'Ritual text' from lost Indo-European language discovered on ancient clay tablet in Turkey

Tom Metcalfe
Wed, September 27, 2023


Words from a "lost" language spoken more than 3,000 years ago have been discovered on an ancient clay tablet unearthed in Turkey.

Archaeologists discovered the tablet earlier this year during excavations at Boğazköy-Hattuşa in north-central Turkey, the site of Hattusha, the Hittite capital from about 1600 B.C. until about 1200 B.C. and now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Annual expeditions to the site led by Andreas Schachner, an archaeologist at the German Archaeological Institute, have unearthed thousands of clay tablets written in cuneiform — perhaps the most ancient written script, created by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago.

The tablets are "mainly found in clusters connected to half a dozen buildings," sometimes described as archives or libraries, Schachner told Live Science. "But we find text all over the [site] that are moved around by erosion."

Most of the tablets unearthed at Boğazköy-Hattuşa are written in the language of the Hittites, but a few include words from other languages — apparently because the Hittites were interested in foreign religious rituals.

Related: What's the world's oldest civilization?

The words in the previously unknown language appear to be from such a ritual, which was recorded on a single clay tablet along with writing in Hittite explaining what it was.

"The introduction is in Hittite," Schachner said in an email. "It is clear that it is a ritual text."

Lost language

The clay tablet was one of several sent to Germany to be analyzed, where it was studied by Daniel Schwemer, a professor and chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Würzburg. From the Hittite introduction, he identified it as the language of Kalašma, a region on the north-western edge of the Hittite heartland near the modern Turkish city of Bolu.

The scholars don't know what it says yet, and they're not releasing any photographs of the tablet until it has been fully studied.

But they've determined that it belongs to the Anatolian group of the Indo-European family of languages, which the Hittite language also belonged to; other ancient languages in the region, including Akkadian, Hebrew and Aramaic, belong to the Semitic family of languages.


Schwemer said in a statement that "the Hittites were uniquely interested in recording rituals in foreign languages." Extracts of rituals in other foreign languages have also been found in the tablets from Boğazköy-Hattuşa, including in the Indo-European languages Luwian and Palaic and a non-Indo-European language known as Hattic.

Such ritual texts were written by Hittite scribes and reflected various Anatolian, Syrian and Mesopotamian traditions and linguistic milieus.

"The rituals provide valuable glimpses into the little-known linguistic landscapes of Late Bronze Age Anatolia, where not just Hittite was spoken," Schwemer said.

Hittite Empire

For centuries, the Hittites, who ruled over most of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and Syria, were among the most powerful empires in the ancient world. In 1274 B.C., the Hittites fought the Battle of Kadesh against the Egyptians for control of Canaan — what's now southern Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

The battle may be the earliest military action ever recorded. It seems to have been a defeat for the Hittites; although they kept control of the city of Kadesh, the Egyptians kept control of Canaan.

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Hattusha became the Hittite capital in about 1600 B.C.; and more than 100 years of archaeological excavations at the site have revealed a vast ancient city there.

But it was abandoned in about 1200 B.C. during the cataclysmic "Late Bronze Age collapse" that suddenly ended or damaged many ancient states in the eastern Mediterranean; the collapse has been ascribed to invasions by migrants called the "Sea Peoples", sudden climate changes, and disruptive new technologies like iron — but historians and archaeologists debate the causes.

Schachner said it wasn't possible to foresee if any other writings in the "lost" language would be found, or if extracts from still other ancient languages would be found in the tablets from Boğazköy-Hattuşa.

Previously unknown language found hidden in "cultic ritual text" of ancient tablets

Kerry Breen
Wed, September 27, 2023 

A new language has been discovered in a UNESCO World Heritage Site being excavated in northern Turkey, according to a news release from the University of Würzburg.

The area being excavated is Boğazköy-Hattusha, the former capital of the Hittite Empire. The Hittites are one of the world's oldest known civilizations, with the world's oldest known Indo-European language, and excavations at that site have been ongoing for more than 100 years, the university said. The excavations are directed by the German Archaeological Institute. Previously, archaeologists at the site have found "almost 30,000 clay tablets with cuneiform writing," according to the university's news release.

The tablets have helped researchers understand the civilization's history, society, economy, religious traditions and more, but this year's excavations at the site "yielded a surprise," the university said: Within a "cultic ritual text," written in Hititte, there is a "recitation in a hitherto unknown language."

"The Hittites were uniquely interested in recording rituals in foreign languages," said Daniel Schwemer, chair of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the university, in the release. This means that the find isn't entirely unexpected. It appears to refer to a language from an area once called Kalašma, on the northwestern edge of the Hittite civilization, where the Turkish towns of Bolu and Gerede currently exist.

The language is "as yet largely incomprehensible," the news release said, and is being studied for more understanding.

This is the fourth such language found among the tablets: Previous researchers have found cuneiform texts with passages in Luwian, Palaic and Hattic languages. The first two languages are closely related to Hittite, the university said, while the third language differs. The new language was found where the Palaic language was spoken, but researchers believe it shares "more features" with Luwian. The connection between the languages will be studied by researchers.

The university said that these ritual texts were usually written by the scribes of Hittite rulers and reflect various Bronze Age traditions and languages. According to the University of Chicago's Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, which keeps the Chicago Hittite Dictionary, a "comprehensive, bilingual Hittite-English dictionary," studying Hittite languages can help illuminate how Western civilization began.

"Despite what is often thought, modern Western civilization did not start with the Greeks," the institute said on its website. "The real cradle of our civilization stood in what is now the Middle East. Many literary and artistic themes and motifs can be traced back directly to that world. The Bible was embedded in ancient Near Eastern society, and the earliest forms of what we call modern science are found in Babylon. Anatolia is the natural bridge between those Eastern worlds and Graeco-Roman civilization and the Hittites and their later descendants in the same area served as intermediaries, handing down ancient Near Eastern culture to the West."

Mysterious box donated to museum turns out to contain ‘exceptional’ Neanderthal

 remains

ANOTHER AMAZING FIND FROM THE MUSEUM STORAGE ROOM

Brendan Rascius
Wed, September 27, 2023

Photo from Frontiers in Earth Science

A trove of Neanderthal bones was recently found inside a box donated to a museum in Spain, researchers said.

The ancient remains, concealed under a layer of clay-like material, sat untouched for decades, according to a study published Sept. 19 in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science.

Amateur collector Miguel Aznar excavated the bones near Barcelona in the 1970s. And in 1986, he donated an “exceptional collection” of more than 100 bone pieces, as well as pottery fragments and animal remains, to the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia.

Museum officials finally set about identifying the mysterious donation in 2020, researchers said.

Brushes and water were used to clean the remains, and acrylic resin was applied to help repair fractures. Despite having been coated in sediment, the bones appeared remarkably well-preserved.

After analyzing the collection, researchers concluded there were 53 Neanderthal bones inside. A molar, jaw fragment and bones from arms and feet were among those found.

“At least three individuals can be identified in the sample,” researchers said in the study. “The most complete one is defined by a complete left humerus (the largest bone in the upper arm).”

The three identified individuals appear to have been a woman, a child about 11 years old and another child about 7 years old.

The three Neanderthals roamed the Iberian Peninsula at least 42,000 years ago, researchers said.

“This assemblage is currently the most extensive Neanderthal collection from the northeastern Mediterranean Iberia, offering invaluable insights into the morphology and evolutionary trajectory of Late Pleistocene hominins,” researchers said.

Neanderthals were a subspecies of ancient humans who lived in Eurasia up until about 40,000 years ago, according to the Natural History Museum. They stood no more than 5.6 feet tall and ate plants, meat and shellfish.

Though Neanderthals went extinct long ago, their DNA lives on in modern humans, according to the museum. Some people share about 2% of their genetic makeup with Neanderthals.

Inside One of the World’s Largest and Most Advanced Underground Cities

Charlotte Collins
Wed, September 27, 2023 


Beneath the streets throughout parts of Turkey, a network of tunnels once housed thousands of residents seeking refuge from invaders and religious persecution. The country is known for its underground cities—particularly the expansive Derinkuyu, which could accommodate over 20,000 people. Though not yet fully excavated, current records indicate the 11-floor settlement measures around 2,000 square feet, with potentially over 5,000 square feet still unexplored. But as of this summer, archaeologists studying a site about 150 miles west of the ancient subterranean sanctuary believe they might have unearthed one of the largest and most advanced underground cities thus far. The network of subterranean rooms and corridors known as Sarayini covers approximately 215,000 square feet, according to Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency.

Though it had long been subject of rumors in the area, excavation work to determine the true enormity of Sarayini began only two years ago and is still ongoing.

Photo: Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu Agency 

Below what is now the Sarayonu district of Turkey’s Konya metropolitan area, a labyrinth of 30 chambers is outfitted with chimneys, storage areas, cellars, and wells. The multilevel network reportedly dates back to the eighth century. Hasan Uğuz, a Konya Museums archaeologist who is directing the excavation, said that the teams working on site were not expecting the settlement to cover so much ground. In addition to its many rooms and halls, one particularly wide passageway is being described as a “main street.” The areas within the structure are likened to palaces for their comfortable nature and the high quality of life the network was able to support—far from the primitive caves one might imagine in discussions of subterranean dwellings. The refined character of the space earned it the name Sarayini, which means “palace” in Turkish.

The excavation work has unearthed a labyrinth of corridors and galleries as well as a number of amenities that give an idea of what life in the temporary retreat was like, including stoves, cellars, and storage areas.

Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesMore

“We did not think that it could spread over such a large area,” Uğuz told Anadolu Agency in August. “During the surface surveys, the old men living here said that they had visited this place when they were children and that it was a very large underground city.” Uğuz believes that this year’s excavation work has made the difference in determining how enormous the underground city truly was.

Among the items recovered during the excavation are animal bones and lamp stands. One particular room in the network was found to house a column drum and an object positioned in the manner of a tombstone.

Photo: Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu Agency 

The true depth of the underground city has not yet been determined. Ventilation systems and chimneys have been discovered in the structure, indicating a relatively high quality of life for the residents seeking temporary refuge in Sarayini.

Photo: Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesMore

Excavation work at Sarayini has been in process for the past two years. Many of the ancient underground cities unearthed in Turkey have only been discovered in recent years, and most have not been fully explored. Preliminary studies have indicated that a subterranean complex found in Turkey’s Neveshir region may be larger than both Derinkuyu and Sarayini, though archaeologists don’t yet have a complete picture of the site. With Sarayini’s neighboring underground cities between three and seven miles away, research as to whether the complexes may be connected is ongoing.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

4,400-year-old tomb — with a preserved mummy inside — unearthed in Egypt. Again

Moira Ritter
Thu, September 28, 2023 

Screengrab from Facebook

Nearly 160 years ago, Auguste Mariette was exploring the Western Desert in Egypt when he came across a partially uncovered mastaba — or massive tomb — belonging to an ancient official in the sand.

At the time, Mariette successfully excavated an intricately decorated false door and supportive beam, but before he could make anymore progress, the mastaba was lost to the desert’s sand. Since then, the artifacts have been kept at The British Museum, and researchers have learned the tomb belonged to Ptahshepses — who is believed to be the first non-royal in Eyptian history who married a royal.

Now, Czech archaeologists have rediscovered Ptahshepses’s tomb after years of searching, according to a Sept. 25 Facebook post from the Czech Institute of Egyptology at Charles University in Prague.

“The tomb of a man who changed the course of Egyptian history has thus been rediscovered, representing one of the expedition’s greatest recent discoveries,” Miroslav Barta, head of research, said in the post. “The research is still ongoing, and further discoveries will likely be made to shed new light on his family and times.”

Archaeologists said the tomb, which dates to about the end of the 25th century B.C., is about 138 feet long, 72 feet wide and 13 feet tall. Inside, they discovered a well-preserved chapel, painted decorations, two rooms for statues and a long corridor.

There was also a burial chamber inside the mastaba, according to researchers. Although the chamber was looted during ancient times, it still contained parts of the original burial, including pottery, remains of offerings and mummified fish.

Experts also discovered Ptahshepses’s sarcophagus, which still held his complete mummy lying on his back. Analysis of the mummy revealed the official lived to be 65 years old, much older than expected during that time period.

The mastaba was discovered between Abusir and Saqqara, pyramid fields south of Cairo.

1,400-year-old tomb of emperor in China reveals evidence of royal power struggle among brothers and a warlord

Tom Metcalfe
Wed, September 27, 2023 

An unearthed tomb on the outskirts of the city of Xianyang in Shaanxi province.


The 1,400-year-old tomb of a Chinese emperor confirms a political power struggle between royal brothers and a warlord that, until now, was known only from historical records.

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported last week that archaeologists had unearthed the tomb near the city of Xianyang in Shaanxi province, about 560 miles (900 kilometers) southwest of Beijing.

The report said the tomb holds the remains of Emperor Xiaomin — also known by his personal name, Yuwen Jue — who is regarded as the founder of the Northern Zhou dynasty in 557. But historians say Jue was deposed and executed after ruling for only a few months and that he wasn't proclaimed emperor until decades later.

The newfound tomb near Xianyang is inscribed with an epitaph, written in characters painted with cinnabar, a red mineral form of mercuric sulfide. It describes Jue as "Duke of Lueyang," which was his official rank at the time of his death, and not as emperor.

Related: 3,000-year-old gold funeral mask unearthed in noble's tomb in China

Imperial tomb

According to the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, which is working on the excavations, the tomb was found in an area northwest of Xianyang that has many high-status tombs from that time.

A tomb belonging to Jue's younger brother was previously found nearby, while the tomb of yet another brother, Yuwen Yong — Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou — is about 5 miles (8 km) to the east.

The newfound tomb is a single earthen chamber about 184 feet (56 meters) long and about 33 feet (10 m) deep.

At some point, the tomb was disturbed by grave robbers, but the archaeologists unearthed 146 artifacts buried there as grave goods, including terra-cotta figurines and pottery, according to Xinhua.

Power struggle

Experts say the inscription on the tomb provides the first physical evidence of the political struggle that took place during the founding of the Northern Zhou dynasty, which had been described only in historical writings.

At that time, China was fractured into several kingdoms plagued by civil wars and political chaos — a period historians call the time of the Northern and Southern dynasties, between 420 and 589.

Historian Albert Dien, a professor emeritus of Chinese at Stanford University who was not involved with the tomb's discovery, told Live Science that Jue had been installed on the imperial throne by his cousin and guardian, the warlord Yuwen Hu.

Jue was the son of Yuwen Tai, a powerful general of the Western Wei dynasty who died in 556, and with Hu's support, Jue ascended the throne in 557.

But Jue rebelled against control by Hu, so Hu had him deposed and executed a few months later, replacing him with another brother, Yuwen Yu — Emperor Ming.

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Hu eventually poisoned Yu, and then controlled the Northern Zhou dynasty through puppet rulers until he was assassinated in 572 by a clique loyal to yet another brother, Yuwen Yong, who had become Emperor Wu.

Jue was proclaimed the first emperor of the Northern Zhao dynasty only after Yong dispatched Hu, roughly 37 years after Jue's death, Dien said. As a result, the inscription on the newfound tomb near Xianyang shows Jue had been buried as a duke when he died, and not as an emperor.

2,300-year-old tomb found in Israel may contain remains of Greek courtesan

Lianne Kolirin, CNN
Wed, September 27, 2023 

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered what they believe to be the remains of an Ancient Greek courtesan.

The cremated remains of a young woman were found in a burial cave alongside a perfectly preserved bronze box mirror on a rocky slope close to Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, not far from Jerusalem.

The tomb is believed to date back to some time between the late 4th century and early 3rd century BCE, according to a joint study carried out by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

Guy Stiebel, from the department of archeology and the Ancient Near East at Tel Aviv University, told CNN in a phone interview that the find is “very significant.”

The high-quality mirror was found to be perfectly preserved. - Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority

“It’s almost like bringing back to life a woman who passed away 2,300 years ago,” he said of the research, which he compared to a “jigsaw puzzle or riddle.”


He and his team believe this could be the first discovery of the remains of a hetaira, as courtesans were known in Ancient Greece.

“If we are correct with our interpretation, it appears that this burial points to the very unique circumstances of what we call a hetaira, a Greek lady who accompanied one of the Hellenistic government officials, or more likely a high general,” he said.

In the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, the Hellenistic age refers to the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 BCE. Stiebel told CNN that he and his team believe the woman would have been among the first Greeks to arrive in the region.

Liat Oz, the director of the excavation on behalf of the IAA, described the mirror found in the tomb alongside the remains.

“This is only the second mirror of this type that has been discovered to date in Israel, and in total, only 63 mirrors of this type are known around the Hellenistic world,” she said in a news release about the discovery.

Researchers say the mirror is incredibly rare, with just 63 discovered in the Hellenistic world. - Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority

“The quality of the production of the mirror is so high that it was preserved in excellent condition, and it looked as if it was made yesterday.”

Folding box mirrors such as this were documented in tombs and temples in the Greco-Hellenistic world, the researchers noted. They were usually decorated with engravings or reliefs of idealized female figures or goddesses.

Stiebel said a woman of high status might have received such a mirror as part of a dowry, but this was unlikely to have been the case in this instance as married women rarely left their homes in Greece.

Alternatively, he said, she might have been a courtesan, as they often received gifts from men. Likening the hetairai to Japanese geishas, Stiebel explained that the women were regarded as “muses.”

He said: “Women in society were breaking glass ceilings in very strict and male-oriented Greek society and we do know that they served not only as sexual escorts, but were similar to geishas and provided an element of culture. For that they were given gifts and part of the economy of gifts in Ancient Greece had to do with mirrors.”

The fact the remains were cremated also hinted at the woman’s origins, Stiebel said.

“Cremation is alien to this country and the religion,” he said, explaining that cremation is not only forbidden in Judaism but would not have been practiced by the Persian empire either, which occupied the region at that time.

“The tomb was found in the middle of nowhere, not near any village or farm or settlement, which suggests that she would have been connected with one of the military campaigns and dated to the time of Alexandra the Great or slightly later.

“We are suggesting that maybe she was with one of the generals.”

Stiebel went on to explain the significance of four iron nails found with the mirror and remains.

“Nails were used to protect the deceased and also to protect the living people from the dead. The bodies were literally nailed down to ensure they will not come back to the world of the living,” he said.

Stiebel told CNN that the team are continuing with further research in order to “zoom in” on the finer details of the mirror.

He said: “We hope to shed more light on the origin of the production of the art and maybe shed more light on the history of the owner of the mirror, the general who bought it or where she came from.”

The research will be presented for the first time at an Israeli archaeology conference next month.

Plans for Poland's first nuclear power plant move ahead as US and Polish officials sign an agreement

AP Finance
Updated Wed, September 27, 2023 

 Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki talks to journalists as he arrives for the third EU-CELAC summit in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Polish and U.S. officials signed an agreement Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 in Warsaw for the construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant, part of an effort by the Central European nation to move away from polluting fossil fuels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish and U.S. officials signed an agreement Wednesday in Warsaw to move forward with the construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant as part of an effort by the Central European nation to move away from polluting fossil fuels.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the deal to build the plant at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Pomerania region near the Baltic Sea the beginning of a new chapter for Poland, and described nuclear energy as a stable and clean energy source.

“The only clean, stable energy source that is technologically proven and verified in terms of safety is nuclear energy, which is having its big day today,” he said at the ceremony.

Morawiecki's government had announced last year that it had chosen the U.S. as its partner for the project.

A consortium made up of Westinghouse and Bechtel signed the agreement with the Polish state-owned utility overseeing the nuclear program, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ).

The planned site is about 280 kilometers (175 miles) from the border with Germany, which shut its last remaining nuclear reactors in April. Last year, the four German states closest to Poland said they were opposed to the Polish plan.

Many environmentalists traditionally oppose nuclear energy, and in Poland some argue that the initial cost is so high and that it takes so long to develop that it makes more sense to invest in renewable energies. Still, opposition in Poland to the plan has not been high.

Even the Greens party is divided on the matter. That is a reflection of how fears of climate change have persuaded some environmentalists around the world to embrace nuclear power as a solution, because it doesn't involve the burning of fossil fuels.

Poland is planning to spend $40 billion to build two nuclear power plants with three reactors each, the last one to be launched in 2043. The deal with the U.S. is for the first three reactors of the Pomerania plant, which officials say should start producing electricity in 2033.

Poland has also signed agreements with South Korea for the construction of a second nuclear power plant as it moves forward with its nuclear energy plans.

Poland has planned for decades to build nuclear power plants to replace its aging coal-fired plants in a country with some of the worst air pollution in Europe.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its use of energy to put economic and political pressure on European nations added urgency to Poland’s search for alternative energy sources.

PINK HYDROGEN

Nuclear-hydrogen 'marriage' has potential, US energy loans chief says

A MARRIAGE MADE IN HELL

Timothy Gardner
Thu, September 28, 2023 

FILE PHOTO: A flock of goats gather under a set of power lines above Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant at Avila ...

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nuclear power plants using low-cost electricity to make hydrogen from water, an emerging fuel, could play a role in the energy transition, the head of a U.S. office that distributes billions of dollars in loans for new energy technologies said on Thursday.

U.S. nuclear reactors tend to operate full-time because shutting them is expensive and hard on the plants. Some have stored the excess cheap power by using it to pump water supplies to high elevations and generating hydropower when it is released downhill.

This process, called pumped hydro, could be replaced by using the cheap nuclear power to run electrolyzers, machines that separate hydrogen from water. The hydrogen could then be used to fuel things like cement plants or, eventually, hydrogen-burning vehicles to cut carbon emissions and curb climate change.

"The whole concept of nuclear and hydrogen is one that makes a lot of intellectual sense," Jigar Shah, the director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) of the U.S. Department of Energy, told Reuters.

The two potentially have a "very interesting marriage," Shah said in an interview ahead of the Reuters Events Hydrogen North America conference in Houston from Oct. 11-12.

Since December 2001, the LPO has approved about $1.5 billion for two hydrogen projects. Shah said there are about $30 billion worth of U.S. hydrogen projects in the advanced stage that could reach a final investment decision later next year. In addition, there are about $5 billion to $8 billion in hydrogen projects in the pipeline at LPO, he added.

Critics of nuclear power say that it is too expensive to make a big difference on climate and that even so-called advanced nuclear power projects could create toxic waste that has to be dealt with.

Shah did not specify what kind of projects joining nuclear and hydrogen LPO might consider. But he said most nuclear power plant owners "are very excited about adding hydrogen to their repertoire" and that nuclear power pilot projects being developed in the marketplace could be conjoined with hydrogen.

"We hope that the data that comes from those pilot projects gives them the confidence to hit the final investment decisions on a much larger rollout," for hydrogen and nuclear, Shah said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Rami Ayyub)

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NaziGate in Parliament

Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
 Sep 28, 2023

Was Parliament’s standing ovation for a Nazi soldier an aberration or tied to this country’s support for NATO and far right Ukrainian nationalism? Foreign policy commentator Yves Engler interviews Richard Sanders on the roots, relevance and rationale of NaziGate in Parliament. In 2021 Sanders authored Cold War Canada: Ongoing state support for East European émigré groups with deep fascist roots

WATCH

UK

Record number of trials adjourned over failure to bring suspects from prison to court

Andy Gregory
Wed, September 27, 2023 



A record number of trials have been adjourned at the last-minute because of failures to bring defendants from prison to court, The Independent can reveal.

These failures – linked to severe overcrowding in prisons – can delay proceedings for months at “untold” costs to the taxpayer, while “keeping juries waiting and increasing the anxiety of all concerned”, warned the Criminal Bar Association.

Their analysis of Ministry of Justice figures dating back to 2010 showed 58 trials were postponed because of no-shows or late deliveries of prisoners in the crown courts alone during the first three months of this year – 23 of which involved alleged violent and sexual offences, including rape.

This is the highest quarterly figure in records stretching back to 2010, having quadrupled since the same period in 2022. Further analysis by The Independent shows it is three times higher than the average in the decade to 2021, excluding 2020 when the pandemic halted in-person trials.

There were also 202 last-minute adjournments in magistrates’ courts, making it the worst quarter for five years. Both sets of figures do not include the number of additional failures to deliver defendants to pre-trial hearings, which are not publicly available.

Despite record court backlogs, “victims will bravely try to hold on for the two to three years it can take to get to court and live their lives in the permanent shadow of reliving what happened to them,” said former victims’ commissioner Dame Vera Baird.

“Then the chaos that this government had made of the criminal justice system deals them a final blow by getting them to court only for the prison system [to be unable to produce] the defendant.”

Warning that victims of sexual assault or serious violence “lose sleep for weeks before they are due to testify” and are quite likely to feel unable to go through such stress again, potentially waiting months for the case to be re-listed, Dame Vera added: “How is a victim to believe that the criminal justice system cares twopence for their wellbeing with this mess?”

The adjournments are ‘a complete indictment of everything that is wrong in the criminal justice system’, the Prison Officers Association warned (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

The “damning” delays are symptomatic of chronic overcrowding and staffing problems within prisons, and “demonstrate a criminal justice system in crisis”, prison guards warned.

With the remand population soaring to an effective record high in the first quarter of 2023, with a fifth of the 10,000 people awaiting trial in prison trapped there for over a year, as reported last week by The Independent, defendants are being moved from bursting jails to others situated hours away from court.

A “national shortage” of prison escort staff and van drivers is also being exacerbated by the fact that police custody is being used as “an emergency alternative” to overcrowded jails, adding to the number of journeys required each day, warned Charlie Taylor, HM chief inspector of prisons.

“This challenge with getting prisoners to court on time is causing significant delays in courts across the country, and was our single biggest concern in a report on court custody facilities in Surrey, Sussex and Kent published earlier this month,” Mr Taylor said.

“To add to this, we are hearing of men refusing to go to court at all because they do not want to end up in a different prison at the end of the day because the original prison is now full up – they would rather face the wrath of the judge than the strain of settling into a new jail.”

The rise in delays comes as the number of completed trials fell by nearly a third in 2022, when 15,000 trials were successfully heard – compared with 21,546 the previous year, as the crown court backlog continues to hit new record highs of nearly 65,000 cases.

As a result, further delays due to the non-delivery of defendants are “the last thing” victims, defendants and witnesses need”, warned Law Society president Lubna Shuja.

Thirty-six of the 58 adjourned trials from January to March were in London – a failing the capital’s victims’ commissioner Claire Waxman lambasted as “simply unacceptable”.

Ms Waxman called for “swift action” to address the delays, by ensuring clear listing, good communication between courts and prisons, and better use of technology such as videolinks from prison, “whilst keeping victims of crime at the heart of these decisions”.

The official data does not show whether the private firms responsible for these custody escort services reported that the defendant had refused to attend, or whether they had simply failed to deliver them – which decides whether the firms are paid, or instead fined up to £500 for every 15 minutes of delay.

The Law Society calculated in 2018 that an average day in court cost the state just shy of £2,700 for staff, judges and building-related costs.

But the Criminal Bar Association warned this was “a tiny fraction of the actual hidden cost to the entire justice system”, with “untold” costs including the cost of police time attending court, further time spent in remand, and costly lawyer fees – with barristers not paid until trials conclude.

Failures to bring defendants to court have impacted cases involving murder and rape (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

“Justice is becoming a victim of worsening prison escort services at a time when the criminal justice system is being held together by dedicated and highly trained criminal barristers and judges,” said the group’s chair Tana Adkin KC. “We are working hard to ensure that all the cases affecting witnesses, victims, defendants and their families reach a just conclusion as quickly as possible.

“Defendants not produced from custody or produced late from custody result in huge delays to court proceedings, keeping juries waiting and increasing the anxiety of all concerned in the process.”

The delays are “wholly inappropriate and a complete indictment of everything that is wrong in the criminal justice system”, said Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association.

“There isn’t any single reason for this occurring and could actually be a number of things including prisoners refusing to go to court [and] overcrowding of prisons, with prisoners being displaced from courts in their area.

“Shortage of staff from private escorts and prisons also could be a contributory factor but it isn’t acceptable at all and government should be held accountable.”

‘Chronic’ staffing shortages are impacting justice, warned the Magistrates Association (Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates Association, warned of a “concerning” surge in adjournments in magistrates’ courts, with late deliveries among several challenges Justices of the Peace are “continually experiencing” at present.

The “chronic” staffing shortage across the system – “from lack of probation officers, which can delay the delivery of pre-sentence reports, to legal adviser shortages without which a court cannot sit at all” – “impact the efficiency and quality of justice”, said Mr Franklin.

Griff Ferris of charity Fair Trials warned that the “broken criminal legal system is denying justice to both victims and defendants”, with huge waits for trials involving those trapped on remand in overcrowded prisons fuelling “a mental health crisis, with record levels of self-harm and suicide”.

“People are being made to suffer these conditions because of the government’s shredding of court infrastructure and legal aid over the last decade, and its insistence on putting more and more people in prison,” he said.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Over 99 per cent of the approximately 250,000 prisoners brought to court each year arrive on time and contractors face tough penalties if a defendant arrives late.”

“At the same time, we’re creating an additional 20,000 new prison places and pushing forward with measures to recruit up to 5,000 extra prison officers so that we can continue to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe.”

Young inexperienced prison officers at risk of ‘grooming’ from most dangerous criminals

Matt Mathers
Wed, September 27, 2023 



Nearly a third of officers at high-security prisons have fewer than three years of experience, official figures show, fuelling concerns about safety and “grooming” of staff by the most dangerous criminals in the country.

As of June 2023, a total of 2,993 (31 per cent) prison officers had not been in their jobs longer than 36 months – up from just 236 (6 per cent) in June 2015, according to Ministry of Justice data.

Experts warned that newer recruits who require more support, training and mentoring were at “very real risk” of being groomed by “experienced” inmates, presenting new dangers in already “overstretched” prisons.

A union representing prison officers said the figures were reflective of the staffing “crisis” across the sector, with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) losing staff “hand over fist”.


Labour said the government needed to “urgently address” the challenges facing prison staff.

The figures come following suspected terrorist Daniel Khalfe’s escape from Wandsworth prison.

Mr Khalife, a 21-year-old former soldier, pleaded not guilty to escaping from the category B jail in south London. He appeared in court last Thursday via video link from the category A Belmarsh prison, also in London.

It sparked a national debate about security across the UK prison estate as well as staffing and morale issues more broadly among the officers working in them. Overcrowding and drug abuse are also significant problems.

Daniel Khalife pleaded not guilty to escaping from HMP Wandsworth (Metropolitan Police/AP)

Category A prisons have the highest level of security, and house male prisoners who pose the greatest threat to the public, the police, or national security – such as terrorists, murderers and rapists. Category D prisons have the lowest security and house criminals who are not deemed a risk to society.

At HMP Belmarsh, where Mr Khalife is held, 116 prison officers (27 per cent) had fewer than three years of experience as of June 2023 – up from 19 (5 per cent) in 2015.

Of all the category A jails in England, HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes and HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire had the highest percentage of these officers – 38 per cent. HMP Lartin in Worcestershire had the lowest on 24 per cent, according to the figures, published by prisons minister Damian Hinds, in response to a parliamentary question tabled by the Labour Party.

Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, said that some recruits go on to do an “outstanding” job but that those new to the service needed more support and mentoring from experienced staff.

“Whereas in the past recruits to the Prison Service were often older and more experienced, we now have officers starting who are only just out of school,” he told The Independent.

Mr Taylor said that when mentoring was lacking “it can actually be the prisoners who end up imparting key knowledge to new recruits and I have heard many tales of this taking place”.

He added: “Positive relationships between staff and prisoners are, of course, to be encouraged. But there is a very real risk that inexperienced new recruits can be groomed by experienced prisoners, introducing new areas of risk to an already stretched service.”

Earlier this month The Independent revealed that across the prison estate, only 30 per cent of officers had more than 10 years of experience – down from 60 per cent in 2017. More than 1,000 of those staff left in the past year.

“The sharp rise in the proportion of inexperienced staff in prisons reflects the staffing crisis in the Prison Service, with one in seven uniformed officers leaving their job during 2021-22,” Mick Pimblett, assistant general secretary of the Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers, said.

“I am sure that HMPPS will make the same old statements regarding staffing retention toolkits, the intention to recruit extra staff and so on, but the simple fact is that HMPPS are losing staff hand over fist.”

He added: “The recent pay announcement, which stated that experienced staff on old terms and conditions would not receive a pay award this year or in the future, along with unsafe or unachievable regimes, and increased violence will only lead to further staff leaving the service.

“These prisons in the high secure estate hold some of the most dangerous people in society, including terrorists and murderers. Recent His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prison reports regarding prisons such as HMP Woodhill, HMP Whitemoor and HMP Long Lartin make for very grim reading. New members of staff are being mentored by other new members of staff, and it is a recipe for disaster which is of HMPPS’s own making”.

Sir Bob Neil, chair of the Commons justice committee and the Conservative MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, said of the high-security prison figures: “This is a stark and worrying statistic. Retaining experienced and knowledgeable prison staff is vital to safety on the estate and rehabilitation work with prisoners.

“The government risks failing in its duty of care to prison staff and prisoners alike by allowing this situation to perpetuate.”

Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said: “Our prisons are in crisis after 13 years of Conservative chaos, but these figures paint a stark picture of the reality of a mass exodus of staff.

“The high staff turnover means a lack of experience on prison wings and new recruits struggle to find people to learn from. The Prison Officers’ Association estimates that almost 100,000 years of cumulative experience have been lost since 2010.

“The government needs to urgently address the challenges that prison staff are facing to ensure we see an improvement in engagement and retention. Labour will get a grip of the prison system and ensure public safety.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are doing more than ever to attract and retain the best staff, including starting salaries for officers which have risen from £22,000 to £30,000 since 2019.

“Our hardworking officers are also being equipped with the tools they need such as Pava [incapacitant] spray and body-worn cameras, and X-ray body scanners prevent the smuggling of illicit contraband that fuels disorder.

“These measures are working and in addition to increasing the number of officers by 4,000 since 2017, retention rates for prison staff are now improving.”