Markings that appear to form the Arabic word basmala ("In the name of God") were found on a marble slab uncovered in a marble quarry in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya.
The discovery was made in the marble business area of Antalya Marble Industry and Trade Company in Taşkesiği village of the Antalya Korkuteli district.
The figure that appeared on the stone attracted the attention of miners while the stone was being processed in the quarry. Removing dust from the stone, workers noticed the marking appeared to spell "basmala" in Arabic letters.
The slab was then sent to Suleyman Demirel University in Turkey's southwestern Isparta province for analysis.
Scientists Fuzuli Yağmurlu, Rasit Altındağ and Nazmi Şengün made an interesting discovery in their analysis.
While 195 million-year-old remains were found in the content of the marble, the marking is believed to have occurred naturally.
Bioclastic remains of fossils belonging to sea creatures that lived 195 million years ago during the Jurassic period were found in the dolomitic limestone that formed the plate.
It was also noted that the remains are concentrated in parts of the plate.
The report said the figures on the plate that formed the word basmala were completely "natural" formations and the writings were formed as a result of the fragmentation, deformation and arrangement of the remains of heart-shaped shellfish over time.
According to a scientific report given by Ahmet Ögke, Dean of Akdeniz University Faculty of Theology, the Arabic figures on the marble are the same characters as Basmala mentioned in the Quran.
