The Mystery of the Desert

A forum for all topics related to constructed languages
User avatar
sangi39
moderator
moderator
Posts: 3024
Joined: 12 Aug 2010 01:53
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by sangi39 »

This is one of those threads where, generally speaking, I have nothing much to say other than "give me more of this right now!" [:D]
You can tell the same lie a thousand times,
But it never gets any more true,
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you.
Just one time.
User avatar
qwed117
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4094
Joined: 20 Nov 2014 02:27

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by qwed117 »

March 19 1966
The End
Image
After the largest thunderstorm in Morocco in
years, Morocco has lost a great treasure. A
lightning strike on the Archaeological Museum
of Rabat led to a fire that caused the
destruction of a large portion of the archives,
especially those dedicated to the storage of
the mysterious script. The most liberal
estimate of the damage is that a few pieces
were smuggled out before the untimely
conflagration destroyed the majority of the
corpus. The text above is the only known
example of the script that has survived the
immense inferno.
While a large portion of the corpus may be
destroyed, this letter, made in 1519, is one
of the most interesting of the inscriptions,
due to the Arabic characters in the script.
Quite notably, there are multiple characters
borrowed from Arabic like the hamzah, ḍād,
qāf. This means that the meaning of some of
the characters can be found, quite notably, the
character under the hamzah, which must be a
variant of "a". That gives three potential
readings to the word: "ʾa?qaḍa", "ʾu?qaḍa" or
"aḍaq?ʾa". It is unknown if the pattern continues
in other texts however. This however may be as
far as reconstruction gets, because of the loss
of a large portion of the corpus.
Spoiler:
My minicity is [http://zyphrazia.myminicity.com/xml]Zyphrazia and [http://novland.myminicity.com/xml]Novland.

Minicity has fallen :(
The SqwedgePad
Keenir
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2399
Joined: 22 May 2012 03:05

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by Keenir »

oh dear.

and the scary thing is, how many barely-known written languages have come perilously close to being as lost as this Mystery Language - nearly all of them, I think.

so thank you for capturing the tenseness so well. I hope that further recovery efforts will be made; if not, it was a joy following along with the process of discovery.
At work on Apaan: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4799
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by shimobaatar »

Keenir wrote:oh dear.

and the scary thing is, how many barely-known written languages have come perilously close to being as lost as this Mystery Language - nearly all of them, I think.

so thank you for capturing the tenseness so well. I hope that further recovery efforts will be made; if not, it was a joy following along with the process of discovery.
[+1] I feel this sums up my feelings at the moment perfectly as well.
User avatar
lurkjay
rupestrian
rupestrian
Posts: 13
Joined: 07 Mar 2016 21:41
Location: Full Eastern Screwdriver
Contact:

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by lurkjay »

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
User avatar
DesEsseintes
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4331
Joined: 31 Mar 2013 13:16

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by DesEsseintes »

I strongly suspect this isn't over. [B)]
User avatar
Egerius
mayan
mayan
Posts: 1587
Joined: 12 Sep 2013 21:29
Location: Not Rodentèrra
Contact:

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by Egerius »

DesEsseintes wrote:I strongly suspect this isn't over. [B)]
Qwed told me something. Maybe.
Last edited by Egerius on 20 Jun 2016 20:37, edited 1 time in total.
Languages of Rodentèrra: Buonavallese, Saselvan Argemontese; Wīlandisċ Taulkeisch; More on the road.
Conlang embryo of TELES: Proto-Avesto-Umbric ~> Proto-Umbric
New blog: http://argentiusbonavalensis.tumblr.com
User avatar
Frislander
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2088
Joined: 14 May 2016 18:47
Location: The North

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by Frislander »

Just absolute buggery shit! GRRR
User avatar
qwed117
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4094
Joined: 20 Nov 2014 02:27

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by qwed117 »

March 20 1966
The Reconstruction
As the conflagration at the Archaeological Museum of Rabat winds down, time has come for one
of the most difficult things to do: tallying the losses. So far, no texts in the mysterious script have
been found. And as the reports of the loss have rolled in, cryptologists, linguists, and archaeoloists
have joined forces in trying to decipher the mysterious script. The current estimate of the destruction
is enormous: The only remaining inscriptions are those that have been revealed to the press earlier.
This might spell the end for any reconstruction of the script, but many are still confident that some
meaning could be eked out of the script with what little remains.
Mohamed Chafik, arguably the most famous Moroccan linguist, "There is but any doubt that the
inscriptions will be Berberic, and revealed as such". Many linguists doubt both statements, but not
much can be done to see what will happen. Oxford University, Mohammed V University and Cambridge
University have made a formal joint investigation committee, a group of 40 linguists, cryptographers
and historians who are tasked with solving the mystery behind the script. They aim to discover more
inscriptions in archives and to find individuals who may be fluent in the language.
This is the end of Chapter 2: Destruction
Spoiler:
My minicity is [http://zyphrazia.myminicity.com/xml]Zyphrazia and [http://novland.myminicity.com/xml]Novland.

Minicity has fallen :(
The SqwedgePad
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by elemtilas »

qwed117 wrote:The current estimate of the destruction is enormous: The only remaining inscriptions are those that have been revealed to the press earlier.
Nah. [o.O] That's just the official story they wánt you to believe!

I think there is some kind of bizarre government cover-up going on here. So, these priceless documents, securely stored, just háppen to go up in flames in some kind of freak thunder storm? Really :!: :?: Just you folks wait! Next chapter will be all CIA cover-up and artificial storm production and black autogyros and black-budget philological programs deep in the heart of the Oregon wilderness! [>_<] [O.O]
User avatar
Thrice Xandvii
runic
runic
Posts: 2698
Joined: 25 Nov 2012 10:13
Location: Carnassus

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by Thrice Xandvii »

Egerius wrote:
DesEsseintes wrote:I strongly suspect this isn't over. [B)]
Qwed told me something else.
Why would you bother telling us about it if you're not gonna tell us what it was!?
Image
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by shimobaatar »

Here's hoping the efforts of these academics go well and yield interesting results! Very well written, as always. [:D]
Keenir
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2399
Joined: 22 May 2012 03:05

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by Keenir »

shimobaatar wrote:Here's hoping the efforts of these academics go well and yield interesting results!
I second that.
Very well written, as always. [:D]
[+1] :!: [+1]
At work on Apaan: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4799
User avatar
qwed117
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4094
Joined: 20 Nov 2014 02:27

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by qwed117 »

May 16 1967
Rebellion
It has been a full year since the tragic March fire at the Archaeological Museum of Rabat. In the last year, much has changed in Rabat. Tourists no longer litter the streets outside of the old location of the museum. After massive protests by traditional Berber communities, the government quickly acted to stop the revolt, starting a curfew in the largest cities, especially in the Rif, where a large amount of the Berber populace began an uprising after the fire, believing that the Arabian rulers were trying to destroy Berber national identity. Despite the governments actions to prevent rebellion, the Riffian Berbers attempted to secede from the rest of Morocco, on June 4th. The rebellion spread rapidly, threatening to destabilize life in Morocco. The government was forced to use military action against the northern provinces in rebellion. By September, the rebellion was crushed, and the nationalists were subdued. The government has put a moratorium on the research of the inscriptions, justified based off of the violence and destabilization.
Similarly, south of Morocco, in Spanish Sahara, the Berber people have begun to protest against the Spanish occupation of their land. Most notable is Harakat Tahrir, an organization dedicated to fighting peacefully against Spanish rule. Based on the violence to the north, Spain has currently refused to placate the nationalists, but has not attempted to destroy their protests either. Due to the violence in Morocco and the Spanish Sahara, the Joint Committee for the Deciphering of the Tindouf Inscriptions (JCDTF) has been forced to stop all work on their research. Prior to the violence, a mass language census of Morocco and the Spanish Sahara was being planned in order to determine if any speakers of the mysterious language still exist. The committee has now been suspended, and no research activities are taking place. In Morocco, the script is now forgotten again, in their memory.
Spoiler:
My minicity is [http://zyphrazia.myminicity.com/xml]Zyphrazia and [http://novland.myminicity.com/xml]Novland.

Minicity has fallen :(
The SqwedgePad
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by shimobaatar »

This project is truly plagued by bad luck, it would seem!
User avatar
qwed117
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4094
Joined: 20 Nov 2014 02:27

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by qwed117 »

December 23, 1970

A Decade in Review: Morocco

Morocco has faced an interesting decade, its first decade free of imperial rule. Hassan II succeeded to the King of Morocco in March 1961. Two years later, Morocco held its first general election, becoming one of the few states in the Middle East. With the discovery of mineral resources in a disputed area along the border of Morocco and Algeria, war erupted between the two new nations. The Sand War, as it came to be known, resulted in a stalemate and no major territorial changes. The government of the two nations, rivals of the region, began to consolidate power by denouncing revolutionary movements as unpatriotic. Two years later, King Hassan of Morocco declared a state of emergency, dissolved parliament and took control of the government, after by-elections gave the pro-Monarchy Front for the Defence of Constitutional Institutions control of the parliament.

Image
In 1965, an ancient seal was discovered in Tindouf, an area previously thought to have been devoid of human occupation. So far the script has avoided any attempts at decipherment. But as the year past, a new inscription was found, also in Tindouf. Hailed as the Rosetta Stone, it contained a bilingual inscription, of both Arabic and the mysterious script. Yet, due to the damage to text, both in the Arabic copy and the transliteration rendered the text unreadable and indecipherable. The year after, in 1967, a large trove of inscriptions, scrolls, and various artifacts containing the mysterious script, in documents dating from Marinid dynasty in the 14th century were found at the Al-Quaraouiyine
Image
In a day that trove was nearly completely obliterated. The Moroccan government moved the ostensibly safer Museum of Rabat, but banned viewing by the press. Barely two days later, during a massive thunderstorm, the museum was hit by lightning and became the site of an inferno. The trove was quickly incinerated by the heat, all except for one manuscript. Many conspiracies were thrown about, ranging from Wahhabism to a government conspiracy. As the Berber nationalism grew, it claimed the script as proof of an ancient Berber polity and that the government, which claims Arab ancestry, needed to burn the manuscripts in order to hide the evidence. Eventually the Berber nationalists held an uprising against the government, taking most of the Rif, but the government quickly acted against it, neutralizing the rebellion in mere weeks.
A similar Berber uprising is taking place in the Spanish Sahara. The main Berber opposition, Harakat Tahrir instead has been relying on non-violence and civil disobedience, however the Spanish have begun to heavily crackdown on it, especially after the Zemla Uprising, in which the leader, Muhammad Bassiri read a petition to grant independence. The Spanish forces moved into to arrest the protestors, which led to violent stone-throwing and the indiscriminate firing of bullets. It appears as if Muhammad Bassiri has been executed, meaning the end to the violent decade. All research on the script has been put to a standstill, as the governments believe that further revelations may anger the citizens and cause rebellions.
Spoiler:
My minicity is [http://zyphrazia.myminicity.com/xml]Zyphrazia and [http://novland.myminicity.com/xml]Novland.

Minicity has fallen :(
The SqwedgePad
shimobaatar
korean
korean
Posts: 10373
Joined: 12 Jul 2013 23:09
Location: UTC-04:00

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by shimobaatar »

qwed117 wrote:All research on the script has been put to a standstill, as the governments believe that further revelations may anger the citizens and cause rebellions.
Hopefully that won't be the case so we can learn more!
User avatar
CrazyEttin
sinic
sinic
Posts: 435
Joined: 28 Feb 2011 19:43

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by CrazyEttin »

I've been meaning to read this since Qwed mentioned it in my Yá thread, and now i finally did, and it is simply awesome! [:O]
protondonor
cuneiform
cuneiform
Posts: 146
Joined: 07 Mar 2015 03:59

Re: The Mystery of the Desert

Post by protondonor »

Waiting on tenterhooks to see the next update. [:O]
Post Reply