PART
5 –
Ch.XXXII.4
The
Pelasgians or proto – Latins (Arimii)
(The
southern Pelasgians)
XXXII.
4. Pelasgians in Egypt
and Libya.
The current of
Pelasgian migration towards the southern regions had also extended over the northern region of Africa. Even since the first Neolithic
times and, we could say, even since the last times of the Paleolithic epoch,
numerous pastoral Pelasgian tribes had passed over the continents of Europe and Asia Minor, to the
fertile plains of the Nile and from there to the vast regions of Libya.
These pastoral, and
at the same time warlike tribes, which nevertheless were endowed with great
civilizing qualities, had founded the first political reign over Egypt.
The most ancient
Egyptian dynasty, so-called of the “gods”,
was of Pelasgian nationality (Manetho,
Fragmenta in Frag. Hist. graec. II. p. 526 seqq; Diodorus, lib. I. c. 13). The
Greeks, as we know, also attributed the epithet of dioi or “divine”, only to
the Pelasgians.
Saturn, one of the
most illustrious forefathers of the Pelasgian race, had ruled, as historical
traditions tell us, not only in Europe, but also over Egypt and Libya (Diodorus Siculus, lib. I. 13).
Thebes, the oldest and
grandest capital of Egypt, has a Pelasgian
name. Homer calls it the citadel
with immense riches and with 100 gates (Iliad, IX. v. 381-383). There also
existed the tradition that the city of Thebes from Egypt had been founded
by a Pelasgian king, Ogygus of Beotia (Tzetzes,
Lycophorn, v. 1206), who had lived before the great flood of Deucalion (Noah).
Finally, the Thebans, as Diodorus
writes, had the same tradition as the Pelasgians of Europe, that they were the
most ancient people on earth (lib. I. 50).
The ancient
religion of the Egyptians also has the character of its Pelasgian nationality.
The Egyptians, as Diodorus tells us, venerated in the
beginning the sky and the earth, or
Uranos and Gaea, whom they called Mother (lib. I. 12). We also find in Egypt the cult of
Saturn, of Amon, of Latona, of Apollo, Diana and Ilithia, Pelasgian deities (Herodotus, lib. II. 155. 156; Diodorus Siculus, lib. II. 12-13; Ptolemy, lib. IV. 5; Pliny, lib. V. 11. 1).
In the ancient
papyri, which the Egyptian priests deposited by the body of the mummies, is
often mentioned the blessed and divine country from the northern parts of the
ancient world, situated near the great and holy river, where the gods had been
born and where the souls of the deceased migrated (Pierret, Le livre des morts des anciens Egyptiens, Paris, Leroux.
1882).
The ancient
inhabitants of Egypt had the same
belief in life after death, which the Pelasgians from Europe, especially the
Hyperboreans, also had. The Sky Column from the Carpathians figures also on the
coffins of the Egyptian mummies as symbol of eternal and happy life (see
Ch.XIV. 6).
In the same
religious texts of Egyptian papyri we are presented with numerous words of
Pelasgian origin, about which we shall speak later.
The first period of
Egyptian history is Pelasgian. This period is distinguished by religious,
ethnic and political characters well differentiated from the following epochs.
Apart from the old traditions preserved through by writers of antiquity, new
archaeological documents confirm each day that before the Pharaonic Egypt, a
Pelasgian Egypt had existed (Cantu,
Hist. univ. I. 1865. 631).
We are now in the
times of territorial expansion of the Pelasgians.
We arrive now to
the vast territory of Libya, which spread from
the western parts of Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean.
The most ancient
and most numerous population of this region were the Getuli. Their dwellings were on the northern parts of the African
desert, south of Mauritania, Numidia and Cyrenaica. Getulii were
presented by the ancient authors as a barbarian and violent people. Divided in
several tribes and clothed in animal skins or sheepskin coats, they traversed
with their flocks the oasis of the vast desert; and some tribes lived from
hunting and plunder. Excellent riders, they did not use horse bridles.
An African
chronicle, written, as Salustius
tells us (B. Jug. C. 17), by Hiempsal, the king of Numidia, contained the
following about the Getuli: “Getulii
and the Libyans were the first to
inhabit Africa, tough and unlearned peoples, who ate the
meat of wild animals and grasses, exactly like their flocks. They were not
ruled either by mores, laws, or somebody’s authority. Always nomads and without
fixed dwellings, they slept where the falling night caught them”.
According to
traditions, Getulii had migrated to Africa from the parts of
the Lower Danube. Isidorus
of Sevilla writes: “It is said about the Getuli that they had been Getae,
who had departed from their place in great numbers in their ships, and had
occupied the Syrtes of Lybia, and because they had come from the lands of the
Getae, they had been named the derivative name of Getuli (Orig. lib. IX. 2.
118).
Also of European
origin were the so-called Libyans.
They had passed into Africa from the regions
of the Black Sea, probably during the same obscure times as
the Getuli.
On the eastern side
of the river Triton, writes Herodotus (lib.
IV. 191), are the agricultural Libyans,
who have fixed dwellings and have the name of Maxii. They leave their hair long on the right side of the head,
while cropping that on the left side, and they insist that they are originated
from the Trojans (Pindar maintains
in Pythia. V. v. 82-86, that the famous city Cyrene in Africa had been founded
by Trojans). The Libyan women wore leather jerkins and Herodotus believes that the crying at funerals, ololuge,
had originated with these Libyan women (lib. IV. c. 198). According to other
texts though, the Libyans had dwelt in a very remote epoch near the Lower Danube. Homer’s Odyssey mentions (IV. v. 85) Libya as situated near
the Erembi (Arimii from the Istru). And according to the ancient genealogy of
prehistoric peoples, Libya was personified as
a daughter of the river Oceanos,
meaning Istru (Andronis Halicarnassensis,
fragm. 1 in Frag. Hist. Graec. II. p. 349).
In the Country of
Fagaras, as well as in the ancient regions of the Romanian country, the family
name Lebu is even today very much
used [1].
[1. In the ancient Egyptian
inscription from Karnak, the Libyans are called Rebu,
meaning Lebu (De Rouge, Les attaques dirigees contre Egypte par les peoples de la
mediterranee, p. 6). In the district of Olt in Romania we have the family name of Liba. In Banatul Severinului is
mentioned in the year 1404 the village Liban,
and in 1447 a ruler with the name Lyuban
(Pesty, A Szur. Bansag. II. 295)].
These pastoral and
agricultural populations of Libya venerated
especially Saturn, the great Pelasgian god. The most used epithet of his was “dominus” and “domnus” (C. I. L. VIII. Nr. 9329; Bertholon, Les premiers colons de souche europeenne dans l’Afrique
du Nord, p. 22).
We find the
explanation of this term in the ancient traditions, that Saturn had once ruled
also Libya, where he had
founded a number of colonies (Polemonis
Iliensis, fragm. 102 in Fragm. Hist. grace. III. 148; Diodorus, lib. III. 61).
The topographical
names of this region present numerous historical proofs that an extended
Pelasgian population had once inhabited the territory of Libya (C. I. L. vol.
VIII; Ptolemy, lib. IV; Pliny, lib. V; Ravennatis, Cosmographia, Ed. Pidner, p. 139; Itinerarium Ant. Augusti; Tab.
Peutingeriana; Caesar, Bell.
Gall; Mela, Descr. orbis, lib. I and
III; Riese, Geogr. Lat. minores).
We shall mention here
the following examples from the geography of the Roman epoch:
Cities and villages: Aquis Dacicis, Amuncla, Arimantis
vicus, Arina, Aripa, Armonaca (Armoniacum), Arsinna, Baba (Babba), Badea,
Banasa, Bescera, Boballica, Bobisciani, Bunobora, Burca, Calefacelenses, Capsa,
Caputvada (Kephale brachous, meaning Capul vadului, TN – head of the ford,
Procopius, B. V. lib. I. 14), Cerbica, Cotuza (Cotuzani), Floria, Galybe,
Gelanus, Geva, Magura, Mansat, Masclianis, Musol (Musula), Nigira, Colonia Oea
(Oaea), Orbita, Oviscae (Ovisce), Pisciana, Ruscada (Rusicade), Rusconia,
Rusuccuru (in Prahova district in Romania we find a mountain and sheepfold
called Curu-rosu – Frunzescu, Dict. Top. 153), Scythopolis, Setrenses, Silice,
Siur (portus), Sudava, Thabba, Themisua, Thieba, Thibinis, Thimisa, Turza,
Urbara, Uzycath, Vacca, Velisci (Velesci), Vala, Zaratha, Zurmentum, etc. A
number of localities have the name composed with Casae, for example, Casae
Aniciorum, Casae Silvanae, Casae Calanenses, Casae nigrae.
Mountains: Albus, Aurasius, Buzara, Cirna, Cotes
promontorium, Durdus, Mandrus, mons Pastorianenesis, Salthi, Septem Fratres,
Stoborrum promontorium.
Rivers: Alba, Agna, Ardalio, Armua, Asarath,
Salathus, Chulchul, Cosenus, Ger, Lathon, Malva (Malba), Nigris, Sala, Savus,
Tusca, Valo, Vior, Zilia.
Lakes: Laccos, Marea, Ad oculum marinum.
Islands: Cercina,
Gaia, Lopadusa.
Tribes: Asaracae, Babii, Banturarii, Buzenses,
Zyges, Caletae, Cauni, Cirtesii, Dauchitae, Dolopes, Eropaei, Gongalae,
Iobacchi, Masices, Miaedii, Mideni, Misulani, Musuni, Myceni, Nisibes,
Salassii, Sittiani, Sorae, region Scythiaea, Verveces, Zegrenses [2].
[2. It is without doubt that the
Greek and Roman authors have not transmitted the exact form of these names. Pliny himself admits that the names of
the populations and cities of Libya could barely be pronounced, except
in the language of those peoples (lib. V. 1)].
We also find on the
territory of Libya the traces of a rustic language of Latin origin, which
has no Italic character though. We cite the following examples: annu, berbex and berbece, camara, casae, cerbus, coniiuga, santus, sepellita, serbus,
silban, socra, vetranus, mamma, tata. To these we shall add also words from
the topographical nomenclature: asarath
and zaratha, baba, bescera, mandrus, oea, stoborrum, zurmentum, vacca, vior.
Finally, a votive
inscription from Numidia presents the
following text: C.C.Primus, sac(erdos)
Saturni, agnu tauro domino, ovicla
Teluri, berbece Iovo ….edu Merc(urio),
aedua Veneri (C.I.L. vol. VIII, pag.
1108 seqq).
We also have to
note here the following characteristic particularities:
The sibilating of c, d
and t before i, when another vowel followed; in the
folk language of Libya the sound v changed often to b, ex. berbece; l between two i almost disappeared (we find thrice the word fius = filius in the
Palatine codex of the Gospels, written in Africa in the 4th
or 5th century). The sound e,
when a followed immediately or in
the second syllable, was pronounced as a diphthong, ae = ea, for ex. edu, aedua, Romanian ed, eda = eada, or ied, ieda (TN – goat kid). The African
language formed sometimes the feminine of proper names in ica, ex. Colonica, Matronica, had also diminutives in ic,
and omitted the final s in
flexible words, ex. veteranu, maritu, agnu tauru, edu (Suchhardt, Der Vokalismus des Vulgarlateins. I. 98. 99; II. 279).
All of this presents an astonishing similarity with the Romanian language
spoken at the Carpathians and the Lower Danube.
We have here
doubtless proof that the Latin element of Africa predates the Roman
domination in those parts; that the shepherds on the territory of Libya spoke an archaic
language of the Latin family, which did not derive from “sermo plebeius” of Italy, and whose
character was eastern - barbarian, or Thraco-Danubian [3].
[3. Dr. Bertholon (Les premiers colons de souche europeenne dans
l’Afrique du Nord, Paris, 1899), examining the geographical toponimy of north
Africa, from the point of view of the origin of the ancient populations settled
there, comes to the following conclusion:
that at the time of Herodotus, and
even that of Ptolemy, the Province of
Africa (North
Africa)
was a Thraco-Phrygian country (pag.
110 and 94)].