Deciphering the mystery of a mysterious Amazigh inscription that is more than 2,500 years old
The rock inscription in question is the Okaimden inscription discovered in the Euriken (Ourika) region in Far Morocco in 1980, written in Tifinagh, which dates back to 500 years BC, and which embodies a herd of elephants and two people, as well as two lines written in Tamazight (the stage between the eastern Libyan "old Tifinagh" and its desert daughter Tifinagh ).
Researcher Pitchler estimated her age in the fifth century BC. The inscription was copied as well as previously studied in a preliminary manner by a group of researchers (Rodrigue 1986 CE/Corrected 1999 CE - Surright and Horbet 2003 CE - Ahmed Al-Sukunti and his team 2003 CE). It was recently studied by Professor of Languages: Dr. Abdullah Al-Helwi, and the following is a summary of his analysis:
(500BC) rock carvings tifinagh oukaimeden 1980
Linear representation of the inscription:
Left line: II W ⵜ ⵜ ⴰ) (ⴸ ⵎ I ⴰ) (ⵙ II ⴸ W) (ⴸ ⵜ ≠ W II))
Right line: (ⴰ - ⵙ ⴸ ⵏ) (III W III - ⵔ ⵜ ⴰ)
Left line: The first word: (II W ⵜ ⵜ ⴰ) reads / verses. The first ta’ is after the verb to indicate the plural, and the second ta’ is an absent singular pronoun, so the intent is: “take him” or “take control of him.”
The second word: (ⴸ ⵎ I ⴰ) does not exist in the root lexicon, and we do not know anything similar to it except for the word “Adimon”, which the book of barbarism uses as a name for Satan, so that it is one of two hypotheses: Either the word is a name for a type of demons (ghoul, monster, … ), or is it an unknown name for an elephant (assuming the animal represented in the engraving is indeed an elephant).
The first hypothesis, "metaphysical," entails that the ancient Amazighs believed in fearsome beings who had to be fought. The second assumption requires that the text in the inscription talks about hunting an elephant. We may reconcile the two readings, making the text a “hunting recipe” that symbolizes a war with the “ghoul” or something similar. Evidence that the text is a prescription for war is the following.
The third word: (ⵙ II ⴸ W) read / s wldi. This word consists of: “s” meaning “by” (a preposition), and “aldi” meaning “slingshot”. This interpretation is consistent with what we see in the inscription itself, where two people carry what looks like a "slingshot" (it could be a dagger, as we shall see).
The fourth word: (ⴸ ⵜ ≠ W II) read / detizal. It consists of “d”, which is a conjunction “and”, and “tizal”, which is used in the meaning of “nails” and “dagger”, is derived from “iron”. The tool that the two people carry in the picture may be a dagger or other tool made of iron.
Thus, the sentence would be: “Alyat Ademon s weldi d Tizal”, with the translation: “Take Ademon with slingshots and iron.”
Right line: The first word: (III W III - ⵔ ⵜ) from the roots (Agri/Tigre/Aghori) from which all nouns denote “stick.” Therefore, it is likely that the meaning of the verb here is “severe beating” or something close to its meaning. The letter “taa” at the end of the verb indicates that the plural is a verb with a subject in a likely manner, as in the first sentence (and in this there is clear semantic harmony).
The second word: (ⴰ - ⵙ ⴸ ⵏ) consisting of the letter “as” is a pronoun in the form of “his,” and the noun “den” denotes “viscera/abdomen.”
So the second sentence would be: “G egrat as condemned”, translated as: “They blew out his bowels for him.”
Accordingly, the meaning of the two sentences together is: “Take Ademon with slingshot and iron, and blow up his intestines.” The final understanding of the inscriptional text hinges on the meaning of "ademon"; If this name indicates the meaning of "elephant", we can understand that this text is "as a description of the method of hunting elephants." But if we understand it in the sense of “the ghoul, the beast, or the devil,” this text will be “theological advice to deal with the “beast.” The third possible reading is that the speaker uses the image of “the war with the elephant to indicate how to deal with the evil spirit.”
* Source "adapted": Dr. Abdullah Al-Helwi