Authored by Petrit Latifi

The Illyrian Mesapians left ancient inscriptions which are not studied by Albanian academics today, thus the myth that Illyrians did not write continues.

Another language was spoken in the foothills of Italy: Mesapian. A certain number of genuine inscriptions have survived from it, mixed with many others forged by stonemasons in the late 1960s, to take advantage of the rewards that an unwise antiquarian had offered for the discovery of these inscriptions.

This language seems to be related to ancient Illyrian, and its speakers may have come from Illyria, just as the Albanians migrated to Italy in the 16th century, and in some small communities in southern Italy they still preserve their ancient language.

Reference

Title: The Cambridge Ancient History: The egyptian and hittite empires. Vol. 2. Author: J.B. Bur, S. A. Cook, F. E. Adcock. Publisher: Cambridge, 1931