Table of Contents
Arith Härger reads the Hand of Irulegi as Basque lore and as a language find. A bronze right hand about 2,100 years old was recovered at Mount Irulegi in Navarra’s Aranguren Valley, and he calls it the longest early text tied to Euskara. The script is an Iberian signary adapted with at least one local sign, which is why he labels the writing Vasconic rather than plain Iberian. Syllables and single sounds share the line. The first word, sorioneku, is taken to mean good fortune. Hung at a door, the open hand is his guess at a welcome for kindly visitors and a bar against hostile ones. He connects that guess to the custom of fixing eguzkilore, a sun thistle, over Basque doors so that night spirits stall by counting spines and fade at dawn. He first says sunflower, then corrects the flower, a bloom he ties to Ama Lur. Sun reverence, he adds, does not require an Indo-European label. Most of the inscription is still unread, so the charm reading stays his hypothesis.
Key points
- The bronze hand from Mount Irulegi is dated to the late Iron Age and called the longest early Basque text.
- Its script is described as an Iberian system adjusted with a local sign.
- Sorioneku, the first readable word, is taken to mean good fortune.
- He reads the open right hand as a door charm that welcomes friends and warns enemies.
- The living eguzkilore custom, a sun thistle rather than a sunflower, is his folklore parallel.
- He says sun belief does not belong only to Indo-European neighbors.
Short quotes
Now, a 2100-year-old bronze hand was recovered from Mount Irulegi, in the Aranguren Valley, in Navarra (Spain).
Arith Härger, The Hand of Irulegi
He places the find on a Navarrese mountain and gives it an age of about twenty-one centuries. Watch at 2:08
As I said, “Sorioneku” (good fortune), this is the first of the five words that could be deciphered.
Arith Härger, The Hand of Irulegi
Only the opening word is treated as read, and he glosses it as good luck. Watch at 7:23
Thus, syllabograms are used for some consonant-vowel combinations and phonograms for vowels and some consonants.
Arith Härger, The Hand of Irulegi
The writing mixes syllable signs with signs for single sounds. Watch at 14:12
But also, you don't have to be Indo-European to have sun worship and sun beliefs, of course, obviously not.
Arith Härger, The Hand of Irulegi
Sun reverence is presented as wider than the language family around the Basques. Watch at 17:06
This pagan custom lasts today and there are many Basque homes that still place eguzkilores on their portals and doors.
Arith Härger, The Hand of Irulegi
He says the thistle over the door is still a living household practice. Watch at 19:44
Video by Arith Härger. Watch on YouTube.