Researchers studying the ancient language once spoken in the ancient city of Side in Antalya’s Manavgat district have identified 31 letters in the Sidetic alphabet, advancing efforts to decipher one of Anatolia’s lost languages.
The ancient port city of Side, one of the most important settlements of Pamphylia, continues to attract scholarly attention not only for its archaeological remains but also for its mysterious language, known as Sidetic.
As part of the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Heritage for the Future Project, excavations are uncovering traces of the city’s past while researchers work to better understand the language spoken there more than 2,000 years ago.
The language is being studied through bilingual inscriptions unearthed during excavations. Research led by Feriştah Alanyalı, together with linguists Michaela Zinko and Alfredo Rizza, has expanded the known Sidetic alphabet from 26 to 31 letters.
Alanyalı, who also teaches at the Department of Archaeology at Anadolu University, said researchers from Italy and Austria are continuing to study the language.
She noted that newly discovered inscriptions have renewed hopes of fully deciphering Sidetic, which remains only partially understood due to the limited number of surviving texts.
“The scarcity of inscriptions and the fact that most consist of only one or two lines make decipherment difficult,” she said.
According to Alanyalı, the discovery of both bilingual inscriptions and longer texts containing between 30 and 40 lines has provided fresh opportunities for linguistic analysis.
Researchers increasingly agree that the words “Siruawn” and “Siruawan,” which appear in Sidetic inscriptions, refer to Side itself.
“This interpretation adds a new dimension to discussions about the city’s early history and the origin of its name,” Alanyalı said. “The research is ongoing, but the city’s name most likely still means ‘pomegranate.’ This is a very significant finding.”
Ancient Anatolian roots
Alanyalı said Sidetic belonged to the Luwian branch of Anatolian languages, alongside languages such as Lycian and Carian.
“The city existed before the arrival of the Hellenes,” she said. “Ancient sources state that settlers arriving from Kyme forgot their own language upon reaching Side and began speaking the language of the local people. In this context, ‘barbarian’ simply meant someone who spoke a different language.”
She argued that the persistence of Sidetic demonstrates the strength of the city’s indigenous culture.
Following the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek became dominant across the region, yet inscriptions show that the people of Side continued speaking and writing their own language for roughly two centuries afterward.
These cities were not simply founded and developed by migrants arriving from the West,” Alanyalı said. “They already possessed their own writing systems, identities and highly developed cultures.”
Alanyalı also pointed to archaeological evidence indicating close cultural ties between Side and eastern civilizations during the seventh century B.C.
Among the discoveries are a Neo-Assyrian seal found during excavations and a Neo-Babylonian seal acquired by Italian researchers before the Turkish War of Independence.
Researchers have also uncovered a bilingual inscription related to the city’s Serapis Temple.
“The inscription explains that the temple was funded through sponsorships,” Alanyalı said. “The names of contributors and the amounts they donated were written in Sidetic so that everyone could read them, showing that the language was still widely used.”
She added that further discoveries could reveal much more about the city’s history.
“Previously, 26 letters were known in the Sidetic alphabet. That number has now risen to 31,” she said.
Alanyalı noted that the Greek meaning of Side is “pomegranate,” a symbol that remains closely associated with the region today. Pomegranate motifs also appear on ancient city coins, underscoring the fruit’s importance to Side’s identity.
