Hmm, yep, I think I've got it... I just identified another
potential word in Minoan, /ipanam/. The correlating Etruscan
root appears to be /fan-/ "to consecrate" which is eery
because, judging by the texts, I already had read it as "holy"
and that it was an epithet of Assaram, possibly short for
"holy of holy".
It's even eerier because EteoCypriot /penem/ seems to
correlate with the above two. This is really getting cool!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now make sure you all refer to this site because I have
things to say about the texts thereon:
http://www.people.ku.edu/~jyounger/LinearA/HTtexts.html
I was also thinking about Minoan religion based on the texts
and I've come to the conclusion that it is a faith that believes
largely in simple male and female principles, like Yin and Yang,
celebrating its union to form "creation". The religion is
largely gynofocal because of the fact that it is the woman
that gives birth to life in the end and the male only supplies
the seed.
The ritual of libation (una kanasi), then, as is mentioned ad
nauseum in the existent Minoan texts, would be acted upon
appropriately by the priests of Assaram using water, oils,
wine or probably any liquid (erh... well maybe not all liquids).
The act symbolized the "spilling of seed" to impregnate the
chthonic mother goddess. Therefore, sex was a not just a
fun pasttime, it became something divine, entwined with
the fertility of earth itself.
These abstract "principles" could be called virtually anything
and could be easily superimposed onto any existing religion.
It seems that /Teuya/ (Diuia), /Assaram/ (Asherah) and
/Icamate/ (Demeter?) were some of the names given to
the female principle while the male principle had names like
/Teutinu/ (Dionysus) or perhaps /Tunu/ (Adonis). I suspect
that the chief, leader, king or what-have-you was thought
to be the embodiment of the male principle (cf. the whole
sun-king concept seen with Egyptian pharaohs) and as such
was considered the son, the husband and the father of the
female principle. Funny enough, there is one instance (cf.
IO Za 6) of Minoan text that might prove this outright if
my translation is correct:
TA-NA-I-*301-U-TI-NU � I-NA-TA-I-*79-DI-SI-KA �
JA-SA-SA-RA-ME �
Or rather "Tani Teutinu, in ati ceci sika, Assaram-e" which
says to me: "To this Dionysos, [and] to his mother,
grandmother and daughter, Assaram". Please note that
/ati/, /ceci/ and /sika/ correlate with Etruscan /ati/ "mother",
/teta/ "grandmother" and /s'ec/ "daughter". Now before
you think that I'm merely dividing the second phrase up
arbitrarily, please note the many instances of a single word
"sika" in a long list of seal impressions. I'll explain the full
extent of "sika" in the next paragraph.
This brings up another point about the female principle
which was subdivided into three stages of womanhood,
symbolizing birth (sika), protection (ati) and death/rebirth
(ceci). So the instances of "sika" refer somehow to birth,
creation or fertility (chthonic or otherwise).
Oh, and before I forget. The origin of the name "Dionysos",
if it relates to Teutinu might perhaps then have something
to do with "God Tammuz". It makes sense phonetically and
function-wise since Dionysos and Tammuz are equivalent to
a large extent. Just a thought for now.
Well, I guess that's everything for now. I know you all think
I'm nuts but I really want Minoan deciphered NOW!
- gLeN
_________________________________________________________________
Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail