
New example of rare Etruscan writing found - Phithagoras
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/rare-example-of-lost-language-found-on-stone-hidden-2500-years-ago/
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eggy
Great news for Etruscan scholars. I could relate to the point that most of the
examples of Etruscan writing they have is from graves or tombs. I worked at
the Brooklyn Museum in the 80s and was fascinated, as were most, by Egyptian
Heiroglyphics. One of the curators of that department told me that a lot of
them were about etiquette, very mundane and boring in subject matter. So I am
sure that Etruscan scholars are chomping at the bit to get to this snippet.

From a linguistic point, like Basque, Etruscan seems to have been isolated
from the languages spoken around them. The thought is perhaps they were
neolithic natives to the area.

I studied the Celts back in the 80s, and Celt really refers to a common
culture of shared art, social norms, beliefs and less about race or genetic
group. Etruscan as a language was truly different than Celtic and other
surrounding language groups. There were so many different bands of Celts in a
set time period from Turkey to the UK and Ireland. Comparatively, their women
also fought with the men. Celtic Queen Boudicea is a Celt from the British
Isles that fought the Romans in 60-65 AD. Celtic women did have positions of
status as evidenced by objects found in their tombs.

I can't wait to hear about what the snippet is. I am hoping by longshot it is
something more than an honorific, or at least names a God or other figure.

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bpicolo
> Great news for Etruscan scholars.

Doesn't sound like a huge group.

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leoc
IIRC a better understanding of Etruscan civilisation would be of major
significance to our understanding of the history of ancient Rome, a subject
which still seems to have a pretty wide following.

~~~
bpicolo
Never said it wasn't, hah. I'm a huge fan of ancient civilizations. Was just
making a note

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PhantomGremlin
The most interesting part of the story:

 _But we know almost nothing about their daily lives, in part because most of
their writing was recorded on perishable objects like cloth or wax tablets._

Fast Forward 2800 years. What of our Dropbox files, helium filled hard drives,
USB thumb drives, DVD-R discs, LTO tapes, etc will survive? Nothing. Because
who will be copying all those bits every 5 years into the next latest trend in
storage? Nobody.

So all of the insights recorded in the ancient Hacker News community forum
will be lost to antiquity. :)

Edit: if perchance this post survives for 2800 years: Hi!

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Aelinsaar
It really can't be overstated; prior to this the amount of writing was
basically zilch, and it was almost all grave markers. There wasn't really an
expectation that would ever change, so this is a hugely pleasant surprise.

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nsajko
This contains just 70 legible _letters and punctuation marks_ , less than your
comment; so there's not really that much potential for understanding new
words.

The largest Etruscan body of text we have is 1200 words, it somehow ended up
as wrappings for a mummy in Egypt.

~~~
lgas
I guess it can be overstated.

~~~
Aelinsaar
I guess so!

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zeemonkee3
If only the Emperor Claudius' dictionary survived.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius#Scholarly_works_and_t...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius#Scholarly_works_and_their_impact)

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__michaelg
Isn't the real question whether we need to update Unicode now?

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thedogeye
It doesn't count til somebody finds an Etruscan orgy painting.

