A Trojan prince , a usurper , and a muscular but cryptical civilization simply refer to as " the Sea Peoples " . It might go like a Modern illusion drama show but it is in reality a translation of a 3,200 - year - old stone inscription .
It ’s lead over a hundred eld for archaeologists and linguists to decrypt the school text , which is written in an ancient spoken language shout Luwian . This hebdomad it was announced that scholars had finally finished the job . Fred Woudhuizen , an independent scholar and translator of Luwian , and Eberhard Zangger , a geologist and chair of theLuwian Studies introduction , will have their research publish in the diary Proceedings of the Dutch Archeological and Historical Society ’s December issue .
The dedication name the rise of a powerful kingdom love as Mira . allot to the rendering , Mira ’s ruler , King Mashuittas , stole the Trojan throne from King Walmus and then handed it back in exchange for Troy ’s loyalty to Mira . When Mashuittas ' son , Kupantakuruntas , succeeded his father , he take restraint of Troy and named himself its protector . He pleaded with the next swayer of Troy , telling them to " guard Wilusa [ an ancient name for Troy ] ( like ) the great big businessman ( of ) Mira ( did ) . "
Woudhuizen and Zangger believe that the kingdom of Mira was part of the Luwian civilization , often referred to both by historians and inancient Egyptian scriptsas the wispy and mysterious " Sea Peoples " . This , according to Zangger , was a forgotten civilisation comprised ofseveral petty kingdomswho shared a language ( Luwian ) in western Anatolia or Asia Minor , in what is now Turkey .
Zangger argues the Luwian ’s toy a critical role in what he dubs"World War Zero " , a tumid - scale fight that culminated in the Battle of Troy and destroyed several powerful refinement ( including the Egyptians and Mycenaeans ) within a very light time - couplet . It was this , he says , that fetch an end to the later Bronze Age ( c. 1177 BCE ) and sparked a Modern dark years .
The text trace is actually a written matter , supposedly by archaeologist Georges Perrot in 1878 , of an inscription written on a frieze . The frieze itself is no longer available because it was destroyed by villager who used it as building fabric for a mosque back in the nineteenth C . So historians have to swear on Perrot ’s transcript .
This is where thing get a little complicated . Many bookman not colligate with these new findings have questioned the transcript ’s authenticity , suggesting it could be a forgery by Perrot or someone else . Woudhuizen and Zangger have hit back , saying that it would be extremely difficult to forge such a lengthy text written in a language very few scholars can read , let alone write in . After all , there are no more than 20 scholar live today capable to translate Luwian .
Unfortunately , that means we ’re go out wondering whether this inscription is a historical score , a myth or , indeed , a counterfeit .
