(A preliminary report)
(Part 3 of 3)
By
POLAT KAYA, M. Sc. E. E.
Copyright © 1997
6. THE PEOPLE WHO SPOKE THIS LANGUAGE
Historians tell us that the population of Lemnos island at about 600 B. C. were Pelasgians. In view of these revelations from the inscription on this stele, we may have to think of the Pelasgian population as people of Central Asiatic origin and also as people who spoke a form of Turkish language.
Pelasgians were pre-Hellenic, non Indo-European speaking people who inhabited the area long before the Greek migrations to the area started. In order to shed more light on Pelasgians, I have chosen to quote the entry on Pelasgians in the Encyclopedia Britannica [5, p. 448] by B. C. F. Atkinson, formerly Under-Librarian, University Library, Cambridge University, below (I have indicated in bold parts of Atkinson's entry in order to highlight the relative importance of the Pelasgians in the area they lived and their identity with respect to the real Greeks):
"PELASGIANS. Various traditions were current among the Greeks with regard to the pre-Greek inhabitants of their country. They were inclined to call all these by the general name of Pelasgians, although they recognized Carians and Leleges as distinct. The Dorians claimed that the Ionians were Pelasgian or at least mainly so, and that they themselves were true Greeks. The inhabitants of Attica, who were regarded as Ionian, boasted that they were autochthonous, the original inhabitants of the land.
In the Homeric poems Pelasgians appear as allies of Troy. They appear to be settled in south-eastern Thrace close to the Hellespont in a district called Larissa (Il., ii. 840-843, x.429). Some suppose that the Larissa here mentioned is the town of that name in Thessaly, but the catalogue of ships, in which the passage occurs, appears to follow a definite geographical order. Larissa stands between the Hellespont and Thrace. The Iliad also refers to the district of Argos near Mt. Othrys in Tessaly as Pelasgic, and also uses the same epithet in a famous passage of the Zeus of Dodona (Il., ii. 681-684,xvi. 233-235). In the Odyssey Pelasgians appear in Crete (Od. xvii. 175-177). Hesiod refers to Dodona as 'seat of Pelasgians,' while Hecataeus refers to Pelasgus as king of Thessaly. To Aeschylus and Sophocles Argos in the Peloponnese is the Pelasgian land. Herodotus knows of actual Pelasgians at Placie and Scylace and the Asiatic coast of the Hellespont as well as near Creston on the Strymon. The islands of Lemnos and Imbros had also, he informs us, a Pelasgian population, conquered by Athens at the close of the 6th century. Apart from these actual instances of Pelasgians, both Herodotus and Thucydides appear to regard any survival from pre-Greek times as Pelasgic. A well known example of this is the prehistoric wall of the Athenian acropolis, anciently regarded and still commonly referred to as Pelasgian, and the epithet spread to all similar prehistoric masonry, especially that built of large blocks, in any part of Greece.
It has been held that the common Greek tradition arose from a misunderstanding, particularly perhaps by Hesiod and Hecataeus, of the two passages in the Iliad in which the Zeus of Dodona and the Thessalian Argos are referred to as Pelasgic. Where Homer used a general epithet meaning 'remotely ancient,' later writers have wrongly concluded that he referred specifically to actual Pelasgians as inhabitants of these places. If this is so, the problem is merely thrown farther back, for an explanation is needed of how the epithet Pelasgic had attained the general meaning of 'ancient' by the time of the composition of the Homeric poems. To certain people at a certain period 'Pelasgic' must have been a specific epithet. The Pelasgians must have been regarded either as very ancient people or as former inhabitants of the land. Much turns upon the meaning of the epithet Pelasgic as applied in the Iliad to the Zeus of Dodona. Zeus is the last one would expect to be referred to as Pelasgic, for of all the gods' names his is most certainly Greek. The simplest explanation is perhaps that there existed at Dodona a very ancient pre-Greek or pre-Achaean shrine occupied by Greeks who attached to the deity the name of their own god Zeus.
All instances of actual Pelasgians from Homer to Herodotus point to their being a northern people. Thrace, Epirus and Thessaly are their homes. It is certain that there were pre-Achaeans inhabitants of Greece. The simplest view now held is that Greek-speaking peoples broke down into Greece from the North in three successive waves, Ionian, Achaean and Dorian, subduing a previous 'Helladic' population and setting up, after a second invasion (i.e., of Achaeans), the Mycenean civilization in the Peloponnese. If this is the simplest view, it does not solve all problems and it does not as yet rest upon a certain foundation of fact. An early stratum of population in Greece was in close touch with Anatolia. A large number of Greek place-names point to the conclusion that Greece was colonized from Anatolia. By whom we do not know, and we are also ignorant of what language these early people spoke. It is also possible that the Achaeans themselves were in Asia Minor before they were in Greece and that they brought thither the Anatolian place-names. It is no more than tradition that connects such early people with the Pelasgians.
The name Pelasgi which almost certainly stands for Pelak-skoi or Pelag-Skoi has been connected with pelagos, 'the sea,' and the people consequently regarded as sea-faring. The connection is not very convincing. It has also been related to the name of the semi-Illyrian Pelagones of Macedonia, and it is possible, though unproven, that the names do represent the same stem. Possibly the Pelasgians were no more than Vlachs, or Wallachian shepherds, who in classical as in modern times have been in the habit of wandering in large numbers down into Greece. The name is perhaps no more than Velak-Ski. If this were so, it would account for their being dotted over various regions in Thrace and the north and also, if their habits were the same at the dawn of history as afterwards, of their being an ancient and integral part of Greek tradition and life. G. Sergi describes as Pelasgian' one branch of the Mediterranean or Euro-African race.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.- Beloch, Griechische Geschichte I. 2 p. 162 seq,; E. Meyer, Geschichte des Altertums I., 2 p. 767 seq. (3rd ed.); A. Fick, Vorgriechische Ortsnamen (1905); J. L. Myers, 'A History of the Pelasgian Theory,' in Journal of Hellenic Studies XXVII., 171 seq. (1906); Treidler, 'Alte Volker der Balkanhalbilsel' in Archiv. fur Antropologie XL. 101 seq. (1913); H. Ehrlich, 'Pelasger und Etrusker' in Verhandlungen d. 52 Phil-Vers. in Marburg (1913), p.150; A. Debrunner, 'Der Besiedlung des alten Griechenland im Licht der Sprachwissenschaft' in Neue Jahrbuch fur d. Klassische Altertumwissenschaft, XLI. p. 443 (1918). (B. F. C. A.)"
From Atkinson's well researched entry given above, we may infer and/or add to it the following points:
a) Could it be that only the Dorians represented the Greek identity while Carians (Kara + ian), Leleges (Lelek + es), Achaean (Aka + ean), Pelasgians (Pelesge + ian) which are all Altaic sounding words, were all non Indo-European and all probably Central Asiatic origin? Indo-European speaking Greeks had a way of Hellenizing foreign words that they could not say. Obviously, that is what they did in the case of the many names related to these non Indo-European people.
b) It appears that a good portion of mainland Greece, Thrace, western Balkans, western coasts of Anatolia and a number of Aegean islands including Crete were inhabited by Pelasgians. In these lands, after they were conquered by Hellenic people, Pelesgians eventually blended in with the Hellenic people and lost their non Indo-European Central Asiatic identity.
c) From the reading of the Lemnos Island inscription, It is now quite clear that Pelasgians called themselves SAKA and their "Sky God" as "SAIS". Thus, it seems that the Greek name "Zeus" is nothing but an Hellenized version of this Pelasgian name. Similarly, 'Zeus of Dodona' is the Pelasgian SAIS. We should note that the Pelasgian SAIS also corresponds to 'Ais' of Etruscans [1, p. 142], a deity which is same as the 'Ak Ayas' or 'Ayas' of Central Asiatic people [8]. Hence, it is clear that Pelasgians brought their deity SAIS [= Ak Ayas or Ayas] to Balkans (e.g. Dodona) from Central Asia and eventually the epithet SAIS turned into Hellenic 'Zeus' by ancient Greeks. It seems that this Lemnos island inscription puts the 'Greek origin' of the Greek mythological god Zeus into question.
d) It should also be noted that all these divinity names such as "Sais, Zeus, Ais, and Ayas or Ak Ayas, represent the Sky God in the Pelasgian, Etruscan, Hellenic and Turkic Saka and Central Asiatic Turkic shaman cultures. The name of this divinity must have been brought all the way from Central Asia to the Balkans and Mediterranean coasts by the Turkic speaking SAKA peoples and their ancestors. For example, if some scholars find cultural affinity between the Etruscans and Pelasgians, and also find their inscriptions related to each other, it seems that this affinity between these two ancient peoples is due to the existence of a real kinship between them.
e) It is most likely that Greek culture borrowed considerably from and was built upon the Pelasgian culture during its well known development. However historically, Pelasgians did not get any credit for their achievements while Greeks took all the credit.
f) Historians say that in about 600 B. C., Athens fought against Pelasgians of Lemnos for the control of a town named Sigeion (Sige +ion) [12,p.56] on the Asian side of the southern tip of Hellespont (Dardanelles). We also note from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey that at about 1200 B. C. when Troy was attacked by the King Agamemnon of Mycenae, Pelasgians were allies of Troy. The reason for this alliance may be that either Pelasgians had land holdings next to Troy and did not want to lose it to Mycenaeans or they were kins of Troyans or both. In any case, Pelasgians must have been in control of not only the islands of Lemnos and Imbros in the Aegean Sea but also some land in Thrace and in Asia Minor between 1200 B.C. and 600 B. C.. This shows the extend of the Pelasgian presence in the area.
7. CONCLUSION
1. The people inhabiting the Lemnos island at and before 600 B.C. were called PELASGIANS, although according to the Lemnos island inscription, they called themselves as SAKA. The Pelasgians were a non Indo-European people and were speaking a non Indo-European language. The Lemnos island inscription represents the language of this people. This first time reading of the Lemnos island inscription clearly identifies the Altaic nature of the language in which the inscription is written. The readily recognizable words are not only Altaic in nature but are unquestionably Turkish. This study identifies the language of Pelasgians as an early form of Altaic languages, perhaps a year-600 B. C. version of Turkish.
2. Deciphering of this ancient inscription, as I have shown in this study for the first time, establishes the presence of Turkic speaking SAKA (Scytians) peoples and their kins PELASGIANS called as such by the Greeks, in the Aegean islands and in the Balkans during the pre-historic times from 1200 B.C. to 600 B.C.. Ancient Greek historians, like Heredotus, identify the population of Lemnos and Imbros islands as Pelasgians.
3. Turkic speaking Pelasgians must have been direct kins of Central Asiatic Saka people who arrived in the Balkans and then onto some of the Aegean Sea islands in waves of migrations from Central Asia long before the 6th century B. C. and adapted themselves to the environment conditions of the area. They became sea faring people as well as carried on their animal husbandry under the local conditions. It is most likely that they used the Eurasian landmass which has been one of the most active migration paths of the Asiatic people into the European continent.
4. The lettering found in the inscription from Lemnos island makes a definite connection to the Runic inscriptions from Central Asia: for example, a) to the inscription found in the Issik Kurgan near Almati (Alma Ata) in Kazakistan; b) to the Turkic Orhun and Yenisei inscriptions; c) to the Saka and Hun inscriptions, and d) to Pechenek writings. The Runic alphabet that Turks have used in their inscriptions does not seem to have originated in Europe, although it was used by Europeans. It seems that the Runic type of writing has spread into Central and Northern Europe from Eurasia. Surely, new studies will enlighten this further.
5. At the risk of attracting criticism, I will pose the question, "did the Pelasgians learn their alphabet from Hellenic people or did they bring it with them from their Asiatic homeland? There seems to be an unquestioned acceptance by some scholars that non Indo-European peoples (such as Etruscans and Pelasgians), living in Europe contemporarily with Indo-Europeans, took their alphabet from Hellenic people. How sure are we about such declarations? Have all the European and Asiatic artifacts been truly examined and appraised in fairness in a light other than the Indo-European light? Perhaps new scholars in the field could be more open minded and examine it from an Asiatic view point also.
6. It is said that there are many already discovered Pelasgian artifacts (some probably with inscriptions on them) and most likely, more will be discovered in the future. In trying to read such documents, the inquiry should encompass all possibilities.
7. It is hoped that scholars will complete translation of the inscription on the Lemnos stele and check out the validity of what I have described in this study.
8. REFERENCES:
1. Giuliano Bonfante and Larissa Bonfante, "The Etruscan Language An Introduction'", New York
University Press, New York and London, 1983.
2. H. H. Scullard, "The Etruscan Cities and Rome", Thames and Hudson, 1967.
3. Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 1, p. 662-669, 1963, under the entry of "Alphabet".
4. Hüseyin Namik Orkun, "Eski Türk Yazitlari", Türk Dil Kurumu Yayinlari: 529, Ankara,1987 .
5. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1963, vol. 17, p. 448-449, under the entry of "Pelasgians".
6. Adile Ayda, "Etrüskler Türk mü idi?", Türk Kültürünü Arastirma Enstitüsü Yayinlari, No.43, Ankara,1974.
7. Faruk K. Timurtas, "Seyhi ve Cagdaslarinin Eserleri Üzerinde Gramer Arastirmalari II Sekil Bilgisi",
Türk Dili ArastirmalariYilligi, Belleten,1961, 2. baski.
8. Mircea Eliade, "Shamanism Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy", Princeton University Press, 1964.
9. Dr. Ilhami Durmus, "Iskitler (Sakalar)", Türk Kültürünü Arastsrma Enstitüsü Yayinlari:141,
Seri III - Sayi: B-8, Ankara,1993.
10. Kemal Alisar Akisev, "Kurgan Issik" Moskova : Iskustvo, 1978.
11. Olcas Suleymanov, "Ceti Sudin Kone Cazbalari", Kazak Edebiyati, 25 September 1970: 1-3.
12. Anton Powell, "Cultural Atlas of Young People ANCIENT GREECE", Facts on File, New York, 1989.
13. Prof. Dr. Muharrem Ergin, "Orhun Abideleri", 12. Baski, Bogaziçi Yayinlari, Istanbul 1988.
14. "Karsilastirmali TÜRK LEHÇELERI SÖZLÜGÜ I ve II", Kültür Bakanligi / 1371, Kaynak Eserler /54, Ankara, 1991.
END OF PAPER
Lemnos Island Inscription graphics:
