In The Etruscans Begin to Speak, Zacharie Mayani argues that the Scythians represented the eastern branch of the Illyrians, sharing a common cultural origin and medical tradition. His interpretation challenges the conventional portrayal of ancient peoples north and east of the Mediterranean as culturally and scientifically underdeveloped.

Mayani places particular emphasis on language. He argues that Etruscan and Scythian can be interpreted through Albanian, suggesting that the modern Albanian language preserves elements of an older linguistic and cultural heritage. One example is the term associated with wounds and treatment, which he connects to the Albanian skutoj, understood as referring to healing, bandaging, or stitching. Within this framework, linguistic continuity serves as a key to understanding ancient medical practices.

Mayani proposes a historical sequence linking the Pelasgians, Illyrians, Scythians, Etruscans, and modern Albanians. According to this interpretation, Etruscan surgical knowledge formed part of a broader Illyrian tradition, elements of which survived through Albanian language and culture.

This thesis presents the ancient populations of the Balkans and surrounding regions not as peripheral peoples, but as potential contributors to the development of European medicine. It also raises questions about the relationship between linguistic continuity, cultural inheritance, and the transmission of medical knowledge before the rise of Rome and Greece.

Although Mayani’s proposed linguistic connections and historical lineage remain outside established scholarly consensus, his argument offers a distinct interpretation of Albanian antiquity. Its central premise is that the Albanian language may preserve traces of a much older intellectual and medical heritage, connecting modern Albanians to the ancient peoples of the Balkans and beyond.

Source

Zacharie Mayani, The Etruscans Begin to Speak, p. 188 ff.