300w, 150w, 600w, 696w, 1392w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Lost-Lemnian-Etruscan-and-Raetic-language-were-all-closely-related.-Credit-Curious-Expeditions.-CC-BY-2.0-flickr.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />Lost Lemnian, Etruscan and Raetic language were all closely related under the banner of the Tyrrhenian language group. Credit: Curious Expeditions. CC BY 2.0/flickr
The ancient language Lemnian, which was spoken on the Greek island of Lemnos in the first millennium BC, was very closely connected with the Etruscan language, as uncovered inscriptions have found.
There have been 16 inscription remnants found that display Lemnian, a now-extinct language thought to have some relation to the Raetic language of the Alps and the Etruscan language of northern, central and south-western Italy, all forming part of the Tyrrhenian language group.
300w, 768w, 150w, 600w, 696w, 1392w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Area-of-Tyrrhenian-languages-Rhaetian-Etruscan-Lemnian-Paleo-Corsican-and-Paleo-Sardinian-languages.-Credit-Nunziu-Poggi.-CC-BY-4.0-Wikimedia-Commons.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />Area of Tyrrhenian languages (Rhaetian, Etruscan, Lemnian), Paleo-Corsican and Paleo-Sardinian languages. Credit: Nunziu Poggi. CC BY-4.0/Wikimedia Commons/Nunziu Poggi
The Tyrrhenian language group is generally considered to be formed of Paleo-European and non-Indo-European languages.
The Lemnos Stele
In use on the island of Lemnos in ancient Greece in the latter half of the 6th century BC, Lemnian first came to be known by the inscription on a funerary stone called the Lemnos Stele, which was discovered in 1884 embedded in a church near Kaminia, a village in the north of Lemnos.
The funerary stone is considered to be the most significant Lemnian artefact discovered to date, because its decoding has helped later scholars in their translations of the Etruscan language, which still presents some challenges.
The stele displays seven rows of letters on its front, with an additional three rows of letters on its right side, and although most of the inscription cannot be understood, there are a couple of passages which match phrases found on the funerary artefacts of the Etruscans.
In fact, one researcher who translated the intelligible parts of the Lemnian Stele wrote, “Although the inscriptions cannot be translated in their entirety, several phrases are intelligible, all of which point to funerary texts in honor of a Greek named Holaie Phokias.”
Holaie died at the age of 40, and held an official position known as maras, according to the researcher. However, it has been argued that because of the baldness of the deceased man etched onto the stele, he may have been much older than 40 when he died.
Lemnian is preserved on a total of 16 inscriptions, with most of them just a single word painted onto ceramic vessels. The inscriptions of the Lemnian language were written in analphabetwhich had its origins in Phyrgia (a Kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia), however a handful of letters – theta, phi and khi – were borrowed from Greek.
Words in the Lemnian inscriptions were separated by colons and tri-colons, with the writing being read from left to right and some lines in longer inscriptions written in boustrophedon style (right to left).
The Genetic Association Between Lemnian and Etruscan
One inscription, found by the Italian Archaeological School of Athens in the 1990s at the site of Efestia, uncovered a stone altar base. The front portion of the artefact was incised with four words arranged in two lines or right-to-left writing.
The four words were ‘heloke, hektaonosi, soroms, aslas. Researchers have deduced the meaning of the Lemnian verb ‘heloke’ by comparing it to the Etruscan word ‘helu’, meaning ‘constructed’.
Hektaonosi is believed to be the beneficiary for whom the altar base was created, while the meaning of the remaining two words is uncertain, although researchers posit that they may represent the names of the two people who donated the monument.
Etruscan boundary cippus from Fiesole. Credit: diffendale. CC BY 2.0/flickr
Among scholars, the Lemnian language surfaces during discussions on the origins of the Etruscans. There is a theory that the ancestors of the Etruscans arrived in Italy from the northern Aegean, possibly somewhere around the Black Sea, in the latter half of the 2nd millennium.
The discovery of Lemnian – linguistically related to Etruscan – in this geographical region is often used as evidence to support this theory, and is, to some extent in line with the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who said the Etruscans were descendants of the Lydians, the inhabitants of Anatolia.
But, there is no archaeological evidence to support the theory that prehistoric speakers of Etruscan made their way from the northern Aegean. Also, the linguistic evidence, although pointing to a close relation between Lemnian and Etruscan, does not answer the question of origins, which is further muddied by the addition of Raetic to this family of languages.
300w, 150w, 600w, 696w, 1392w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/etruscan_bronze.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />Linguists have seen correlations between Etruscan and Ancient Greek language from around the 10th century B.C. Image: Etruscan bronze chariot inlaid with ivory from, 6th century BC depicting Achilles. Credit: mharrsch / CC BY 2.0.
The Etruscans are one of the first peoples to inhabit central Italy beginning approximately in the 8th century B.C. They have puzzled historians and linguists alike, who have always seen them as a peculiar and mysterious people.
The first witness of Etruscans and speculation on their origin by Ancient Greek historians is from the 5th century B.C. This was half a millennium after they had settled in Italy. However, there was no consensus on this matter among Greeks.
From Titus Livius and contemporary Roman scholars onwards, debate on the origin of Etruscans has continued and has been divided into two camps. There are those who believe they came from the area of Central Italy they settled in and those who thought they came from the East.
The three proposed hypothesis of the origins of the Etruscans
There are three proposed hypotheses regarding the origins of the Etruscans. The first suggests autochthonous development in situ, originating from the Villanovan culture. This view, asserted by the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus, portrays the Etruscans as indigenous to Etruria, having always inhabited the region.
The second hypothesis proposes a migration from the Aegean Sea. According to two Greek historians, Herodotus and Hellanicus of Lesbos, the Etruscans either immigrated from Lydia in Anatolia or were Pelasgians originally from Thessaly, Greece, entering Italy at the head of the Adriatic Sea in Northern Italy.
The third hypothesis, presented by Livy and Pliny the Elder, places the Etruscans in the context of the Rhaetian people to the north and other populations residing in the Alps.
Greek Influence on Etruscan Language
Linguists have seen correlations between Ancient Greek (Lemnian in particular) from around the 10th century B.C. The idea that Lemnian, spoken on the island of Lemnos in the Northern Aegean Sea, and Etruscan are related has found much academic acclaim, although all of the languages in this linguistic group are now extinct.
The relationship between the Lemnian language from the Northern Aegean and Etruscan has been observed, notably due to certain similar words and a similar grammatical structure of grammatical cases.
Rhemnian (spoken by a people in the Alps), is also considered to be part of the same linguistic group. One of the notable proponents of this theory was philologist Massimo Pallottino, who specialized in Etruscan studies. The theory was first proposed in the 19th century, but the question about their actual origins remains.
300w, 1024w, 768w, 1536w, 150w, 600w, 696w, 1392w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/horizontal_etruscan_basrelief.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />Etruscan bas-relief with inscriptions, Archaeological Museum of Florence. Credit: Irene Ivanaj/Greek Reporter
The Etruscan alphabet itself derived from the Greek Euboean script, but it wasn’t fully deciphered until recently due mostly to a lack of texts beyond funerary inscriptions (filled with names, and not very useful for the understanding of sentence structure of phonetics).
The intense trade and cultural exchange allowed the Etruscans to adopt many Greek myths, customs, and potentially even to take on loan words. However, the words in question are very common words in daily use, usually the first to change as soon as a language or dialect deviates from the main one. Grammatical structure is a core characteristic that isn’t usually transposed.
The mysterious Etruscan civilization had a rather complex society. They were known for their iron working skills, although they relied on this mainly for decorative purposes and exported it for military use in the Mediterranean.They were formed around a Dodecapolis, where every individual polis had its particular organizational system and was established in remote places, usually by the sea with access to thermal springs. These cities betray the changing customs—from carving their Necropolis on the side of mountains and building stone domes for their dead to the creation of simpler sarcophagi. Such changes came about from this seafaring people’s contact with other civilizations.
225w, 768w, 1152w, 150w, 300w, 600w, 696w, 1392w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/stele_verticale_iscrizione.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />Etruscan stone with inscriptions, Archaeological Museum of Florence. Credit: Irene Ivanaj/ Greek Reporter
Etruscan women were known to be freer than most surrounding cultures and seemed to have a similar social standing to men, often leading to mockery by Romans as a result of their peaceful and contemplative life. However, some studies have brought to light that the genetic makeup of ancient Etruscans may be quite similar to that of the peoples of Anatolia. Other DNA studies, however, claim that Etruscans originated from the Steppes.
Exquisite gold jewelry has been detected in Etruscan cities, possibly with an Eastern twist to it. This has led some to believe they might have actually originated from Libya or North Africa. They traded with Greece and exported wines, had an inclination for crafts such as musical instruments, and were into rare goods. The Etruscans were not a group that cared much for conquest but preferred to remain occupied with poetry and music.
Italian Geologist Guido Rossi discovered the second largest cave in Asia in 1987 as mentioned in the video ( scroll to 1:31 ). I'm surprise that the local Filipinos never discovered this cave system before. Also, Spaniards have never mentioned this cave in their chronicles. The indigenous Negritos may have visited the caves long before however there was no evidence of inhabitation thus far.
Considering all of the largest caves in the world were discovered by indigenous people several thousand years ago, the Calbiga cave was only recently found by a foreign scientist.
Video
Pictures
What is the biggest cave in the Philippines?
Calbiga Cave
Calbiga Cave or Langun-Gobingob Caves (Eastern Samar)
The majority of this cave system, which is the biggest in the Philippines, the second largest in Asia, and the third largest karst formation in the world, is renowned for its speleothems and the diversity of its cave life.
History
1987
eyeless fish Caecogobius cryptophthalmus discovered by an Italian caver, the first known cave fish of the Philippines
CALBIGA, Samar—Amazing stalactites, stalagmites and other natural formations, bats, spiders, snakes, blind fishes and crabs. What more can be discovered inside the Calbiga Caves complex in Calbiga town in Samar?
For nearly a month, some of the best European speleologists and cave divers led by Matteo Rivadossi, accompanied by local spelunker Joni Abesamis Bonifacio and three other Samareños, explored the Calbiga Caves in April.
The expedition aimed to confirm an earlier theory that the municipality of Calbiga, and possibly the whole Samar Island, is crisscrossed by underground rivers. Organized by Odissea Naturavventura, it was a team up of two Italian caving associations, Gruppo Grotte Brescia.
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It had permission from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the municipality to explore the caves.
The team included geologist Guido Rossi, filmmaker Alessandro Gatti and Gigi Casati, both cave divers; Panizzon Stefano Lillo and Merigo Davide, both cave explorers, all Italians; Frenchmen Tristan Godet and Jean Paul Sounier, both cave explorers; Belgian Marc Vandermeulen, cave diver; Slovenian Rok Stopar, cave explorer/doctor; and Russian Maria Tikka, cave explorer.
Rivadossi, Rossi, Sounier, Godet and Lillo had been to the Calbiga Caves in 2009. They discovered the 6-kilometer Camparina-Ludi Bito-Burabod Cave, which has many branches connecting to a long and beautiful underground river.
Also in 2009, a three-member team of foreign cave divers—Americans Bruce Konefe and William Hudson, and German Thomas Bodis—found the Lurodpon Cave after diving into a submerged cave passage through the Langun-Gobingob cave system.
Cavers’ destination
A favorite destination of cavers, the Calbiga Caves can be reached in one and a half hours on a foot trail from the town proper. The system covers 2,968 hectares and is said to be the largest karst in the country and one of the largest in East Asia.
It has 12 caves, including Gobingob, Langun and Bitong Mahangin that boast of giant columns of stalactites and stalagmites, unique rock formations, underground water courses and springs.
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A team of Italian speleologists, who first explored the cave system in 1987, said that Langun, the main cave, has a chamber that is 270 meters long and 160 meters wide at its largest area, which can easily fit three football fields.
Gobingob, on the other hand, has a huge hall with beautiful stalagmite, stalactite and flewstone formations, while Bitong Mahangin has a single dry tunnel at the bottom of which lies a lush forest.
A protected area, the Calbiga Caves complex is the habitat of rare species of blind crabs and the 7-centimeter hypogean blind fish. At dusk, hundred of thousands of bats hover over the cave entrance.
The Italian cavers also noted in 1987 that the Calbiga has a “truly exceptional hydrogeological karst,” swallowing more than 20 watercourses.
Farther east, near Barangay Caamlongan, is another cave system called Canyawa Cave (Devil’s Cave), which was discovered and explored in 2002 by a team of French and Italian cavers. It consists of 15 galleries of distinctive features and underground rivers.
Bad weather
The latest expedition targeted the Langun-Gobingob, Camparina-Ludi Bito-Burabod, and the Lurodpon caves, as well as the Calidungan and Balogo springs. But bad weather prevented it from achieving good results.
“Sadly, 45 days of rain caused the river to become murky with zero visibility. It was then impossible to check in Calidungan,” a lake fed by the Magtingol River, according to Rivadossi.
He says the final result of the trek was “the reconstruction of the underground hydrographic net(work) from the inlet of Palaspas River into the 10-km cave system (Langun-Gobingob) to Balogo Spring.”
While waiting for the weather to improve, the experts went to other caves in Pinabacdao and Matuguinao, both Samar towns.
Still, Rivadossi says the adventure had been a fulfilling struggle “to pass through caves and enter into the vast world of nature’s magnificent phenomena!”
He explains that the team sought to see the unexplored side of the earth where no satellite or robot can ever do.
Passion, intrigue
“The cavers are not paid for their extraordinary curiosity. The intrigue on the magical possibilities and the search for new discoveries in the underground river (from the top to the spring) have become their passion for years,” Rivadossi says.
With the exploration, he adds, it is possible to make a deep investigation about the biology, hydrology or geology of the Calbiga Caves.
Mayor Melchor Nacario recently received word from American researchers from University of Texas that they wanted to study the complex in relation to climate change. They did not give details, however.
In studying climate change, some scientists are said to have explored caves to inspect stalagmites—known “archives” of the climate history dating back to tens of thousands years—in a particular area. The caves hold records that may give clues to climate change.
Stalagmites are formed as rainwater, mixed with calcium carbonate and other elements, makes its way through the ground and onto the cave floor, creating in time a column of rock.
Scientists would cut open the stalagmite, study its chemical content to determine the relative moisture of the climate at various periods in history, starting from the the oldest layers at the bottom to the present at the top.
We Found the Remains of Another Planet Inside Earth
A major discovery was recently made were far ranging implications for the field of geology. As, the remains of an ancient planet were found deep in Earth's lower mantle, and this seems to be linked to not only mantle plumes and flood basalts but also may have been the missing link necessary to initiate plate tectonics. This video will discuss this discovery involving the remains of a planet known as Theia.
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