Echoes in Stone: Tartessian Inscriptions and Ireland’s Iberian Ancestry

The story of Ireland’s origins, as told in Irish mythology, reveals unexpected connections to the ancient civilizations of Iberia. Central to this myth is the figure of Míl Espáine, the legendary ancestor of the Irish people.

This tale, recorded in medieval texts like the “Lebor Gabála Érenn” (The Book of Invasions), describes how Míl’s descendants, the Milesians, sailed from Iberia to conquer Ireland. The very name Míl Espáine therefore connects Milesians (from Miletus, Anatolia) and Spain, which were according to this myth, two locations where the ancestors of the Irish had previously lived.

Was this story just a medieval fairytale, or was it a memory of a very distant past that had been preserved in the bardic oral tradition?

Spain was named after Seville (ancient Hispalis)

Intriguingly, the name “Míl Espáine” may not merely signify a general association with Spain but could instead refer to a specific locale within the Iberian Peninsula—ancient Seville. In antiquity, this was an important seaport, known as “Hispalis” or “Hisbaal” or “Spal” in ancient Tartessian and Phoenician. The ancient author Isidore of Seville, in his work Etymologiae, claimed that Spain (Hispania) was named after the city of Hispalis.

Ancient Tartessians

Ancient Seville was at the heart of Tartessian culture, a wealthy and enigmatic civilization in southern Iberia. This connection raises the possibility that Míl Espáine was envisioned as hailing directly from Tartessos, a region renowned for its advanced metallurgy and extensive trade networks.

Moreover, the name of Míl’s son, Éber, seems to echo “Iberia,” the classical name for the entire Iberian peninsula, just like the name of his other son, Ir, seems to echo the name of Ireland.

Gaels and Gauls

Recent genetic studies have provided some support for the idea of a connection between the Irish and the people of the Iberian Peninsula.  The Irish call their language “Gaelic” and this term comes from the same root as the name of  “Gauls” who were part of the Celtic peoples, and widespread group across much of Europe during the Iron Age.

As we will now see, the Tartessian inscriptions may hold the key to undisputable proof of the ancient connections between the Iberian Peninsula and the origins of the Irish people.

A few words about my method

In the image above, you see one of the classical attempts to transcribe the Tartessian script. It’s a commendable effort and mostly accurate, but it ultimately yielded no significant results.

However, a few months ago, an important discovery was made: a stone slab containing half of the Tartessian alphabet, in which the letters were arranged in order. Unfortunately, the other half of the slab was lost.

While comparing this new find with the classical reconstruction, I noticed two key points:

1. The wavy letter, traditionally assigned the sound value B, actually represents M, as the alphabet clearly follows the sequence I, K, L, M, N.

2. The alphabet was written as a phonetic alphabet, sharing nearly all its visible letters with the Phoenician alphabet. This indicates that the classical diphthong readings like BA, PA, and TA are not the rule, but rather the exception.

Armed with this new information, I revisited the inscriptions I had already compiled in my notepad. Understanding that B should be read as M was an easy part. The real challenge was making out the words, as there are no word breaks, just endless strings of letters. However, from my previous experience with ancient scripts, I know that there are signs. For example, the scribes would suddenly change the angle or the size of the letters when starting a new word.

The first thing I noticed was that a word previously read as “robareb” can now be read as “romareb”, which sounds very close to Old Irish “romarb” – he/she died. Moreover, a variation of this word appeared on all three tombstones.

As I continued my research, I uncovered a few more words that sounded Irish. This led me to shift my focus entirely to Old Irish and the related Gaulish languages while deciphering the rest of the text.

This article is the result of that research.

Example 1: (J.12.1) – Herdade da Abobada (Almodôvar)

Iru alt Usiel – For Ir, raised by Usiel
narkenti Mumabe  – During the noble chieftain Muma,
romare bataneate – he died in a battle.

I chose this inscription first, because it is the shortest, and it will help us define some of the basic vocabulary. 

Iru: For Ir. This could be a name or title, likely Ír, which is an Old Irish name meaning “lord” or “noble person.” The name “Ir” or “Iar” can be found in Irish mythology, particularly in the name of Ir, a son of Míl Espáine, the ancestor of the Irish.

Altu: Raised. From altā, -iās, fa., height, cliff, shore [PC. *alto-], altiíā, -iās, fa., high place (i.e. holy place) 

Usiel: Another personal name in nominative. Given the alleged connections between the Irish and the Carians, it is interesting to note that a similar name was attested in the Carian inscriptions. In Carian, the variants Uss, Usiol and Usol are quite common. In his book: “Naming Practices in Second- and First-Millennium Western Anatolia” H. Craig Melchert lists the names: Idusol – ‘Ida-blessed”, Ponussollos – “all-blessed” and Magssuollos – ‘Much-blessed’.

In this context, this name could also be connected with Old Irish word “úasal”, meaning “noble, lofty, high-born”. In Carian, which was the language of the Milesians,
“ussos” was a spear, and “ussollos” a spear-carrier.

Narkenti: I believe that the word “nar-kenti” means “during the rule of the chieftain,” which closely parallels the Old Irish phrase “ar cenn,” meaning “under the leadership” or “during the rule.” The presence of the initial “N” in “narkenti” is intriguing. However, as we will see, many Tartessian inscriptions exhibit a similar formula, meaning the presence of this N was not a scribal error.

An alternative option could be “nár cenn”,  meaning “noble chieftain” and in this case the word “during” would be implied, rather than explicitly stated.

Mumabe (or Mumabue): of Mumu, personal name. In Old Irish, the name Mumu refers to modern day Munster, and as we saw, many Irish toponyms were derived from the names of mythical ancestors. The suffix be / bue, if used similarly to ”-bus” in Latin, might indicate “of” or “for” in a collective sense.

Romare: It could be derived from “romareb,” he died. In Old Irish, the past tense was formed by adding the prefix “ro-” to a verb root. The prefix “ro-” was commonly used to indicate the perfective aspect, which often conveyed a completed action in the past. The verb root “mar-” relates to death or dying, and by adding “ro-,” the verb “romar-” would mean “he/she died” or “he’she has died.”

Bataneate: in battle. The word “battle” comes from the same root as Gaulish “batus” – “to hit, to fight, to combat”. Other examples include: 

baton, -ī, no., death in battle [PC. *bato-]
batoros, -ī, mo., combatant, fighter, champion [Gaul. batoro-]
battuiet, battūe, battutos, BII., battus, -ous, fu., to kill, murder

It is also possible that the inscription continues, but a few of the letters are now lost. After the last letter in the word “bataneate” there is a big gap, followed by one more letter – X, with the sound value “T” or “Ta”. In this case the reading should probably be “batan eate***t” “bataneat e***t” or similar.

Example 2: (J.19.1) – Mesas do Castelinho (Almodôvar)

Tilebeurtu Argastamutem – For Tilebert, son of Harigast
Antiletoiire – from Antileta town.
Romare naŕk(en)*lariuulii  – He died during the noble chieftain *lariul 
Geianitaeanirag  – of the Geianitani tribe.

Alteta o be Saru*an – Raised by his wife Saru*an

Tilebertu: This word designates a personal name. In Old Irish, the suffix “-u” often indicates the dative case for masculine and neuter nouns, suggesting that “Tilebertu” could mean “to/for Tilebert” in a sentence. This name sounds simillar to the attested Gaulish name “Tioberte,” that simply meant “gift”.

Argastamutem: This word can be analyzed similarly to “Tilebertu,” where the “-amutem” suffix indicates a relationship of descent or possession—thus, “Argastamutem” implies that Tilebert is the son of a person named Arigast. 

The name “Arigast” closely resembles “Harigast,” a name found on the Negau helmet from Slovenia, which probably meant “noble/holy guest”. At the same time, this name bears a striking resemblance with a Slavic Medieval name Radegast or “dear guest”. According to medieval chroniclers, this was a name of a Slavic god. However, this was also a popular toponym as well as a personal name. For example, Ardagast was a name of a South Slavic chieftan who plundered Greece in 577.

In this regard, the name Arigast could also be translated as a name more fitting for a warrior, meaning “furious spear” – from “yar” – anger, and “gastaz” – spear. The etymology of the ancient Greek Ares could be related, as it was first recorded as A-RE in Mycenean Greek (see here).

This linguistic connection is intriguing, especially considering the Eastern European and Scythian ties mentioned in Irish mythology. At the same time, the name “noble/holy/dear guest” sounds like a really beautiful baby name. If we stretch it even further, it could also mean “noble spirit” as the words “guest” and “ghost” come from the same root.

Antiletoiire: “Antiletoi” would be the base or root word that likely refers to a town known as the Antiletia or Antileta. In ancient Gaulish and other Celtic languages, tribal names often end in ”-eti,” “-ati,” or ”-oi,” which are suffixes indicating a people or ethnic group.

The suffix ”-ire” can be understood as a possessive or genitive ending, which would mean “of” or “belonging to” in the context of the noun it modifies. The suffixes like ”-ire,” “-iros,” or ”-iccos” were used to form adjectives or nouns that indicate origin or belonging. Thus, ”-ire” is similar to the Latin ”-ensis” or ”-ianus” endings (as in “Romanus” for “of Rome”).

Romare: It could be derived from “romareb,” he died. In Old Irish, the past tense was formed by adding the prefix “ro-” to a verb root. The prefix “ro-” was commonly used to indicate the perfective aspect, which often conveyed a completed action in the past. The verb root “mar-” relates to death or dying, and by adding “ro-,” the verb “romar-” would mean “he/she died” or “he’she has died.”

Narkenti: I believe that the word “nar-kenti” means “during the rule of the chieftain,” which closely parallels the Old Irish phrase “ar cenn,” meaning “under the leadership” or “during the rule.” The presence of the initial “N” in “narkenti” is intriguing. However, as we will see, many Tartessian inscriptions exhibit a similar formula, meaning the presence of this N was not a scribal error.

An alternative option could be “nár cenn”,  meaning “noble chieftain” and in this case the word “during” would be implied, rather than explicitly stated.

*lariuulii: This would be the name of the king. Unfortunately it is damaged an unlegible, but it would end in -lariul.

Geianitaeanirag – This appears to be the name of a tribe. The first letter is damaged and therefore uncertain. While it looks like a “G”, it could also be a “K”. The element “Cian” or “Ceian” is a name found in various Celtic traditions, including Irish mythology, where “Cian” means “ancient” or “enduring.” This name appears in figures such as “Cian”, the father of the hero Lugh in Irish myth. 

The “taenirag” suffix sounds very similar to the tribal name suffix “tani” that was very popular in Iberian tribal names. For example: Lacetani, Bastetani, Turdetani etc. In this case, the word “Geianataenirag” would mean “of the Geianitani”.

Altetao: Raised. From altā, -iās, fa., height, cliff, shore [PC. *alto-], altiíā, -iās, fa., high place (i.e. holy place) 

O: Ó is commonly used as a preposition in Old Irish, meaning “from” or “since.”

Bé: “Bé” in Old Irish can mean “woman” or “wife.”

Saru*nian: The exact sound value of the letter marked with an asterisk remains unknown, leaving its pronunciation and meaning open to interpretation. Despite this uncertainty, the contextual clues strongly suggest that Saru*nian is likely the name of the wife. A plausible reconstruction of the name could be Sarunian, with Saruni or Sarunia as the root name. 

Example 3:  (J.53.1)  – Fonte Velha (Bensafrim)

Lokoboniira Boduoaraii*ig – For the Lokobonian woman Boduoaraii*ig
Alte Lokonane – Lokonan raised it
Naŕkena riśiin Koloboiide – During the rule of king Cailbuaid
romare betasiioonii – she died fighting

Lokoboniira: Lokobonian woman (from Lokobona town). Mislead by other authors, I originally translated this word as “I will place” comparing it to the Latin “locabo”. However, it was the Anatolian inscriptions that made me change my mind. In Luwian, the toponym “Lakawanni” refers to ‘the Lakean’ river in ADIYAMAN 2, § 3 (Hawkins, CHLI, 351-2). This was an ancient name of the Lycus river. 

In Iberia, a similar toponym would be “Lacobriga”,  now modern-day Lagos, Portugal. The name shares a similar “Laco-” prefix, which is phonetically close to “Lycus.”

The suffix ”-briga” indicates a fortified settlement or town. This suffix is common in place names across regions that were influenced by Celtic culture, such as “Conimbriga” in Portugal or “Segobriga” in Spain. According to some authors, briga could also mean “bridge”, which would make the toponym Lacobriga even closer to the Lycus river. 

The meaning behind “Laco” was probably the same as the PIE *leukos – “white”. Therefore “Lacobriga” would mean “white city” or a bridge on a white river. 

As for the second part, boniira, I believe that the root is –bona, meaning “settlement”, as in Vindibona, ancient name of Vienna (which also meant “white city”). The word “bona” is also attested in Gaulish and it is a synonym to “briga”. Therfore, I read the whole word as “Loko-bonii-ra”, meaning “a woman from Lokobona (white city)”.

Boduoaraii*ig: This personal name is a coumpund word, made of two words. Unfortunately, one letter is probaby missing. 

The first word is clearly Boduo- “crow” in Gaulish. The crow was a significant symbol in Celtic cultures, often associated with war, death, and sometimes wisdom. For example, “Boduognatus” was a Gaulish chieftain who died in 57 BC.

The second part araii*ig is more tricky, mainly due to a missing letter, but I believe that it could mean “great granddaughter”. Compare with the attested “arauios, -ī, mo”, great grandson (are- + auiíos).

Alte: Raised. From altā, -iās, fa., height, cliff, shore [PC. *alto-], altiíā, -iās, fa., high place (i.e. holy place) 

Lokonane: “By Lokonan”. This is a personal name that probably meant “little wolf”, from the Gaulish root: lucos, -ī, mo., wolf [Gaul. luco-, loco-] (locos) and the diminutive suffix “nan”. In Old Irish, the diminutive ”-án” is commonly used, as in “Aedán” (from “Aed”, meaning “fire”), which means “little fire.”

Narkena: Once again, this compund word probably comes from “nár cenn”,  meaning “noble chieftain” and in this case the word “during” would be implied, rather than explicitly stated.

Riśiin: “of the king”. The word “riśiin” can be analyzed as a form related to the word for “king”, likely in the context of a possessive or genitive form, meaning “of the king.” In Old Irish, “rí” is the word for “king.” In Gaulish, “rix” is commonly used in names and titles to signify a ruler or king, as seen in names like Vercingetorix (“over-king of warriors”).

Also in Old Irish, possessive forms are often created by adding ”-n” or similar endings to indicate “of the king” (“rí” becomes “rígh” in the genitive case, meaning “of the king”).

The form “riśiin” being closer to the Sanskrit  “ṛṣi” (sage, seer, wise person) might suggest that it preserves an older, more archaic form than the terms “ri” and “rix”, which is to be expected in this period. We also see its echo in Thracian personal names of the kings: “Rhesus,” or “Resius.”

Koloboiide:  The name of the king, probably meaning “Honorable Victor”. From “Cail” – fame / honor +  “búaid” (“victory, profit”), from Proto-Celtic *boudi (“booty, victory”). Similar names are well-attested, the most famous being queen Boudica.

Romare: It could be derived from “romareb,” he died. In Old Irish, the past tense was formed by adding the prefix “ro-” to a verb root. The prefix “ro-” was commonly used to indicate the perfective aspect, which often conveyed a completed action in the past. The verb root “mar-” relates to death or dying, and by adding “ro-,” the verb “romar-” would mean “he/she died” or “he’she has died.”

Betasiioonii: Fighting (original meaning “battle-ing”.

The suffix “siioon” probably designates a verb that was created from a noun. Take for example, “toncsiíontio” – casting a spell or “slanossiietum” – healing. 

In our case, the root noun is “beta”, but this word is unattested. Therefor this could be a mispelling of the word bata- to fight, as in our first example. Another option would be “praying (for her) from the Gaulish petasset – to pray. (petat, petāsset, petātos, BIV., petātus, -ous, mu., to ask, demand, beg, request, solicit, sue, pray [Gaul. petame, petamassi L-93])

Unfortunately, from now on all I’ve got are the transcriptions, no images. For this reason, I didn’t spend too much time deciphering them, but I will post them here just to illustrate how the same group of words keeps repeating.

Example 4: Inscription J.53.1

Katuarat danu ites man or Masetala – Catuarat gave this tombstone for Masetala
conterbia Gaesatae – from the Gaestate tribe
Korbo Arlete – Arlete carved it

Katuarat (Catuarat) is probably a personal name. It is a compund word that probably comes from “Catu” – “to battle, guard, protect, defend” and “arat” – “great grandson”, which we already saw in the previous inscription (arauios, -ī, mo”, great grandson (are- + auiíos). Attested Gaulish personal names that start with “Catu-” include Catuvellaunus, Catugnatus, Catumandus, Caturix, and Catuvolcus.

Danu:  “Danu” may derive from the Proto-Indo-European root ”*dō-”, meaning “to give.” It could function as an auxiliary or supportive verb indicating the action of giving.

Ites manor:  “With his hands.” At first I read the word “ites” as “this”, as the Gaulish “etos” could mean “this” or “that”. Next, I read the word “man” as “stone.” In Celtic languages, “maen” in Welsh (from the Proto-Celtic ”*magen-”) means “stone.” In Old Irish, “maen” also means “stone.”

However, upon examining the short inscription which will be presented next, I decided to go with “with his hands”. I recognise this phrase from my previous research, as it is very common in ancient Italic inscriptions.

In Gaulish, “ites” (akin to the Latin “iste”) would mean “these” and “manor” would be a plural from the Gaulish word “manus” which is borrowed from the Latin “manus” meaning “hand.” The suffix “-or” suggests a possessive form, thus together they convey the meaning of performing an action “with his hands”.

Masetala: This could be a proper name, likely feminine, as indicated by the ending ”-ala.” Names in Gaulish often end with ”-ala” or ”-ella” for feminine forms. “Mase-” might be related to “Matis-” or “Matu-,” which can refer to “good” or “great” in Celtic languages.

Kontiraba: meaning “tribe”. This word sounds very similar to “contrebia” a well-attested Iberian word that meant “tribe”, from “con” – together and “trebia” -home, dwelling

Gaesatae – The Gaesatae tribe. Amazingly, this tribal name is well-attested, and it seems that I am the only one that noticed (?!).  The Gaesatae were a group of Gallic mercenary warriors who lived in the Alps near the river Rhône and fought against the Roman Republic at the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC.

Korbo – The word “korbo” is less clear, but from this context, it could be a synonym to modern English “carved”, derived from Proto-Germanic kerban.

Arlete – This is another well-attested Gaulish name – Arelate, meaning “on the marsh”.

Example 5: J.19.1

Liirne stabun maneooroi romare narkenii – Lirne posted (this) by his hands during the king..

I am including this short inscription as it contains most of the words we have already discussed. 

Liirne – by Liir or Liirn

Stabun – placed, posted, from the same root as English verb “to stab” and from Gaulish- stabos, -ī, mo., pole, shaft, post, staff [CGBS. *stabho-, PC. *stabo-]

Maneooroi – The suffix -oroi clearly designates plural, so once again we have the meaning “with his hands”, as discussed in the previous example. Alternatively, again, the meaning could be stone (satbbed these stones) but this is less likely in my opinion.

Romare – died, as explained earlier

narkenii – during king, as explained earlier

Example 6: A few shorter inscriptions

What follows are a few shorter, damaged inscriptions, that still contain the same vocabulary:

J.18.2: …ante romare na(rken) – …ante (missing the first part) died during the noble chieftain….

J.19.2: …ooroir narkenti – …ooroir during the noble chieftain….

J 18.1L Bodi*niana kerdo – another female name that could share the root Buide – victory

Final thoughts

The parallels between the names, places, and words revealed by the Tartessian inscriptions hint at a deep and complex relationship between the ancient Irish and their Iberian counterparts. The tale of Míl Espáine, intertwined with the ancient civilizations of Iberia, suggests that what might once have been dismissed as mere legend could hold fragments of historical truth. 

This research not only reaffirms the richness of Ireland’s mythological past but also opens new avenues for understanding the intertwined histories of these ancient cultures.