Thanks JimSEA.
Posted on 03/29/2016 5:41:03 PM PDT by JimSEA
Archaeologists in Italy have discovered what may be a rare sacred text in the Etruscan language that is likely to yield rich details about Etruscan worship of a god or goddess.
The lengthy text is inscribed on a large 6th century BCE sandstone slab that was uncovered from an Etruscan temple.
A new religious artifact is rare. Most Etruscan discoveries typically have been grave and funeral objects.
“This is probably going to be a sacred text, and will be remarkable for telling us about the early belief system of a lost culture that is fundamental to western traditions,” said archaeologist Gregory Warden, co-director and principal investigator of the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project, which made the discovery.
The slab, weighing about 500 pounds and nearly four feet tall by more than two feet wide, has at least 70 legible letters and punctuation marks, said Warden, professor emeritus at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, main sponsor of the project.
Scholars in the field predict the stele (STEE-lee), as such slabs are called, will yield a wealth of new knowledge about the lost culture of the Etruscans.
The slab, weighing about 500 pounds and nearly four feet tall by more than two feet wide, has at least 70 legible letters and punctuation marks, likely with new words never seen before. (Credit: Mugello Valley Project) The stele has at least 70 legible letters and punctuation marks, likely with new words never seen before. The Etruscan civilization once ruled Rome and influenced Romans on everything from religion to government to art to architecture.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.smu.edu ...
I think they will be difficult becuause they do not have the help of having Greek letters to help
Linier B is much more dificult as they have to start from the begging as it appears to not be written in Greek.
Remember even with the Rosetta storne it took q long time
There is a very fine Etruscan museum in the city of Volterra (which has an intact Etruscan-era arch in the city wall). The Villa Giulia Museum in Rome has some very nice Etruscan sculptures. The archaeological museum in Perugia has one of the longest Etruscan texts (on a stele).
The Linear B system is completely different from the later Greek alphabet, but since 1952 the values of most of the symbols are known so the texts can be more or less read...It is an early form of Greek (several hundred years earlier than Homer). Linear A is a similar syllabary used for a non-Greek language which has not been deciphered.
Thought the Etruscans worshipped the Earth Mother goddess?
Holy Priceless Collection of Etruscan Snoods Batman!
It would be pretty easy to drop one third of the fifteen commandments.
lol. I wonder what the other five were?
Thanks. These ancient mysteries are fascinating.
It could be the menu for McEtruscans. You know, 5 million served.
Remington Stele could figure it out.
Thanks! I hadn't seen this. There are only a literal handful of what might be termed "longer texts" of Etruscan, most known Etruscan inscriptions consist of names (or abbreviations) on gravestones.
http://www.lib.umt.edu/lang/smalfamh.htm#Etrusc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3241490/posts
What a find-I hope it is something insightful-not just someone’s recipe for biscuits...
;’)
The number of characters isn’t huge, but if they are still excavating there, maybe there is more stuff with characters to be found?
Back in the day when I was studying ancient history at Columbia, one of the professors had a course on the Etruscans. Her father was a famous academician and archaeologist who worked on some of the earliest digs of Etruscan tombs and cities.
I remember that there was no translation of the Etruscan language and the aricle refers to it as a lost language still. Apparently no Rosetta stone has been found?
Back in the day when I was studying ancient history at Columbia, one of the professors had a course on the Etruscans. Her father was a famous academician and archaeologist who worked on some of the earliest digs of Etruscan tombs and cities.
I remember that there was no translation of the Etruscan language and the aricle refers to it as a lost language still. Apparently no Rosetta stone has been found?
There’s at least one — but the relative lengths differ by a bit:
The Pyrgi Tablets: Bilingual Etruscan and Phoenician Text Inscribed in Gold (Circa 500 BCE)
http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=4676
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