(antiguos) canarios
English translation: Canarii, Guanches
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| 23:32 Jan 29, 2003 |
| Spanish to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary / Anthropology/archeology | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: Oso (X) | ||||||
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| 5 +1 | Guanches |
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| 5 | Una referencia |
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| Discussion entries: 2 | |
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Answers
14 mins confidence: 
Una referencia Explanation: Hola Lorito, Espero que esta referencia te sea útil. Buena suerte y saludos del Oso ¶:^) The aborigines The issue of the origin of the aboriginal population of the Canary Islands has led to almost as many theories as the legend of Atlantis. Starting with the name of each of the islands, which has changed over the centuries, with the exception of Gran Canaria, which was called "Tamarlan" until the conquest. Although, it is also true that, once again, we come across a contradiction on this point: Prince Juba, son of the King of Numidia (what is now Mauritania), grew up in Rome and was educated and trained in Roman ways. He is supposed to have travelled to the Canary Islands, taking two large, native dogs back with him: "canis grandae", which is the root of the name of Gran Canaria. But, in this case too, it is just a case of speculation, because most of the written documents relating to Juba and his life have been lost, in fact many doubt he even existed. Geological findings show the following: the islands have only been inhabited for about three thousand years, as no fossils have been found to indicate prior human habitation. Furthermore, the anthropological discovery of human fossils show that the aboriginal population was made up of at least three different races, which were distributed unevenly on each of the islands: Cro-Magnon Man, Berbers and the Negroid type from black Africa. These findings the different theories that suggest that there was no single race of aboriginal Canary Islanders, which, in turn, reinforces the assumption that different groups from very different origins and at different moments in history, came to the islands, although we still do not know how they got here. From most of the writings about the aboriginal Canary Islanders, we know that the inhabitants of one island did not maintain contact with the inhabitants of the other islands and that there were great differences between the different islands in terms of language, customs, rites and general behaviour. The description of the islanders in the old chronicles is amusing. They say that the "Majoreros" (the inhabitants of Fuerteventura) and the Conejeros (inhabitants of Lanzarote) were severe and serious-natured; the inhabitants of La Gomera were extremely elegant; the people of Gran Canaria were always good-natured and happy; those of Tenerife brave and extraordinarily proud and, finally, the people of La Palma and El Hierro tended to be melancholic. It is said, although it is mere speculation, even if it is widely accepted, that a group of people from North Africa that inhabited lands in the former region of Carthage, rose up against the Roman conquerors and the new sovereign decided to ship them West with provisions and animals. This story is not very convincing, as the art of boat building was a difficult one that was known by a very few. Furthermore, wood was scarce at the time and it is hard to understand why the Romans would give away such valuable raw materials just to rid themselves of a few insurrectionists when it would have been much easier to cut their throats. What is easier to believe is that there were people with money among the rebels, who decided to flee from the tyrants of Rome, hiring experienced and scrupulous "slave drivers" for the task. (Nothing and no-one who lives in the Canary Islands can avoid the comparison with the boats that bring in their shameful cargoes of illegal immigrants). But it also seems that the Canary Islands is an ideal and inexhaustible breeding ground for myths and outrageous speculations, without any kind of ideological or temporal bonds. Maybe one of the most incredible theories is that of a German historian, who claims the following: the Goths got to North Africa before the Romans, and before they became the victims of Arab persecution. The famous story of those vandals whose tongues were cut out before being shipped to the Canary Islands, would confirm the theory that the Guanches were descendents of the Goths, which would explain their appearance: large, tough, pale skinned, blue-eyed, fair haired and with a tendency to be melancholic. Their philosophy was to keep their word, and their worst crime was to break it. Diodorus the Sicilian (circa 100 B.C.) maintained that the Africans from the west of the Dark Continent were the aboriginal inhabitants of the islands. He tells how some fishermen were caught in a storm off the African coast and driven to a western isle they called Alizuth. The colonisation of the north of Africa between the 1st century B.C. and the 3rd century A.D., forced many of the inhabitants of these lands to emigrate. The Arab invasion of the 6th century A.D., probably encouraged many to flee rather than converting to Islam. Another important issue was the progressive desertification of North Africa: the spreading Sahara deprived people of living space, forcing them to sep survival elsewhere. All the rest are no more than stories. The "Rediscovery" of the Canary Islands began when Norman nobleman Juan de Bethencourt, at the service of the Crown of Castile, reached them in the early 15th century. Everything concerning the Canary Islands that has happened since, is recorded in writing, although a certain air of mystery continues to surround these Atlantic islands. It is obviously not just the mild climate of the islands that has made them irresistible to many people for centuries, because, without dreams and imagination, homo sapiens would be no more than an instrument, a beast of burden and maybe the idea of a "paradise lost" is what distinguishes Man from all the other creatures. Regardless of where the "Fortunate Islands" really are, we in Canaries have a good idea.. The myth of Atlantis Plato, (4th century B.C.) was not just one of the most important philosophers of the Western world, he was also an excellent story teller. In his two dialogues, Timeo and Critius, he tells the tale of a sunken continent, although he is not the first to do so, as the Athenian statesman Solon has already spoken of it. Solon, in turn, had heard the story of Atlantis from the mouth of an Egyptian priest of the Sais sect. There are as many theories about the location and destruction of Atlantis as there are researchers and scientists who have and continue to study the subject. The legend of the lost continent has concerned mankind for over 24 centuries, and during that time, over 25 places have been discovered, scattered all over the world, that were supposedly the site of Atlantis. Interest in Atlantis has always come and gone in wave. As quickly as it becomes an issue that is almost religious in its interest, it cools again and becomes forgotten for a while, without completely disappearing from what psychologists call our collective subconscious. Do not forget that in the second half of the 20th century alone, over 25,000 articles were published on the subject! In the times of Plato, the Earth was thought to be a flat disc, with the Greek empire at the centre, surrounded by all the other known countries, which, in turn, were bathed by an infinite ocean. What existed to the west of Athens was unknown, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, what we now know as the Straits of Gibraltar. Maybe it is too much of a coincidence that Plato chose a setting for his tale that was totally unknown and about which there was no information. Plato was a brilliant philosopher, with such a variety of interests and knowledge that for we simple mortals, it is totally incomprehensible. His objective was probably not just to tell a fantastic tale, but to find the ideal place to illustrate his concept of an ideal state and way of life with an example, where mankind could prosper without any problems (as they already had in one of this best known works, Politeia). Between Homer and Plato, lived Herodotus (5th century B.C.) who maintained contacts with the Egyptian priests of the Sais sect, but who never mentioned Atlantis however. Thus, we cannot disregard the possibility that Plato merely invented his provocative story, or that he made it up, based on the Odyssey, or other written documents of the time. By the way, long before the time of Homer and Plato, there was an Egyptian legend that tells the tale of a fleet of ships that sunk, drowning all the crews but one man. The fortunate sailor reached an island inhabited by a fearful dragon that told the sailor that it was the sole survivor of his species, after a terrible cataclysm wiped them all out. The papyrus that holds this tale, from 2000 - 1750 B.C. remains in the museum of St. Petersburg. It is strange that the Romans made no mention of the legend of Atlantis - they obviously did not seem to believe in the lost continent. Atlantis is just one of many mysterious worlds that mankind has imagined, dreamed or sought, in the course of his history. There is a similar myth associated with every civilisation, both western and oriental. Everyone knows a perfect place, where peace and fertility reign supreme, where there is limitless abundance and regardless of whether it is considered a metaphor or a real place, everyone suddenly disappeared at some time and the place can no longer be found by man, who has lost this paradise forever. These fantastic places are woven through the history of mankind, like a common thread: El Dorado, Lyonesse, Lemuria, Shangrila, to name just a few that, along with Atlantis are well known. Discovery The Islands had probably already been discovered by 2000 B.C, as the recorded history of sailing dates back to this time, with the Phoenicians playing the leading role. Around 600 B.C., a group of Phoenicians, under orders from Egyptian Pharaoh Neko II, circumnavigated Africa and could easily have visited the Canary Islands. But, there is no written record of this, as there is no record of Carthaginian Admiral Hannon's excursion here on his way back to Africa in 600 B.C. Maybe none of them had any motive for coming here. Another theory sustains that the Phoenicians considered the islands so charming that they kept them a closely guarded secret, for fear of a sudden and uncontrollable wave of emigration of their subjects to the "Fortunate Isles." The first scientific records of the Islands, outside of the realms of myth and speculation, date back to Roman times, particularly to the historian Pliny the Elder, who, in his work, Natural History, was the first to give a credible description of the Canary Islands. Apart from the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, there were probably many other nations who knew of and visited the Islands, as many peoples of the time had a good command of sailing: Iberians, Romans, Etruscans, Goths, Arabs. But, we can but speculate about all these possible visits, because there is no written record. After the fall of the Greek and Roman empires, the western world became submersed in the Dark Ages for several centuries: what little survived the hordes of barbarians invading the more civilised regions and the destruction of cultural assets of the local peoples by these invaders (e.g. the fire of the library of Alexandria), was obliterated shortly afterwards in religious wars, brought about by political differences within Europe (or the "Old World"), and during the dark times of the Middle Ages and the Inquisition. At this time, the Islands, like Sleeping Beauty, slipped into a centuries-long slumber, farther than ever from the rest of the world, and it was not until much later, in the 14th century A.D. when they awoke and when the world discovered them once again, this time for good. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2003-01-30 05:56:51 (GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Como bien dice el colega Miguel, también se refieren a ellos como \"Guanches\" \"The \"Fortunated islands\" has been known in Europe since the ancient greeks. The Canary islands belong to the legend of Atlantis, the submerged continent, made popular since the Antiquity by the greek writer Platon (380 B.C.), and to which geology is now able to bring an argument : the hard rocks that are the base of the archipelago probably belonged to the same primitive base than the moroccan Atlas. ***The ethnologists also agree to say that the Guanches, Majos, and Benahoritas (oftenly grouped under the generic name Guanches)***, the first inhabitants of these islands about 5.000 years ago, probably came from North Africa or the Middle-east...\" http://www.ecoturismocanarias.com/canarias/uk/historia.htm Otra ref. interesante donde aparece el término \"Canarii\": \"Regardless of what Plinius wrote in the I century a.C., the fact is that the island called today Gran Canaria was inhabited by a tribe who called themselves ***the \"canarii\"***. The islands were called \"Fortunate Islands\" or \"Islands of Fortune\".\" http://joe3998.tripod.com/lissnerhistoricalreview/id2.html Reference: http://www.tourist-testreport.com/english/gc/mithos.htm |
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16 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1Guanches Explanation: miguel |
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