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Hand of Irulegi

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Hand of Irulegi
Close-up picture of the Hand of Irulegi in the surroundings of Pamplona
YearBetween 80 and 72 BC
Mediumbronze
Subjecthand-shaped charm
Dimensions143.1 mm × 127.9 mm (5.63 in × 5.04 in)
Weight35.9
ConditionFair
LocationAranguren, Navarre, Spain
WebsiteAranzadi Science Society

The Hand of Irulegi is a late Iron Age archaeological artifact unearthed in 2021 during excavations in the archaeological site of Irulegi (Navarre) [eu],[1] next to the medieval castle of Irulegi, located in the municipality of Aranguren, Spain. The bronze artifact has the distinctive shape of a right hand with extended fingers. It has five separate strings of letters, probably corresponding to five or more words, carved on the side that represents the back of a hand.

Context and form

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The "Hand of Irulegi"[a] has been a working title assigned to the archaeological find. It dates from the 1st century BC. At the time, during the period of Sertorian Wars, the native population took sides and the settlement came under attack, extending the fire throughout the fortified town as a result.[3] As outlined by Juantxo Agirre Mauleon, secretary of the Science Society Aranzadi, which conducted the excavation, the roof of the dwelling collapsed, which allowed for the preservation of archaeological remains under the debris. The hand may have hung from the door, where it provided protection for the house.[3] According to a report in The Economist, 'such striking hand-shaped designs are unknown in Spanish or neighbouring cultures'.[4] It has been linked to Iberian and Celtiberian trophies representing the cut hand of a defeated enemy.[5] However, similar objects known as hamsa are found in various cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, including Phoenician colonies in the Iberian peninsula.

Inscription

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The inscription was incised and later marked over with dots. The letters do not match exactly in the scratched and the dotted version. It is unclear if both versions are from the same author or the dotted version is from a second author.[6]

The text as published before cleaning can be transliterated from Northeastern Iberian script as:

sorioneku · {n}
tenekebeekiŕateŕe[n]
oNiŕtan · eseakaŕi
eŕaukon ·

After cleaning, the texts are transliterated as:

Incised text[6] Incised text[7] Dotted text[6]

sorioneke
kunekeřekiřateŕe//n
oTiřtaneseakaŕi
eŕaukon

sorioneke
kunekeřekiřateŕen
ońiřtaś̠ese akaŕi
eŕaukon

sorioneku·
kunekebeekiŕateŕe//n
oTiŕtan·eseakaŕi
eŕaukon·

The dotted text differs in the use of ⟨·⟩. While it could have been used as a word divider, it is used at the end of the lines 1 and 4, where the line break would already signal a different word. On line 3 it has a different aspect, leading to questions about its use. The symbol transliterated as ⟨ř⟩ corresponds to the Iberian letter usually transliterated as ⟨ŕ⟩ but with a horizontal line across the descender. This is the first time this shape is found. It may represent a multiple alveolar consonant.[7] A symbol scratched in line 2 as ⟨ř⟩ is dotted as be1 be, perhaps by the dotting author misreading the incision.[6]

The first string of letters is read as sorioneku in its dotted version, echoed in the present-day Basque language by the widely used zorioneko, a declined word meaning "(of) good fortune(s)". The modern meaning of zorioneko as "(of) good fortune" is not attested in Basque before the 18th century,[8] but a flection-derivation of the sequence zori ‘fortune’ (h)on ‘good’ is of early date within the Basque vocabulary; even the union of both elements is recorded in the oldest Basque documents.[9] The sgraffito version, however, offers sorioneke. This word could mention the divinity, be it Good Fortune or another deity, to which the inscription would have been dedicated.[9]

The first word is accompanied by at least four other words whose meaning is not as apparent. The inscription contains a ⟨T⟩-shaped letter that has only been found in Vasconic areas,[10] previously seen on two coins.[11][12] The phonetic value of this letter is known, it is N, but transliterated as capital ⟨T⟩ above. Two unpublished coins found at the same location are minted in oNtikes.[5]

Three groups of one line in Iberian script and one line in Latin transliteration.
Transcription of characters into the Latin alphabet before the cleaning.

Among the rest of the words identified, eŕaukon is the most likely to be a verbal form, both because of its form and its final position. Its form recalls the Basque form of the past tense of the auxiliary verb zeraukon, used in eastern dialects.[9]

Discovery

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Although announced on 14 November 2022, with the intervention of the regional president of Navarre, the unearthing goes back to June 2021, when the excavating team led by Mattin Aiestaran found it. The piece was then handed over to researchers for their consideration, who have hailed it as highly important.[3][10]

On 18 January 2022, during the cleaning process, Carmen Usua, the restorer, noticed that there was writing present.[13] Epigraphers found that the hand had a natural downward position.[14]

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  • A detailed metallic hand with the fingers up and covered with a Himyaritic inscription.
    This metallic hand from 2nd-3rd century AD Zafar, Yemen with a dedication to Ta'lab has been offered as a distant parallel.[5]
  • A broken stone prism with inscriptions and hand-shaped reliefs.
    The 1st-2nd century AD La Vispesa (Huesca province) stela (exhibited upside down) features downwards cut hands and a dismembered handless corpse.[5]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Basque: Irulegiko eskua, Spanish: Mano de Irulegi[2]

References

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  1. ^ Aiestaran, Mattin; González, Daniel Ruiz; Sesma, Jesús Sesma; Gazólaz, Jesús García; Alustiza, José Antonio Mujika; Avilés, Eneko Iriarte; Mauleon, Juantxo Agirre (2021). "Trabajos arqueológicos en el yacimiento de Irulegi (Valle de Aranguren)" [Archaeological work at the Irulegi site (Valley of Aranguren)]. Trabajos de arqueología Navarra (in Spanish). 33: 103–111. ISSN 0211-5174. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  2. ^ "El Gobierno de Navarra quiere garantizar el libre uso de la Mano de Irulegi y formula su oposición al registro de marcas y diseños". Navarra.es (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-12.
  3. ^ a b c "They discover "the oldest written testimony in the Basque language" in a bronze from the 1st century BC found in Navarra". Time News. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  4. ^ 'Written Basque may be 1,000 years older than anyone thought', The Economist (17 November 2022).
  5. ^ a b c d Beltrán Lloris, Francisco (28 December 2023). "Una mano cortada" [A cut hand] (PDF). Fontes Linguae Vasconum (in European Spanish) (136): 503–514. doi:10.35462/flv136.9_2. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Gorrochategui, Joaquín; Velaza, Javier (28 December 2023). "La mano de Irulegi: edición y comentarios epigráficos y lingüísticos" [The Hand of Irulegui: edition and epigraphic and linguistic commentaries] (PDF). Fontes Linguae Vasconum (in European Spanish) (136): 491–502. doi:10.35462/flv136.9_1. hdl:2445/206693. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b Ferrer i Jané, Joan (28 December 2023). "La inscripción vascónica de la mano de Irulegi desde la perspectiva ibérica" [The Vasconic inscription of the hand of Irulegi from the Iberian perspective]. Fontes Linguae Vasconum (in European Spanish) (136): 515–538. doi:10.35462/flv136.9_3. ISSN 2530-5832. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  8. ^ Lakarra, Joseba A. (28 December 2023). "Zorioneko y zorion: lo que nos dice de ellos la historia de la lengua vasca" [Zorioneko and zorion : what the history of the Basque language tells us about them]. Fontes Linguae Vasconum (in European Spanish) (136): 597–615. doi:10.35462/flv136.9_8. ISSN 2530-5832. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Aiestaran, Mattin (27 December 2023). "La inscripción vascónica de Irulegi (Valle de Aranguren, Navarra)" [La inscripción vascónica de Irulegi (Valle de Aranguren, Navarra)]. Palaeohispanica (in European Spanish). 23 (23): 267–293. doi:10.36707/palaeohispanica.v23i0.560 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 1578-5386. Retrieved 23 February 2024.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  10. ^ a b Conde-Egia, Eider (14 November 2022). "La escritura en la mano" [The writing in the hand]. Aranzadi (in Spanish). aramzadi. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Unit, Ontikes gens". en.numista.com. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  12. ^ "¼ Unit, Umanbaate". en.numista.com. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  13. ^ Imaz, Andoni (14 November 2022). ""Hizkuntza baskonikozko idazkunik zaharrena aurkitu dute Nafarroan, K. a. I mendekoa: 'sorioneku'"" ["The oldest writing in the Basque language has been found in Navarre, B.C. 1st century: 'sorioneku'»]. Berria (in Basque). Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Hizkuntza baskonikozko idazkunik zaharrenaren aurkikuntza (azpitituluekin)" [The discovery of the oldest written text in the Basque language (with subtitles)] (in Basque). berriatb. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022 – via YouTube.
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