A large number of cuneiform writings, discovered mostly on clay tablets in the Middle East, made possible greater accuracy in the research of ancient languages of the region. Among them the Akkadian language occupies a unique position. C. Renfrew, the founder of the newest theory of the Anatolian origin of Indo-Europeans, compares Semitic languages (Akkadian is one of them) with Indo-European languages. G. Semerano explained the Akkadian roots of a number of Greek and Latin words, which had no known etymology till now. At the same time, he drew attention to the ancient connections between the Baltic Sea region and the Middle East, corroborated by archaeological works, and also defined by the uncontested Amber Road. This road led from the Baltic Sea, through central Europe, and continued by boat on the Adriatic Sea to the Middle East.
The [southern] end of the continental portion of the road was in the general area between (Tergeste), Timava, and Aquilea (on the Gulf of Trieste) where the "Adriatic Veneti" were documented in antiquity, as were the "Baltic Veneti" [at the other northern end]. Also documented, since the time of Homer, are the "Paphlagonian Veneti" on the south shore of the Black Sea and, finally, the Veneti in Armorica (on the Atlantic coast). Semerano explicitly states that the peoples of the Baltic area "knew" the Semitic languages of the Middle East. Regrettably, systematic archaeological field research in northern Anatolia started only in the 1990s (R. Matthews et al.); methodical linguistic studies, including historical and comparative studies, have only just begun.
At the conference Europe's First Roots (Milan 1999), M. Alinei, wrote: "Also Slavic peoples and their languages existed in south-eastern Europe since the late Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic), resulting in exceptional stability of the Late Stone Age (Neolithic) cultures in the region (only they preserved the tell or mound-shaped structures), this clarifies the reason why differentiation between Slavic languages did not occur - as opposed to the theory of presumed settlement of Slavs at the beginning of the Middle Ages." This must be critically evaluated with the similar but older theories of G. Sergi.
Page Created: October 20, 2001
Page Updated: October 21, 2001
©Copyright 2001 Gary L. Gorsha
