According to Wikipedia, the term Iran derives from Middle Persian Ērān, first attested in a third-century A.D. inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam, with the accompanying Parthian inscription using the term Aryān, in reference to the Iranians… Ērān and Aryān are oblique plural forms of gentilic nouns ēr- (Middle Persian) and ary- (Parthian), deriving from Proto-Iranian language *arya- (meaning ‘Aryan‘, i.e. of the Iranians), recognized as a derivative of Proto-Indo-European language *ar-yo-, meaning ‘one who assembles (skilfully)’.
William Jones’ and Michael Ventris’ views on the origin of Proto-Indo-European language >
Australian archaeologist who specialized in the study of European prehistory V. Gordon Childe expressed quite a memorable opinion already a century ago:
“From the beginning of recorded history, we see young peoples—Teutons and Cimbri, Goths, Langobardi, Burgundians, Normans—pouring down from the cold lands to conquer and rejuvenate the Roman Empire. The formation of the Celts, Romans, and Greeks should be regarded in the light of that analogy, the whole of prehistory will become the record of the successive swarmings south, east and west of Aryans cradled amidst northern snows. To strengthen his argument Penka did not hesitate to appeal to Homeric myth, citing the Cimmerians shrouded in continuous night and the tall Laistrygones on whom perpetual day shone as Greek reminiscences of their subboreal home.”
The latest article on the Yamnaya Culture >
Where were the most ancient symbold of the Aryan civilization discovered? “Cradle of Civilizations” book provides the answers.
