The mystery of the Meroitic language
The people of Meroitic had their own language, which we now call the “Meroitic language.” The Meroitic language is one of the few ancient languages that has not yet been encrypted. Archaeologists believe that the people of Meroe began writing in their language for the first time between 300 and 200 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him. The oldest dated inscription dates back to the reign of Queen Shanakdakhiti (177-155 BC), but archaeologists also believe that the Kushites were speaking this Meroitic language at least since 750 BC. Probably many centuries ago. Linguistic archaeologists can analyze and encode the codes of many ancient languages and their writing systems. The most famous examples of ancient languages that have been encoded in modern times: ancient Egyptian (with its hieroglyphic script), ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, Hittite (with its cuneiform script), and more recently the language of the Maya people of Mesoamerica (with its hieroglyphic script). Linguistic researchers can encode ancient languages and decipher their writing systems by resorting to the use of many methods. First, they may need to discover and learn a modern language that is descended from the ancient language. This provides keys for them to know the structure of the ancient language and the meanings of some of its vocabulary, although the succession of centuries may have changed the meanings of some words. Secondly, they may also need to find inscriptions written in the unknown language for which there are translations in known languages. The most famous example of such inscriptions is the Rosetta Stone, which was inscribed with identical text in ancient Egyptian and Greek script. The Greek text, whose translation was possible, helped in the process of translating the Egyptian text, which was not readable before the discovery of this double-text stone. In 1907, British archaeologist Francis Griffiths compared ancient Egyptian writing to Meroitic writing and discovered that many letters, both hieroglyphs and cursive, were derived from Egyptian. He used this technique to predict the phonetic value of Meroitic letters, but he succeeded in understanding the meanings of only a few of the words written in those alphabets. Until now, no one has yet succeeded in encrypting this ancient language. The Meroitic language will remain a mysterious secret for us until we are able to discover a Sudanese language among our many languages, or an African language close to the Meroitic that helps us understand its dictionary, or until we find an ancient document or topic written in the Meroitic language next to another language that we can understand. We may not know how to understand the Meroitic language, but we know how to pronounce it. Because we know the sounds, we can read the names of the kings and queens whose names are inscribed on the walls of their tombs. We can write Arabic words using ancient Meroitic letters. Currently, there are a significant number of linguistic archaeologists interested in studying the Meroitic language, and they publish their scientific studies in a special journal titled “Meroitic Studies Newsleter.” Arkamani hopes to provide a translation of some of the most important current studies.
Studies in the Meroitic language
Evidence of an early Nubian dialect in Meroitic inscriptions: phonological and epigraphic notes...................................................... Penelope Aubin
Background: Meroitic alphabet (24 letters), hieroglyphics and Chorus, with encryption in Latin letters