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by Peggy Duly (Editor), David V. Kaufman (Editor), S. C. Compton (Editor)
"I hope that the text can be widely disseminated among the scholars in this field. If my experience is any indication of the likely response, it will be treasured. . . . Jatsemirskij clearly was set for a productive academic career that realistically could have culminated in finally cracking the code. In the wake of his passing, the book must be made available."-Bernard Taylor, PhD, Research Professor, Loma Linda UniversityThe decipherments of ancient languages have been breakthrough moments in history, opening broad windows into the records, thoughts, and lives of past cultures and civilizations. Among the most important still undeciphered are the 13,000 extant inscriptions of the mysterious Etruscan civilization, the predecessors of the Roman empire. Equally important and enigmatic is the language of the great Bronze Age civilization of the Minoans, influential forerunners of the classical Greeks. The formative influence of these early civilizations on the foundational cultures of Western civilization makes their decipherment especially important and relevant. Based on and furthering the work of his PhD dissertation, Jatsemirskij's Minoan, Etruscan, and Related Languages makes significant progress in unpacking the mysteries of these languages and their broader Tyrrhenian language group. In addition to an impressive comparative study and overview of the current state of our knowledge, Jatsemirskij provides numerous resources, including inscriptions, signs, grammatical analysis, acrophonic parallels, glossary, tables, figures, and bibliographies. This is an invaluable resource for anyone exploring these languages and helps lay the groundwork for their decipherment.In addition to his PhD, Jatsemirskij also published several academic papers on the subject. Tragically, his brilliant flame faded too soon, and, succumbing to pancreatic cancer at the age of thirty-seven, he was not able to see this book published. However, the editors felt that his extensive research and impressive life's work should be made available to all scholars in the hope that others can further his work.
