religious rites here, but a ceremony showing the power of the 'king' and the state," Frangipane explained to Discovery News.
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