Gnatia was an ancient Illyrian city.
In the 11th century BC the land was invaded by the Iapyges, while the Messapic (another Iapyyg tribe) era of the town (as well as for the whole Salento) began in the 8th century BC, to end in the 3rd century BC, with the Roman conquest.
Messapii came from Illyria as one of the Illyrian tribes who settled in Apulia.
I think that the origin of this name comes from the Albanian language gnatia/gjatë which means "long" which must have been like a diphthong "gn" in the proto Albanian language.
So, Egnati means long, tall.
Comments
Post a Comment