Language/Modern-greek-1453/Culture/The-Phaistos-Disc

The Phaistos Disc

The Phaistos Disc remains one of the most enigmatic objects of the Bronze Age. The prevailing perception that the object is unique of its kind, based mainly on epigraphy and iconography, has led to various interpretations, some of them quite far-fetched, and given rise to theories casting doubt on its authenticity. Recent studies examining the material substance of the object, i.e. the shape, the material and the techniques used in its manufacture, reveal that this exceptional artefact is directly linked to the cultural environment that created it, namely the area of the Messara and the palace of Phaistos at the end of the Protopalatial and the beginning of the Neopalatial period ( around 1700/1650 BC).According to the excavation diary compiled by the field director, archaeologist Luigi Pernier, the disc was discovered at 7 p.m. on 3 July 1908, by Zacharias Eliakis, a trusted master craftsman of the Italian Mission at Phaistos. That afternoon Eliakis was supervising the work, while Pernier had returned to the mission house in Vori in order to draft a letter to the Director of the School. He had just completed and signed the letter when Eliakis arrived with the object. Dusk had fallen, and Pernier, examining the object, which was still half-covered with dirt, in the scant light, noted the existence of writing marks on only one side. Shocked by the discovery, he added the following paragraph to the end of the letter:

"I am delighted to announce that tonight we found in the new excavation NE of the plateau of the acropolis of Phaistos a clay disc (diam. 0.16) covered with Minoan pictographic signs (over a hundred) stamped in concentric circles. We are faced with one of the most important monuments of early Cretan writing."

The next day Pernier went to the excavation, asked Eliakis to show him the location of the find and recorded the information in the excavation diary. After cleaning, it was discovered that the object also bore writing on the other side.

Unique features

The disc is made of very pure, fine clay, like that used for Kamares eggshell ware. Its shape is not a perfect circle; its diameter ranges from 158 to 165 mm. Its surface is not perfectly smooth, with a thickness ranging from 16 to 21 mm because it was made by hand, by pressing a piece of clay onto a flat surface rather than using a mould. The writing signs, 242 in all, are arranged within a spiral frame incised by the craftsman as a guide with the aid of a pin. They run from the outside of the disc to the centre, and were impressed into the raw clay with stamps. A total of 45 different signs make up 61 different groups of two to seven signs, separated by vertical incisions and apparently corresponding to words. The direction of reading was probably from the outside to the centre, starting with a vertical line of five dots.

Side A was probably made first. Once the text was impressed in the clay, the disc was fired. The firing was probably deliberate, as it was done so perfectly that the surface acquired a smooth texture and an attractive yellowish colour. It seems that the intention of its makers was to preserve it for a long period of time.

Script

The writing on the disc is contemporary with Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A, two scripts that developed in parallel during the Protopalatial period either in different geographical areas or for different purposes. Cretan Hieroglyphic, so called because of its external similarity to Egyptian hieroglyphics, was in fact a syllabic script (each sign corresponding to a syllable rather than a concept) like Linear A and later Linear B. Similarly, the pictorial signs on the Phaistos Disc are not ideograms but syllables, which when grouped together form words.

There are a total of 61 such groups of signs on each side, i.e. 61 words. The text on each side, however, is different. The differences with Cretan Hieroglyphic are partly due to the fact that the signs on the disc were not incised but stamped. There is disagreement about the direction of reading, but most people agree that it followed the direction of the engraving of the frame, i.e. from left to right and from the outside to the centre.

Problems of interpretation

The Minoan language recorded on the disc is currently unknown to us, and this is the biggest obstacle to understanding its content. Nevertheless, numerous attempts have been made to decode the writing and interpret the inscription, many of which are pure speculation. At present, only a few observations can be made. Eleven of the 61 sets of signs (words) begin with the same signs (a head with a characteristic hairstyle and a circle with seven points). There are also sets of signs that are repeated (e.g. ox foot and walking man, flying bird and ox horns, oar, head and rosette). The repetition of certain sets has led some to assume that they are religious hymns or magical texts. It has also been suggested that the disc is an astronomical calendar. However, the interpretation of the text will only be possible once we have understood and deciphered Cretan Hieroglyphics and Linear A.

Source : Musée Messara - Crète

Author

➡ Marianthi

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