1st emoji in history engraved on a pitcher

CAIRO - 30 July 2017: A team of Italian archaeologists unearthed the oldest iconic symbol ‘emoji’ dated back to 1700 BC on an ancient piece of pottery, and other artifacts.

A colon and a curved line have ever been the symbol for a smiley face. Up to date, a viewer first impression of this emoji would take it for a modern invented happy face made up by the current generation. Unexpectedly, history has proven otherwise, the face is much older than we can imagine.

During an excavation of Karkemish, an ancient Hittite city whose remains are in modern-day Turkey near the Syrian border, archaeologists came across a 3,700-year-old pitcher that has three visible paint strokes on it: a swoosh of a smile and two dots for eyes above it.

The archaeologists also found other vases and pots, as well as metal goods in the ancient city, amounting to 135 acres (55 hectares), or slightly more than 100 football fields.

Turkish and Italian archaeologists found a pitcher that dates to about 1700 B.C., in a burial site beneath a house in Karkemish. According to Andolu Agency, The pitcher was likely used in drinking sherbet, a sweet beverage.