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Re: Semitic/Celtic Ties

From:Padraic Brown <pbrown@...>
Date:Monday, March 8, 1999, 23:08
On Mon, 8 Mar 1999, Raymond A. Brown wrote:

> Actually it's very easy to interpret an obscure text as any language you > want if you've got a bit of imagination. Just as a trial I once took an > obscure 'Eteocretan' insciption and tried to "translate" it as though it > were Celtic. It was much easier than I expected - and that one even had > spaces marked! > > "Ah, who shall make thy soul tp stand in paradise? THE VIRGIN" - it read. > "Evidence" for a Celtic civilization in Crete worshipping the Mother > Goddess? Not likely! I was well aware of the weaknesses that any serious > an objective Celticist would soon spot. But I've a feeling I could easily > have persuaded the gullible. >
Hey, that's not bad, Ray! I remember seeing one similar where this fellow ran a Basque shopping list or somesuch through some complex machination and came up with a Dutch sentence about a squirrel sitting on the roof. I rather like the sentence you came up with. Do you still happen to have the "Celtic" version of it by any chance? Padraic.
> I guess the 19th cent. crackpot did persuade the gullible, i.e. himself :) > > No - Punic inscriptians do survive - they clearly spoke a Semitic language > - the Phoenician of their motherland. > > Ray. >