Arkalochori Axe
Arkalochori Axe - the central portion of the bronze labrys bears inscriptions - circa second millennium B.C.
The bronze Arkalochori Axe is a second millennium B.C. Minoan votive double axe (labrys) excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in 1934 in the Arkalochori cave on Crete,[1] which is believed to have been used for religious rituals.[2] The labrys is inscribed with fifteen symbols.
It has been suggested that these symbols might be Linear A, although some scholars disagree.[3]
The labrys and the Phaistos Disc are conserved in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. They share some symbols.
The 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 right to left, top to bottom, the symbols are:
| № | Sign | Comment | Linear A | Phaistos Disc |
| 01 |  |
A 304  KA ?? |
||
| 02 |  |
AB28  I |
D39  | |
| 03 |  |
AB01  DA |
||
| 04 |  |
D02  | ||
| 05 |  |
|||
| 06 |  |
AB05  TO ?? |
||
| 07 |  |
cf. 04 | D02 | |
| 08 |  |
AB80  MA |
||
| 09 |  |
AB04  TE ? |
D35  | |
| 10 |  |
cf. 04 | D02 | |
| 11 |  |
AB31  SA ?? |
D19  | |
| 12 | |
cf. 08 | AB80 MA |
|
| 13 |  |
AB06  NA ?? |
D23  | |
| 14 |  |
Root? | ||
| 15 |  |
A338  ? |
||
 |
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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.
- ↑ 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. (PDF 0.5 Mb)
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