Re: taurisci-taures-taurini

From: The Egyptian Chronicles
Message: 68305
Date: 2011-12-27

PATRICK  wrote: hello, there is somme etymology links between taurisci/taurusci celtic tribe = tauern mountain = taurus  taurini = lugurian people near alpes and Taures = scytian people living in Crimea mountains with IE tur- (?) something swell = latin turris and not bull = taur-
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ISHINAN:  No, there is no connection between the 'Taurini' people (an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, occupying the upper valley of the river Po (in the  centre of modern Piedmont), and the Gaelic term referring to a mountain. I would presume that you are referring to:
 
"tor 'high, rocky hill, mountain' from Gael. torr 'lofty hill, mound,' O.Welsh twrr 'heap, pile', 
which some etymologists connect with L. turris 'high structure' (see 'tower' ).  But sources disagree on whether the Celts borrowed it from the Anglo-Saxons or the other way round."
 
 
First,  if we go by the Roman sources,* (1) the term Taur- here is in reference to a Roman colony which was established in 27 BC with the name Castra Taurinorum and afterwards Julia Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin). Turin, as you know, is situated on the left bank of the Po River in northern Italy, surrounded by the Alpine arch, and is the capital of the Piedmont region.
 
A quick look at Turin's coat of arms, which is a blue shield with a crown adorned with a golden bull, is a powerful hint to the sense of  the  bull = taur- as the ultimate source and not to the 'alleged' Gaelic 'tor' = mountain.
Moreover, you might have wondered why I qualified the Gaelic  term 'tor' = mountain as alleged being Celtic. Actually, it is widely used in Arabic and to a lesser degree I think (if my memory serves me well) in Aramaic; hence, a full fledge Semitic term.
 
The following URL is a proof of my argument including various pertinent dictionary entries  and Turin coat of arms:
 
www.theegyptianchronicles.com/LINKS/TWR.html
 
 
Classical Arabic: 'Twr' is a mountain, specifically a mountain covered with trees, otherwise a mountain is not so called. Hence, Twr Sinai and Twr are references to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem or any mountain. While the term: 'Twriyuwn' refers to the highlander Arab nomads who dwell  in the wilderness of mountains. In fact, in Egypt there is a town in Sinai with the very  name of  'al-Twr' i.e. 'the mountain'.  The term is very ancient in the Classical Arabic language. 
 
Joyeux Noël 
 
Ishinan
 
 
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*(1) Both Livy (v. 34) and Strabo (iv. p. 209) speak of the country of the Taurini as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times.