8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists in northern Spanish have discovered what they believe to be the oldest Basque language text

Archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the oldest Basque language text, on  Irulegi archaeological site, near the Aranguren Valley, about 8 km from present-day Pamplona in Spain’s northern Navarre region.

Researchers got to work excavating the hillock, on which the walls of a medieval castle also stand. At the foot of the fortification, the remains of a 2,000-year-old settlement were uncovered.

On the threshold of one of the homes destroyed during the Sertorian Wars, workers found a bronze slab in 2021 that was roughly 14.5 centimeters (5.7 in) long and shaped like a hand. Laboratory analysis revealed that strange inscriptions were engraved on its fingers, in the form of 40 symbols distributed across four lines.

When it was removed, no engraved inscription or ornament could be seen, so the artifact was assumed to be part of a helmet. It consisted of a sheet of bronze, cut to represent the shape of a life-sized right hand, and is an alloy of 53.19% tin, 40.87% copper, and 2.16% lead, something common in ancient alloys, according to the analysis of experts from the Public University of Navarre.

An aerial view of Mount Irulegui in Navarre, Spain. Photo: SOCIEDAD DE CIENCIAS ARANZADI

Dating to the first quarter of the 1st century BC, the hand has a small recess for hanging on the front door of a house as a ritual object to protect the house.

The first word was “sorioneku”, which easily translates to the modern Basque word “zorioneko”, meaning “good fortune” or “good omen”. The rest of the inscription has not been deciphered yet.

Since the names of Paleohispanic gods are largely unknown to experts, they speculate that some of the phrases on the Hand of Irulegi may refer to Basque deities or locations. The phrases on the Hand of Irulegi are separated by dots or marks (interpunctuations), but none of the identified words appear to correspond to personal Basque names.

When it was removed, no engraved inscription or ornamention was visible so the artifact was thought to be part of a helmet.
When it was removed, no engraved inscription or ornamention was visible so the artifact was thought to be part of a helmet. Photo: SOCIEDAD DE CIENCIAS ARANZADI

Javier Velaza, a professor of Latin Philology at the University of Barcelona and one of the world’s foremost experts on pre-Roman inscriptions “The Hand of Irulegi is undoubtedly the first document written in the Basque language and in a specifically Basque script [an alphabet that includes letters and syllables], as well as being the longest text known to date,” says.

Joaquín Gorrochategui, expert in paleolinguistics and professor of Indo-European Linguistics at the University of the Basque Country, agreed that “the piece is really exceptional” and has underlined that it presents characteristics that make it “Basque” and not generically “Iberian”.

It is, he clarified, “a convincing hypothesis, but it is still a hypothesis”, since “we have three more lines to read and we are stunned because we don’t understand anything”.

A transcription of the signs on the Hand of Irulegi. The first word is ‘sorioneku’, which can mean of good fortune or omen. SOCIEDAD DE CIENCIAS ARANZADI

The regional Navarre president, María Chivite, has said the discovery is “a historical milestone of the highest order” since it represents “a leap like few others in the knowledge that we had until now of our history and our culture”

The artifact represents a major archaeological and linguistic discovery and could prove that the Basque language was being used more than 2,000 years ago.

The Irulegi archaeological site stands on an isolated mountain between the Pyrenees and the Ebro valley. Between the 15th and 11th centuries BC during the Bronze Age, it was constructed for defensive purposes and to control the surrounding area. It vanished in the first century BC.

Cover Photo: The Irulegui Hand and Proto-Basque inscriptions.SOCIEDAD DE CIENCIAS ARANZADI

SOCIEDAD DE CIENCIAS ARANZADI

Related Articles

New Evidence could Change the Date People First Arrived in North America

2 June 2021

2 June 2021

While investigating the origins of agriculture, researchers made an unexpected discovery. According to an unexpected finding made by an Iowa...

Detectorist Finds 2,500-Year-Old Unique Bronze Brooch

26 August 2024

26 August 2024

A metal detectorist, who chose to remain anonymous, uncovered three artifacts, including a massive fibula, i.e. a bronze brooch dating...

Where We Saw Sin, There Was Care: A Baby Buried in a Medieval Belgian Brothel

23 May 2025

23 May 2025

A medieval brothel in Belgium yields a discovery that forces historians to confront forgotten tenderness in places long seen only...

A 2,200-Year-Old Monumental Pyramidal Structure Discovered in the Judean Desert

26 March 2025

26 March 2025

In a remarkable archaeological breakthrough, Israeli archaeologists have uncovered a monumental pyramidal structure in the Judean Desert, dating back 2,200...

Centuries-Old Shipwrecks in Costa Rica Identified as Danish Slave Ships

5 May 2025

5 May 2025

Marine archaeologists have definitively identified two long-known shipwrecks off the coast of Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica as the...

Archaeologists uncovered a second mosaic in Rutland Roman villa in England

29 November 2022

29 November 2022

Archaeologists report they have uncovered a second mosaic at the site of the 2020 mosaic discovery at the Roman villa...

Archaeologists discovered the earliest Iron Age house in Athens and Attica

26 May 2023

26 May 2023

A research team from the University of Göttingen discovered the earliest  Iron Age house in Athens and Attica. Archaeologists from...

Scenes of Warriors from 6th Century BC on a Slate Plaque Discovered at Tartessian Site in Spain

6 June 2024

6 June 2024

Archaeologists representing Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC) excavating at the archaeological site of Casas del Turunuelo have uncovered a slate...

Human remains found at prison sewer site are 4,500 years old in East Yorkshire

26 March 2024

26 March 2024

Archaeologists investigating the site of a new sewer to serve a jail being built at Full Sutton in East Yorkshire,...

Magnificent Discovery: A Major Tomb Filled with Gold and Ceramic Artifacts was Discovered in Panama

3 March 2024

3 March 2024

In an archaeological find in the El Caño Archaeological Park, located in the district of Natá, province of Coclé, in...

In Oman, a 4,000-year-old Early Bronze Age settlement was unearthed

25 January 2022

25 January 2022

A large settlement dating back more than 4,000 years has been discovered in Oman. Archaeological excavations in the Wilayat of Rustaq,...

A Monument complex and inscription belonging to Ilteris Kutlug Kagan, the founder of the Eastern Göktürk Khanate, were found

24 August 2022

24 August 2022

A Turkish inscription of İlteriş Kutlug Kağan was found during the joint scientific archaeological expedition of the International Turkic Academy...

Unique tombs wrapped in high-quality fabrics and painted bodies were discovered at monumental temple in Peru

11 March 2023

11 March 2023

Unique tombs wrapped in high-quality fabrics and painted bodies were discovered at the monumental temple in Peru. Located on the...

Lost 14th Century Church Discovered under a Tennis Court in Hungary

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

During an archaeological excavation in Visegrád, a fortified medieval castle on a hill overlooking the Danube in northern Hungary, the...

Flint tools found in Tunel Wielki Cave, Poland, about half a million years old

9 October 2022

9 October 2022

Flint tools discovered over 50 years ago in the Tunel Wielki Cave (Maopolskie region) are not tens of thousands of...