Messages from the Dead.

This article discusses excavations of clay tablets at the ancient city of Qatna in Syria. According to archaeologist Daniele Morandi Bonacossi of the University of Udine in Italy, the remains are of the royal palace of Qatna. There they found intact burial chambers and a collection of tablets describing the royal life and business of one of the wealthiest cities in Middle and Late Bronze Age. Inscribed on one tablet is a 3,000-year-old warning to Idanda, King of Qatna, from the Hittite general Hanutti, telling him to prepare for war, before the city was burned. INSET: Desperate Pleas for Help.