Re: Semitic/Celtic Ties

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.
>