"And what does that mean, idiot head?"
Posted on 07/09/2016 1:51:42 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An inscribed stone slab unearthed at an Etruscan site in Tuscany is proving to contain one of the most difficult texts to decipher. It was believed that the sixth-century B.C. stela would shed light on the still-mysterious Etruscan language, but so far it remains a puzzle. “To be honest, I’m not yet sure what type of text was incised on the stela,” says Rex Wallace, professor of classics at the University of Massachusetts. Inscribed with vertical dots and at least 70 legible letters, the four-foot-tall and two-foot-wide slab had been buried for more than 2,500 years in the foundations of a monumental temple at Poggio Colla, some 22 miles northeast of Florence in the Mugello Valley. Archaeologists speculate that the text, written right to left, may refer to a goddess who was worshiped at the site, but so far no name of any god or goddess has been found. “The inscription is divided into words by means of three vertically aligned dots, so it’s possible to identify some of the word forms in the text,” Wallace says. “Unfortunately, most of the words that have been identified, apart from the numeral ki, ‘three,’ appear to be new additions to the Etruscan lexicon and we can’t yet pinpoint the meanings,” he adds.
One of antiquity’s great enigmas, the Etruscans began to flourish around 900 B.C., and dominated much of Italy for five centuries. By around 300 to 100 B.C., they were absorbed into the Roman Empire. Their non-Indo-European language eventually died out, and much of what we know comes from short funerary inscriptions. “Now we are adding another example to the inventory of texts that aren’t short and formulaic,” Wallace explains. “However, this means it will be very difficult to interpret, for that very reason.”
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
The Republic was expanding its sphere of influence for centuries, but there was no empire until founded by Augustus in 27 BC.
"And what does that mean, idiot head?"
That's an interesting point of view, it just happens to be unshared by the overwhelming majority of historians, and it clearly not based on anything much.
That’s the wrong clip though... the scene where Claw-claw has explained how the C of caesar was struck off a statue by a lightning bolt, leaving aesar, which in Etruscan means “god”.
;’) I think I went to school with Rosetta Stone, she was a hard woman...
“...the grail is in the castle of ahhhh...”
Oh my.
Well, I’ve gotten used to being outnumbered by the intelligentsia over the years. My only solace is found in knowing that I am correct.
If she’d been around, she’d have destroyed all the carved inscriptions, along with all the writing they probably made on non-durable materials.
I bet it says drink your Ovaltine.
It sais “Bush’s Fault”
As I recall the Emperor Claudius was one of the last to be able to read Etruscan.
Ralphie bags a babe. 
the one on the right is foxy
"I bet the EBI, Etruscan Bureau of Investigation, hated having to analyze that storage device.
but I liked Livia’s expression in this pic
What a misleading headline. More stuff we can’t read . . .
Having done that, they created what is arguably an Empire
The term empire does mean a set of captive nations ruled by another nation -- it doesn't matter what that ruler nation's government is.
Note that also there were Emperors (or specifically Imperators i.e. Military dictators/commanders in chief) right from the early days of the Republic.
Augustus didn't establish the Empire, he established the position of Princep (first among equals) that was kept until Diocletian started the Dominate period
it is interesting that the early centuries of the Etruscan power they allied with the CArthaginians to fight the Greeks
I wish SunkenCiv would come back.
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