head: The Etruscan Liber Linteus

 

Breaking the Code -1

(A) The Preparations: Lets observe the following lines, and look for similarities:

(II 1-5) ... / 2A: s'acnics'tres' cil0s' s'pyres'tres' enas' / 3: e0trse tins'i tiurim avils' xis' / 4B: cisym pute tul 0ansur ha0r0i repintic / 2B: s'acnicleri cil0l s'pureri metlymeric enas' / rax0i...

(II 14-18) ... / 3: e0rse tins'i tiyrim avils' xis' / 4B: cisum pyte tul 0ansur ha0r0i repin0ic / 2B: s'acnicleri (cil0l) s'pyreri me0lymeric enas' / 5: sveleric svec an cs' / mene ytince...

(IV 2-5) 2A? ... enas' / 3: e0rse tins'i tiurim avils' xis' / 1A: ecn zeri (lecin) inc zec fler 0ezince / 4A: cisum pute tul 0ans hatec repinec meleri / 5: sveleric svec an cs' / mele 0un mutince...

(V 2-7) ... / 1B: ecn zeri lecin inc zec fasle hemsince / 2A: sac nicstres' cil0s' s'pures' tres'c enas' / 3: e0rse tins'i tiurim avils' xis' / 4B: cisum pute tul 0ansur ha0r0i repin0ic / 2B: s'acnicleri cil0l s'pureri me0lumeric enas' / rax0...

(V 22-23) ... / 2C: s'acnicla cil0l s'pural me0lumes'c enas'c / la tesan...

(IX 1-6) ... / 1A: ecn zeri lecin in zec fler 0ezince / 2A: s'acnicstres' cil0s' s'pyres'tres' enas' / 3: e0rse tins'i tiyrim avils' xis' / 4A: cisum pute tyl 0ans hatec repinec / 2B: s'acnicleri cil0l s'pureri me0lymeric enas' / rax0...

(IX 6-8) ... / 6: rax0 tyl hexs'0 vinum trin flere ne0uns'l / 7: un mlax nun0en zus'leve zarva fas'eic / ...

(IX 8-13) ... / 1A: ecn zeri lecin in zec fler 0ezince / 2A: s'acnicstres' cil0s' s'pyres'tres' enas' / 3: e0rse tins'i tiyrim avils' xis' / 4A: cisum pute tyl 0ans hatec repinec / 2B: s'acnicleri cil0l s'pureri me0lymeric enas' / rax0 sy0...

Clearly we can separate 11 repeating sequences, which fit into 7 classes:

On this way we can rewrite the above lines as:
II 1-5 . 2A 3 4B 2B rax0i...
II 14-18 1A? 2A + 5? ... 3 4B 2B 5 + mene...
IV 2-5 . 2A? 3 + 1A 4A meleri 5 + mele...
V 2-7 1B 2A 3 4B 2B rax0...
V 22-23 . 2C la tesan... . . .
IX 1-6 1A 2A 3 4A 2B .
IX 6-8 . . . . . 6 + 7
IX 8-13 1A 2A 3 4A 2B rax0...

This is like observing the routes in the Street Directory. We see for example, that the Page IX is built from segments 1A, 2A, 3, 4A, 2B and so on. The other pages of the book have very similar paths. They start somewhere, lead somewhere and finish somewhere. Only the fine details are different. The only thing we have to find out are the "names of the streets" in this Directory!

On other hand this is a powerful tool in reconstruction of the missing parts of the text. We can see that the Pages II and IV may start with segments 1A and 2A.

(B) The Analysis: Is there anything familiar here?



Notes:  bold -nouns in context of deity Neptune (subject?)
underline -grammatically active suffixes
red colour -words in context of verbs
blue colour -words in context of object

 BACK TO: THE ETRUSCAN LIBER LINTEUS