071202 |
Making Sense of “Nonsense” Inscriptions:
Non-Greek Words Associated with Amazons and Scythians
on Ancient Greek Vases |
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Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University; John
Colarusso, McMaster University; and David Saunders, J.
Paul Getty Museum |
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Abstract: More than 2,000 “nonsense”
inscriptions (meaningless strings of Greek letters)
appear on ancient Greek vases. We ask whether some
nonsense inscriptions and non- Greek words associated
with figures of Scythians and Amazons represent
meaningful sounds (phonemes) in foreign languages
spoken in “Scythia” (Black Sea-Caucasus region). We
analyze the linguistic patterns of nonsense
inscriptions and non-Greek words on thirteen vases
featuring Scythians and Amazons by otherwise literate
vase painters (550-450 BC). Our results reveal that for
the first time in more than two millennia, some
puzzling inscriptions next to Scythians and Amazons can
be deciphered as appropriate names and words in ancient
forms of Iranian, Abkhazian, Circassian, Ubykh, and
Georgian. These examples appear to be the earliest
attestations of Caucasian and other “barbarian”
tongues. This new linguistic approach to so-called
nonsense inscriptions sheds light on Greco-Scythian
relations, literacy, bilingualism, iconography, and
ethnicity; it also raises questions for further
study. |
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This paper replaces 031201 originally published in
March 2012. |
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031201 |
Making Sense of “Nonsense” Inscriptions:
Non-Greek Words Associated with Amazons and Scythians
on Ancient Greek Vases |
|
Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University; John
Colarusso, McMaster University; and David Saunders, J.
Paul Getty Museum |
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Revised July 2012. See 071202 entry. |
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051101 |
The Deadly Styx River and the Death of
Alexander |
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Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University and Antoinette
Hayes, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals |
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Abstract: Plutarch, Arrian, Diodorus,
Justin, and other ancient historians report that rumors
of poisoning arose after the death of Alexander in
Babylon in 323 B.C. Alexander’s close friends suspected
a legendary poison gathered from the River Styx in
Arcadia, so corrosive that only the hoof of a horse
could contain it. It’s impossible to know the real
cause of Alexander’s death, but a recent toxicological
discovery may help explain why some ancient observers
believed that Alexander was murdered with Styx poison.
We propose that the river harbored a killer bacterium
that can occur on limestone rock deposits. This paper
elaborates on our Poster presentation, Toxicological
History Room, XII International Congress of Toxicology,
Barcelona, 19-23 July 2010, and Society of Toxicology
Annual Meeting, Washington DC, March 2011. |
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This paper replaces 091008 originally published in
September 2010 and 071001 originally published in July
2010. |
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091008 |
The Deadly Styx River and the Death of
Alexander |
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Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University |
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Revised May 2011. See 051101 entry. |
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071001 |
The Deadly Styx River and the Death of
Alexander |
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Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University |
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Revised September 2010. See 091010 entry. |
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061001 |
Sweating Truth in Ancient Carthage |
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Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University |
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Abstract: Richard Miles’s Carthage Must
Be Destroyed (2010) justifies a new look at Gustave
Flaubert’s controversial novel Salammbô (1862).
An abridged version of this essay appeared as
“Pacesetter,” London Review of Books 32 (June
2010): 30-31. |
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