Post by mike67 on Mar 21, 2008 12:35:37 GMT -5
Very interesting articule 
Illyria :
Note: the Brackets are for a better visualization and understanding don't include the content in the sentence when you read it.
The Illyrians did not have a written language so most of the theories are derived from what others wrote about them and archaeological findings. The exact time at which the Illyrians came to the Balkans is not known. Most say from 2000-1000 BCE. Regarding their origin, there are two possibilities. They came in from the north and are related to the Germans. Or they came in from the south from present day southern Turkey (maybe Hittites). Either way they are Aryan. When they came to the Balkans they mixed with Pelasgians who were probably the first people to come to the Balkans. The name Illyria first appeared in the 11th century BCE (in Albanian Illyria means the free). The land in which Illyrians lived was mountainous and very infertile. Some Illyrians migrated to southern Italy. The Greek city states invaded southern Illyria around the time of the war between Athens and Sparta. They would be eventually driven back. The first notable leader of Illyria was Bardhylli who in the 4th century BCE turned Illyria into powerful nation, for lack of a better word. (Note: Bardhylli is still a name in Albanian and it means exactly white star). One of Alexander's first conquests was Illyria. The battle was fought between the lakes of Oher and prespa. The Illyrians lost horribly. From there Alexander trusted them as his allies and they defended Macedonia while he went on his next conquests. Also many of them fought alongside him in his conquests. The next notable leader and diplomat was Agron (also still a name in Albanian) at the end of the 3rd century BC. He made Scodra (current Shkodër North Albania) the capital and undertook many successful raids against Greek city states while allying Illyria with the Macedonians. He ruled from the most powerful tribe the Albanoi which is in current day Albania. He died and his wife Teuta (still a name in Albanian) succeeded him. (in Illyria it was common for a woman to be a tribal or a community leader). The most powerful general Skerdilaidi (still a name in Albanian) continued the successful raiding. Teuta was unexperienced, naive, and headstrong and she made a big mistake. Because the Illyrian lands were infertile as mentioned before, they had to rely on other ways of feeding themselves the most important being raiding. The Illyrians also raided roman merchant ships and this pissed off the senate. They sent diplomats to meet Teuta and urge her to stop the pirates from robbing Roman merchant ships. She either killed or insulted them and this gave Rome an excuse to invade. They did. The first city to fall was Dyrrhachium (current Durrës in Albania). The soldiers did not even fight, they surrendered because the Roman force was too great and they did not care about Teuta. As the Romans were marching about Scodra, Teuta decided to Surrender and left the capital. The Romans and the Macedonians were also at war and had a famous naval battle. At this time Skerdilaidi and (I think) Philip V of Macedonia had a misunderstanding over dividing the booty from a raid. For this reason Skerdilaidi sided with the Romans. The Romans eventually beat the Macedonians and did not give the Illyrians any special treatment even though they sided with the Romans. They invaded Illyria. In around 180 BC King Genti (still a name in Albanian) lead a revolution against the Romans But failed. Eventually the Romans invaded all the Balkans. Under the Romans very much nothing significant happened. The Romans adopted the Illyrian ship liburna (named after the Northern tribe Liburni present day Croatia) The Illyrians distinguished themselves as good warriors in the service of Rome. There was even an Illyrian Emperor of Rome, Justinian I. Under the Byzantine Empire The Illyrians Converted to Christianity. Then in the 6th century AD and on the Slavs started coming. They Invaded Tribe after Tribe of Illyrians until only the Albans were left. I suppose You know the story from then on.
Some Illyrian words:
* brisa, "husk of grapes"; cf. Alb bërsi
* mantía, "bramblebush"; cf. Alb (Tosk) mën "mulberry bush", (Gheg) mandë
* oseriates, "lakes"; akin to Old Church Slavonic ozero (Serb-Croat jezero), Lith ẽžeras, OPruss assaran, Gk Akéroun "river in the underworld"
* rhinos, "fog, cloud"; cf. OAlb ren, mod. Alb re "cloud"
* sabaia, sabaium, sabaius, "a type of beer"; akin to Eng sap, Lat. sapere "to taste", Skt sabar "sap, juice, nektar", Avest. višāpa "having poisonous juices", Arm ham, Greek apalós "tender, delicate", Old Church Slavonic sveptǔ "bee's honey"
* sibina (Lat.), sibyna (Lat.), sybina (Lat.); σιβυνη (Gk.), σιβυνης (Gk.), συβινη (Gk.), ζιβυνη (Gk.): "a hunting spear", generally, "a spear", "pike"; an Illyrian word according to Festius, citing Ennius; is compared to συβηνη (Gk.), "flute case", a word found in Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusai; the word appears in the context of a barbarian speaking. Akin to Persian zôpîn, Arm səvīn "spit"
* tertigio, "merchant"; Old Church Slavonic trĭgĭ (Serb-Croat trg), Lith tirgus (Alb treg "market" is a borrowing from archaic Slavic *trǔgǔ [4])
Some additional words have been extracted by linguists from toponyms, hydronyms, anthroponyms, etc.:
* loúgeon, "a pool"; cf. Alb lag "to wet, soak, bathe, wash" (< PA *lauga), lëgatë "pool" (< PA *leugatâ), lakshte "dew" (< PA *laugista); further akin to Lith liűgas "marsh", OSl luža "pool" [5]
* teuta < from the Illyrian personal name Teuta< PIE *teuta-, "people"
* Bosona, "running water" (Possible origin of the name "Bosnia", in Bosnian; Bosna)
Many Illyrian names are still used in Albanian sometimes slightly changed.
Something interesting:
The names of many Greek pagan Gods whose names seem meaningless in Greek can be explained in Albanian. These were the same Gods that Illyrians worshiped.
Two examples I recall:
Aferdita is an Albanian name for Women. It is derived from afer meaning near and dita meaning day. It means dawn and is associated with the beauty of sunrise. The Greek goddess of beauty and love was Aphrodite.
E thena means saying or wise saying in Albanian. The Greek goddess of Wisdom was Athena.
There was a whole article explaining many more Gods.
The Balkans is now an unstable region and history can be used in politics. This urges many nations to make up history and steal that of others because they do not have much of their own. There are also ignorant morons who have access to the Internet and make up their own history. Just today while looking for the exact dates of history to type this I read somewhere that the Slavic Montenegrins are the descendants of the Illyrians. The only trouble they had, was explaining how they Illyrians had any conection at all to the Montenegrins as the Illyrians came to the Balkans at least 2000 years before the Slavic Montenegrins. Another example, some current Slavic FYROMs are stupid enough to claim that they are the descendants of the old Aryan Macedonians because they like Macedonian heritage and history more than their own Slavo-Mongol heritage. They go as far as naming their country Macedonia even after wiping out the actual Macedonians and stealing their land. So be careful when you read the history of the Balkans! I am getting very pissed off by having to read the whole article and then see if it had any truth whatsoever. I liked telling this story, it took me back. Good old days.
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Illyria :
Note: the Brackets are for a better visualization and understanding don't include the content in the sentence when you read it.
The Illyrians did not have a written language so most of the theories are derived from what others wrote about them and archaeological findings. The exact time at which the Illyrians came to the Balkans is not known. Most say from 2000-1000 BCE. Regarding their origin, there are two possibilities. They came in from the north and are related to the Germans. Or they came in from the south from present day southern Turkey (maybe Hittites). Either way they are Aryan. When they came to the Balkans they mixed with Pelasgians who were probably the first people to come to the Balkans. The name Illyria first appeared in the 11th century BCE (in Albanian Illyria means the free). The land in which Illyrians lived was mountainous and very infertile. Some Illyrians migrated to southern Italy. The Greek city states invaded southern Illyria around the time of the war between Athens and Sparta. They would be eventually driven back. The first notable leader of Illyria was Bardhylli who in the 4th century BCE turned Illyria into powerful nation, for lack of a better word. (Note: Bardhylli is still a name in Albanian and it means exactly white star). One of Alexander's first conquests was Illyria. The battle was fought between the lakes of Oher and prespa. The Illyrians lost horribly. From there Alexander trusted them as his allies and they defended Macedonia while he went on his next conquests. Also many of them fought alongside him in his conquests. The next notable leader and diplomat was Agron (also still a name in Albanian) at the end of the 3rd century BC. He made Scodra (current Shkodër North Albania) the capital and undertook many successful raids against Greek city states while allying Illyria with the Macedonians. He ruled from the most powerful tribe the Albanoi which is in current day Albania. He died and his wife Teuta (still a name in Albanian) succeeded him. (in Illyria it was common for a woman to be a tribal or a community leader). The most powerful general Skerdilaidi (still a name in Albanian) continued the successful raiding. Teuta was unexperienced, naive, and headstrong and she made a big mistake. Because the Illyrian lands were infertile as mentioned before, they had to rely on other ways of feeding themselves the most important being raiding. The Illyrians also raided roman merchant ships and this pissed off the senate. They sent diplomats to meet Teuta and urge her to stop the pirates from robbing Roman merchant ships. She either killed or insulted them and this gave Rome an excuse to invade. They did. The first city to fall was Dyrrhachium (current Durrës in Albania). The soldiers did not even fight, they surrendered because the Roman force was too great and they did not care about Teuta. As the Romans were marching about Scodra, Teuta decided to Surrender and left the capital. The Romans and the Macedonians were also at war and had a famous naval battle. At this time Skerdilaidi and (I think) Philip V of Macedonia had a misunderstanding over dividing the booty from a raid. For this reason Skerdilaidi sided with the Romans. The Romans eventually beat the Macedonians and did not give the Illyrians any special treatment even though they sided with the Romans. They invaded Illyria. In around 180 BC King Genti (still a name in Albanian) lead a revolution against the Romans But failed. Eventually the Romans invaded all the Balkans. Under the Romans very much nothing significant happened. The Romans adopted the Illyrian ship liburna (named after the Northern tribe Liburni present day Croatia) The Illyrians distinguished themselves as good warriors in the service of Rome. There was even an Illyrian Emperor of Rome, Justinian I. Under the Byzantine Empire The Illyrians Converted to Christianity. Then in the 6th century AD and on the Slavs started coming. They Invaded Tribe after Tribe of Illyrians until only the Albans were left. I suppose You know the story from then on.
Some Illyrian words:
* brisa, "husk of grapes"; cf. Alb bërsi
* mantía, "bramblebush"; cf. Alb (Tosk) mën "mulberry bush", (Gheg) mandë
* oseriates, "lakes"; akin to Old Church Slavonic ozero (Serb-Croat jezero), Lith ẽžeras, OPruss assaran, Gk Akéroun "river in the underworld"
* rhinos, "fog, cloud"; cf. OAlb ren, mod. Alb re "cloud"
* sabaia, sabaium, sabaius, "a type of beer"; akin to Eng sap, Lat. sapere "to taste", Skt sabar "sap, juice, nektar", Avest. višāpa "having poisonous juices", Arm ham, Greek apalós "tender, delicate", Old Church Slavonic sveptǔ "bee's honey"
* sibina (Lat.), sibyna (Lat.), sybina (Lat.); σιβυνη (Gk.), σιβυνης (Gk.), συβινη (Gk.), ζιβυνη (Gk.): "a hunting spear", generally, "a spear", "pike"; an Illyrian word according to Festius, citing Ennius; is compared to συβηνη (Gk.), "flute case", a word found in Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusai; the word appears in the context of a barbarian speaking. Akin to Persian zôpîn, Arm səvīn "spit"
* tertigio, "merchant"; Old Church Slavonic trĭgĭ (Serb-Croat trg), Lith tirgus (Alb treg "market" is a borrowing from archaic Slavic *trǔgǔ [4])
Some additional words have been extracted by linguists from toponyms, hydronyms, anthroponyms, etc.:
* loúgeon, "a pool"; cf. Alb lag "to wet, soak, bathe, wash" (< PA *lauga), lëgatë "pool" (< PA *leugatâ), lakshte "dew" (< PA *laugista); further akin to Lith liűgas "marsh", OSl luža "pool" [5]
* teuta < from the Illyrian personal name Teuta< PIE *teuta-, "people"
* Bosona, "running water" (Possible origin of the name "Bosnia", in Bosnian; Bosna)
Many Illyrian names are still used in Albanian sometimes slightly changed.
Something interesting:
The names of many Greek pagan Gods whose names seem meaningless in Greek can be explained in Albanian. These were the same Gods that Illyrians worshiped.
Two examples I recall:
Aferdita is an Albanian name for Women. It is derived from afer meaning near and dita meaning day. It means dawn and is associated with the beauty of sunrise. The Greek goddess of beauty and love was Aphrodite.
E thena means saying or wise saying in Albanian. The Greek goddess of Wisdom was Athena.
There was a whole article explaining many more Gods.
The Balkans is now an unstable region and history can be used in politics. This urges many nations to make up history and steal that of others because they do not have much of their own. There are also ignorant morons who have access to the Internet and make up their own history. Just today while looking for the exact dates of history to type this I read somewhere that the Slavic Montenegrins are the descendants of the Illyrians. The only trouble they had, was explaining how they Illyrians had any conection at all to the Montenegrins as the Illyrians came to the Balkans at least 2000 years before the Slavic Montenegrins. Another example, some current Slavic FYROMs are stupid enough to claim that they are the descendants of the old Aryan Macedonians because they like Macedonian heritage and history more than their own Slavo-Mongol heritage. They go as far as naming their country Macedonia even after wiping out the actual Macedonians and stealing their land. So be careful when you read the history of the Balkans! I am getting very pissed off by having to read the whole article and then see if it had any truth whatsoever. I liked telling this story, it took me back. Good old days.
__________________
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