3 languages on VdlP stone pillars

[fb1]

On the stone pillars, there are 3 languages. 1st is Spanish of course and the 3rd is Arabic (says road to palata). Anyone know what the second language is?

View attachment IMG_0882.jpeg

 

[Arctic_Alex]

On the stone pillars, there are 3 languages. 1st is Spanish of course and the 3rd is Arabic (says road to palata). Anyone know what the second language is?

View attachment 169627

I will lurk quietly and wait for an answer ...

 

[jungleboy]

I have just spent longer than I am prepared to admit trying to find this out, with no luck, so I’m also watching with interest.

 

[lovingkindness]

Hebrew?

 

[Bradypus]

Hebrew?

I never learned to read Hebrew but it does look like cursive Hebrew script. And a number of towns and villages like Hervas along the Via de la Plata had significant Jewish communities. So perhaps it is Hebrew or Ladino?

Cursive Hebrew - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Solitreo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MesaWalker]

Where was the photo of the stone pillar taken? I thought I read somewhere about reciprocal inscribed monuments being installed in both Spain and Korea regarding their respective caminos - could it be stylized hangul? But I vaguely recall that occurring closer to Santiago . . . .

 

[Former member 115996]

Where was the photo of the stone pillar taken?

Well the village in the back looks to me like Villanueva de Campean. Am I right?

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

I never learned to read Hebrew but it does look like cursive Hebrew script. And a number of towns and villages like Hervas along the Via de la Plata had significant Jewish communities. So perhaps it is Hebrew or Ladino?

Cursive Hebrew - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Solitreo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was going to suggest the Solitreo as well. That would make sense.

 

[fb1]

I’ve been seeing these pillars ever since I left Salamanca. I don’t recall seeing them before Salamanca when I walked that section in 2020.

 

[lovingkindness]

The stone pillars were already there in 2009 when I passed by. I seem to recall a place in the countryside, on the trail not far from the pillar in @fb1 photo. It was a memorial or milenium project honouring the three peoples who dwelt together in that part of Spain centuries ago: the Spaniards, Jewish folk and Moors-Arabs. I don't have my diary and photos at hand. When I do, I'll see if I mentioned anything...

 

[lovingkindness]

Another forum member, @lunna posted a photo of one of the pillars and translated the script here: scroll down to #41 and #42

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/what-historical-evidence-exists-of-jewish-influences-on-the-camino-de-santiago.43994/post-468045

"If you look closely, the second line is in Hebrew (the word "derech" - which is in script - means 'via' or 'way' in Hebrew - the rest loops around the side - there are many, many of these markers along the Via de la Plata in Castilla y Leon). The third line is in Arabic."

 

[jungleboy]

Fantastic sleuthing all, and what a great initiative by the authorities to evoke the convivencia that existed in that part of Spain during the Middle Ages.

 

[MesaWalker]

Thanks. Fascinating research and history, both!

 

[fb1]

Thank you. Hebrew was my guess as well. Nice to see the plurality of cultures along the via de la plata.

 

[geraldkelly]

You learn something new every day!

 

[LTfit]

I never learned to read Hebrew but it does look like cursive Hebrew script. And a number of towns and villages like Hervas along the Via de la Plata had significant Jewish communities. So perhaps it is Hebrew or Ladino?

Cursive Hebrew - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Solitreo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ladino also came to my mind but I just read that it's Hebrew.

 

[lovingkindness]

Here is a photo of the monument taken by a peregrino who walked the VDLP in 2010. His blog includes the inscriptions written on each plinth:

http://www.galicias.com/cs/viaplata2010/index.htm



The monument "EL BROCAL DE LAS PROMESAS" is situated not far from Zamora. It was inaugurated in July 2009 by two associations: La Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de la Vía de la Plata de Zamora and la Fundación Ramos de Castro para el Estudio y la Promoción del Hombre.

Here is an article about it from the newspaper, EL NORTE DE CASTILLA, 13 July, 2009:

Inauguran un monumento a la paz en la confluencia de tres rutas jacobeas | El Norte de Castilla

www.elnortedecastilla.es

"...The president of the Ramos de Castro Foundation and the Association of Friends of the Camino de Santiago de la Vía de la Plata in Zamora, Alfonso Ramos de Castro, expressed his wish that the Jacobean routes that converge in the municipality of Entrala, in the near the capital of Zamora, bring peace and justice to unite the people.

He also recalled that the first Mozarabic pilgrims already passed through these routes in the 9th century and that they are itineraries in which Christian, Jewish and Islamic beliefs and cultures coexisted in the past..." -Google translate

Amongst my old photos from the VDLP (autumn 2009) I found these:




Einar Lunga. R.I.P and an english peregrino




"DEJA AQUÍ PEREGRINO LA PROMESA
QUE QUIERAS HACER GUÍA DE TUS PASOS
Y LLAMA VIVA DE TU ALMA.
SU ESPÍTIRU MOVERÁ EL CORAZÓN
DE LA TIERRA Y ALGÚN DÍA
FLORECERÁ EN LAS ESPIGAS
DEL PAN DE LOS HAMBRIENTOS,
SUSURRARÁ EN TODAS LAS FUENTES,
CORRERÁ COMO RÍOS,
SACIANDO LA SED DE JUSTICIA
VOLARÁ A LAS NUBES Y SERÁ
RAYO DE SOL PARA LOS TRISTES.
PORQUE LA VERDAD DE LAS PROMESAS
ES SIEMBRA AMOROSA, DESTELLOS
DEL SER, QUE ESPERA Y NECESITA
EL MUNDO NUEVO, SOLIDARIO Y EN PAZ.
DEJA AQUÍ PEREGRINO LA PROMESA
Y SEA CUAL SEA TU ANDADURA
HABRÁS HECHO CAMINO ANTES DE LLEGAR... "

A. Ramos de Castro

Cheers!
Ps sorry about the capital letters. I copied and pasted it as is from the website mentioned above...

 

[Bradypus]

Here is a photo of the monument taken by a peregrino who walked the VDLP in 2010.

I passed by there a couple of years ago and the monument was looking very sad. Quite a lot of graffiti and the central stone/concrete "well" was damaged and full of litter. A bizarre thing to find in the middle of nowhere.

 

[lovingkindness]

I passed by there a couple of years ago and the monument was looking very sad. Quite a lot of graffiti and the central stone/concrete "well" was damaged and full of litter. A bizarre thing to find in the middle of nowhere.

I am sorry to hear that. Hopefully it will get restored. For some of us it may seem bizarre but for those who have roots and family history there, perhaps not...

 

[dick bird]

I never learned to read Hebrew but it does look like cursive Hebrew script. And a number of towns and villages like Hervas along the Via de la Plata had significant Jewish communities. So perhaps it is Hebrew or Ladino?

Cursive Hebrew - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Solitreo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ladino is normally written in Roman script. Until recently there was a Ladino newspaper published in Istanbul using the Roman alphabet.

 

[Bradypus]

Ladino is normally written in Roman script. Until recently there was a Ladino newspaper published in Istanbul using the Roman alphabet.

In the present day it is. In the medieval period before the expulsion of most Jews from Spain and the forcing of many into hiding the preferred script was Hebrew. Turkish was written in Arabic script until 1928. These things do change over time.

 

[dick bird]

In the present day it is. In the medieval period before the expulsion of most Jews from Spain and the forcing of many into hiding the preferred script was Hebrew. Turkish was written in Arabic script until 1928. These things do change over time.

Kemal Ataturk abolished the use of Arabic script for Turkish. A common sense reform for a language heavily dependent on vowels.

 

[fb1]

A friend of mine confirmed the second language is indeed Hebrew written in cursive and says “Derekh Hamartzefet”, which means the tiled road, or the paved road.