Arkalochori Axe
Arkalochori Axe | |
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![]() The central portion of the bronze labrys bears inscriptions | |
Material | Bronze |
Created | c. 1650 BC |
Discovered | 1934 Arkalochori, Crete, Greece |
Discovered by | Spyridon Marinatos |
Present location | Heraklion, Crete, Greece |
The Arkalochori Axe is a 2nd millennium BC Minoan bronze votive double axe (labrys) excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in 1934 in the Arkalochori cave in Crete,[1] which is believed to have been used for religious rituals.[2] It is inscribed with fifteen symbols.
It has been suggested that these symbols might be Linear A, although some scholars disagree.[3]
The Arkalochori axe and the Phaistos Disc are exhibited at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum (Galleries V and VII, respectively). They share some symbols.
Inscription
Of the fifteen signs, two appear to be unique. The following suggestions for comparison with Linear A and Phaistos Disc glyphs are attributed to Torsten Timm (2004).[4] Reading top to bottom, right to left, the symbols are:
№ | Sign | Comment | Linear A | Phaistos Disc |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | ![]() | A 304 ![]() | ||
02 | ![]() | AB28 ![]() | D39 ![]() | |
03 | ![]() | AB01 ![]() | ||
04 | ![]() | D02 ![]() | ||
05 | ![]() | |||
06 | ![]() | AB05 ![]() | ||
07 | ![]() | cf. 04 | D02 ![]() | |
08 | ![]() | AB80 ![]() | ||
09 | ![]() | AB04 ![]() | D35 ![]() | |
10 | ![]() | cf. 04 | D02 ![]() | |
11 | ![]() | AB31 ![]() | D19 ![]() | |
12 | ![]() | cf. 08 | AB80 ![]() | |
13 | ![]() | AB06 ![]() | D23 ![]() | |
14 | ![]() | Root? | ||
15 | ![]() | A338 ![]() |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
Note that reading top to bottom, right to left after turning the inscription counterclockwise gives a different sequence and numbering of the glyphs.
See also
- Phaistos Disc
- Dispilio Tablet
References
- ^ Best, Jan G. P.; Woudhuizen, Fred (31 December 1989). Lost Languages from the Mediterranean. Brill. p. 97. ISBN 978-90-04-08934-1.
- ^ Whittaker, Helène (2005). "Social and Symbolic Aspects of Minoan writing". European Journal of Archaeology. 8 (2): 157–181. doi:10.1177/1461957105058207. S2CID 162881074.
- ^ Price, Glanville (2000). Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-631-22039-8.
- ^ Timm, Torsten (2004). "Der Diskos von Phaistos - Anmerkungen zur Deutung und Textstruktur". Indogermanische Forschungen (109): 204–231. doi:10.1515/16130405.204. S2CID 170325659. (PDF 0.5 Mb)
6. Flouda, Georgia (2015). "Materiality and script: constructing a narrative on the Minoan inscribed axe from the Arkalochori cave", SMEA Nuova Serie 1: 43-56.
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