- Aegean Prehistory (Archaeology), Writing Systems & Decipherment, Development of Early Writing Systems, Cypro-Minoan, Aegean and Cypriot epigraphy, Linear A, and 265 moreSouthwestern script / Escrita do Sudoeste / Escritura del Suroeste, Writing systems, Anatolian Languages, Aegean-Cypriot pre-alphabetic scripts, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Aegean Late Bronze Age, Undeciphered Writing Systems, Writing Systems Universals, Cypriot Archaeology, Cypriot Bronze Age, Language Universals, Phonology universals, Linear B, Comparative Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Loanword Phonology, Ancient Sociolinguistics, Ancient Near Eastern Languages, Protohistory, Ancient Near Eastern Protohistorical Archaeology, Greek Linguistics, Greek Dialects, History of Writing Systems, Prehistoric Western Anatolia, Lydian, Lycian, Carian, Phrygian, Sidetic, Palaic, Hieroglyphic Luvian / Luwian, Numerals, Proto Indo-European, Alphabet transmission in the Mediterranean, Aegean Scripts, Ancient Graffiti (Archaeology), Graffiti in history, Palaeography, Etruscan, Paleolinguistics, Eteocypriot Language, Phonology, Ancient Seals and Sealings, Lemnian, Hurrian, Urartean, West Semitic Epigraphy, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Potmarks, Greek Epigraphy, Latin Epigraphy, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Eurasian Prehistory, Ancient Southwest Asia, Near Eastern Archaeology, Old Assyrian Karu/Colony Period in Anatolia, Scribal training, ancient literacy, Epigraphy (Archaeology), Iron Age Iberian Peninsula (Archaeology), Italic Languages, Ancient Greek Linguistics, Mycenaean Greek, Cretan Hieroglyphs, Ugaritic Language, Ugaritic Studies, Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Mediterranean (Archaeology), Ancient Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, Late Bronze Age Near East and Eastern Mediterranean, North Picene, Cuneiform, Hattic, History of Decipherments, Linguistic Typology, Language and Etymology, Ugaritic (Languages And Linguistics), Hittite, Isaurians, Pisidia, Archaeological Method & Theory, Aegean Bronze Age (Bronze Age Archaeology), Anatolian Archaeology, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), Historical Phonology, Phonetics, Contact Linguistics, Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, Luwian, Assyriology, Semitic languages, Mesopotamian Archaeology, Akkadian, Language Typology, Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, Indo-European Linguistics, Anatolian Studies, Ancient Near East, Writing Systems (Languages And Linguistics), Aegean Philology, Sealing Systems, Minoan and Mycenaean economy and administration, Ancient Greek Epigraphy, Cypriot Greek, Greek Language, Philistine Epigraphy, Raetic, Venetic, Pre-Roman Alphabets of Ancient Italy, Levantine Archaeology, Cypriot syllabic, Phoenician trade, Ugaritic, Middle-Assyrian Administrative pottery, Early Writing, Ancient Near Eastern Glyptic, Amorites, Old Persian, Elamite, Mycenaean, Epigraphy, Ancient Greek Dialectology, Comparative Semitic Linguistics, Aegean Archaeology, Minoan Archaeology, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, Archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula, Old Iranian Languages, Milyan, Paleography, Paleografia, Greek Paleography, Epigrafia, Digital epigraphy, Inscriptiones Graecae, Greek and Latin Epigraphy of Asia Minor, Asia Minor, Syllable, Hurrian Language, Hurrian Personal Names, Ugaritic Epigraphy, Iberian language, Paleohispanic scripts & languages, Iberian Epigraphy, Urartian language, North-West Semitic Epigraphy, Graphemics, Etruscan language, Scribes, History of Writing and Writing Tools, Glyptics, Bronze Age Near East (Archaeology), Bronze and Iron Ages in the Near East and East Mediterranean, Iron Age Anatolia, Bronze And Iron Age In Mediterrarranean (Archaeology), Protohistoric Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean Protohistory, Late Bronze Age, Phoenician, Phoenician Language, Aegean Bronze Age Chronology, Anatolian History, Greek Dialectology, Ancient Greek Dialects, Ancient Greek Phonology, Ancient Greek Language, Petroglyphs and Pictographs, Greek Historical Phonology, Modern Greek Dialects, Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus and Its Complications, Indoeuropean Studies, Grapheme-To-Phoneme, Digital palaeography, Graphematics, Indo-Iranian Linguistics, Phonetics and Phonology, Indo-Aryan Linguistics, Cretan hieroglyphic, Cretan Bronze Age, Archaeology of Mediterranean Trade, Pre-roman Languages of Italy, Ancient Egyptian language, Egyptian language, Vocalisation of Ancient Egyptian (hieroglyphics), Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Comparative Semitics, Hieroglyphics, Language contact, Diachronic Phonology, Northwest Semitics, Canaanite Languages, Greek phonetics and phonology, Middle Egyptian, Phonetics of Ejectives, Phonological Typology, Caucasian Languages, Syllable Structure, Epenthetic Vowels, Philistine Language, Palatalization, Areal linguistics, Early State Formation, Anthropology of Bureaucracy, Anthropology of Writing, Alphabetic Writing, Paleohispanistics, Proto-Basque, Paleohispanística, Lengua ibérica, Basque Language, West Semitic Personal Names, Hieratic Paleography, Old Hieratic, Bronze Age (Archaeology), Hieratic, Hieroglyphic Palaeography, Ugarit, Ougarit, Tiryns, Grammatology, Maya hieroglyphic writing, Proto-sinaitic Inscriptions, Early Chinese Writing, Mesoamerican Writing, Mesoamerican Writing Systems, Nahuatl Hieroglyphic Writing, Anatolian Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Hieroglyphic Luwian, Iconicity, Pictography, Rongorongo script, The Indus Valley Script, Dongba, Códices Mixtecos, Mixtec Codices, Nahuatl, Phoneticism, Phonological Awareness, Universals, Graphic communication, Morphonology, Early Classic Maya, Mayan languages, Old Chinese, Old Chinese Phonology, Morphology, Etymology, Pictographs, Logography, First Writing, Minoan iconography, Rongorongo, Semiotics, Peircean Semiotics, Ancient Metrology, Linguistic iconicity, Symbolic Anthropology (Anthropology), Olmec archaeology, Olmec iconography, Archaeology of communication systems, Numeral Classifiers, Mayan hieroglyphics, Zapotecan Linguistics, Burushaski, Old Tibetan Language, Tibeto-Burman Linguistics, and Dravidian Linguisticsedit
Research Interests:
The aim of this dissertation is to advance our knowledge of Cypro-Minoan, a group of undeciphered syllabic inscriptions dated roughly to the 16th or 15th through the 11th centuries BCE and found mostly on Cyprus, with small numbers of... more
The aim of this dissertation is to advance our knowledge of Cypro-Minoan, a group of undeciphered syllabic inscriptions dated roughly to the 16th or 15th through the 11th centuries BCE and found mostly on Cyprus, with small numbers of documents from coastal Syria and Tiryns (Peloponnese).
Two recently-published collections of inscriptions (Olivier 2007; Ferrara 2012 and 2013) have facilitated greatly the investigation of Cypro-Minoan, but the field is still missing a comprehensive paleographical study of the script and a definitive sign-list on which most scholars can agree. Albeit being now the main reference, Olivier’s sign repertory of 96 syllabograms is structured upon É. Masson’s (1974) division of Cypro-Minoan into three “subscripts” (CM 1, 2 and 3), supposedly created and used for different languages, a scheme which has come under criticism. It remains uncertain whether the Cypro-Minoan documents contain one or multiple writing systems. Together with the size of the corpus (almost 4,000 signs on fewer than 250 inscriptions), these lacunae greatly reduce the chances of decipherment. The present work intends to demonstrate that Cypro-Minoan in fact presents some advantages that open prospects for elucidating the script and that a methodology that is well-adjusted to them may contribute to improve our understanding of the inscriptions. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is twofold: (1) to establish a signary that identifies individual Cypro-Minoan signs and defines their paleographical variation to a fine degree of accuracy; and (2) to investigate the possible sounds represented by these signs. The second objective is achieved by means of a three-step methodology. The first two steps comprise, on one hand, cross-comparisons between the Cypro-Minoan signs (in terms of form and value) and signs attested in related scripts, namely Linear A and the Cypriot Greek syllabary; on the other hand and independently, internal analyses (positional distribution and frequency, alternations of related signs as a result of morphological activity, and scribal hesitations). The sound values proposed through these two methods are then tested by a third, which consists of provisionally transliterating a limited set of Cypro-Minoan inscriptions, to ascertain whether they yield readings corresponding to linguistic data known from external sources, therefore validating the hypothetical sign values and possibly even proposing new ones.
While a cogent decipherment is not the scope of this project, two main objectives are achieved. The first is to offer a revised list of Cypro-Minoan signs, not framed within the traditional division, but based on selected homogeneous subcorpora of inscriptions, with no preconceived bias as to the number of script varieties represented. It is argued that Cypro-Minoan contains between 57 and 70 different syllabograms, depending on the validity of a number of proposed assimilations of signs that possibly are mere allographs. Secondly, phonetic values are proposed for 60 of these sign forms: nine are considered confirmed and the rest hypothetical. In the investigation of the phonetic values, interpretations are offered for RASH Atab 004 (= RS 20.25), a clay tablet from Ugarit (Syria) long thought to contain a nominal list, and a limited set of sequences found on inscriptions from Cyprus. The suggested sound values and interpretations of sign-sequences, many of which represent identifications of personal names recognizable from cuneiform sources, independently corroborate a significant number of proposals made by Nahm in the 1980s.
Two recently-published collections of inscriptions (Olivier 2007; Ferrara 2012 and 2013) have facilitated greatly the investigation of Cypro-Minoan, but the field is still missing a comprehensive paleographical study of the script and a definitive sign-list on which most scholars can agree. Albeit being now the main reference, Olivier’s sign repertory of 96 syllabograms is structured upon É. Masson’s (1974) division of Cypro-Minoan into three “subscripts” (CM 1, 2 and 3), supposedly created and used for different languages, a scheme which has come under criticism. It remains uncertain whether the Cypro-Minoan documents contain one or multiple writing systems. Together with the size of the corpus (almost 4,000 signs on fewer than 250 inscriptions), these lacunae greatly reduce the chances of decipherment. The present work intends to demonstrate that Cypro-Minoan in fact presents some advantages that open prospects for elucidating the script and that a methodology that is well-adjusted to them may contribute to improve our understanding of the inscriptions. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is twofold: (1) to establish a signary that identifies individual Cypro-Minoan signs and defines their paleographical variation to a fine degree of accuracy; and (2) to investigate the possible sounds represented by these signs. The second objective is achieved by means of a three-step methodology. The first two steps comprise, on one hand, cross-comparisons between the Cypro-Minoan signs (in terms of form and value) and signs attested in related scripts, namely Linear A and the Cypriot Greek syllabary; on the other hand and independently, internal analyses (positional distribution and frequency, alternations of related signs as a result of morphological activity, and scribal hesitations). The sound values proposed through these two methods are then tested by a third, which consists of provisionally transliterating a limited set of Cypro-Minoan inscriptions, to ascertain whether they yield readings corresponding to linguistic data known from external sources, therefore validating the hypothetical sign values and possibly even proposing new ones.
While a cogent decipherment is not the scope of this project, two main objectives are achieved. The first is to offer a revised list of Cypro-Minoan signs, not framed within the traditional division, but based on selected homogeneous subcorpora of inscriptions, with no preconceived bias as to the number of script varieties represented. It is argued that Cypro-Minoan contains between 57 and 70 different syllabograms, depending on the validity of a number of proposed assimilations of signs that possibly are mere allographs. Secondly, phonetic values are proposed for 60 of these sign forms: nine are considered confirmed and the rest hypothetical. In the investigation of the phonetic values, interpretations are offered for RASH Atab 004 (= RS 20.25), a clay tablet from Ugarit (Syria) long thought to contain a nominal list, and a limited set of sequences found on inscriptions from Cyprus. The suggested sound values and interpretations of sign-sequences, many of which represent identifications of personal names recognizable from cuneiform sources, independently corroborate a significant number of proposals made by Nahm in the 1980s.
Research Interests:
In the field of Anatolian studies, few words are as influential as Luwian muwa- (noun, verb, and their many derivatives), but the precise meaning and etymology are still debated. While recent scholarship seems to have settled around the... more
In the field of Anatolian studies, few words are as influential as Luwian muwa- (noun, verb, and their many derivatives), but the precise meaning and etymology are still debated. While recent scholarship seems to have settled around the sense of ‘power, might’ or similar, and Indo-European derivations have been proposed, both issues are far from resolved. An old assumption that muwa- means ‘body fluid’ or ‘semen, sperm’ in addition to a powerful quality persists. The present reassessment starts from the premise that (as a noun) Luwian muwa- is a powerful characteristic, but not (as far as evidence goes) male fertility or reproductive fluid. First, I propose that muwa- originally signified *‘drive, push’ but secondarily became, ‘power, might’, and that it stems from Proto-Indo-European *m(i̯)eu̯h1-, a root which expresses destabilizing movement (cf. Latin moveō). The second part of the paper examines the implications of this hypothesis for the interpretation and translation of related Luwian forms and other Anatolian relatives, including Cuneiform Luwian muizza-, Hieroglyphic Luwian (*462)muwid(a/i)- and *462-muwas(s)is, Lycian muwe͂te, and Hittite muwila- ~ muwīl- and mummuwāi-. The logographic value of Anatolian hieroglyph *462 is also discussed.
Research Interests:
This article addresses a long-debated topic related to the hieroglyphic script from the island of Crete, namely the status of its sign-list. The signs of this script are predominantly image-based and as such their inherent position as... more
This article addresses a long-debated topic related to the hieroglyphic script from the island of Crete, namely the status of its sign-list. The signs of this script are predominantly image-based and as such their inherent position as "bona fide" signs of writing or, alternatively, decorative symbols with no specific relation to language has raised issues of inclusion or exclusion from the sign-list as presented in the standard corpus of inscriptions.
Research Interests:
The Early Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by social and genetic transformations, starting in the early 3rd millennium BCE. New settlement and funerary structures, artifacts and techniques indicate times of change with increasing... more
The Early Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by social and genetic transformations, starting in the early 3rd millennium BCE. New settlement and funerary structures, artifacts and techniques indicate times of change with increasing economic asymmetries and political hierarchization. The El Argar complex in southern Iberia marks the genetic turnover in southwestern Europe ~ 2200 BCE that accompanies profound changes in the socio-economic structure of the region. To answer the question of who was buried in the emblematic double burials of the El Argar site La Almoloya, we integrated results from biological relatedness analyses and archaeological funerary contexts and refined radiocarbon-based chronologies from 68 individuals. We find that the El Argar society was virilocally and patrilineally organized and practiced reciprocal female exogamy, supported by pedigrees that extend up to five generations along the paternal line. Synchronously dated adult males and females from double tombs were found to be unrelated mating partners, whereby the incoming females reflect socio-political alliances among El Argar groups. In three cases these unions had common offspring, while paternal half-siblings also indicate serial monogamy or polygyny.
Research Interests: Prehistoric Archaeology, Funerary Archaeology, Bronze Age Europe (Archaeology), Archaeogenetics, Bronze Age Archaeology, and 11 moreAnthropology of Kinship, Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), Prehistory, Kinship and Relatedness (Anthropology), Early state societies, Kinship, Early State Formation, Prehistoric Archeology, El Argar, Antropology of Kinship and Gender, and Argaric Culture
The Rongorongo script of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) remains undeciphered and its status as language notation is not proven. Only very recently has a full corpus of Rongorongo, with carefully edited texts, appeared, while a consensual... more
The Rongorongo script of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) remains undeciphered and its status as language notation is not proven. Only very recently has a full corpus of Rongorongo, with carefully edited texts, appeared, while a consensual inventory of signs remains a desideratum. We report the 3D-modeling of Rongorongo Tablet C, which provides new detail on certain portions of its text, and a new drawing and transcription, complete with paleographic commentary. We also revisit the structure and possible
contents of its text – a crucial step towards decipherment. In addition to a
previously identified calendar (list of the nights of the moon), Tablet C may
include words related to agriculture, as well as other lexical lists, perhaps copied for the purpose of learning. We thus combine new technologies and more conventional approaches to offer new insight on an undeciphered inscription.
contents of its text – a crucial step towards decipherment. In addition to a
previously identified calendar (list of the nights of the moon), Tablet C may
include words related to agriculture, as well as other lexical lists, perhaps copied for the purpose of learning. We thus combine new technologies and more conventional approaches to offer new insight on an undeciphered inscription.
Research Interests:
This short paper is devoted to the etymology and historical background of a triplet of Anatolian titles: Carian k̂λmu(δ), an epithet of god Trquδ-(Tarhunt), Lydian qaλm(λ)u-'king', and Greek πάλμυς, both 'king (βασιλεύς)' and an epithet... more
This short paper is devoted to the etymology and historical background of a triplet of Anatolian titles: Carian k̂λmu(δ), an epithet of god Trquδ-(Tarhunt), Lydian qaλm(λ)u-'king', and Greek πάλμυς, both 'king (βασιλεύς)' and an epithet of Zeus. Significant progress in the study of this triplet has recently been reached by Loiacono, but we argue that there is still room for additional refinements, which concern both the formal relationship between the three lexemes under discussion and its historical implications.
Research Interests:
Ancient undeciphered scripts present problems of different nature, not just tied to linguistic identification. The undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script from second millennium BCE Cyprus, for instance, currently does not have a standardized,... more
Ancient undeciphered scripts present problems of different nature, not just tied to linguistic identification. The undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script from second millennium BCE Cyprus, for instance, currently does not have a standardized, definitive inventory of signs, and, in addition, stands divided into three separate subgroups (CM1, CM2, CM3), which have also been alleged to record different languages. However, this state of the art is not consensually accepted by the experts. In this article, we aim to apply a method that can aid to shed light on the tripartite division, to assess if it holds up against a multi-pronged, multi-disciplinary approach. This involves considerations linked to paleography (shapes of individual signs) and epigraphy (writing style tied to the support used), and crucially, deep learning-based strategies. These automatic methods, which are widely adopted in many fields such as computer vision and computational linguistics, allow us to look from an innovative perspective at the specific issues presented by ancient, poorly understood scripts in general, and Cypro-Minoan in particular. The usage of a state-of-the-art convolutional neural model that is unsupervised, and therefore does not use any prior knowledge of the script, is still underrepresented in the study of undeciphered writing systems, and helps to investigate the tripartite division from a fresh standpoint. The conclusions we reached show that: 1. the use of different media skews to a large extent the uniformity of the sign shapes; 2. the application of several neural techniques confirm this, since they highlight graphic proximity among signs inscribed on similar supports; 3. multi-stranded approaches prove to be a successful tool to investigate ancient scripts whose language is still unidentified. More crucially, these aspects, together, point in the same direction, namely the validation of a unitary, single Cypro-Minoan script, rather than the current division into three subgroups.
Research Interests: Writing Systems & Decipherment, Computational Linguistics, Cypriot Archaeology, Clustering and Classification Methods, Neural Networks, and 10 moreWriting Systems (Languages And Linguistics), Writing systems, Undeciphered Writing Systems, Palaeography, Deep Learning, Cypro-Minoan, Aegean and Cypriot epigraphy, Aegean-Cypriot pre-alphabetic scripts, Unsupervised Machine Learning, and Syllabaries
The application of machine learning techniques to ancient writing systems is a relatively new idea, and it poses interesting challenges for researchers. One particularly challenging aspect is the scarcity of data for these scripts, which... more
The application of machine learning techniques to ancient writing systems is a relatively new idea, and it poses interesting challenges for researchers. One particularly challenging aspect is the scarcity of data for these scripts, which contrasts with the large amounts of data usually available when applying neural models to computational linguistics and other fields. For this reason, any method that attempts to work on ancient scripts needs to be ad-hoc and consider paleographic aspects, in addition to computational ones. Considering the peculiar characteristics of the script that we used is therefore a crucial part of our work, as any solution needs to consider the particular nature of the writing system that it is applied to. In this work we propose a preliminary evaluation of a novel unsupervised clustering method on the Cypro-Greek syllabary, a writing system from Cyprus. This evaluation shows that our method improves clustering performance using information about the attested sequences of signs in combination with an unsupervised model for images, with the future goal of applying the methodology to undeciphered writing systems from a related and typologically similar script.
Research Interests: Machine Learning, Writing Systems & Decipherment, Computational Linguistics, Cypriot Archaeology, Clustering and Classification Methods, and 8 moreNeural Networks, Writing systems, Undeciphered Writing Systems, Cypro-Minoan, Aegean and Cypriot epigraphy, Aegean-Cypriot pre-alphabetic scripts, Unsupervised Machine Learning, and Cypriot syllabic
This work has two specific objectives : 1. The reconstruction of a palaeographic model that describes the relationship between the Cretan Hieroglyphic script and Linear A ; 2. The structural analysis of the sign distribution of the two... more
This work has two specific objectives : 1. The reconstruction of a palaeographic model that describes the relationship between the Cretan Hieroglyphic script and Linear A ; 2. The structural analysis of the sign distribution of the two scripts and the distribution of their sign sequences (or sign groups). The two sets of analysis aim to establish via rigorous, solid parameters the degree of relation between the two scripts, by reconstructing through an evolutionary dimension the development of each sign and by establishing its positional distribution in each script corpus. The conclusions indicate that, despite sharing a nucleus of signs, the two scripts show notable divergences : a percentage of Linear A signs is not shared by the Cretan Hieroglyphic, which implies innovation strategies from a common template. In addition, the analysis of the two writing systems shows that no sign sequences are shared, in addition to different positional distributions. This evidence indicates that Linear A was the result of substantial adaptation strategies of the Cretan Hieroglyphic model.
Research Interests:
Ever since the publication of the first and unsurpassed corpus of Cretan Hieroglyphic inscriptions by Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier, Corpus Hieroglyphicarum Inscriptionum Cretae, known as CHIC, there has been no systematic or... more
Ever since the publication of the first and unsurpassed corpus of Cretan Hieroglyphic inscriptions by Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier, Corpus Hieroglyphicarum Inscriptionum Cretae, known as CHIC, there has been no systematic or comprehensive reassessment of several difficult readings of signs and sign groups geared towards a rationalization of the sign-list. In this article, we discuss several readings in depth, by engaging with issues that relate to script classification, sign frequencies, interpretative uncertainties, and new finds post CHIC. Specifically, we highlight inconsistencies in the graphic behavior of signs, especially those of singular attestations (‘hapax’) or low frequency, and we also reassign uncertain cases that may be more likely read as Linear A rather than Cretan Hieroglyphic. As a steppingstone in rationalizing the sign-list, we apply a systematic approach to the material by means of a thorough sign-by-sign paleographic and structural reassessment, also pr...
Research Interests:
Numeracy and writing constitute different phenomena, whose paths of formation often appear intertwined. Here we reassess the theory that numeracy evolved universally from a concrete to an abstract concept of number, and that that shift is... more
Numeracy and writing constitute different phenomena, whose paths of formation often appear intertwined. Here we reassess the theory that numeracy evolved universally from a concrete to an abstract concept of number, and that that shift is correlated with the invention of writing. First, we gather contemporary linguistic data and early Mesopotamian epigraphic evidence that indicates that the ‘concrete’ vs. ‘abstract’ dichotomy is not useful to understand the emergence of numbers. Then, we discuss evidence from other regions where writing was probably invented independently, in order to investigate the conceptualization and formation of early numerical notations.
Research Interests:
The Rongorongo is a system of writing, still undeciphered, from Easter Island in the Pacific. It consists of a corpus of twenty-six inscriptions, scattered around the world. This article presents the state-of-the art in the study of one... more
The Rongorongo is a system of writing, still undeciphered, from Easter Island in the Pacific. It consists of a corpus of twenty-six inscriptions, scattered around the world. This article presents the state-of-the art in the study of one of these inscriptions, Text D or the ‘Échancrée’ tablet housed in a museum in Rome, Italy. Through an integrated methodology based on photogrammetry and high-precision structured light scanning, a 3D model of the inscriptions is made available through a public 3D Viewer for the first time. The technique made use of the benefits of both methods of image acquisition: a very accurate, precise, high resolution, and metric reconstruction of the tablet geometry gained through the scanning process, and a high-quality texture achieved through photogrammetry. In addition, we present a new analysis of the text, through a close palaeographic examination of its signs, and corrections of previous hand drawings and transcriptions. The ultimate aim is to reach unbi...
What is the origin of the earliest script in Europe? Is it invented locally or borrowed from an external template? How can we go about addressing this problem? A common view is that the script in question, Cretan Hieroglyphic, is locally... more
What is the origin of the earliest script in Europe? Is it invented locally or borrowed from an external template? How can we go about addressing this problem? A common view is that the script in question, Cretan Hieroglyphic, is locally created but externally inspired, probably through an influence from Egypt. But this appreciation should be the result of a full examination of the evidence, rather than a superficial appraisal of the script signs. This article reframes this approach, starting with generic assessments on origin and stimulus, and so opens a new avenue that takes into account the following aspects: 1) the establishment of a methodology for cross-comparisons between the Egyptian and Cretan scripts; 2) the situated context of the Egyptian and Cretan scripts in the mid-3rd to late 3rd millennium b.c.e.; 3) the local Cretan seal imagery; and 4) case studies of sign shapes, representing physical and immaterial referents across the Egyptian Hieroglyphic and Cretan repertoires. Only from this broad, multicentric framework, which has input from archaeology, epigraphy, iconography, and paleography, can we establish a solid method to address the origin of Cretan Hieroglyphic.
Research Interests:
The Anatolian hieroglyphic script arose out of an indigenous set of pictorial symbols used in Anatolia during the second millennium bce. Its highly pictorial signs include syllabograms, logograms, and semantic determinatives. The script... more
The Anatolian hieroglyphic script arose out of an indigenous set of pictorial symbols used in Anatolia during the second millennium bce. Its highly pictorial signs include syllabograms, logograms, and semantic determinatives. The script is first attested in a fully developed form ca. 1350–1200 bce, when in addition to seals it was used extensively on monumental stone inscriptions commissioned by Hittite rulers, and became associated with the Luwian language. It went out of use after 700 bce, as a result of the Assyrian conquest of the Neo-Hittite states and the spread of alphabetic scripts.
Research Interests:
Minoan Linear A is still an undeciphered script mainly used for administrative purposes on Bronze Age Crete. One of its most enigmatic features is the precise mathematical values of its system of numerical fractions. The aim of this... more
Minoan Linear A is still an undeciphered script mainly used for administrative purposes on Bronze Age Crete. One of its most enigmatic features is the precise mathematical values of its system of numerical fractions. The aim of this article is to address this issue through a multi-stranded methodology that comprises palaeographical examination and statistical, computational, and typological approaches. Taking on from previous analyses, which suggested hypothetical values for some fractions, we extended our probe into assessing values for some problematic ones. The results achieved, based, on the one hand, on a close palaeographical analysis and, on the other, on computational, statistical and typological strategies, show a remarkable convergence and point towards a systematic assignment of mathematical values for the Linear A fraction signs.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Rebus and acrophony are crucial in the development of ancient invented scripts from Mesopotamia (cuneiform), China, Mesoamerica (Maya), Egypt, and scripts which may have been created through exposure to literate cultures (Anatolian... more
Rebus and acrophony are crucial in the development of ancient invented scripts from Mesopotamia (cuneiform), China, Mesoamerica (Maya), Egypt, and scripts which may have been created through exposure to literate cultures (Anatolian Hieroglyphic and Nahuatl). Yet, these two linguistic mechanisms have been understudied from a terminological, contextual and comparative perspective. This article aims to address issues regarding their definition, development and application in script formation. The scope of our study is all attested writing systems that are largely iconic in their sign repertoire, and whose phonetic values were generated anew based on an underlying language (hence ‘invented’). This allows us to chart how writing systems are created ex novo and what trajectories of development are put into practice when phonetisation takes place. We show some reliable patterns of universal mechanisms, observable from a comparative perspective. We also demonstrate that these patterns attest to a verifiable degree of phonological awareness that ties the process of phonetisation to the path to script formation. We further highlight that the tendencies discerned from deciphered writing systems provide ways to test hypotheses in the study of iconic writing systems which are undeciphered, such as the Indus Valley script and the Rongorongo of Easter Island.
Research Interests: Writing Systems & Decipherment, Writing Systems (Languages And Linguistics), Sumerian, Writing systems, Maya Epigraphy, and 15 moreUndeciphered Writing Systems, Cuneiform, Phonetics and Phonology, History of Writing Systems, Old Chinese, Aztec writing, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Proto-cuneiform, Hieroglyphic Luvian / Luwian, Nahuatl Language, Mesoamerican Writing, Rebuses, Chinese Oracle Bone Script, Anatolian Hieroglyphs, and Proto-sinaitic Inscriptions
Rongorongo is an undeciphered script inscribed on wooden objects from Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in the Pacific Ocean. The existing editions of the inscriptions, and their widespread locations in museums and archives all over the world... more
Rongorongo is an undeciphered script inscribed on wooden objects from Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in the Pacific Ocean. The existing editions of the inscriptions, and their widespread locations in museums and archives all over the world today constitute a serious obstacle to any objective paleographical assessment. Thus, with a view to a potential decipherment, creating 3D models of the available corpus is of crucial importance, and one of the objectives of the ERC INSCRIBE project, based at the University of Bologna with Professor S. Ferrara as Principal Investigator. In this preliminary work, we present the results of the 3D digitization of the Mamari tablet, one of the longest inscriptions in Rongorongo, housed in the Museum Archives of the Congregazione dei Sacri Cuori di Ges`u e Maria in Rome. The tablet is made of wood, with a shiny reflecting surface, characterized by a mainly dark texture. The 3D modelling was carried out with the ScanRider 1.2 laser scanner manufactured by VGER, based on Structured Light technology, taking care to ensure the legibility of each sign while preserving the overall shape of the object as precisely as possible. To overcome the difficulties inherent in the object’s complex fabric, the Mamari tablet was acquired in separate sections (joined together during processing through specific markers), thus managing to optimize the optical parameters of the laser scanner, such as the exposure of the camera and the depth of field of the projector. Furthermore, an evaluation of the 3D reconstruction precision was also carried out, highlighting a precision of few hundredths of millimeters, in agreement with the claimed nominal standard deviation. In addition to the 3D model produced, one of the main results of this endeavor was the definition of a successful method to scan such complex objects, which will be replicated to finalize the complete 3D modelling of the whole Rongorongo corpus of inscriptions.
Research Interests: Digital Humanities, Writing Systems & Decipherment, Writing systems, Easter Island Archaeology, Development of Early Writing Systems, and 10 more3D Laser Scanning (Archaeology), 3d Modelling, Rongorongo, Rongorongo script, 3D Laser scanning, 3D digitalization, Rapa Nui, Writing Systems & Decipherment; inventions of, Humanidades Digitales, and Easter Island/Rapa Nui
One theory sustains that the invention of writing is linguistically determined and limited to societies whose language is rich in monosyllabic morphemes (Daniels 1992, Boltz 2000). Its validity, however, depends on an assessment of the... more
One theory sustains that the invention of writing is linguistically determined and limited to societies whose language is rich in monosyllabic morphemes (Daniels 1992, Boltz 2000). Its validity, however, depends on an assessment of the role of acrophony in the invention of scripts across the globe, something which is still unrealized. As far as the Anatolian Hieroglyphic script is concerned, Hawkins (1986) set forth the only attempt to understand the linguistic rationale behind the use of rebus and acrophony in the script’s invention. In his opinion, a pattern is observable: the syllabic values of the signs were always drawn from monosyllabic or reduplicated stems of Luwian or Hittite words. Thirty years on, this picture of Anatolian Hieroglyphic, while not far from reality, needs to be fully reassessed. This article represents an effort towards that goal.
Research Interests: Writing Systems & Decipherment, Phonological Awareness, Anatolian Archaeology, Hittite, Luwian, and 15 moreWriting Systems (Languages And Linguistics), Writing systems, Development of Early Writing Systems, Linguistic awareness, Luvian, History of Writing Systems, Hittites, Language Universals, Early Writing, Bronze Age Anatolia, Hieroglyphic Luwian, Hieroglyphic Luvian / Luwian, Origins of Writing, Anatolian Hieroglyphs, and Anatolian Hieroglyphic
The aim of this chapter is to appraise current developments on the origins of Cypro-Minoan, the Late Bronze Age script of Cyprus, while simultaneously discussing what can be determined about the processes leading to its creation.... more
The aim of this chapter is to appraise current developments on the origins of Cypro-Minoan, the Late Bronze Age script of Cyprus, while simultaneously discussing what can be determined about the processes leading to its creation. Cypro-Minoan is primarily a phonographic writing system of syllabic type. Based on recent research, it is argued that it essentially results from the adaptation of an Aegean template, specifically a form of Linear A. This adaptive-creative process led to significant structural modifications, alongside substantial palaeographical developments in the signs, motivated by various factors. These changes have helped to create the impression of a script that deviated greatly from, or was only indirectly related to, Linear A. These and other issues cast doubt on the traditional division of Cypro-Minoan into three alleged ‘sub-scripts’ (CM 1, 2 and 3) and have implications for its decipherment. The evidence suggests that the structural modifications made to the Aegean model of Cypro-Minoan include the discarding of some signs, the creation of new ones and shifts of value in some others. This accounts for the significant differences between the Linear A, Cypro-Minoan and Cypro-Greek syllabaries, which make decipherment even more difficult. Finally, this chapter explores the ways in which the earliest characteristics, functions and contexts of use of Cypro-Minoan relate to the social-cultural background and intentions behind its creation at the dawn of the Late Bronze Age.
Research Interests:
Marks incised or painted on Eastern Mediterranean pottery from the Late Bronze Age – generically known as «potmarks» – have been extensively studied in the past two decades. Incised markings have also appeared on ingots and other metallic... more
Marks incised or painted on Eastern Mediterranean pottery from the Late Bronze Age – generically known as «potmarks» – have been extensively studied in the past two decades. Incised markings have also appeared on ingots and other metallic supports, although these have arguably received less attention. It has long been clear that some of these marks consist of signs drawn from existing writing systems, with Cypro-Minoan playing a special role, and this has contributed to scholars’ research on the relationship between marks and script. However, many unknowns remain. An old and significant problem relates to difficulties in assessing which marks can be securely identified with Cypro-Minoan signs, stemming from the lack of a detailed palaeographical study of the script’s signary. Recent advances in our knowledge of Cypro-Minoan, especially with regards to the palaeographic variation and identity of its signs, now enable us to better understand which marks are extracted from that writing system and which are not. With a special focus on ingot- and potmarks from the Eastern Mediterranean and Sardinia, this article discusses methods for distinguishing Cypro-Minoan marks from non-Cypro-Minoan marks. It is argued that a greater number of marks can now be securely identified with signs of the Cypro-Minoan script. In a second stage, findings are compared with other parameters, such as vessel shapes and functions, find-spots and places of import, and methods (incised or painted) and timings (before or after firing or casting) of the marks. This re-evaluation reveals no significant distribution patterns, suggesting that many different marking systems might have been in use or that the choice of Cypro-Minoan signs used as marks was not very systematic. In our conclusions, we discuss the implications of these results for our knowledge of the dynamics of Bronze Age Cypriot society.
Research Interests: Cypriot Archaeology, Aegean Bronze Age (Bronze Age Archaeology), Aegean Prehistory (Archaeology), Mycenaean era archaeology, Late Bronze Age archaeology, and 18 moreCypriot Bronze Age, Undeciphered Writing Systems, Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Mediterranean (Archaeology), History of the Eastern Mediterranean, Aegean Late Bronze Age, Aegean Prehistory, Aegean Scripts, Mycenaean pottery, Cypro-Minoan, Potmarks, Aegean-Cypriot pre-alphabetic scripts, Aegean Late Bronze Age Pottery, Late Bronze Age Levant and new kingdom Egypt, Cypro-Minoan script, Tiryns, Late Bronze Age Pottery, Late Helladic Period, and Enkomi
This paper deals with part of the research for the doctoral thesis “Investigating the Signs and Sounds of Cypro-Minoan”. The project in question has the purpose of advancing our present knowledge of the Cypro-Minoan syllabic inscriptions... more
This paper deals with part of the research for the doctoral thesis “Investigating the Signs and Sounds of Cypro-Minoan”. The project in question has the purpose of advancing our present knowledge of the Cypro-Minoan syllabic inscriptions by means of two primary tasks: (1) to establish a judicious signary that distinguishes individual signs and maps their paleographical variation to the possible extent; (2) to investigate the sounds represented by those signs. The investigation of the phonetic values comprises itself three methodological steps: a comparative method, an internal analysis, and the testing of the hypothetical sign readings obtained from the first two procedures.
Given the scope of the conference, focus will be on the application of the comparative method to the study of Cypro-Minoan, which involves comparisons with its direct ancestor and successor scripts, here argued to be Linear A and the Cypro-Greek syllabary, respectively. For each Cypro-Minoan grapheme, the goal of the method is to find in both Linear A and Cypro-Greek signs that are formally comparable and at the same time have similar phonetic values. The main points to be discussed are the relations between the involved Aegean-Cypriot syllabic scripts, the details of the method, how the latter fits into a larger research on Cypro-Minoan signs, and some of its results.
Given the scope of the conference, focus will be on the application of the comparative method to the study of Cypro-Minoan, which involves comparisons with its direct ancestor and successor scripts, here argued to be Linear A and the Cypro-Greek syllabary, respectively. For each Cypro-Minoan grapheme, the goal of the method is to find in both Linear A and Cypro-Greek signs that are formally comparable and at the same time have similar phonetic values. The main points to be discussed are the relations between the involved Aegean-Cypriot syllabic scripts, the details of the method, how the latter fits into a larger research on Cypro-Minoan signs, and some of its results.
Research Interests: Writing Systems & Decipherment, Aegean Bronze Age (Bronze Age Archaeology), Aegean Prehistory (Archaeology), Writing systems, Undeciphered Writing Systems, and 6 moreAegean Scripts, Cypro-Minoan, Aegean and Cypriot epigraphy, Aegean-Cypriot pre-alphabetic scripts, Aegean, Cypriot & East Mediterranean Archaeology, and Cypro-Minoan script
The lexical pair formed by Mycenaean da-pu(2)-ri-to- and later Greek λαβύρινθος presents a contrast between Linear B d and alphabetical λ in a position where one would expect to find a similar sound represented. This orthographic... more
The lexical pair formed by Mycenaean da-pu(2)-ri-to- and later Greek λαβύρινθος presents a contrast between Linear B d and alphabetical λ in a position where one would expect to find a similar sound represented. This orthographic inconsistency has been taken as a synchronic fluctuation between /d/ and /l/, both optimal adaptations of what is assumed to be a non-Greek (Minoan) sound in da-pu(2)-ri-to-. In turn, it has been proposed that this “special” and wholly theoretical sound, which according to some suggestions was a coronal fricative, was behind the Linear A d series. Here it is argued that there is actually no evidence that /d/ and /l/ alternated synchronically in Mycenaean Greek, and that therefore the /l-/ of λαβύρινθος is more likely the result of a later shift. Starting from this premise, it is hypothesized that λαβύρινθος derives from a form closer to Mycenaean da-pu(2)-ri-to-, an unattested *δαβύρινθος, that underwent a shift /d-/ > /l-/ in Southern or Western Anatolia. The proposed motivation is the influence of some local Anatolian language that prohibited /d/ wordinitially. The same development is considered for λάφνη and λίσκος, which Hesychius glossed as Pergaean (Pamphylian) forms of standard Greek δάφνη ‘sweet bay’ and δίσκος ‘discus, quoit’, and possibly also for the Cimmerian personal name Dugdammê/Λύγδαμις. Of course, this hypothesis has implications for our perception of the Linear A d series and certain open questions that concern the Aegean-Cypriot syllabaries.
Research Interests:
This article deals with the origin of the Southwestern (SW) Paleo-Hispanic script and its position in the history of the creation and transmission of writing systems. The supported hypothesis is that the SW script was a full alphabet,... more
This article deals with the origin of the Southwestern (SW) Paleo-Hispanic script and its position in the history of the creation and transmission of writing systems. The supported hypothesis is that the SW script was a full alphabet, whose signs represented vowels and consonants, not a semi-syllabary. In the light of a “functionalist” perspective of the history of scripts, it would be the result of an original adaptation of the Phoenician consonantal alphabet in an Iberian setting, and wholly independent from the genesis of the Archaic Greek script (also created as a full alphabet based on the Phoenician system). This notion is supported by a review of the structure and origin of the signs of the SW script. Finally, the context in which the creation of the first Paleo-Hispanic Script and the formation of the SW script (perhaps two different historical processes) may have taken place is discussed.
Research Interests: Epigraphy (Archaeology), Phoenician, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, Writing systems, Undeciphered Writing Systems, and 14 moreDevelopment of Early Writing Systems, Protohistoric Iberian Peninsula, Paleohispanic scripts & languages, History of Writing Systems, Alphabetic Writing, Semitic alphabet, Southwest Paleohispanic Script, Alphabet transmission in the Mediterranean, Paleohispanística, Phoenician trade, Paleohispanistics, Southwestern script / Escrita do Sudoeste / Escritura del Suroeste, Ancient alphabetic inscriptions, and Alphabets
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract: The syllabic script used on Cyprus to notate the ancient local dialect of Greek is traditionally labeled “Cypriot Syllabary”. Alternative terms exist but, until fairly recently, the terminology used by specialists to refer to... more
Abstract:
The syllabic script used on Cyprus to notate the ancient local dialect of Greek is traditionally labeled “Cypriot Syllabary”. Alternative terms exist but, until fairly recently, the terminology used by specialists to refer to this writing system was on the whole problematic. The present essay discusses the disadvantages of old denominations and defends that “Cypro‐Greek”, a recent term coined by Egetmeyer (2010), represents an unambiguous reference to the script in question.
Resumo:
A escrita silábica utilizada em Chipre para representar o antigo dialeto local do grego é tradicionalmente designada “silabário cipriota”. Existem termos alternativos mas, até muito recentemente, a terminologia usada pelos especialistas para referir‐se a este sistema de escrita era, em geral, problemática. O presente ensaio discute as desvantagens das antigas denominações e defende que “cipro‐grego”, um termo recente cunhado por Egetmeyer (2010), representa uma referência inequívoca à escrita em questão.
The syllabic script used on Cyprus to notate the ancient local dialect of Greek is traditionally labeled “Cypriot Syllabary”. Alternative terms exist but, until fairly recently, the terminology used by specialists to refer to this writing system was on the whole problematic. The present essay discusses the disadvantages of old denominations and defends that “Cypro‐Greek”, a recent term coined by Egetmeyer (2010), represents an unambiguous reference to the script in question.
Resumo:
A escrita silábica utilizada em Chipre para representar o antigo dialeto local do grego é tradicionalmente designada “silabário cipriota”. Existem termos alternativos mas, até muito recentemente, a terminologia usada pelos especialistas para referir‐se a este sistema de escrita era, em geral, problemática. O presente ensaio discute as desvantagens das antigas denominações e defende que “cipro‐grego”, um termo recente cunhado por Egetmeyer (2010), representa uma referência inequívoca à escrita em questão.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Celtic Studies, Ancient Indo-European Languages, Celtic Linguistics, Celtic Archaeology, Phoenician, and 32 moreIron Age Iberian Peninsula (Archaeology), Undeciphered Scripts, Writing systems, Undeciphered Writing Systems, Protohistory, Protohistoric Iberian Peninsula, Early Iron Age, Paleohispanic scripts & languages, Tartessos, southwest Paleohispanic script steles, Bronze and Iron Ages (Europe and Mediterranean), Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Mediterranean Protohistory, Phoenician-Punic language and Epigraphy, EPIGRAFIA PALEOHISPANICA, Old Celtic languages, European Protohistory, Protohistoria, Old Celtic onomastics, Tartessian Language, "Tartessian" Script, "Tartessian" Language, Southwest Paleohispanic Script, European substrate and poorly attested languages, Old Celtic languages ; Indo-European linguistics, Paleohispanística, Paleohispanistics, Southwestern script / Escrita do Sudoeste / Escritura del Suroeste, Celtic Migrations, Estelas Del Suroeste, Escritura Ibérica Meridional, and Southwestern Paleohispanic script
Research Interests: Writing Systems & Decipherment, Epigraphy (Archaeology), Cypriot Archaeology, Paleography, Cypriot Bronze Age, and 12 moreWriting systems, Undeciphered Writing Systems, Linear A, Cypro-Minoan, History of Writing Systems, Aegean and Cypriot epigraphy, Epigraphy, Aegean-Cypriot pre-alphabetic scripts, Cypriot syllabic, The Minoan Linear A script, Cypriot Syllabary, and Scribal Practices
La afluencia de grupos de orientales a Hispania se prolongó incluso tras la caída del Imperio Romano de Occidente. En las localidades modernas de Mérida, Mértola y Plasenzuela se encontró material epigráfico —mayoritariamente epitafios—... more
La afluencia de grupos de orientales a Hispania se prolongó incluso tras la caída del Imperio Romano
de Occidente. En las localidades modernas de Mérida, Mértola y Plasenzuela se encontró material
epigráfico —mayoritariamente epitafios— inscrito en griego por inmigrantes que se establecieron
en la provincia de Lusitania. El presente ensayo propone un origen en la zona egeoanatolia para al
menos parte de estos grupos de inmigrantes y discute las motivaciones de su venida, sumando evidencias
históricas y arqueológicas a los datos epigráficos y lingüísticos, estos dos últimos los principales
testigos de su permanencia en territorio lusitano.
The influx of groups of Easterners to Hispania continued even after the fall of the Western Roman
Empire. Epigraphic material —mostly epitaphs— inscribed in Greek by immigrants who settled in the
province of Lusitania was found in the modern-day localities of Mérida, Mértola and Plasenzuela. The
present essay proposes the Aegean-Anatolian area as the homeland of at least part of these groups
of immigrants and discusses the motivations of their coming, adding historical and archaeological
evidence to the epigraphic and linguistic data, these last two the main indications of their permanence
in Lusitanian territory.
de Occidente. En las localidades modernas de Mérida, Mértola y Plasenzuela se encontró material
epigráfico —mayoritariamente epitafios— inscrito en griego por inmigrantes que se establecieron
en la provincia de Lusitania. El presente ensayo propone un origen en la zona egeoanatolia para al
menos parte de estos grupos de inmigrantes y discute las motivaciones de su venida, sumando evidencias
históricas y arqueológicas a los datos epigráficos y lingüísticos, estos dos últimos los principales
testigos de su permanencia en territorio lusitano.
The influx of groups of Easterners to Hispania continued even after the fall of the Western Roman
Empire. Epigraphic material —mostly epitaphs— inscribed in Greek by immigrants who settled in the
province of Lusitania was found in the modern-day localities of Mérida, Mértola and Plasenzuela. The
present essay proposes the Aegean-Anatolian area as the homeland of at least part of these groups
of immigrants and discusses the motivations of their coming, adding historical and archaeological
evidence to the epigraphic and linguistic data, these last two the main indications of their permanence
in Lusitanian territory.
Research Interests: Late Antique Archaeology, Greek Epigraphy, Byzantine Studies, Late Antiquity, Koine Greek language, and 15 moreLate Roman Pottery, Late Roman Pottery in Hispania, Visigothic Spain, Ancient Greek Language, Greek and Latin Epigraphy, Early Church History, Late Antiquity, Visigothic Spain, Tardoantigüedad, Early Christian Archaeology, Archeologia Tardoantica E Paleocristiana, Greek (Anatolian) Epigraphy, Late Antique Anatolia, Suevic and Visigothic Hispania (5th-8th centuries), Greek and Latin Epigraphy of Asia Minor, and Emerita
N.B.: This paper was presented and accepted for publication some months before I initiated the work on my doctoral dissertation on Cypro-Minoan, entitled “Investigating the Signs and Sounds of Cypro-Minoan”. This means I later had the... more
N.B.: This paper was presented and accepted for publication some months before I initiated the work on my doctoral dissertation on Cypro-Minoan, entitled “Investigating the Signs and Sounds of Cypro-Minoan”. This means I later had the opportunity to conduct a more in-depth study of this group of inscriptions and revise my previous interpretation of RASH Atab 004. Therefore, many of the key ideas in this paper are superseded, and are to be replaced by the conclusions of my doctoral research.
This article argues in favor of (re-)reading the Semitic name of Mitanni as Hani-Rabbat against the presently consensual Hanigalbat. In connection to this a so far lacking etymology for this geographical name is proposed. It is argued... more
This article argues in favor of (re-)reading the Semitic name of Mitanni as Hani-Rabbat against the presently consensual Hanigalbat. In connection to this a so far lacking etymology for this geographical name is proposed. It is argued that Hani-Rabbat is a West-Semitic (Amorite) compound meaning ‘Great Hani’, in contrast with the Middle-Euphratean country of Hana. Hence, Rabbat marks the opposition between two Hanaean lands set off by the Euphrates. Hani / Hana ought also to be linked with Akkadian hanû and Hurrianizing haniahhe, all being designations of probable West-Semitic origin used for certain human groups that followed a (semi-)nomadic lifestyle in both sides of the river. The scenario is one of linguistic contact between Amorite, Akkadian and Hurrian. Finally, the toponym Hanu AN.TA ‘Upper Hanu’, attested in a Middle-Assyrian letter, is examined as a possible Sumerographic spelling of Hani-Rabbat.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Semitic languages, Hittitology, Anatolian Archaeology, Akkadian Language, Anatolian Languages, and 17 moreHittite, Luwian, Loanwords, Language contact & change, Akkadian, Iron and Steel (History), Archaeometallurgy, Writing systems, Semitic Languages (Languages And Linguistics), Assyrian archaeology, Semitic Linguistics, Cuneiform, Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Mediterranean (Archaeology), Akkadian (Languages And Linguistics) (Languages And Linguistics), Paleometallurgy, Cuneiform, History and Archaeology of Assyria, Old Assyrian Karu/Colony Period in Anatolia, and Luvian
The aim of the following article is to discuss two possible interpretations for the Palaic word fulāsinanza while shedding new light on the obscure fragment where it occurs, which seems to be the remainder of an Invocation to the god... more
The aim of the following article is to discuss two possible interpretations for the Palaic word fulāsinanza while shedding new light on the obscure fragment where it occurs, which seems to be the remainder of an Invocation to the god Hilanzifa. The word fulāsina- denotes a kind of ritual bread but its most startling feature is its suffix -ant-s which could be either a cognate of ergative case markers in other Indo-European Anatolian languages (Hittite, Luvian and Lycian) or used to build denominal adjectives.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The article concerns the Linear A form j/a-di-ki-te-te-du-pu2-re which occurs in four stone libation tables from Palaikastro, in eastern Crete. The starting point of the present analysis is the element (-)du-pu2-re, which appears as a... more
The article concerns the Linear A form j/a-di-ki-te-te-du-pu2-re which occurs in four stone libation tables from Palaikastro, in eastern Crete. The starting point of the present analysis is the element (-)du-pu2-re, which appears as a Wanderwort pertaining to the sphere of power and kingship, and is ultimately connected to the Hittite royal title tabarna-/labarna-. Hence, the whole form above should be rendered as ‘Diktaian Master (dat.)’ (vel. sim.), with clear reference to a Minoan deity predecessor of the later Diktaian Zeus.
Research Interests:
The field of Cypriot epigraphy has recently been presented with two related volumes titled Cypro-Minoan Inscriptions, by Silvia Ferrara (2012, 2013). One compiles most known documented objects inscribed in this undeciphered script and the... more
The field of Cypriot epigraphy has recently been presented with two related volumes titled Cypro-Minoan Inscriptions, by Silvia Ferrara (2012, 2013). One compiles most known documented objects inscribed in this undeciphered script and the other examines them primarily from the point of view of archaeology. The present article offers a review of the two books, with special attention given to their contributions to the palaeography of Cypro-Minoan, and how they compare to the first collection of Cypro-Minoan texts, Jean-Pierre Olivier’s pivotal Édition holistique des textes chypro-minoens (Pisa/Rome, 2007).
Research Interests: Writing Systems & Decipherment, Cypriot Archaeology, Cypriot Bronze Age, Undeciphered Scripts, Writing systems, and 8 moreUndeciphered Writing Systems, Cypro-Minoan, Cypriote Archaeology, Aegean and Cypriot epigraphy, Aegean-Cypriot pre-alphabetic scripts, Aegean, Cypriot & East Mediterranean Archaeology, Cypro-Minoan script, and Cyprominoan
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This dissertation embraces the study of a pottery assemblage from Tall Qabr Abū al-ʿAtīq, an archaeological site located in the Middle Euphrates area, in the modern-day province of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. The analyzed sample is the result of... more
This dissertation embraces the study of a pottery assemblage from Tall Qabr Abū al-ʿAtīq, an archaeological site located in the Middle Euphrates area, in the modern-day province of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. The analyzed sample is the result of three excavation campaigns (2008, 2009, and 2010) conducted there so far by the "Syrian Middle Euphrates Archaeological Project" (PAMES). The excavations at the main hill of the tell have brought to light the remains of a Middle-Assyrian building, dating back to the end of the Late Bronze Age (late 13th century BCE). This settlement was probably located in the western limit of the territory ruled by Assyria, with the Euphrates as its border.
The pottery recovered from the Middle-Assyrian level of Tall Qabr Abū al-ʿAtīq corresponds to the so-called Middle Assyrian “administrative” or standardized pottery (second half of the 13th and 12th century BCE). These are highly homogeneous productions, with regard to both typology and technology, and, as a rule, they appear in association with Middle Assyrian administrative sites – as shown by the presence of cuneiform texts. The team of PAMES identified this pottery in a Middle-Euphratean site for the first time. The Middle-Assyrian pottery of Tall Qabr Abū al-ʿAtīq is thus of great importance to our knowledge on the nature of the building found there, on the Assyrian presence in the region and, from a more general viewpoint, on the expansionist and administrative dynamics of Assyria in the period in question.
The pottery recovered from the Middle-Assyrian level of Tall Qabr Abū al-ʿAtīq corresponds to the so-called Middle Assyrian “administrative” or standardized pottery (second half of the 13th and 12th century BCE). These are highly homogeneous productions, with regard to both typology and technology, and, as a rule, they appear in association with Middle Assyrian administrative sites – as shown by the presence of cuneiform texts. The team of PAMES identified this pottery in a Middle-Euphratean site for the first time. The Middle-Assyrian pottery of Tall Qabr Abū al-ʿAtīq is thus of great importance to our knowledge on the nature of the building found there, on the Assyrian presence in the region and, from a more general viewpoint, on the expansionist and administrative dynamics of Assyria in the period in question.