Celtiberian

Celtiberian is an extinct Celtic language once spoken on the
Iberian peninsula until about the 1st century BC, particularly
between the Duero, Tajo, Júcar, Turia and Ebro rivers in the
north of what is now Spain.

Celtiberian is thought to have been a Q-Celtic language related
to the Gaelic/Goidelic languages of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle
of Man. There are Old Irish legends preserved in the Lebor
Gabála Érenn (The Book of Invasions) name
the Milesians, a people from Iberia, as being the ancestors of the Irish.
The Celtiberians themselves are thought the have migrated to Iberia
from Gaul (France), perhaps during the 6th century BC.

The name Celtiberi appears in the writing of Roman authors
such as Diodorus Siculus, Appian and Martial, who thought
these people were a mixture of Celts (Celtae) and
Iberians (Iberi), with the Celts being dominant.
They also recording the tribal names Arevaci, Belli, Titti and Lusones.

The Celtiberian script developed from the Iberian
scripts. About 200 inscriptions in Celtiberian have been found
in the Celtiberian alphabet, and also in the Latin alphabet, dating
from between the 6th and 1st centuries BC. With the Roman take over
of the Iberian peninsula, the Celtiberian script was gradually replaced
by the Roman/Latin alphabet and eventually
disappeared.

Notable features

• Type of writing system: partly syllabic and partly alphabetic.
• Direction of writing:
• Used mainly by druids for religious purposes

Celtiberian alphabet

Sample text

From Uxama (Western script) [source]

Links

Information about Celtiberian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtiberian_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtiberians
http://www.pelendonia.net/lengua/lengua.htm
http://www.ancient-celts.com/LanguagesCeltiberian2.html

Iberian Epigraphy Page, by Jesús Rodríguez Ramos – details
of the scripts and languages of pre-Roman Iberia (Spain and Portugual):
http://www.webpersonal.net/jrr/

ALPHABETUM – a Unicode font
specifically designed for ancient scripts, including classical
& medieval Latin, ancient Greek, Etruscan, Oscan, Umbrian,
Faliscan, Messapic, Picene, Iberian, Celtiberian, Gothic, Runic,
Old & Middle English, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Old Nordic, Ogham,
Kharosthi, Glagolitic, Old Cyrillic, Phoenician, Avestan, Ugaritic,
Linear B, Anatolian scripts, Coptic, Cypriot, Brahmi, Old Persian cuneiform:
http://guindo.pntic.mec.es/~jmag0042/alphabet.html