Arkalochori Axe
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The Arkalochori Axe is a 2nd millennium BC Minoan bronze 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] It 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.
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 ![]() |
![]() |
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Note that reading top to bottom, right to left after turning the inscription counterclockwise gives a different sequence and numbering of the glyphs. The alternative sequence is suggested to be translatable as a text with a dedicatory offering to Tammuz.[5]
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.
- ^ 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)
- ^ Revesz, Peter Z. "A translation of the Arkalochori Axe and the Malia Altar Stone". WSEAS Transactions on Information Science and Applications (Vol. 14, (2017)): 124–133.
- Cretan hieroglyphs
- Minoan archaeological artifacts
- Axes
- Archaeological discoveries in Greece
- Ancient Greek metalwork
- 1934 archaeological discoveries
- Minoan art
- 2nd-millennium BC works
- Bronze objects
- Heraklion Archaeological Museum