2021. április 1., csütörtök

The origins of Hunnish Runic Writing (9) The order of characters

 


The order of characters

 

The question of character order was raised by Gyula Németh, though he could not find any possible answers, "The ancient order of the characters is also unknown. The alphabets of Nikolsburg and Marsigli present the characters roughly in the order of the Latin alphabet. When this order came into being is not known." (Loc. cit. p 13.).

 

Fig. 13 Hieroglyph from Crete with pictorial inscriptions written with A script, the prototypes of Székely characters (Evans/1909/149)

 

Fig. 14 Top: a ceiling panel with runic script from the Unitarian church of Énlaka (flower-shaped Milky Way symbols containing runic characters at the corners; a character from the linear A Cretan script equivalent to Székely "ak" at the medians).

Middle: details of the "Egy Isten" (god, the only) ligature.

Bottom right: "nt/tn" character from the Nikolsburg alphabet

 

Fig. 15 Two pots from Korond representing three-dimensional world models: a candlestick which has preserved the symbolism of fire altars, with the characters "j', 'us", and "ak" (fire representation symbolizing god is placed to the top and the middle of world models); and a pitcher with variants of the runes "m" (a road leading upwards) and "ak" (Ocean, brook)

 

Fig. 16 Tulips symbolizing the Milky Way with the symbols "us" (progenitor) or "usten" (god)

(Belt decoration from Karos from the time of the Hungarian Conquest - the tulip and "usten" symbols face about, because funeral customs were based on the view that after-life is a mirror image;

Board for making noodles, from Debrecen;

A part of a clothes beater from Milejszeg - the equivalent of the rune "s" is under the tulip referring to the edge of sarok (corner), that is the North Pole, and the rotation axis there, which is the pillar of the world.)

 

Fig. 17 Representations of stags and turul-birds with the variants of the runes "j" ( = good) and "us" (õs = progenitor)

(Scythian stag from Tápiószentmárton; Hittite eagle with scrolls from Tell Halaf; there are 15 scrolls in the turul representation on the scroll from Rakamaz from the time of the Hungarian Conquest; Obi-Ugrian clan-symbols adapted from Chernecov/1949)

 

According to Gábor Vékony, "The original number and order of Székely runic characters are not known. The alphabets we know present characters in the order of the Latin alphabet, but the partly different system of the Nikolsburg alphabet suggests that originally the order was different. ...Although in that order there are many sound-connections, but the order of the 34 simple sounds does not follow the Latin alphabetic order either. Character ty (aty) has a strange position near to hh and i, like the letter tet in Aramean. ... Also the two k characters occur at two separate positions. ... Although adjusting the order to the Latin alphabet has broken down the original order, from these details it is evident that the ancestor of the Nikolsburg alphabet followed the order of the Aramean alphabet, as the two variants of the sounds t and k take similar positions there." (Vékony/1978/20)

The author's assertion is not supported by facts: there is no data indicating that the Nikolsburg alphabet was adjusted to the Latin one. The Nikolsburg set of characters suggests just the opposite; the differences presented by Gábor Vékony prove the lack of such an adjusting process. If we take into consideration the similarities he failed to mention (e.g. character "u" missing from Aramean, but occurs at the same position in the Nikolsburg, Ugaritic and Latin alphabet), the theory of Aramean origin he asserted proves to be wrong. We cannot agree with the author's unscientific procedure, however sharp eyes he may have for these details, because he ascribes historical importance to one difference in character order that makes finding the source possible, but without any reason fails to do so in the case of another.

This and similar cases make me understand why Klára Sándor - as she told me once on the phone - regards the study of Székely runic script as "dangerous". Obviously because this script is an authentic source and does not tolerate false preconceptions.

According to Klára Sándor, the character order is similar in the Marsigli alphabet and the Latin alphabet, "however, at some places the order is wrong" (Sándor/1991/59).

After referring to Ugaritic script as "the first letter script", Sándor Forrai wrote that it was illogical to trace back Hungarian runic script only to Turkish (Forrai/1994/68).

His conjecture - which he does not explained or prove - says more about the origin of the order of Székely script characters than the above mentioned "academic" views.

Hungarian runes indeed follow an order similar to Latin letters, however, as we shall see, it requires another explanation. The order of Latin characters was not invented by the Romans, for it had been used in Etruscan, Greek, and Semitic scripts several centuries earlier. The first known script that arranged its characters in an order similar to Latin was Ugaritic cuneiform script of Hurrian (?) origin used in the second millennium BC. It is therefore more precise to say that the order of Székely characters is indirectly or directly connected to the unknown predecessor of the Ugaritic alphabet (Fig. 19).

The order of Székely characters is not connected in any way to the partly known Turkish set of characters, since known details exclude the possibility of a match (Vékony/1987/20). The same applies to the German order of runes, which is not called “alphabet,” but futhark, after the first letters. That means Germans and Turks may have had their own algorithm for establishing the order of characters at the time when corresponding features developed in Székely, Turkish and German, while Semitic scripts adopted the "Latin-like" order from the predecessor of Székely script. The graphical prototypes of corresponding characters in figure 2 could have been created between the beginning of metal-working and the appearance of Chinese script around the third millennium BC.

Nevertheless, why were characters "u" and "v" put at the end of the "Latin-like" order? There are two possible explanations. According to the first, they became part of the character set that reflects religious values at the same time as other characters. The reason for placing them at the end of the line was that the original hieroglyph (possibly meaning "ancient stone") had little religious importance. The other possible explanation is that they were late additions to the end of the character set, when the symbols in the character set had already lost their religious value, and the original hieroglyph had also acquired the meaning of "some kind of metal, object made of metal" (cf. Hurrian ushu "copper"). In both cases we can suppose, that the first "Latin-like" character order developed at the beginning of the Metal Age.

As it is evident from the above quotations, various differences in order have not been considered significant (except by Gábor Vékony), even though these are also important data. Just as a careful teacher can find out from one mistake which of his students copied his test from another, the differences in character order reveal the connections between alphabets, and the origin of character order. So character orders are not "wrong" or "partly corresponding", but their correspondences and differences show genetic relationships.

For example, the character "aty" (atya = lord, father) in Nikolsburg alphabet appears in the character order at a place where there is no similar sound in Latin, but there is in Ugarit, Phoenician, Aramean, Etruscan, Greek, Khazar[1] and Arsakida Pehlevi scripts, "t" or "th".

Furthermore, the pictorial meaning of characters "t", "th", or "ty" are also in connection, as they all symbolize the forefather who is identified with the central point of the Earth, but with different graphic representations. The most common character form, cross or X in a circle or in a square, is the most ancient symbol used by Mankind. It occurs on pebbles of Mas d'Azil, in American Indian symbolic drawings, among Cretan hieroglyphs, or Sarmatian tamgas. It also forms a part of the Chinese ideograph fu, "father". The graphical forms of characters "t" and "th" from the above linear character combinations are equivalent with Székely "f" (Föld = the Earth), "b" (Bél, belsõ = inner), and "ly" (lyuk = hole, source), and they represent the orderly world identified with the forefather, the four holy rivers symbolizing him, or their sources. The returning X form can be compared with the Orion constellation (Fig. 23), which also represents the forefather Nimrod in the legend about the chase of the mythical stag. (Varga/1998). In Székely the form X stands for "b" (Bél god), the son in the divine triad, the people's father, Nimrod’s equivalent.

 In other words, the characters "t/th/ty" shown in figure 20 may have been developed from the symbol of Hungarian ancestor-worship. Therefore, character "ty" in Székely script cannot be regarded as a proof for the Aramean or Phoenician origin of Székely character order, since the pictures they represent prove a transition of opposite direction (Figs. 4, 8, 20, 22).

The Phoenician and Greek character names (teth and theta) are actually the variants of the Hungarian words atya, tata (Hurrian atta), which show that it is not an accidental coincidence, but a mythological parallel. Western Semitic character names are the relics of a forgotten system, which, through later vulgarization, “became intelligible” again. In this sense, Gelb was right when he thought that the usual Western Semitic character names were late and artificial innovations. He first claimed this in 1952, and the latest Ugaritic archaeological relics have supported his assertion (Gelb/1976/297).

Székely character names also help us understand the connection between some Middle Eastern and Chinese characters, which also proves that Székely runic script goes back to early times. For example, the relationship of Székely "ty", "u" and "v" to characters in other languages rule out the possibility of deriving the Székely character set from Latin or Aramean (Figs. 2, 20, 23, 24, 35). These characters are related to Chinese characters that existed much earlier before Semitic and Latin script as well as to the prehistoric age of Anatolia and to their location in the order of characters.

Character "e" can be found at the same place in Etruscan, Greek, Latin, and Székely. Therefore, the Székely order of characters cannot be of Phoenician, Aramean, or Arsakida Pehlevi origin, because their set do not contain character "e." Székely, Etruscan and Latin "c" cannot be traced back to Greek or Semitic scripts either. Considering the Etruscan influence on the Latins and the original Etruscan homeland, character "c" can be of Aegean-Anatolian origin, but not Semitic. Székely "zs" and "s" have the same place in the character order where only Ugaritic has "z", other languages have only "s" at that place. That means the most ancient tradition has survived in Székely character set of Nikolsburg.

The same applies to characters u/v and sz/s/z/x. Character "u" can be found at the same place in Székely, Latin, Etruscan, Khazar, and Ugaritic, while it is replaced by the consonant letter "w" in Phoenician, and totally missing from ancient Greek, Aramean and Arsakida Pehlevi (Fig. 19).

If Székely script were of Aramean origin after all, that would mean that our ancestors subsequently recreated all the vowel letters missing from Aramean, and through some miracle placed them in the Székely alphabet precisely in accordance with the Latin character order. Meanwhile they insisted on leaving "ty" rune at the place of the first Ugaritic "t" and the Latin "h" and not putting it in a more logical place beside Székely "t". That latter place is the same as that of the second Ugaritic "t" and the Latin "t".

To sum it up, the Nikolsburg Székely character order does not follow either the Latin order or the Aramean order, and it is hard to realize why our ancestors would have copied only partly the order of Latin or any other language.

Studying the Latin-like character order of Székely script, we can draw the conclusion that the direction of character transmission must have been just the opposite. For example, Latin "u" and "v" can root in Székely, especially as the corresponding Székely characters are far more archaic; their pictorial features can still be recognized (Figs. 2, 24). Latin and Greek "u" and "v" letters are apparently in relation with each other and with Székely "u" (üst = cauldron) and "v" (vas = iron). They can all be traced back to a representation of a semi-finished copper ingot, which can also be found among the Urartian hieroglyphs (Figs. 2, 35). The Chinese "üst" (cauldron) character is connected to other characters through Székely representation and linguistic traditions, because the Hurrian character name ushu (which is related to the Hungarian word "réz", but means üst-cauldron) can be found only among Székely character names.

In contrast with the Turk character name temir/demir and the German character name eisen, Székely vas is connected to Armenian (v)oski and Hurrian ushu and to the beginnings of metallurgy - which in Northern Mesopotamia was started by Hurrians, who borrowed Hittite traditions of metalworking. [2]  Székely varieties of "u" and "v" character forms are the closest to the forms of Urartian and Chinese hieroglyphs. Therefore, the Hungarian characters "u" and "v" and the character order they belong to must be of hieroglyphic origin and not of Semitic, Greek, or Latin. Because of these parallels, the prototype of the "Latin-like" character order is likely to have been used around 2000 BC by Hurrians and by our predecessors who were in connection with Chinese people.

The order of the characters seems to be based on their religious importance; in all probability symbols with the highest religious power were placed to the beginning of the order. This order determined by myths could not have been adjusted to the order of the Latin alphabet until the mythical significance of the characters was well known. Changes in the order, therefore, could not have happened before the last pagan revolts and the last pagan burials (13th c.). Conservative popular traditions preserved the archaic character order for several centuries longer; thus it has survived in the Nikolsburg alphabet.

Székely character order changed only later, when the spread of Latin script, paper and ink pushed tally sticks into the background even in the deepest Transylvanian valleys. Christian Székelys acquired Latin characters and the Latin order of characters. The original Székely character order seemed meaningless and deficient to them, so they started to write Székely letters in the Latin order and attached word and syllable signs that were unknown in Latin to the end of the alphabet. That is, it was only the modern, pedantic mania to classify and order everything that forced the Székely character order out of use, though it reflected ancient value judgements.

The three characters for the Hungarian divine triad (Anat, Bél and Du; called Enedubeliánus by Anonymus), "a", "b" and "d" were placed at the beginning of the runic alphabet. The sounds they represent can be found in all related alphabets.[3] Thus, following the traces preserved in Székely script we can reach the ancient mythology, and realize the organizing principle that determined character order. As similar mythological references cannot be proved in the character order of related scripts[4], we should think that the nearly identical character order of Ugaritic, Semitic, Greek, and Latin alphabets’ prototype was determined by the mythology of our Hungarian-speaking predecessors (or speaking a Hungarian related language).

This circumstance draws our attention to Ugaritic mythology, and we can in fact find parallels with Hungarian language and mythology in Ugaritic finds and relics of the Hittite Empire.

The name of the Hattic sun god is Estan, which is composed of the Hungarian words õs and ten. The stem ten refers to Ta/Da, Hattic god of storm (Du/Ten supreme god of Hungarian conquerors), which is related to the name of Thana, god of Scythians and that of Don (according to Kézai, our forefather Nimrod is Thana's son). The connection is clarified by the corresponding syllables of the Hungarian words tenger (sea), tûnik (appear), tanító (teacher), tengely (axis, axle), as in ancient myths the first teachers appeared from the sea and were identified with the world's rotation axis. It is not accidental that the Hungarian language is able to produce similar explanations; it developed in an age that gave rise to the first myths.

The Ugaritic divine triad consists of Anat goddess, Él supreme god, and Baál godson, and they can be identified with the Hungarian Ene-Du-Bél divine triad (Ugaritic Él's name is an attribute of the Hungarian God, élõ (living)).

 The word tulipán (tulip) is of Hungarian origin, but used internationally.  It developed from Hattic Dalipinu, Hittite Telepinu god name meaning "son of Ta/Da. Ta or Da[5] is the equivalent of Hungarian Du/ten and Scythian Thana; syllable pi is the equivalent of the Hungarian word fiú (son). Based on its Obi-Ugrian variants, linguists consider pi the predecessor of Hungarian word fiú. Furthermore, the myth about Dalipinu is the prototype of the Hungarian heroic saga about regaining the stolen Sun.

Ugar or Ugaru in the name Ugaritic is the god of plough-land; ugar in Hungarian means "land ploughed at the first time, uncultivated plough-land, land ploughed and left to rest".

The hill-shaped rune "s" (sarok = corner) has preserved the memory of King Og[6] in the Old Testament (cf. Sumerian sar = king). Og's name appears in the name of rune "ak", patak i.e. "pat(er) Og". There are many more of such examples.

Common mythology makes it possible to compare directly the character order of Ugaritic cuneiform and Székely runic scripts in spite of the great differences in graphic forms. Although the Székely order of characters cannot be traced to the Ugaritic one (just as it cannot be traced to Aramean or Latin), the reverse is possible. The Székely character set is the true inheritor of the tradition that determined the character order in Ugaritic, Latin and Aramean alphabets (Fig. 19). What could be this tradition?

On the basis of some Semitic-like characters from Hurrian areas of Tell Chuera, around 2700 BC, László Götz drew the conclusion that "Semitic peoples adopted letter script from Hurrians" (Götz/1982/235-238). László Götz has kindly allowed me to study the characters which are equivalent to the characters of the Gubla (Protobyblos) Aegean-type syllabic alphabet from between 1900 and 1300 BC. The system and usage of the writing suggests that it was developed by a people with non-Semitic language (Varga/1993/158). The Hurrian characters, which are very similar to late Old-Semitic letters, do not prove the existence of a Hurrian script, but support the Hurrian origin of Semitic scripts. Therefore, they also support that Székely character order developed or existed in Hurrian territories.


[1] Khazar character order has survived in Fahrud-Din Mubaraksah Marwar-rudi, Persian poet's work finished in 1206. However, the character forms as shown are - because of deterioration due to copying, applying the idea of writing to new graphic character set, or changing the technology - not similar at all to runes. Vékony/1987/50 contains the order adapted from Ligeti.

[2] Mesopotamian sources mention Hurrians as early as 3rd millennium BC around the area of Zargos. They were the ones who introduced horse breeding and iron metallurgy, which raised Hurrian military technology to a high level and made the Mitanni state a great power.

[3] There is no "c" in the third place in the Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramean and Arsakida Pehlevi character order; character "c" in Etruscan and Latin probably stood for the sound k. That is, sound "c" is an ambiguous part of early alphabets. The character order of the prototypic alphabet seems to have started not with the sounds ABC but with ABD, which developed from the names of the Magyar divine triad.

[4] For example, the corresponding character names of the Semitic character order, "a" alef (ox), "b" béth (house), "d" dáleth (door) do not show any significant mythological importance.

[5] Hattic god of storm Taru, (Ta lord; cf. döng (boom, roar), dördül (thunder))

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