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Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Claims that the Israeli occupation has withdrawn from areas in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun, al-Tuffah, and al-Shujaiya are false
Hamas: The two delegations stressed that any negotiations must lead to the achievement of our people's goals and aspirations, foremost among which is ending the war and the complete withdrawal of enemy forces
Hamas: A delegation from the Hamas leadership, led by the head of the leadership council, Mohammad Darwish, met with an Islamic Jihad delegation, headed by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Spain: Words carved on a bronze hand may rewrite history for some

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 26 Nov 2022 09:36
2 Min Read

The owners of the hand, dubbed the Hand of Irulegi, are thought to be members of an Iron Age tribe known as the Vascones who lived in Spain's Navarra region.

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  • Bronze amulet shaped like a hand
    Bronze amulet shaped like a hand

Last year, a bronze amulet fashioned like a hand was discovered during an ancient dig in Spain.

However, the restoration of the item recently uncovered unusual phrases thought to be part of the forerunner to the contemporary Basque Language, also known as Euskara.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Spain and Southwest France speak Basque nowadays. It is Europe's only surviving "language isolate," which means it is unrelated to either the Greek-Romano language of the south or the Indo-European Celtic languages of the north and east.

The Pamplona amulet has the word "sorioneku," which is similar to the Basque term zorioneku, which means "lucky." The current opinion holds that it was hanging above the entryway to a mud brick cottage in the 1960s BCE.

The researchers at the Aranzadi Science Society were unable to identify any of the other words on the hand, leading to the theory that it could be from the Basque people's precursor language, before a gradual borrowing of Roman terms contributed to around 40% of the contemporary Basque vocabulary.

It is worth noting that the owners of the hand, dubbed the Hand of Irulegi, are thought to be members of an Iron Age tribe known as the Vascones who lived in Spain's Navarra region.

"This item turns what we assumed about the Basques and writing upside down," says Joaqun Gorrochategui, a philologist at the University of the Basque Country, in a statement issued by the Aranzadi Science Society, which has been excavating the site since 2017.

“We were almost convinced that the Basques were illiterate in ancient times.”

It's possible that Euskara was fully established as a language before the millennium's turn.

The letters on the hand were carved out of small dots rather than straight lines, which was never seen in any writing in the ancient Western World.

Clearly, the Basques have secrets to reveal, and it's no surprise that their language and culture have lasted so long given the potential cultural growth.

  • Spain
  • Iron age
  • Vascones
  • Navarra
  • Basque Language

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