A replica of the Phaistos Disc

The Phaistos Disc (Phaistos Disk, Phaestos Disc) is a curious archaeological find, likely dating to the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC). Its purpose and meaning, and even its original geographical place of manufacture, remain disputed, making it one of the most famous mysteries of archaeology. This unique object is now on display at the archaeological museum of Herakleion in Crete, Greece. Yuan Dynasty woodblock edition of a Chinese play For the use of the technique in art, see Woodcut on the technique, and Old master print for the history in Europe and woodblock printing in Japan. ... For the weblog software, see Movable Type. ... For other uses, see Intaglio. ... The printing press is a mechanical device for printing many copies of a text on rectangular sheets of paper. ... Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface. ... Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or offset) from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. ... Folding Card, The Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe, 6 April 1883. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Flexo redirects here. ... Screen-printing, also known as silkscreening or serigraphy, is a printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged single-color image using a stencil and a porous fabric. ... Samsung SPP-2040 working. ... A small, much-used Xerox copier in a high school library. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... 1993 Apple LaserWriter Pro 630 laser printer A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. ... A dot matrix printer or impact matrix printer refers to a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much like a typewriter. ... A thermal printer (or direct thermal printer) produces a printed image by selectively heating coated thermochromic paper, or thermal paper as it is commonly known, when the paper passes over the thermal print head. ... An Epson inkjet printer Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of liquid or molten material (ink) onto almost any medium. ... Digital printing is the reproduction of digital images on physical surface, such as common or photographic paper, film, cloth, plastic, etc. ... Three-dimensional printing is a method of converting a virtual 3D model into a physical object. ... Minoan may refer to the following: The Minoan civilization The (undeciphered) Eteocretan language The (undeciphered) Minoan language The script known as Linear A An old name for the Mycenean language before it was deciphered and discovered to be a form of Greek. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. ... For referencing in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Citing sources. ... The Iraklion Archaeological Museum contains the most notable collection of artefacts of the Minoan civilization of Crete. ... Morozini Fountain on Venizelou square in Heraklion, Crete, built in 1628 Heraklion or Iraklion (Greek: Ηράκλειο), Greece is the largest city and the capital of Crete. ... For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ...

Discovery

The Phaistos Disc was discovered in the Minoan palace-site of Phaistos, near Hagia Triada, on the south coast of Crete;^[1] specifically the disc was found in the basement of room 8 in building 101 of a group of buildings to the northeast of the main palace. This grouping of 4 rooms also served as a formal entry into the palace complex. Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier recovered this remarkably intact "dish", about 15 cm in diameter and uniformly slightly more than one centimetre in thickness, on July 3, 1908 during his excavation of the first Minoan palace. The Minoan civilization was a bronze age civilization which arose on Crete, an island in the Aegean Sea. ... Map of Minoan Crete Phaistos (Greek: Φαιστός, Mycenaean: PA-I-TO), also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Phaestus was an ancient city on the island of Crete. ... Agia Triada (Holy Trinity) is a Minoan site in southern Crete, 4 km west of Phaistos, situated at the western end of the Mesara Plain. ... For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ... For referencing in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Citing sources. ... is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The term archaeological excavation has a double meaning. ...

It was found in the main cell of an underground "temple depository". These basement cells, only accessible from above, were neatly covered with a layer of fine plaster. Their content was poor in precious artifacts but rich in black earth and ashes, mixed with burnt bovine bones. In the northern part of the main cell, in the same black layer, a few inches south-east of the disc and about twenty inches above the floor, linear A tablet PH-1 was also found. The site apparently collapsed as a result of an earthquake, possibly linked with the explosive eruption of the Santorini volcano that affected large parts of the Mediterranean region ca. 1628 BC. This article is about the building material. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini. ... This article is about the natural seismic phenomenon. ... Santorini (Greek Σαντορίνη, IPA: ) is a small, circular archipelago of volcanic islands located in southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km south-east from Greeces mainland. ... (Redirected from 1628 BC) Centuries: 18th century BC - 17th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1670s BC 1660s BC 1650s BC 1640s BC 1630s BC - 1620s BC - 1610s BC 1600s BC 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC Events and trends Significant people Categories: 1620s BC ...

Dating

Yves Duhoux (1977) dates the disc to between 1850 BC and 1600 BC (MMIII) on the basis of Luigi Pernier's report, which says that the Disc was in a Middle Minoan undisturbed context. Jeppesen (1963) dates it to after 1400 (LMII-III). Doubting the viability of Pernier's report, Louis Godart (1990) resigns himself to admitting that archaeologically, the disc may be dated to anywhere in Middle or Late Minoan times (MMI-LMIII, a period spanning most of the 2nd millennium BC). J. Best (in Achterberg et al. 2004) suggests a date in the first half of the 14th century BC (LMIIIA) based on his dating of tablet PH 1. Model of the Palace of Minos on Kephala at the Museum in Iraklio. ... Model of the Palace of Minos on Kephala at the Museum in Iraklio. ... The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. ... // Overview Events 1344 BCE – 1322 BCE -- Beginning of Hittite empire Rise of the Urnfield culture Significant persons Akhenaten, Pharaoh of Egypt Tutankhamun, Pharaoh of Egypt Suppiliulima, king of the Hittites Moses Inventions, discoveries, introductions Template:DecadesAndYearsBCE Category: ‪14th century BCE‬ ...

Movable-type printing

The inscription was apparently made by pressing pre-formed hieroglyphic "seals" into the soft clay, in a clockwise sequence spiralling towards the disc's center. It was then fired at high temperature. The unique character of the Phaistos Disc stems from the fact that the entire text was inscribed in this way, reproducing a body of text with reusable characters.

The Phaistos Disc is sometimes classified as an early, if not the first, document of movable type printing. The German professor for linguistics Brekle, who defines typography as movable type printing,^[2] writes in his article 'The typographical principle' in the renowned Gutenberg-Jahrbuch:

An early clear incidence for the realisation of the typographical principle is the notorious Phaistos Disc (ca. 1800-1600 BC). If the disc is, as assumed, a textual representation, we are really dealing with a "printed" text, which fulfills all definitional criteria of the typographical principle. The spiral sequencing of the graphematical units, the fact that they are impressed in a clay disc (blind printing!) and not imprinted are merely possible technological variants of textual representation. The decisive factor is that the material "types" are proven to be repeatedly instantiated on the clay disc.^[3]

Other authors who are primarily concerned with its decipherment have also referred to the disc as "the first movable type".^[4] Having been variously dated between 1850 and 1350 BC, the Phaistos Disc precedes later inventions of movable type by more than two millennia.

In his book Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond uses the disc as an example of a technological advancement made at the wrong time in history. Diamond notes the absence of any subsequent rise in movable type in the Minoan culture, citing this as evidence of the enigmatic problem of necessity and invention. Specifically, Diamond argues that human beings often invent things without clear need, as evidenced by the Phaistos Disc, and that sometimes such inventions take off, while at other times they do not. Diamond reasons that movable type was less efficient than simply scribing by hand in clay, perhaps explaining why the technology never developed further in the Minoan civilization. He contrasts this with Gutenberg's printing press, arguing that its further development was due to a large number of commercial backers, and to societal growth which nurtured cheaper access to the printed word.^[5] Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies cover Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a 1997 book by Jared Diamond, professor of physiology at UCLA. It won the Pulitzer Prize for 1998, as well as the Aventis Prize for best science book in the... Jared Mason Diamond (b. ... Minoan may refer to the following: The Minoan civilization The (undeciphered) Eteocretan language The (undeciphered) Minoan language The script known as Linear A An old name for the Mycenean language before it was deciphered and discovered to be a form of Greek. ...

The inscription

Side A (Original).

Side B (Original).

from de:Diskos von Phaistós File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... from de:Diskos von Phaistós File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... from de:Diskos von Phaistós File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... from de:Diskos von Phaistós File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Diskos. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Diskos. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Diskos. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Diskos. ...

Signs

There are 241 tokens on the disc, comprising 45 unique signs. Many of these 45 signs represent easily identifiable every-day things. In addition to these, there is a small diagonal line that occurs underneath the final sign in a group a total of 18 times. The disc shows traces of corrections made by the scribe in several places. The 45 symbols were numbered by Arthur Evans from 01 to 45, and this numbering has become the conventional reference used by most researchers. Some symbols have been compared with Linear A characters by Nahm,^[6] Timm,^[7] and others. Others scholars (J. Best, S. Davis) have pointed to similar resemblances with the Anatolian hieroglyphs, or with Egyptian hieroglyphs (A. Cuny). In the table below, the character "names" as given by Louis Godart (1995) are given in quotation marks; where other description or elaboration applies, they are given in parentheses. Sir Arthur John Evans (July 8, 1851 – July 11, 1941) was an English archaeologist. ... Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini. ... Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous hieroglyphic script native to western Anatolia first appears on Luwian royal seals, from ca. ... It has been suggested that Hieroglyph (French Wiki article) be merged into this article or section. ...

The Phaistos Disc signs have been assigned to Unicode 5.1. These include the 45 signs themselves as well as the combining oblique stroke described below, and occupy range 101D0-101FF of Plane 1 (the Supplementary Multilingual Plane). The Unicode Standard, Version 5. ... Unicode reserves 1,114,112 (= 220 + 216) code points, and currently assigns characters to more than 96,000 of those code points. ...

The frequency distribution of the Phaistos Disc signs is: Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_03. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_04. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_05. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_06. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_08. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_09. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_10. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_11. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_14. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_15. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_16. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_17. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_19. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_20. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_21. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_22. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_28. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_30. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_32. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Binomial name Thunnus thynnus The Northern Bluefin Tuna is a species of tuna fish, living in both the Western and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and extending into the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_34. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Binomial name Platanus orientalis L. The Oriental plane (Platanus orientalis L.) is a very large, widespreading, and long-lived deciduous tree in the Platanaceae family. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_36. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_37. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_38. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_39. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_41. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_42. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_43. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_44. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ...

19-18-17-15-12-11-11-11-11-7-6-6-6-6-6-6-5-5-5-4-4-4-4-4-4-3-3-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1

The nine hapaxes are 04 (A5), 05 (B3), 11 (A13), 15 (B8), 17 (A24), 30 (B27), 42 (B9), 43 (B4), 44 (A7). Of the eight twice-occurring symbols, four (03, 21, 28, 41) occur on side A only, three (09, 16, 20) on side B only, and only one (14) on both sides. A hapax legomenon (pl. ...

The oblique stroke

There are a number of signs marked with an oblique stroke; the strokes are not imprinted but carved by hand, and are attached to the first or last sign of a "word", depending on the direction of reading chosen. Their meaning is a matter of discussion. One hypothesis, supported by Evans, Duhoux, Ohlenroth and others, is that they were used to subdivide the text into paragraphs, but alternative meanings have been offered by other scholars.

Directionality

Evans argued that the disc had been written, and should be read, from the center out; because it would have been easiest to place the inscription first and then size the disc to fit the text. There is general agreement that he was wrong, and Evans himself changed his mind: the inscription was made, and should be read, from the outside in toward the centre. The centres of the spirals are not in the centre of the disc, and some of the symbols near the centre are crowded, as though the maker was cramped for space. One pair of symbols are set top-to-bottom, so it is hard to tell what order they should be in. Except in the cramped section, when there are overstrikes, the inner symbol overlies the outer symbol. Jean Faucounau has proposed a reconstruction of the scribe's movements, which would also require an inward direction; Yves Duhoux says that any outward reading may be discarded. Despite this consensus, there are still a few such attempted decipherments (e.g. Massey 2003).

In addition to the question of the directionality of the text on the disc itself, different viewpoints are held as to how the Phaistos Disc characters should be displayed when transcribed into text. The disc itself probably has right-to-left directionality (like Arabic), if reading proceeds from the outside to the centre; this means that the reading direction is into the faces of the people and animals, as it is in Egyptian and Anatolian. Phaistos Disc characters are shown with left-to-right directionality in this article; which is also the typical practice for edited Egyptian and Anatolian hieroglyphic text.

Inscription text

There are 61 "words", 31 on side A and 30 on side B (numbered A1 to A31 and B1 to B30, outside to inside), here read outside-to-inside (putting the "plumed head" signs word-initially and the strokes word-finally). The shortest words are two symbols in length, the longest seven symbols. The strokes are here transcribed as diagonal strokes (/). The transcription begins at the vertical line of five dots, circling the rim of the disc once, clockwise (13 words on A, 12 words on B) before spiralling towards the center (18 more words on each side). There is one word-final effaced sign at A8, which Godart notes as resembling sign 3 or 20; or less probably 8 or 44. Evans considered side A as the front side, but technical arguments have since been forwarded favouring side B as the front side.

The signs in the transcription below appear in left-to-right orientation, and the reader may read into the faces of the human and animal figures (as one reads Egyptian and Anatolian hieroglyphs):

In numerical transcription: Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_34. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_04. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_44. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_08. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_06. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_41. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_19. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_41. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_32. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_38. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_39. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_11. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_10. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_28. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_37. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_21. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_10. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_28. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_14. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_32. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_06. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_17. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_19. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_19. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_10. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_03. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_38. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_37. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_21. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_10. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_03. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_38. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_22. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_37. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_05. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_22. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_20. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_16. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_43. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_39. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_15. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_22. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_37. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_42. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_36. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_38. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_20. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_16. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_14. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_06. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_32. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_39. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_09. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_36. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_08. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_08. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_22. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_36. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_08. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_34. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_22. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_36. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_08. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_09. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_30. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_39. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_06. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_34. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_46. ...

Side A:

02-12-13-01-18/ 24-40-12 29-45-07/ 29-29-34 02-12-04-40-33 27-45-07-12 27-44-08 02-12-06-18-? 31-26-35 02-12-41-19-35 01-41-40-07 02-12-32-23-38/ 39-11

02-27-25-10-23-18 28-01/ 02-12-31-26/ 02-12-27-27-35-37-21 33-23 02-12-31-26/ 02-27-25-10-23-18 28-01/ 02-12-31-26/ 02-12-27-14-32-18-27 06-18-17-19 31-26-12 02-12-13-01 23-19-35/ 10-03-38 02-12-27-27-35-37-21 13-01 10-03-38

Side B:

02-12-22-40-07 27-45-07-35 02-37-23-05/ 22-25-27 33-24-20-12 16-23-18-43/ 13-01-39-33 15-07-13-01-18 22-37-42-25 07-24-40-35 02-26-36-40 27-25-38-01

29-24-24-20-35 16-14-18 29-33-01 06-35-32-39-33 02-09-27-01 29-36-07-08/ 29-08-13 29-45-07/ 22-29-36-07-08/ 27-34-23-25 07-18-35 07-45-07/ 07-23-18-24 22-29-36-07-08/ 09-30-39-18-07 02-06-35-23-07 29-34-23-25 45-07/

The "plumed head" (02) only ever occurs word-initially, in 13 instances followed by the "shield" (12, which in some instances also occurs word-finally). Six words occur twice each: The three-word sequence 02-27-25-10-23-18 28-01/ 02-12-31-26/ occurs twice (A14-16, A20-22). 02-12-31-26/ recurs for a third time (A19). Four more words occur twice each, 02-12-27-27-35-37-21 (A17, A29), 10-03-38 (A28, A31), 22-29-36-07-08/ (B21, B26) and 29-45-07/ (A3, B20).

Decipherment attempts

A great deal of speculation developed around the disc during the 20th century. The Phaistos Disc captured the imagination of amateur archeologists. Many attempts have been made to decipher the code behind the disc's signs. Historically, almost anything has been proposed, including prayers, a narrative or an adventure story, a "psalterion", a call to arms, a board game, and a geometric theorem. Some of the more fanciful interpretations of its meaning are classic examples of pseudoarchaeology. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Decipherment is the analysis of documents written in ancient languages, where the language is unknown, or knowledge of the language has been lost. ... A psaltery is a stringed musical instrument of the harp or the zither family. ... A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a board (a premarked surface, usually specific to that game). ... Look up theorem in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Pseudoarchaeology is an aspect of pseudohistory. ...

Most linguistic interpretations assume a syllabary, based on the proportion of 45 symbols in a text of 241 tokens typical for that type of script; some assume a syllabary with interspersed logographic symbols, a property of every known syllabary of the Ancient Near East (Linear B as well as cuneiform and hieroglyphic writing). There are, however, also alphabetic and purely logographical interpretations. A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables, which make up words. ... A Chinese logogram A logogram, or logograph, is a single written character which represents a word or a morpheme (a meaningful unit of language). ... Overview map of the ancient Near East The terms ancient Near East or ancient Orient encompass the early civilizations predating classical antiquity in the region roughly corresponding to that described by the modern term Middle East (Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria), during the time roughly spanning... This article is about the ancient syllabary. ... Look up Cuneiform in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hieroglyphics redirects here. ...

While enthusiasts still believe the mystery can be solved, scholarly attempts at decipherment are thought to be unlikely to succeed unless more examples of the signs turn up somewhere, as it is generally thought that there isn't enough context available for meaningful analysis. Any decipherment without external confirmation, such as successful comparison to other inscriptions, is unlikely to be accepted as conclusive. Decipherment is the analysis of documents written in ancient languages, where the language is unknown, or knowledge of the language has been lost. ...

Origin of the script

Cretan or foreign origin?

There are a few main theories about the origin of the signs. Until recently, most scholars have argued strongly against the local origin of the artifact. Evans (1909:24f.) wrote that

"when one comes to compare the figures in detail with those of the Minoan hieroglyphic signary, very great discrepancy is observable... Out of the forty-five separate signs on the Phaistos Disk, no more than ten more or less resemble Cretan hieroglyphic forms... The human figures in their outline and costume are non-Minoan... The representation of the ship also differs from all similar designs that occur either among the hieroglyphic or the linear documents of Crete".

Ipsen (1929:15) concluded that the Disc was certainly from somewhere on the Aegean. Because of its differences from Linear A or B, Ipsen found it tempting to assume, like Evans, a non-Cretan origin for the Disc. He observes, however, that since Linear A was a common Aegean script such an assumption will not resolve the problem of multiplicity. Cretan hieroglyphs are found on artifacts of Bronze Age Minoan Crete (early to mid 2nd millennium BC, MM I to MM III, overlapping with Linear A from MM IIA at the earliest). ...

The Arkalochori Axe and other finds have made Cretan origin more popular: female images with pendulous breasts have also been found at Malia and Phaistos. (Godart 1995:125). Duhoux asserts the Cretan provenance of the disc; in his review of current research, Trauth (1990:154) comes to the conclusion "Crete as source of the Disc can no longer be called into question". The Arkalochori Axe is a votive double axe excavated in the Arkalochori cave by Spyridon Marinatos. ...

Original invention or derivation?

Ipsen (1929:11) also speaks against an entirely independent origin of the scripts, arguing that its inventors did not leap from no knowledge of writing to a syllabic script with these elegant signs. He goes on to cite Hieroglyphic Luwian as a "perfect parallel" (Ipsen 1929:17) of an original script inspired under the direct influence of other scripts (its symbol values inspired by cuneiform, its shapes by Egyptian hieroglyphs) Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous hieroglyphic script native to western Anatolia first appears on Luwian royal seals, from ca. ...

Schwartz (1956:108) asserts a genetic relationship between the Phaistos Disc script and the Cretan linear scripts.

Among the known scripts, there are three main candidates for being related to the Disc's script, all of them partly syllabic, partly logographic: Linear A, Anatolian hieroglyphs and Egyptian hieroglyphs. More remote possibilities are comparison with the Proto-Canaanite abjad or the Byblos syllabary. Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini. ... Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous hieroglyphic script native to western Anatolia first appears on Luwian royal seals, from ca. ... It has been suggested that Hieroglyph (French Wiki article) be merged into this article or section. ... The Proto-Canaanite alphabet is the linear (, non-Cuneiform) abjad of twenty-plus acrophonic glyphs. ... The first five letters of the Phoenician abjad, from right to left An abjad, sometimes also called a consonantary or consonantal alphabet, is a type of writing system in which there is one symbol per consonantal phoneme. ... The Byblos syllabary is known from nine inscriptions found in Byblos, conventionally dated to betwenn the 18th and 15th centuries BC. The script is a syllabary of modified Egyptian hieroglyphs. ...

Linear A

Some signs are close enough to Linear A and Linear B that they may have the same phonetic value, like 12 = qe, 43 = ta₂, or 31 = ku. A recent systematic comparison with Linear A is that of Torsten Timm, 2004 [2]. Based on the Linear A character distribution patterns collected by Facchetti^[8] Timm concludes that the language of the Disc inscription is the same as the language of Linear A. Timm identifies 20 of the 45 characters with Linear signs, assigning Linear B phonetic values to 16. Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini. ... This article is about the ancient syllabary. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_43. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini. ...

Anatolian hieroglyphs

Achterberg et al. (2004) present a systematic comparison with Anatolian hieroglyphs, resulting in a full decipherment claim (see below).In particular, they consider the stroke symbol cognate to the Luwian r(a/i) symbol, but assign it the value -ti. The stroke on A3 is identified as the personal name determinative. 01 is compared to the logogram SARU, a walking man or walking legs in Luwian. 02 is compared to word-initial a₂, a head with a crown in Luwian. The "bow" 11 is identified as the logogram sol suus, the winged sun known from Luwian royal seals. The "shield" 12 is compared to the near identical Luwian logogram TURPI "bread" and assigned the value tu. 39 they read as the "thunderbolt", logogram of Tarhunt, in Luwian a W-shaped hieroglyph. Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous hieroglyphic script native to western Anatolia first appears on Luwian royal seals, from ca. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_11. ... Stele to Assurnasiripal II at Nimrud (9th century BC), detail showing the winged sun. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_39. ... Typical cartoon representations of thunderbolts A thunderbolt is a traditional expression for a discharge of lightning or a symbolic representation thereof. ... Teshub was the Hurrian god of sky and storm. ...

List of decipherment claims

Main article: Phaistos Disc decipherment claims

The decipherment claims listed are categorized into linguistic decipherments, identifying the language of the inscription, and non-linguistic decipherments. A purely logographical reading is not linguistic in the strict sense: while it may reveal the meaning of the inscription, it will not allow for the identification of the underlying language. There are a large number of claims of decipherment of the Phaistos Disc The claims may be categorized into linguistic decipherments, identifying the language of the inscription, and non-linguistic decipherments. ... Egyptian hieroglyphs, which have their origins as logograms. ...

Linguistic

• George Hempl, 1911 (interpretation as Ionic Greek, syllabic writing); A-side first; reading inwards;
• Florence Stawell, 1911 (interpretation as Homeric Greek, syllabic writing); B-side first; reading inwards;
• Albert Cuny, 1914 (interpretation as an ancient Egyptian document, syllabic-logographic writing);
• Benjamin Schwarz, 1959 (interpretation as Mycenean Greek, syllabic writing, comparison to Linear B); A-side first; reading inwards;
• Jean Faucounau, 1975, (interpretation as "proto-Ionic" Greek, syllabic writing [3]; A-side first; reading inwards;
• Vladimir Georgiev, 1976 (interpretation as Hittite language, syllabic writing); A-side first; reading outwards;
• Steven R. Fischer, 1988 (interpretation as a Greek dialect, syllabic writing); A-side first; reading inwards;
• Kjell Aartun, 1992 (interpretation as a Semitic language, syllabic writing); A-side first; reading outwards;
• Derk Ohlenroth, 1996 (interpretation as a Greek dialect, alphabetic writing); A-side first; reading outwards; numerous homophonic signs;
• Sergei V. Rjabchikov 1998 (interpretation as a Slavonic dialect, syllabic writing [4]); A-side first; reading outwards;
• Adam Martin, 2000 (interpretation as a Greek-Minoan bilingual text, alphabetic writing); reading outwards, side A as Greek, side B as Minoan
• Kevin & Keith Massey, 2003 (interpretation as a Greek dialect, syllabic writing [5]); A-side first; reading outwards;
• Achterberg et al., 2004 (interpreted as Luwian); A-side first; reading inwards;
• Torsten Timm, 2005 (reading attempt based upon the hypothesis of a Cretan Script [6]);

Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Distribution of Greek dialects, ca. ... Florence Melian Stawell (2 May 1869 – 9 June 1936) was a classical scholar. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Homeric Greek is the form of Ancient Greek that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Proto-Ionians are a hypothetical Early Bronze Age Hellenic people, whose existence has been postulated by amateur linguist Jean Faucounau. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Proto-Ionians are a Bronze Age people postulated by Jean Faucounau. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centered on ancient Hattusas (modern Boğazkale) in north-central Anatolia (modern Turkey). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... The Semitic languages are the northeastern subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic languages, and the only family of this group spoken in Asia. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Luwian (sometimes spelled Luvian) is part of the Anatolian branch of the Indo European language family and has been preserved in three forms: (1) Cuneiform Luwian, (2) Hieroglyphic-Luwian and (3), the somewhat later Lycian. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Non-linguistic or logographic

• Paolo Ballotta, 1974 (interpretation as logographic writing);
• Leon Pomerance, 1976 (interpretation as astronomical document);
• Peter Aleff, 1982 (interpretation as ancient gameboard[7] );
• Ole Hagen, 1988 (interpretation as calendar)
• Harald Haarmann, 1990 (interpretation as logographic writing);
• Bernd Schomburg, 1997 (calendar interpretation, logograms)
• Hermann Wenzel, 1998 (astronomical interpretation)
• Friedhelm Will, 2000 (interpretation as number-philosophically-document of "Atlantean" origin);
• Axel Hausmann, 2002 (document from Atlantis, dated to 4400 BC, logographic reading)
• Helène Whittaker, 2005 (a votive minuature version of a game board similar to the Egyptian Mehen)

Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Harald Haarmann PhD (born 1946) is a German linguist and cultural scientist who lives and works in Finland. ... This article is about the year. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... For other uses, see Atlantis (disambiguation). ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In Ancient Egypt, Mehen is both what appears to be a mythological character, and a board game. ...

Comparison with other scripts

Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini. ... The Arkalochori Axe is a votive double axe excavated in the Arkalochori cave by Spyridon Marinatos. ... Hieroglyphic Luwian is a variant of the Luwian language, recorded in a small number of monumental hieroglyphic inscriptions. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_01. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_02. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_03. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_04. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_05. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_06. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_07. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_08. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_09. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_10. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_11. ... Stele to Assurnasiripal II at Nimrud (9th century BC), detail showing the winged sun. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_12. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_13. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_14. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_15. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_16. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_17. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_18. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_19. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_20. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_21. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_22. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_23. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_24. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_25. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_26. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_27. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_28. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_29. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_30. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_31. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_32. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_33. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_34. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_35. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_36. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_37. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_38. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_39. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_40. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_41. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_42. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_43. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_44. ... Image File history File links Phaistos_glyph_45. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Notes

Indogermanische Forschungen (IF) is a journal of Indo-European studies, established in 1892 by Karl Brugmann and Wilhelm Streitberg. ...

Selected bibliography

General

• Balistier, Thomas. The Phaistos Disc - an account of its unsolved mystery, Verlag Thomas Balistier, 2000.
• Chadwick, John. The Decipherment of Linear B, Cambridge University Press, 1958.
• Duhoux, Yves. Le disque de phaestos, Leuven, 1977.
• Duhoux, Yves. How not to decipher the Phaistos Disc, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 104, n° 3 (2000), p. 597-600 (PDF 5.9 Mb).
• Evans, A. J., Scripta Minoa, the written documents of Minoan Crete, with special reference to the archives of Knossos, Classic Books (1909), ISBN 0-7426-4005-1.
• Faure, P. "Tourne disque", l'énigme du disque de Phaistos, Notre Histoire n°213, October 2003 (PDF 0.7 Mb).
• Godart, Louis. The Phaistos Disc - the enigma of an Aegean script, ITANOS Publications, 1995.
• Kober, Alice: The Minoan Scripts: Facts and Theory. 1948, American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 52, pp. 82 - 103.
• Sornig, Karl (2006). "The ultimate assessment". Grazer Linguistische Studien (65): 151-155. 
• Timm, Torsten (2004). "Der Diskos von Phaistos - Anmerkungen zur Deutung und Textstruktur". Indogermanische Forschungen (109): 204-231.  (PDF 0.5 Mb)
• Trauth, Michael: The Phaistos Disc and the Devil’s Advocate. On the Aporias of an Ancient Topic of Research. 1990, Glottometrika 12, pp. 151 - 173.

Attempted decipherments

This list contains off-line accounts of various decipherments mentioned above

• Aartun, Kjell, 'Der Diskos von Phaistos; Die beschriftete Bronzeaxt; Die Inschrift der Taragona-tafel' in Die minoische Schrift : Sprache und Texte vol. 1, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz (1992) ISBN 3-447-03273-1
• Achterberg, Winfried; Best, Jan; Enzler, Kees; Rietveld, Lia; Woudhuizen, Fred, The Phaistos Disc: A Luwian Letter to Nestor, Publications of the Henry Frankfort Foundation vol XIII, Dutch Archeological and Historical Society, Amsterdam 2004
• Balistier, Thomas, The Phaistos Disc - an account of its unsolved mystery, Verlag Thomas Balistier, 2000 (as above); describes Aarten's and Ohlenroth's decipherments.
• Ephron, Henry D, (1962), "Tharso and Iaon: The Phaistos Disk, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 66. (1962), pp. 1-91. JSTOR URL
• Faucounau, Jean, Le déchiffrement du Disque de Phaistos & Les Proto-Ioniens : histoire d'un peuple oublié, Paris 1999 & 2001.
• Fischer, Steven R., Evidence for Hellenic Dialect in the Phaistos Disk, Herbert Lang (1988), ISBN 3-261-03703-2
• Gordon, F. G. 1931. Through Basque to Minoan: transliterations and translations of the Minoan tablets. London: Oxford University Press.
• Hausmann, Axel, Der Diskus von Phaistos. Ein Dokument aus Atlantis, BoD GmbH (2002), ISBN 3-8311-4548-2.
• Hempl, George. "The Solving of an Ancient Riddle: Ionic Greek before Homer". Harper's Monthly Magazine (Vol. 122, No. 728 (Jan 1911)): 187-198. 
• Martin, Adam, Der Diskos von Phaistos - Ein zweisprachiges Dokument geschrieben in einer frühgriechischen Alphabetschrift, Ludwig Auer Verlag (2000), ISBN 3-9807169-1-0.
• Ohlenroth, Derk, Das Abaton des lykäischen Zeus und der Hain der Elaia: Zum Diskos von Phaistos und zur frühen griechischen Schriftkultur, M. Niemeyer (1996), ISBN 3-484-80008-9.
• Polygiannakis, Ο Δισκος της Φαιστού Μιλάει Ελληνικά (The Phaistos disk speaks in Greek), Georgiadis, Athens (2000).
• Pomerance, Leon, The Phaistos Disk: An Interpretation of Astronomical Symbols, Paul Astroms forlag, Goteborg (1976). reviewed by D. H. Kelley in The Journal of Archeoastronomy (Vol II, number 3, Summer 1979)
• Schwartz, Benjamin. "The Phaistos disk". Journal of Near Eastern Studies (Vol. 18, No. 2 (1959)): 105-112. 
• Stawell, F. Melian. "An Interpretation of the Phaistos Disk". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs (Vol. 19, No. 97. (Apr., 1911)): 23-29;32-38.  JSTOR URL
• Whittaker, Helène, "Social and Symbolic Aspects of Minoan writing", European Journal of Archaeology 8:1, 29-41 (2005) doi:10.1177/1461957105058207

JSTOR®, begun in 1995, is an online system for archiving academic journals. ... An issue of Harpers Magazine from 1905 Another issue, from November 2004 Harpers Magazine (or simply Harpers) is a monthly magazine of politics and culture. ... JSTOR®, begun in 1995, is an online system for archiving academic journals. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

See also

• Arkalochori Axe
• Cretan hieroglyphs
• Linear A

The Arkalochori Axe is a votive double axe excavated in the Arkalochori cave by Spyridon Marinatos. ... Cretan hieroglyphs are found on artifacts of Bronze Age Minoan Crete (early to mid 2nd millennium BC, MM I to MM III, overlapping with Linear A from MM IIA at the earliest). ... Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini. ...

External links

• Article on a site about strange ancient artifacts
• The symbols
• French site
• List of decipherment claims
• Michael Everson's proposal to encode Phaistos Disc signs in Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646
• DAIDALIKA - Scripts and Languages of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete