A group of Turkish scientists are looking for the traces of a meteorite which they believe to be the oldest recorded celestial body that ever hit the Earth, the semi- official Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.

Acting on a 14th century travelogue by the renowned Arab Muslim author, Ibn Batuta, a group of Turkish physicists, astronomers and specialists will soon begin its quest for "the oldest recorded meteorite", Professor Mehmet Emin Ozel, head of 18 Mart University Institute of Natural Sciences, was quoted as saying.

The search effort will be conducted in the Odemis town of western province of Izmir, according to the report.

Ibn Batuta's "Travelogue", which was finished in 1360 after his 33-year-long journey over a vast geography from Spain to China and from Mali to Russia, provides an important source of knowledge about large parts of the known world of his day.

Batuta recalls in his memoir an Anatolian feudal lord speaking to the author about "a rock that fell from the sky", a black- colored meteorite weighing about 80 kg, and witnesses' accounts about the body.

Source: Xinhua