Pylos Agronomy (C)
I formulate the face of my field, I am dissolving the clods after tilling.
It was found in Pylos, Messinia, Greece and it dates back to 1400 B.C..
We have neither a depiction of the original, nor any elements about when and by whom it was found, until now.
In the text we can find techniques for the formulation of the surface of the land.
The text is a document of specialized agricultural knowledge and action for improving the surface of a field .
The phonetic values, as they were identified and phonetically transcribed by Ventris and Chadwick, are the following:
TA RA NU A JA ME NO E RE PA TE JA PI KA RU PI
We studied the phonetic values in the actual text. We understood it, we read and rendered it into Modern Greek, but we also approached it philosophically.
Figuration of the phonetic values of the text.
In our own view, the phonetic values are formed as follows:
TARANU-AJAMENO-ERE-PATEJA-PI-KARUPI
The language of the text is Greek, Archaic, typical of any Minoan text. The grammatical structure of the text is mixed.
One can identify Pontic, Macedonian and Doric words, as well as Classical Greek Language.
The utterance of the words and of the verbal types, follows the grammatical rules of the Pontic and Doric Dialects, as well as those of the Classical Greek Language.
Rendition of the text:
Ταράνου (ταράζω) ατσειαμένον (ατσειαμής) αιραίνω πατήγια
Ποιώ καρούπ.
The Τext in Modern Greek:
Although I am a beginner, I am digging the soil with the shovel, working on sunburnt clods.
(Ταράζω (σκαλίζω) αν και άμαθος σηκώνοντας τη γη με τα πατόφτυαρα
ενεργώντας σε ηλιοκαμένους σβώλους).
A Philosophical Approach:
The author of the text, compared to the present conditions, is probably a new farmer, who expresses the way he formulates the surface of his field in writing.
He narrates-even if he is not experienced, as a Pelasgian– a new farmer:
Although I am a beginner, I am digging the soil with the shovel, working on sunburnt clods.
This is a method of flattening and improving the surface of the land, before cultivation.
The technique always remains the same, in relation to the traditional methods of farming. The only change refers to the digging tool of clods crushing.
In my ears echoes my father’s voice:
“Yannis, go to the field and crush the remaining clods with the mattock, after tilling.”
(«Γιάννε δέβα σο χωράφ και με την δικέλλαν τσάκα τα καρούπια ντ’επέμνανε α σ’ όργωμαν»).
Thousands of years have passed, but the procedure of crushing clods remains the same. What is more, the farming terminology is very old.
Even though there are some people who try to persuade us that everything has changed, these lines witness that this is not the case concerning farming.
As a Pelasgian’s son, I had the same farming experience.