Iruña-Veleia

Basque Country

Veleia was an ancient Roman town in the southern Basque Country. The town was an important station on the Roman road "ab Asturicam Burdigalam" that ran parallel to the coast of the Bay of Biscay. At its apogee, the city could have been inhabited by some five to ten thousand people.

The archaeological site of Iruña-Veleia, located in the municipality of Iruña-Oka, 10 kilometers west of Vitoria-Gasteiz, is one of the most important from the Roman period in the Basque Country. Unique findings unearthed include the oldest known texts written in the Basque language as well as, allegedly, the oldest representation of the crucifixion of Christ found to date.

Chronology

Bronze and Iron ages

The town was originally founded in the 8th century BC, in the Late Bronze Age. The houses from this period, rectangular and round with adobe walls and thatched roofs, are similar to those found at the nearby site of Atxa (Vitoria-Gasteiz).

Roman period

In the first half of the 1st century some of these houses were replaced by others of Roman style ("domus"). This architectural romanization continued as the century advanced.

The late Roman city (3rd and 4th centuries) is better known. It shows signs of decay and the construction of a wall that encloses an eleven hectare area. The town survived into the 5th century after Roman power had disappeared from the region, but by the end of the century only burial plots in abandoned buildings are found.

Modern age

There was an abbey at the site at least since the 16th century whose buildings remained visible until the mid 19th century.

Findings

Basque texts

Iruña-Veleia has yielded the oldest non-onomastical texts in Basque. These texts were in a filling under a house. Among the rubble a large number of potshards with brief texts in Basque have been found. Some of the texts made public so far are the following [ [http://www.gara.net/idatzia/20060616/art169077.php Gara: Los textos hallados en Iruña-Veleia están escritos "inequívocamente en euskera".] ] (showing also modern rendering and translation):
*URDINISAR - "urdin izar" (?) 'blue star' (?)
*ZURI URDINGORI - "zuri, urdin, gorri" 'white, blue, red'
*EDANIANLO - "edan, jan, lo" 'drink, eat, sleep'
*IANTAEDAN - "jan ta edan" 'eat and drink'
*IAUN - "jaun" 'lord', 'sir' or 'mister'
*GEURE ATAZUTAN - "geure aita zutan" 'our father standing'
*IESUS IOSE ATA TAMIRIAN AMA - "Jesus, Joxe aita ta Mirian ama" 'Jesus, Joseph the father and Myriam the mother'.

Dating of these texts is not yet conclusive, but they are believed to belong to the Roman period because they use the Latin alphabet rather than the Iberian syllabary, were written on "ceramica sigillata" of clear Roman style, and were used as filling in the foundations of a house. Nuclear spectroscopic analysis by the French [http://www.cnrs.fr/ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique] indicates that the texts could not have been buried more recently than the 3rd century. [ [http://gara.euskalherria.com/azkenak/orriak/11/art190499.php Gara: Confirman la autenticidad de los textos hallados en Iruña-Veleia] ]

Epigraphic set

In June of 2006, a researcher named Montserrat Rius, who claimed to work at the University of Tübingen, claimed to have found in the "Domus de Pompeia Valentina", built in the first century and inhabited continuously until the fifth, a sealed room, which had an epigraphic set described as "among the most important in the Roman world." [ [http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/eu/gizartea/iruna-veleia-third-century-basque-inscriptions-found-in-archaeolo?itemId=D36072&cl=%2Feitb24%2Fsociedad&idioma=en Third-century Basque inscriptions found in archaeological site] ] Among the supposed findings are:
*270 inscriptions and drawings on pottery fragments, some of which refer to Egyptian history and even some written in Egyptian hieroglyphs "with a perfect layout." He claimed that these may have been used for teaching children.
*The earliest representation of the Calvary (crucifixion of Jesus) found anywhere to date. [ [http://www.noticiasdealava.com/ediciones/2006/06/09/sociedad/alava/d09ala14.375086.php Un maestro entre el Nilo y el Zadorra] , Diario de Noticias de Álava, June 9, 2006; [http://www.noticiasdealava.com/ediciones/2006/06/09/sociedad/alava/d09ala14.375087.php En Veleia hubo alguien muy culto y de alto 'status', que dominaba la historia egipcia y sabía escribir jeroglíficos] ; [http://www.noticiasdealava.com/ediciones/2006/06/09/sociedad/alava/d09ala6.375101.php Aparecen en Veleia restos de inscripciones en euskera del siglo III y de temática cristiana] ]

However, this "find" was not submitted to any scholarly journal, and seems to live mostly on the internet. Moreover, it has been seriously challenged: "Nefertiti" appears despite having been wholly forgotten by classical audiences, even including 3rd century BC Egyptian historian Manetho; besides, this has long been known to be the wrong vocalisation of the Egyptian anyway (closer would be "Nafteta"). Also, Rius was not a researcher at the University of Tübingen as of 2006. [interview by Haritz Rodriguez with Juan Carlos Moreno, [http://www.gara.net/paperezkoa/20080120/58672/es/La-palabra-Nefertiti-es-una-conv La palabra Nefertiti es una convención moderna] , GARA January 20, 2008]

ee also

*Basque language
*Caristii
*Autrigones
*Ab Asturica Burdigalam (the Roman road that run through Veleia).

External links

* [http://www.veleia.com/ingles/index.php Iruña-Veleia oficial site] (in English)
* [http://iesusioshemarian.blogia.com/ Blog with the last updates and discussions about the Veleia's findings.]

References