SCRIPTA MINOA

HENRY FROWDE,
LONDON, EDINBURGH,

M.A.

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

NEW YORK

TORONTO AND MELBOURNE

SCRIPTA MINOA
THE WRITTEN DOCUMENTS OF MINOAN CRETE
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ARCHIVES OF KNOSSOS
BY

ARTHUR

J.

EVANS
I

VOLUME

THE HIEROGLYPHIC AND PRIMITIVE LINEAR CLASSES

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE PRE-PHOENICIAN SCRIPTS, THEIR PLACE IN MINOAN STORY AND THEIR MEDITERRANEAN RELATIONS

WITH

PLATES, TABLES

AND FIGURES

IN

THE TEXT

OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

1909

v.

OXFORD
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, M.A. PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
I.

II.

Signs on Vase from Orchomenos compared with Cretan Comparison between Lycian, Carian, and Minoan Signs
.

III.

IV.

V.
VI.

Comparison of Minoan Signs of Crete and Cyprus Comparisons between Lycian and Carian Signs and those of the Cypriote Syllabary Phoenician, &c., Letters of Uncertain Meaning compared with Minoan Signs.

........ ........
. .

PAGE
57 66
71

VII.
VIII.
IX.

Phoenician, &c., Letters of Ascertained Meaning compared with Minoan Signs Comparison of the Greek Complementary Letters with South Semitic and Minoan Forms

... ...
.

76 87

89
92 99

Preliminary Comparisons of Minoan and Personal Marks on Pots, Phylakopi

.

beric Linear
. .

Forms
.

.112
114

X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.

Hieroglyphic and Linear Degenerations

Human and
Forms

Animal Types on

'

'

Egypto-Libyan

Cylinders and Prism compared with Minoan

124
128

Diagram showing Derivation of the 'Double Sickle' and Allied Types on Cretan Seal-stones from Egyptian Button-seals of Vlth Dynasty
Cretan Hieroglyphs or Conventionalized Pictographs Cretan Hieroglyphs or Conventionalized Pictographs Comparative Groups of S', Leg, and Gate Egyptian Comparisons with Minoan Hieroglyphs
Differentiations of
'

232
. .

XIV. XV. XVI. XVII.

XVIII.

233
'237

240
249

Crook

'

Sign

XIX.

XX.
XXI. XXII.
XXIII.

Hieroglyphic System and Graffito Versions of Identical Sign-groups Glyptic in Graffito Inscriptions found Sign- groups only
Transposition of Signs in Similar Groups
'

Numerals

of

........ ......... ..........

258
261

262 262 266

Family Tree of Minoan

'

Titles

and Personal Badges

Official Titles

XXIV.

Signs on Phaestos Disk

XXV.
XXVI.

Signs in Similar Collocations with or without the Distinguishing Marks

Examples of

Parallel Disposition in Sign-groups

.............. .... .........

OF PLATES
A
&c., with

268
276 289 290

LIST
PLATE
I.

Engraved Seals,

Primitive Linear Signs. Pictographic (or Hieroglyphic) Script, Class A.

Seals with Conventionalized

II.

Seals with Conventionalized Pictographic (or Hieroglyphic) Script, Class A.

III.

Clay Sealings from the Palace of Knossos, with Conventionalized Pictographic

(or

IVA,IVB,V,VI.
VII, VIII, IX.

Hieroglyphic) Script. Clay Labels from the Palace of Knossos, with Conventionalized Pictographic (or
Hieroglyphic) Script.
'

Clay

Bars

'

from the Palace of Knossos, with Conventionalized Pictographic (or

Hieroglyphic) Script.

X.
XI.
XII.

Clay Bars and Tablet from the Palace of Knossos, with Conventionalized Pictographic
(or Hieroglyphic) Script.

Clay Tablets, with Conventionalized Pictographic The Phaestos Disk. Face A.

(or Hieroglyphic) Script.

XIII.

The Phaestos

Disk.

Face B.

CONTENTS
PART
THE PRE-PHOENICIAN SCRIPTS OF CRETE. TIONS AND PLACE IN MINOAN STORY
i.

PAGE

....

THEIR MEDITERRANEAN RELA.

i-no
i

2. 3.

4.

Antiquity and European Diffusion of the Pictographs and Linear Signs Discovery of the Successive Types of Minoan Writing The Hieroglyphic Archives of Knossos The Hieroglyphic Disk from Phaestos
. . Script of Class B Survivals of the Art of Writing during the Decadence of the Minoan Influences on the Anatolian Side
.

.......
......
II

...
.
. .

8
19

22

5.
6.
7.

The Linear The Linear

Script of Class

A
Minoan and Mycenaean Culture

28 38 54
61

8.

9. Minoan Cyprus and the Insular Scripts 10. Cretan Philistines and the Phoenician Alphabet 11.

68

-77
.

12. 13.

Minoan Contact with Egypt, Italy, and Spain Survival of Minoan Elements in Crete and the Tradition of the Native System of Writing Was the Discovery of the Minoan Writing anticipated by Classical Antiquity?
. .

95 100
106

PART
i.
.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC OR CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC SCRIPT OF CRETE, WITH ITS ANTECEDENTS AND AFFINITIES 111-272
2.
3. 4.

Primitive Linear Signs and Figures Protodynastic Egyptian and Egypto-Libyan Influences on Cretan Seal-stones The Early Prism-seals of Crete with Pictographic Designs
. . . . . .
.

.in
.

.......
.

118
130

5.
6.

Seals and Sealings of the Conventionalized Pictographic or Hieroglyphic Type. Class Seals exhibiting the Conventionalized Pictographic or Hieroglyphic Script of Class B
.

134 138 144

The Clay Documents

in the

exhibiting Graffito Inscriptions

and Seal-impressions of Class

found

7.

Hieroglyphic Deposit at Knossos of Conventionalized Pictographic (or Hieroglyphic) Inscriptions on Seals and Catalogue
Sealings Catalogue of Conventionalized Pictographic (or Hieroglyphic) Inscriptions on Clay Sealings, Tablets, Bars, and Labels Catalogue of Hieroglyphic Signs Analysis of the Hieroglyphic or Conventionalized Pictographic Signary Characteristics of the Hieroglyphic Script

8.

9.

10.

n.
12. 13. 14.
15.

Arrangement of the Hieroglyphic Inscriptions The Hieroglyphic Numeration Correlation of the Glyptic and Graffito Inscriptions Recurrent Sign-groups Evidences of Official Titles, Personal Names, and Canting Badges on the Hieroglyphic
:

.........:...... ............ .... ............

. .
.

149
163 181

234 245 250 256 260 263

Signets

PART
THE PHAESTOS DISK
i.

III

273-293
Characteristics of the Disk
.

2. 3.

Supplementary Remarks on the Discovery and General The Hieroglyphic Signary of the Phaestos Disk

4.
5.

Analysis of the Sign-groups on the Disk Non-Minoan Character of the Hieroglyphic System represented on the Disk Evidences of Metrical Arrangement in the Inscriptions on the Disk

273 275 280

285 287
291

.....
.

6.

The

Inscription possibly a Religious

Chaunt

in

honour of the Anatolian Great Mother

ANALYTICAL INDEX

294

PREFACE
of the present publication is to give in the first place a Corpus as complete as possible of the existing records of the script of Minoan Crete by means of photographic facsimiles and copies of the documents. In the

THE aim

second place I have endeavoured to supply a preliminary apparattts criticiis in the form of tables and explanatory catalogues of the different signaries,
the classification of the documents according to their form and contents, an analysis of the principal formulas employed, and an examination of the

order in which the inscriptions run, often facilitated by the auxiliary marks that accompany them. It has, moreover, been possible to elucidate the
different systems of

numeration associated with the successive types of the Minoan scripts, and, in cases where the characters afforded an ideographic But, in the clue, to assign a meaning to certain sign-groups and formulas.
stage

absence of bilingual inscriptions, the material as a whole has not reached the

when any comprehensive attempt

be attended with

at interpretation or transliteration is

likely to

fruitful results.

The present work

is

of a

more

preliminary nature, and the main object before me has been so to set forth the evidence as to supply a basis for further studies.

a World so new, where it has been necessary in a large measure to quarry the material as well as to lay foundations for the future fabric, my task could not be limited to a mere reproduction and analysis

But

in

of the inscriptions. These have to be also considered in their broad anthroof the pological aspect as a singular, in many respects an unique illustration
evolution by successive stages of an advanced system of script out of the In a more special way these universal elements of primitive pictography. various stages have to be placed in their relation to the several periods of

the marvellous civilization of ancient Crete, to which in a comprehensive and Minoan V generalized use of the word I have ventured to apply the word
'

convenient term for the prehistoric civilization of Crete, the word has now acquired a general currency in France, Italy, the United States, and our own country, as well as among
1

As

at least a

a dynastic sense we have at least the warrant of the ancient tradition preserved by Diodoros, who, like Herodotos, seems to have drawn largely from Eteocretan sources, that there were two kings of the

name

many German

scholars.

In extending to the

word

of Minos

(iv.

c. 60,

25).

As

have pointed out

vi

PREFACE
For these reasons the

First Part of the present volume has been devoted to a summary view of all the successive types of Minoan script, including the primitive pictographic, the hieroglyphic, and the advanced linear classes.

Their genesis is traced from a widespread European family of immemorial antiquity, and the place occupied by them among other early forms of writing traceable throughout the Mediterranean basin is as far as possible
defined.

Following on the clue

1893, the

first

given

me by some
soil

course of the discoveries on Cretan

hieroglyphic seal-stones in is here sketched out, leading

up
hill

to the dramatic fulfilment of

of Knossos.

most sanguine expectations on the Palace The archaeological evidence produced by the various

my

deposits in which the successive types of script occurred primitive pictoand B is graphic, hieroglyphic, and the advanced linear of Classes

equations, moreover, supplied by the association of certain Egyptian relics in the same or parallel strata are shown to supply some fixed chronological points of the greatest

brought to bear on

their historic

sequence.

The

value.

interesting evidence is here brought together indicating a late survival of the knowledge of writing in the decadence of Minoan and Mycenaean culture, and the abiding traditions of its former existence among

Some

the later Eteocretans

in

who

Hellenic times.

On

represented the remains of the indigenous stock the other hand, attention is called in Part I,

Section 13 to a curious record which

elsewhere (Essai de Classification des Epoques de la Civilisation minoenne), the term 'Minoan' has at

may be
in

certainly taken to
is

show

that

corroboration of this conclusion

the

discovery
true that

of imported

now coming out 'Minoan' objects

advantage of not transgressing the limits of ethnographic neutrality. To make use of Minos like Caesar or Pharaoh does not raise the vexed
least the
' '

from Palestine
It is

to Sicily

and Spain,

my friend Professor Ridgeway, with his accustomed loyalty, has informed me that he is
going to oppose the view that Minos I or II had any connexion with the great Palace Period of Knossos. He would bring the first Minos (with Diodoros, he
distinguishes two), as the destroyer of the Palace, at the head of the first wave of fair-haired invaders in

questions of Carians and Pelasgians, of the Achaeans, or even the Libyans. There may of course have

been more than one early dynasty in prehistoric Crete, but the course of its civilization as a whole is
continuous and homogeneous. The great Age of the Cretan Palaces, moreover, suggests the idea of a centralized and dynastic government. The word
'

the ^Egean.

Minoa moreover, applied by

colonial
Sicily,

'

the Greeks to so

many
to

Surely this is very hard on Minos. I can answer it by one argumentum ad hotnincm. It was Minos not
as destroyer but as builder of his Palace-shrine, the Labyrinth, and patron of the great craftsman, Daedalos,
led me to the site of Knossos. another view of ancient tradition rate would not have been written.

early

offshoots

of Crete

from

Gaza

Western
great

seems

to reflect the enterprise of its

prehistoric

Age

when

the sea-power of the

who

Had
this

not taken
at

Lords of Knossos was predominant throughout a large part of the Mediterranean basin. The archaeological

book

any

PREFACE
a discovery of Minoan tablets had actually taken place
in

vii

Nero's time and

had puzzled the antiquaries of those days. Throughout the work special attempts are made, by means of comparative tables drawn out by the author, to investigate the possible relations
of characters belonging to the various Minoan signaries with those of other ancient systems found in different parts of the Mediterranean basin. Detailed comparisons with the later Cypriote syllabary have been reserved
for the succeeding

that deals with the linear scripts of Crete. It has been demonstrated, however, in Section 9 that a provincial branch of the

volume

Minoan

script existed in
'

moreover,
'

Cyprus at a much earlier date. Cretan Philistines and the Phoenician Alphabet,'
first
'

In Section
I

10,

have ventured
preliminary

further to develop a thesis

brought forward by
in
1

me

in

my

work on Cretan Pictographs

published I895. there forth that the letters of the Phoenician alphabet were suggestion put originally selected from a Minoan signary has been to a very considerable degree reinforced by the much more copious material now at hand. In view
of the parallelism

It will

be seen that the

shown in Tables V, VI, VII, between the Semitic letterforms and a series of Minoan characters, it may be fairly claimed that

a true relationship has been made out. The Second Part of the present volume concerns the hieroglyphic script of Crete and the more primitive stages of pictography out of which it arose.

The

material here put together includes both seal-stones and inscribed clay 2 documents, copies of each example being inserted in the text in addition

to the photographic plates. It will be seen from Section 2, and especially Table XII, that a new terminus a quo for the use of the advanced pictographic

been supplied by comparisons drawn from a group of Egyptian or Egypto- Libyan button-seals dating from the Sixth to the Eleventh
class has
'

',

hieroglyphic script is itself shown to be essentially an independent growth out of pre-existing indigenous elements, but evidence is brought forward in Section 10 to suggest that the Egyptian hieroglyphic

Dynasty.

The Cretan

system may have exercised a certain formative influence on the Minoan, and that one or two Egyptian signs were actually taken over.
i

The main points of this thesis had been brought me before the British Association in 1894. 1 The copies of the clay documents have been traced by me with the aid of photographs on bleaching1

by

quently corrected by comparison with the original, The copies of the seal-stones are mostly due to

Mr. F. Anderson, who executed them with the aid

of enlarged photographs,

out paper, the tracings in each case being subse-

viii

PREFACE
In Section 8
is

of the Cretan hieroglyphs as at present known, showing the glyptic and graffito variations of each, together with explanatory notes, while the entire signary is reproduced in the two

given a complete

list

Tables XIII, XIV. Apart from the purely phonetic value of these signs, as We syllables or even letters, there are evident traces of ideographic usage.
thus obtain a probable interpretation of certain recurring formulas that may be taken to represent official titles, and are principally found on the signets.

The

association of these

formulas, moreover, with

series of

'

'

canting

animal badges on seals of more than one period, leads to the further conclusion that we may have here the titles of a succession of Minoan dynasts. In

have even attempted, on the basis of these sphragistic connexions, a kind of family tree which may eventually be found to have a real historic value. The personal bearing of one of the most constantly recurring Table
I
'

XXII

',

of these formulas

brought out by the circumstance that it is coupled on a sealing with a sharply characterized male head, in which we may fairly recognize the effigy of a Minoan king. This head is otherwise associated
is

with that of a boy

much

natural to assume, of the elder personageas Severus and Caracalla were associated on Roman dies. Apart

the son,

it is

from their connexion with the hieroglyphic iormula, these sealings are of extraordinary interest as exhibiting what must be regarded as the earliest
attempts at individual portraiture in the European world. While this volume was in the press a remarkable discovery of a hieroglyphic disk, made by the Italian Archaeological Mission at Phaestos, has introduced a wholly new element into the documentary evidence of early writing in Crete. The importance of this new material was such that its

omission from the present work would have rendered it incomplete and Thanks, however, to the great courtesy of its discoverer, unsatisfactory. Dr. Luigi Pernier, I was at once supplied with photographs of the Disk,

and was thus enabled

the appearance of his In Part III of this volume, which

make a preliminary study own publication in Ausonia.

to
is

of the inscription before

this

unique record, I have had the advantage of comparing his results and of studying the Disk itself at first hand. It will be seen that the hieroglyphic system represented by it

devoted to

differs

from the ordinary Minoan type. The crested head-pieces that appear among the characters recall, on the other hand, the familiar headgear of the
Delta from across the
'

later invaders of the

Great Green Sea

',

among whom

PREFACE

ix

the Philistines are grouped, and within whose orbit, later on, the Achaeans move. Moreover, a remarkable pagoda-like building repeated on the Disk will be seen to find its best parallels in the traditional Lycian architecture.

possibly be the product of some advanced culture, parallel with and allied to the Minoan, existing on the Western coastland of Asia Minor. Whole new

It looks, therefore,

as

if

the hieroglyphic system of the Disk

may

horizons of investigation are opened out by this discovery. most cordial thanks are also due to Prof. Federico Halbherr, the head of the Italian Mission in Crete, whose own researches in the island go

My

back to the discovery, some thirty-five years since, of the great Gortyna inscription, and who from the first extended his friendly help and encouragement to my own investigations. I have specially to thank him for placing at
disposal the clay documents illustrating the linear script of Class A, brought to light by himself and Dr. Paribeni at Hagia Triada, although, owing to causes which all must regret, he has not as yet been able to

my

complete their preliminary publication.

venture to take
full

In

Volume

II of this

work

shall

advantage of the permission so liberally accorded.

thanks are also largely owing to Dr. Joseph Hazzidakis, EphorGeneral of Cretan Antiquities and Director of the Candia Museum, who has
in

My

every

way

facilitated

my

studies, as also

to his colleague the

Ephor

Dr. Stephanos Xanthudides, who has himself published valuable materials To my English fellow workers, the relating to the Cretan seal-stones.

successive Directors of the British School of Athens, Mr. D. G. Hogarth, C Professor R. Carr Bosanquet, and Mr. R. G. Dawkins, I am indebted

for the free use of the inscribed objects and sealings unearthed through their excavations at Zakro and Palaikastro, on the East of Crete and with these
;

am

done

also glad to couple Mr. Richard Seager, the American explorer, who has such successful work at Pseira and Mochlos. Last, not least, in all that

Knossos itself, and the analysis of the various deposits in which the inscribed documents were found, my warmest acknowledgements are due to my Assistant and Colleague, Dr. Duncan
relates to the
at

work of excavation

Mackenzie.

must here record great indebtedness to those who, by subscribing to the Cretan Exploration Fund, initiated in 1899, have done so much to forward these researches, and notably to Mr. George A. Macmillan, the Hon. Treasurer of the Fund, whose energy and enthusiasm
In a
I

more general way

PREFACE
failed.

would have been impossible to support the very considerable financial strain due to the excavation of the Palace site of Knossos, in the course of which the great bulk of the inscribed Minoan documents have been brought to light. The remaining Volumes II and III of this work will be devoted to the detailed publication of the documents of the advanced Linear Scripts of Crete, of both Classes (A and B). Volume II will contain copies of the inscriptions, complete signaries, an analysis of the scripts and documents, and
have never
liberal assistance thus afforded
it

Without the

illustrative

commentaries.

Volume

III will consist of photographic plates

of the inscribed tablets belonging to this category.

ARTHUR

J.

EVANS.

PART

PART

THE PRE-PHOENICIAN SCRIPTS OF CRETE. THEIR MEDITERRANEAN RELATIONS AND PLACE IN MINOAN STORY
I. i.

ANTIQUITY AND EUROPEAN DIFFUSION OF PICTOGRAPHS AND LINEAR SIGNS

1

SCHLIEMANN'S epoch-making discoveries at Mycenae in 1876 first brought out the fact that the classical civilization of Greece had been centuries before preceded on Hellenic soil itself by another in many respects highly developed form of culture,

Evidence

mg
bsent

from

The

already attained by the Mycenaean craftsmen in architecture and sculp- mannas disture, as well as in such minor arts as gem-engraving, metal-work, and vase-painting, coveries. excited general admiration. But in the midst of this brilliant picture of early Aegean
skill

'

'

was one notable lacuna. No evidence of the existence of an indigenous system of writing was as yet forthcoming. Amongst all the varied obtained in Schliemann the course of his excavations no single written objects by document was brought to light. Subsequent researches in the same field had produced, indeed, certain indications
civilization

there

Signs on
,,

calculated to give pause to those who attached too absolute a value to these negative ? ase handles phenomena. Apart from the occurrence of some single signs, one engraved on found by
. .

a stone pestle, 2 others on the handles of two amphoras and of a painted vase of Tsuntas 4 very late Mycenaean fabric, two incised groups of signs had already occurred on vases. One of these groups was engraved on the handle of an amphora, found in
:i

'

'

1890 by Dr. Tsuntas, the worthy continuator of Schliemann's researches, in a chamber-tomb at Mycenae. 5 The amphora in this case was of Egyptian type, and
each of the three incised signs could be paralleled on Egyptian sherds.
In this Section and the following free use has been made of the materials in my preliminary works
entitled Primitive Pictographs and Prae-Phoenician Script in Crete and the Peloponnese (London, Quaritch, 1895, and
1

fragment,

till

shows a character
*
'

Dr. Tsuntas called attention to them in 1893. One like a Greek n, the other a sign :, identical with the Cypriote pa, ba, or pha.
ApxaioXoyucov AeXn'ov,
1892, p. 73,
It

and Tsuntas and

and Further Discoveries of Cretan /. and Aegean Script (London, Quaritch, 1898, and/. H. S.,
S., xiv, Pt. II)
xvii).
2

H.

Manatt, op.
in a

cit.,

p. 268, Fig. 137.

was found by Dr. Staes

Tsuntas, UPOKTIKO rfa'Apxoiokojaqt

'Kraiplas, 1889, p. 19;

Tsuntas and Manatt, Mycenaean Age, \, 268. 3 Tsuntas, Mvxijyni, p. 113; Tsuntas and Manatt, op. cit., These amphoras had been found in the tomb of p. 268. Menidi, but the incised marks on them were not noticed

tomb at Pronoia, near Nauplia. The vase has three handles, on each of which is incised the sign H, but with offshoots from the top of the upright strokes. Tsuntas Tsuntas, Mu/s^wu, pp. 213, 214, Fig. 2. observes (p. 215) that the amphora was of Egyptian form,
'"

resembling one from Gurob.

(Petrie,

Kahun, Gurob, and

Hawara,

PI.

XX.

13.)

A 2

SCRIPTA MINOA
however, of a stone vessel of undoubtedly indigenous form, found the ruins of a house on the Acropolis at Mycenae, showed four or
in five

1892 among characters

engraved on the handle.

variety of isolated signs

and some groups had been

'

discovered by Professor Petrie in 1890 on sherds belonging to the Nineteenth Dynasty settlement of Gurob in Egypt, where imported pottery of the Late Mycenaean class was also discovered. As will be pointed out below, 2 these Egyptian marks which
'

can be traced back to the prehistoric period supply some valuable parallels with those of the Aegean world. It must, however, be observed that those found at Gurob,

and

settlement of Kahun, were in no single instance incised on 3 pottery that can, with any probability, be regarded as of Aegean fabric.
in the still earlier

FIG.

i.

Wall-painting

in

the Grotte de Marsoulas.

Negative
conclusion of Perrot.

Notwithstanding the isolated finds on Greek

possible for
'

soil

M.

Perrot, in the

volume of
in

and Mycenaean Art', published

his great work 1894, to sum up

referred to above, it was still devoted to Primitive Greece

'

the

evidence

as

follows:

The

first

characteristic that attracts the historian's notice

when he

tries to define

the prae-Homeric civilization is that it is a stranger to the use of writing. It knows neither the ideographic signs possessed by Egypt and Chaldaea nor the Alphabet, properly so called, which Greece was afterwards to borrow from Phoenicia.' He

admitted, indeed, that

1

some

of the

marks recently noticed on the vase-handles bore

4
;

Tsuntas, MUKIJKU, p. 214, Figs. 3 and 4, and p. 215 Tsuntas and Manatt, op. cit., p. 269, Figs. 138, 139. It is impossible, however, to fit on this group to any of the

Perrot

p. 985.
first

et Chipiez, La Grece primitive: Vart nivo >;/<;/, In describing the marks on the Knossian blocks, noticed by Mr. Stillman, M. Perrot had previously

Cretan systems.
*
3

See Part

II,

2,

Table X.
'

The heading of Plate XXVIII in Prof. Petrie's Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara, which contains fragments of Late
'

Mycenaean
is liable

pottery above and various pot-marks below,

admitted (op. cit., p. 461) that the Cypriote signs might have had an Aegean extension 'during a certain time'. But the subsequent passage on p. 985 retracts this admission so far as the Mycenaean period is concerned. been suggested by Dr. Reichel (Honierisclie It had
Waffen, p. 142) that certain curvilinear designs below the combatants on the silver vase fragment from Mycenae ('(/>.. 'A.px1891, PI. II. 2) were signs in an unknown But as I have elsewhere shown (/. H. S. xiii, script.
1892-3, p. 199, n.

Gurob Foreign Pottery and Marks, XIX Dyn.' But none of the marks occurred on the Mycenaean sherds. And whether or
to mislead.

The

plate

is

labelled

'

not the
Prof.

marks themselves were

himself regards
of

incised on pottery

which
great

Petrie

as

'

foreign

',

the

na

),

the figures in question represent

majority

them are demonstrably of Egyptian

derivation.

throwing-sticks.

EUROPEAN DIFFUSION OF PICTOGRAPHS

Greek or Cypriote, but he observes that 'they do not seem to form words' and that they are perhaps nothing more than the marks of the potter or of the proprietor, or mere ignorant copies of the signs then in use in Syria and Asia Minor. 'As at present advised,' he concludes, 'we can continue to affirm that for the whole of this period, nowhere, neither in the Peloponnese nor in Greece proper, no more on the buildings than on the thousand and one objects of luxury or domestic use that have come out of the tombs, has there anything been discovered which resembled any kind of writing.'
resemblances to
letters

either

Were the builders of Contrary the 'Treasury of Atreus', of the elaborate palace-citadels of Tiryns and Mycenae, presumptions. the carvers of the Lions' Gate, so far below the level of their contemporaries not only in Egypt and Babylonia, but throughout the vast Anatolian and Syrian regions over which are scattered the inscribed monuments of the Hittite princes? Was
this great early civilization, then, altogether

Was

dumb ?

possible that such masterpieces as the intarsia designs of the daggers from the Acropolis tombs at Mycenae, the intaglios of the signets, the living reliefs of the Vapheio vases, were the work of Man before Writing ?
it
'

'

Such a conclusion
clear. in the

The germs

most comprehensive sense as covering carving on rocks and other materials, whether or not overlaid with colour is almost universal among savage races. It is therefore incumbent on us to believe that the elements out of which all more developed systems of writing grew must have been diffused in Europe as in other quarters H.F No doubt the of the globe from the most primitive period. perishable r r b IG. 2. Signs nature of many of the materials used has been generally fatal to the on fragment of survival of the primitive pictographs of our Continent on any large scale. If we had before us the articles of bark and hide, or wood, once used by Early Man, or could still see the tattoo-marks on his skin, we should have a very different idea ot the part once played by picture-writing on European soil. As a matter of fact the earliest human works of art belonging to the Reindeer Period comprise a whole cycle of pictorial records of the chase and of the domestic chronicles of primitive man, carved on ivory or bone, or engraved and
to
in its
t

Aegean use the word

I could not bring myself to accept. So much at least of written communication must have long pre-existed The practice of picture writing or pictography 'area.
'

was

ity

Universalof early

picture-

writing.

Linearized
signs already in

Reindeer
Period.

painted on the rock

draughtsmanAnimals ship from similar examples of picture-writing produced by modern savages. moreover at times appear with signs (Fig. i) or marks of ownership, and the law of
itself,

which only

differ

by

their surprising skill in

abbreviation, by which a part represents the whole, is already in frequent operation. Signs of curiously alphabetic aspect at times even in groups are seen engraved on

reindeer-horns
1

(Fig. 2) or ivory, or

on the surface of the rock

p. 422, Fig. 91,

itself, in

one case three

this sub-

Groups of such signs are seen on sections of reindeerfrom the Grotte de Lorthet, Hautes- Pyrenees (E. Piette, Anlhropologie, vii, p. 417, Fig. 78), and also from the Grotte de Gourdan, Haute-Garonne (op. cit.,
horn

ject
in

reproduced in Fig. 2 above). On may refer to my Lecture on 'The European

its

diffusion

of Pictography and

Anthropology and

the Classics,

bearing on the origin of Script', Oxford, 1908, pp. 12 seqq.

SCRIPTA MINOA

Similar characters occur in connexion such signs appearing on a horse's flank. 1 with animals in the marvellous rock-paintings of the Altamira Cave near Santander, 2
the kindred paintings on the walls of the Grotte de Marsoulas in the Haute3 One Garonne, belonging to the same Magdalenian period as the Cantabrian cave. of these shows a bison with three signs painted on his flank in red ochre (Fig. i). 4

and

in

'

'

Certain signs (Fig. 2) carved on a fragment of reindeer horn are specially interesting It is from the primitive anticipation that they present of the Phoenician alcf. marks to that often observe, however, interesting though these early appear in

s>

(?

v
i,

v
(>

fly ff
P

FIG. 3.

Table showing degeneration of goafs-head pictograph.

(Magdalenian Period.)

and almost alphabetic form, it is sometimes possible to trace these back to pictorial prototypes. Thus a Table recently published by the Abb6 Breuil, 8 here reproduced in Fig. 3, shows the regular degeneration of pictographic figures of It must at the same time be observed that the goats' heads into mere linear marks.
this linearized

the lowest layers of the rock palimpsests of the Pyrenaean Caves, themselves present simple linear forms nearer to alphabetic types than those found in the more advanced stages of this parietal art.
earliest pictographs,

as seen

in

'

'

Survivals of picto-

The
lithic

picture records

graphy

in far North.

Age may
the

be almost said to belong to another world.

de
la

and conventionalized signs of the men of the Late PalaeoThe fauna climate, and
;

Among

rock engravings of the Grotte

receive
3

Mouthe near Combarelles in the Dordogne described by Messrs. Capitan and Breuil. A lozenge- shaped mark, perhaps a sign of ownership, appears on the flank of
another horse.

full illustration in a special work by the explorers. Cartailhac et Breuil (Anthropologie, xvi (1905), pp. 440,

441,
4

and Op.

Fig. 10).
cit.,

p. 438, Fig. 8. Congri-s International iV Anthropologie

et

Archeologie

L'Abbe H. Breuil (Anthropologie, xv The wall-paintings of the Cave 631). 630, pp. (1904), of Altamira were discovered by Seftor de Santuola in 1879, but their methodical investigation was first due to
II

E. Cartailhac et

pre'historiques,

XIII mo Session,
vii,

1906, T.

I.,

p. 398, Fig.

145

(Monaco,

1907).

E. Piette, Lesgalets

(Anthropologie,

de Mas-ctAsil, pp. 385-427), has published a series

calorie's

Messrs. Cartailhac and Breuil.

The

materials will shortly

of coloured pebbles showing remarkably alphabetiform types, but these belong to an early Neolithic stage.

EUROPEAN DIFFUSION OF PICTOGRAPHS

geographical configuration

of our quarter of the globe alike have changed since It is interesting, however, to observe that among the existing peoples of the then. extreme North of Europe, whose conditions most nearly represent those of the old
the relics of pure pictography were preserved to modern times. on Troll-Drums of the Lapp Shamans afford excellent examples of The figures But such, the lingering traditions of which have been preserved to our days.

Reindeer

folk,

these

Lapp pictographs themselves belong

to

by the paintings and carvings on extends across the whole Fenno-Tataric region from the White Sea to the Urals and 2 It was probably from an early offshoot of throughout Siberia to the borders of China.
illustrated
this great family of pictorial signs that the elaborate characters of the

a widely diffused primitive group rocks and other materials which

Chinese writing
In Scandil

were ultimately evolved.

So
and
not

close

is

the parallelism presented

extinct,
it

by some examples of

this widespread,

yet
3

wholly
that

Scandinavia,

have existed.

The

Northern group, with the early pictographs of well be asked whether an original relationship may not may picture-writing, of which we find the prehistoric traces in so

parts of Europe, certainly reveals a considerable interrelation over somewhat The Scandinavian pictographs of the Bronze Age, as wide geographical areas.

many

we

by the rock-carvings of Bohuslan and Scania, present some curious points of agreement with the contemporary figures carved in the Irish megalithic chambers, like New Grange, which carry us on in turn to 4 Gavr Innis. So, too, the engraved pictographs on the megalithic blocks of Brittany find their The Iberic insu a continuation in those of the Portuguese dolmens of Traz-os-Montes, 5 and the Piedra a Escrita" and other similar monuments of Andalusia. 6 These again lead us beyond N.Africa. 7 the Straits to the 'Written Stones' 'Hadjrat Mektoubat' of North- Western Africa,
see
illustrated
'

them

For examples of the figures on the Lapp TrollDrums, see SchefFer's Lapponia (1673 ed.), pp. 125, 127,
In 128, 129, and the Engl. ed. (1704), pp. 130 seqq. a journey through Russian and Finnish Lapland in 1876 I noticed the correspondence of certain figures en-

a curious resemblance to

some

of the rock-carvings of

Bohuslan.
*

Thus the pictographic rendering of a boat with men

it,

graved on horn spoons Troll-Drums.

1

still

in

use with those of the

Some good early illustrations of this group will be found in Strahlenberg, Description of Russia, Siberia, and Great Tartary (Engl. transl., 1738, pp. 346 seqq., and Plates VII, VIII, XI). Strahlenberg himself notes (p. 347) that many of these 'figures' or 'characters', which are pretended to have a secret signification, are to be found in Siberia and Tartary upon rocks or stones, either carved or painted in the same manner almost as the Laplanders are wont to paint their drums'.
'

common on the Scandinavian rock-carvings, reappears, as noticed by Mr. G. Coftey (Trans. R, I. Acad., 1892, pp. 32 seqq.), in a secondary guise on the walls of New Grange, and is seen in a still more rudimentary form at Gavr Innis. A very similar sign can be traced as far as Andalusia,
in

Ricardo Severe, As necropoles dolinenicas de Tras-osMonies (Portugalia Oporto, 1903), has published various materials regarding these. Unfortunately, a good deal of uncertainty (to say the least) attaches to some of the
6
;

evidence.
"

Good examples of

Escrita, near Fuencaliente,

the inscribed figures on the Piedra are given by Don Manuel

prehistoricas de

Gongora y Martinez, Antigiiedades

luci'a,
7

Anda-

3 A pictographic record one of a series of similar records- painted on rocks 'with a red, indelible colour', and copied by Strahlenberg near the City of Tzerdyn in Great Permia (op. cit, p. 347 and Plate VII), displays
'

pp. 65-7. G. B. M. Flamand, Les Pierres

e'crites

(Hadjrat Mek-

toubat)

du Nord

tfln-Sdlah,

de I'Afrique et spetialement de la, region Congres International d'AnthropoIogie et

'

d'Archeologie prehistoriques, Paris, 1900.

SCRIPTA MINOA
which extend
Maritime
Alps, &c.

into the
1

Sahara region and find their analogies

in

the rock-carvings

of the Canaries. In

Po

the Maritime Alps, on ancient lines of transit between Provence and the Valley, a similar phenomenon recurs in the rock-carvings known already in

Still better examples of these 'marvels' mediaeval times as the 'Meraviglie'.have been recently discovered by Mr. Clarence Bicknell a at Fontanalba, in the same region, reproducing many of the characteristics of the Scandinavian

group and affording conclusive evidence that

Age.*
Extension
to

they also go back to the Bronze

Danube

Valley.

Thrace and Asia

Minor.

appearance of such early figures on rocks, of which further examples might be cited in the Vosges, the Jura, and the Dalmatian coast, are the linear marks that make their appearance on primitive pottery. It is interesting, therefore,
to the

Akin

observe that the best collection of such signs on primitive European pottery (excepting for the moment the Aegean area) is due to the researches of Fraulein Torma, at Broos, in Transylvania on the borders, that is, of that great Thracian province
to

the primitive culture of which, like its ethnic elements, shows so many points of Like the rude faces on the urns with affinity with that of Western Asia Minor.

which they are associated, the signs on the whorls and vessels from this site display a remarkable parallelism with those found by Schliemann on similar materials
at

Hissarlik."'
It is

Dacian and

true that

Trojan
signs.

due

to the

however, a slate, of objects or figures, and must have had definite meanings.
linearizations,

many of these marks, both Dacian and Trojan, are 'vain repetitions' of decorative elements, themselves of skeuomorphic origin. Others, decay are no less certainly the linear equivalents, such as a child draws on
Such early
by means of which certain ideographic signs were invested with

simple geometrical forms, are, as will be pointed out below, of great importance in their bearing on the evolution of later syllabaries and alphabets. But the attempt
of

some

scholars

to

read off the rude

graffiti

of Hissarlik

by the

light

of the

Vcrneau, Rapport sur

line

Mission

scietttifique

dans

I'archipcl Canarien. 1 For a review of the literature regarding the Meraviglie, see Issel, Le rupi scolpite iielle alte valli delle Alpi

a series of drawings of characteristic objects from Broos, made by him, on the spot, with the kind permission of Fraulein von Torma, including a collection of the marks

Marittime (Bull, di Paletnologia Italiana, 1901). They were first scientifically described by F. G. S. Moggridge ( Transactions of the International Congress of Prehist. Arch., 1868,

on the pottery (see my Fnrtln-r Discoveries, &c., p. 391). critical review of the materials, now in the Kolosvar Museum, has been recently published by Dr. Hubert

Schmidt (Tordos

had an opportunity of examining other rock-carvings of the same class under the guidance of Padre Amerano, at Oreo Feglino, near
pp. 359 seqq.).

In 1893,

Z. fiir Ethnologic, 1903, pp. 438 seqq ), together with detailed comparisons between the potterymarks and those of Hissarlik, the Aegean lands, and
;

Early Egypt.
6

The
is

Finalmarina.
C. Bicknell, Proc. Soc. Ant., Dec. 9, 1897 and Further Explorations in tin- Regions of the Prehistoric Rock Engrav;

evolution of script

place occupied by these signs in the justly appreciated by Dr. Schmidt.

ings in the Italian Maritime Alps, Bordighera, 1903.

4

The results were naturally very discordant. Thus the signs on the whorl, No. 1524, were variously read Sfiai 2iyw, to the divine Sigo (Haug) ta-go-i di-o-i, to
'
'

'

The

characteristic

repeated among the arms. naeum, Dec. 18, 1897.

*
I

Bronze Age halberd is constantly See my observations, Athefriend, Prof. F. Haverfield, for

the

divine

General

'

(Gompcrz)

and

Ye-le-vo

ye-go
llios,

(Sayce).

The
III,

materials are discussed by Sayce in

pp. 691 seqq.

Appendix

have

to

thank

my

EUROPEAN DIFFUSION OF PICTOGRAPHS

later

Lycian characters into Greek or some hypothetical Anatolian language did not sufficiently take into account the very early stage in this evolution occupied by the linear figures on the whorls, and failed to eliminate the elements due to the mere decay of decorative features with which they were
Cypriote or
associated. 1

be regarded as signs, it seems safest to interpret these Such signs rude linear figures on the Neolithic and Early Metal Age pottery of Hissarlik and graphs not Broos as simple ideographs rather than as syllables or letters. The alphabetic syllables
far as

So

they

may

aspect of some of these will not mislead us when we recall at how far more remote a period in human history these linear simplifications of pictorial signs had already been attained. Such graffiti must be taken in connexion with the general

prevalence of primitive picture and sign-writing in the culture that produced them. Hissarlik evidence, fitting on, as it does, to that of the Danubian region, leads us on, in fact, to another wide field of early pictography which must once have

The

embraced the whole of anterior Asia from the East Mediterranean basin to the Persian Gulf. On the Eastern side of this region, in Old Chaldaea, we are able
picture-writing from the survival of certain selected signs, still traceable in the earliest Babylonian characters such In these regions the transformation into as we see them at Nippur and Tello.
to ascertain the
this original

Early

former existence of

writing,

the

more advanced cuneiform writing took place

and Anatolia, on the other hand,

expression
still

come down

to a

much

a very remote period. In Syria the traces of the purely pictographic stage of later age. The characters of the Hittite script
at

Pictorial

retain

archaic

the record of their pictorial origins in a more obvious form than the ^Hiti^e Chaldaean documents, which antedate their earliest known examples by script,
characters, like the Egyptian hieroglyphs, illustrate Advance of the art of writing of which there is no evidence in cuneiform

more than a millennium. The cuneiform and Hittite

a stage in the evolution prehistoric times throughout the

mass of the European Continent.

We

see here an d
2

hiero-

an artificial selection in the primitive Babylonian system a very restricted one from the almost limitless field of primitive picture-signs. We see the results of is and that convention made towards the ultimate goal of great step organized alphabetic writing by which once solely ideographic signs can be used as phonograms
without reference to their original sense, and are finally abbreviated into syllables This elaborate selection and systematization of primitive elements or letters.
necessarily presupposes a highly centralized social and political organization. Wherever it has taken place, whether in Chaldaea, Egypt, or China, or among the Aztecs and
Thus a constantly recurring decorative feature, consisting of a curved line with one or more curved lines
1

writing.

Atlas trojanischer Alterthiimer, Nos. 2504, seen in various decadent shapes in turn suggestive of certain forms of the Cypriote characters, re, le, go, ti,ye, and vo, or the Lycian e. Hence such imaginary within
it

(cf.

2984, &c.), is

F. Delitsch (Die Entstelmng des altesten Schriftsyslems, oderder Ursprungder Keilschriftzeichen, 1897, PP- 2oo,seqq.) reduces the original elements of the 400 cuneiform signs of Babylonia to about 50. The primitive nucleus was

added

to

by the formation

of

compound

signs and by the

differentiation of the original figures,

readings as go-go-ti-re and

ti-u-ti-re-re.

SCRIPTA MINOA
ancient Mexico and

Mayas of

Yucatan,

we

are able to trace the handiwork of

The cuneiform system royal and priestly castes the two practically coinciding. was developed out of existing picture-signs under the auspices of the first Chaldaean Monarchy and its successors. The Hittite script was a systematic elaboration, through the hands of their royal scribes, of the Khetan princes whose dominion extended over Syria and Anatolia even to the Aegean shores.
offshoots

Aegean?

Empire a still wider extension on the Aegean side ? have Might sufficiently dominated the prehistoric form of culture first laid k are Schliemann's discoveries at Mycenae, to have anticipated the Phoenicians in supplying Greece with a system of writing much, indeed, below the Phoenician
it

Had

the offshoots of this Hittite

at least

level ?

I.

2.

DISCOVERY OF THE SUCCESSIVE TYPES OF MINOAN WRITING

Characters

acquired Greece.

in

form of writing closely resembling, or identical with, the Hittite had been introduced into prehistoric Greece was first brought before me in In that year a four-sided bead-seal of cornelian, bearing on a practical form in 1889.

The

possibility that a

each facet a series of figures as shown

in Fig. 4,

was presented amongst other

objects

[Fio. 4. Four-sided bead-seal of red cornelian

from Crete

(at first

described as

'

from Sparta

').

to the

Ashmolean Museum by that well-known antiquarian traveller the late Mr. Grevillc The stone was stated (erroneously, as it afterwards turned out) to have been Chester. That it represented some conventionalized system of picture-writing found at Sparta.
1

could not be doubted.

1

The
A
full

general resemblance of the figures upon

is

its

sides to the

description of this seal

given below, in Part

II,

7.

SUCCESSIVE TYPES OF MINOAN WRITING

Hittite characters, and in particular the identity of the wolfs (or dog's) head showing the tongue protruding, with a not infrequent Hittite sign, led me at the time to hesitate between the alternative hypotheses either that the inscribed seal was an

system of conventionalized pictographic writing had been introduced into prehistoric Greece under some predominant Hittite influence. An objection, however, to the first alternative was to be found in the fact that no Reasons similar types of seal-stones were forthcoming from the Anatolian or Syrian side. And on the other hand, the generally independent character of the Mycenaean culture made as indigen it difficult to presuppose such an absolute indebtedness to Hittite sources in the
imported object of
Hittite
fabric or that a substantially identical
' '

'

'

organized as was shown by the Mycenae tombs under a succession of dynasts, presented just as favourable conditions for the rise of a conventionalized script as that of the regions to the East and South. The elaboration
matter of
script.

This high early

civilization,

of a

more advanced system out of the chaotic elements of

primitive pictography achieved

under the early monarchies in Mesopotamia, the Syro-Anatolian region, and Egypt, might with equal probability have taken place under the auspices of kings who reigned Isolated as was this example, before Agamemnon on the Greek shores of the Aegean. might it not really indicate the existence of an independent indigenous script in prehistoric Greece? In the It was not long J observation. O before decisive evidence came under my
course of a

Further

Greece, during the early spring of 1893, I hit upon some more Like it they were inscribed bead-seals of the same class as that referred to above.
visit to

perforated along their axis and presented four, in some cases three, facets engraved with signs, arranged in groups, and evidently belonging to a hieroglyphic or conventionalized pictographic system. inquiries succeeded in tracing all of these to 1 a Cretan source. Knowing of the considerable collection of 'island' and other early

My

gems

in the Berlin

of the collection

Museum, I addressed myself to Dr. Furtwangler, whose catalogue was not then published, and received through his courtesy several
'

'

In this case, too, the source The impression of of the stones, as far as it was known, again turned out to be Crete. a two-sided gem of another type obtained at Athens some years earlier by Professor Sayce,- and which I subsequently discovered to be also Cretan, supplied a new piece of evidence. At a meeting of the Hellenic Society, on November 27, iSgs, 3 I was thus Existence

impressions of similar seal-stones showing hieroglyphic and supplemented the series that I had already collected.

characters that fitted on to

had discovered on a series of gems and seals mainly found in Crete some sixty symbols which seemed to belong to a native . .. ITj j r i. system of hieroglyphics distinct from the Egyptian on the one hand and from the
able to

make
.

the formal announcement that

4
,
.

system

as-

certained , n Crete.

Hittite
1

on the other.
of Mr. H. N. Story Maskelyne.
*
4

same provenance

subsequently discovered other examples with the (P. 11,26 and 28 of the list below) in

/.

H.

the collection of the Archaeological Society at Athens, since transferred to the Central Museum.
1

Peloponnese on the ground of the erroneous provenance attached to Mr. Grevillc

To Crete

S. vol. xiv, p. n. I also added 'the

'

See

PI. II, P. 41.

The

stone

is

now

in the

possession

Chester's stone.

B 2

10

SCRIPTA MINOA
The evidence

conclusively pointed to Crete as the principal source of these hieroglyphic forms, and it became obvious that the investigation must be followed out in that island. Various parallel researches connected with the origin of Mycenaean
'

'

and Greek

civilization

had been

for

some time prompting me

to

undertake the explora-

The
tionsinthe

remains there, as yet practically untouched, in spite of the suggestive speculations of Milchhofer ', which had already done much to stimulate my own interest in the matter. To Crete I accordingly turned. Landing at Candia early in March, 1894, I made my way round the whole Centre and East of the island,
tion of the prehistoric

including the mountainous districts of Ida and Dicta, the extensive southern plain The number of relics illusf Messara, and the sites of over twenty ancient cities.
trative of the early periods of

Cretan culture that

was thus able

to collect

was

surprisingly great, of the island lay beyond history. the Crete of the Homeric Hundred Cities
'

and

in particular the

accumulating evidence that the great days The Crete that thus began to open out was
',

the realm of Minos, and it soon became obvious that none of the later phases there traceable Dorian Greek, Roman and Byzanhad left such abiding records in the soil as this very ancient tine, Saracen or Venetian

Result in

ofTinear^as well as its original phYcscript.

And in what regarded the more special object of my quest these researches were we ^ rewarded. One of their first results had been to discover in the hands of
civilization.

owner an impression of the four-sided seal (Fig. 4) which had been crroneously labelled by Mr. Greville Chester as having been found in Sparta. This also proved to be of Cretan provenance. The net result of these investigations was to enable

me

to

announce, as

then wrote, the discovery in situ of a Pre-Phoenician system

of which

phases were perceptible one the conventionalized pictographic type represented by the seal-stones already mentioned, Abundant evidence was also forthcoming of the other linear and quasi-alphabetic. a still earlier usage of picture-signs out of which these more advanced methods of script
of writing in the island,

two

distinct

had been successively evolved.

'Milk-

search for linear signs occurred on pottery as well as stone. perforated seal-stones and gems was greatly helped by a piece of modern Cretan Such conveniently bored superstition, shared by other islanders of the Aegean.
stones are

The more

My

known

to the Cretan
'

women

times yaXovcrais, or milk-producers ', in times of child-bearing, as charms

as yaXoTrer^ais or 'milk-stones', or someand are worn round their necks, especially It was thus possible, by of great virtue.

making a house-to-house visitation in the villages, to obtain a knowledge of a large I was often able to purchase them from the number of early engraved stones. older women, and at times I succeeded in effecting an exchange of perforated gems of the most coveted milk-white hue, but of less archaeological importance, for Even in cases where, owing to the magic power that others of greater interest. was supposed to be inherent in a stone, I could not persuade the owner to part with it, it was generally possible to secure an impression.
1

Die Anfange der Kunst in Griecheiiland, Leipzig, 1883.

SUCCESSIVE TYPES OF MINOAN WRITING

ii

A
in

summary account

of the results of this

first

campaign
1

in

Crete was published

'Cretan Pictographs and Prae- Phoenician Script', the principal materials of which, as better understood in view of subsequent discoveries, will be found more These explorations were continued during Further accurately classified in the present work.

my

the early

months of the years 1895 and 1896, and

was thus able

to

communicate
&c.

FIG. 5.

Prism Seals with Primitive Pictographs.

to

the

Hellenic Society
2

in

November

of the latter year a considerable mass of

supplementary material.

Part of the material collected during these expeditions obviously belonged to of Cretan very primitive stage culture, here referred to as Early Minoan ', including series of bead-seals with Other objects showed linear pictographic figures (Fig. 5). signs, probably in this case preserving ideographic values, which must thus have
'
1

Primitive
1

jjj

^""

h*

In

Site.

pp. 270 seqq., and published appendices, by Quaritch & Putnam sew York, 1895). Preliminary accounts these discoveries have been communicated by me to the Athena-urn (June 23) and the Times (Aug. 29), 1894.
:ely,

J.

S.

xiy with

(1895),

Further Discoveries of Cretan and Aegean Script with Libyan and Proto-Egyptian Comparisons (J. H. S., xvii

"

seqq.), published separately

by Quaritch (London,

1898).

12

SCRIPTA MINOA
'

already existed at a time when the 'conventionalized pictographic Cretan system had not yet been developed.
Inscribed

or hieroglyphic

whorl from
deposit of agios

a steatite whorl found, together with a clay cylinder H presenting linear figures, in a very early deposit at Hagios Onuphrios near the site of Onuphrios. Phucstos, a detailed description of which, together with other examples, will be 2 Recent discoveries have left little doubt that the deposit of Hagios given below.
'

The most remarkable of preliminary explorations was

these that

came under my

notice at the time of these

Onuphrios
hive

tomb

that contained these objects represented the debris of a primitive beeor ossuary of a class of which examples have now been found by

'

Early

Dr. Halbherr at Hagia Triada and by Dr. Xanthudidcs at in the same Cretan region. Here it may be
to say that these early ossuaries contain and other objects attesting the inbead-seals ivory fluence of Sixth-Dynasty Egypt, and that, in Cretan
sufficient

Kumasa

near Gortyna,

Minoan'
ossuaries.

terms, they go back in the main to the Second or Third divisions of the Early Minoan Age. Accord-

ing to the

lowest

chronological
this

scheme advanced
take

by
date

any

Egyptologist of the primitive

would
seals

back
in

the

linear

found

these

deposits to the middle of the third millennium before

our
Primitive
picto-

era.

These early ossuaries have

also been found

to

graphic
bead-seals.

contain examples of a class of three-sided bead-seals of steatite engraved with figures of a primitive pictoJ graphic kind (see Fig. 5, a, b, c' ), which supply the

immediate
seals,

antecedent

stage

to

a similar

class

of

FlG 6
-

Vase with Graffito inscription, 1 rodromos rSotsano.

generally executed in hard stone, exhibiting the series of these pictographic prism-seals will be found developed hieroglyphic script.

collected in
Hieroglyphic
'

my

earlier works.
'

signets

'.

Early
graffiti

Further investigations greatly added to the number of seals of the true hieroglyphic' class, including a type curiously resembling a modern signet. Moreover, certain groups of graffito signs found on early vases already give indications of the

on

vases in

advanced Linear
Script.

which the characters seemed to have partially advanced beyond the purely ideographic stage and to have attained at least a syllabic value. The example from Prodromes Botsano 4 shown in Fig. 6 is of special interest, since similar vessels, one with remains of graffito characters, have been lately found by Dr. Xanthudides on a house floor at Chamaezi in Eastern Crete, 5
existence of a

more advanced

class of linear script in

Sec

my

Supplement

to

Cretan Piciographs, pp. 105

Crete)

b
:

from
Cat.

p.

75

[344],

Fig.

69
;

(Crete,
;

Berlin
p. 75,

seqq. (Quaritch, 1895). * See Part II, i, Primitive Linear Signs

p. 117.
8

and

Figures,

No. 62, pale green Fig. 70 (green steatite, Central Crete

4

Museum
Op.

steatite)

c,

A.

J. E.).

cit.,

These examples are taken from Cretan

is

Picts.,

&c.

6
'K<J>.

p. 10 [279], Fig. 5. 'Ap%. 1906, pp. 118 seqq.,

and

cf. PI.

IX.

4.

Fig. 5

from

p.

72

[341],

Fig. 64 (Yellow Steatite,

SUCCESSIVE TYPES OF MINOAN WRITING

13

together with clay human figures of a type that characterizes the votive deposits, like Petsofa, of the earliest part of the Middle Minoan Age.

But the most remarkable example of a developed linear script that rewarded these Discovery 6 earlier explorations belonged to an altogether different class of object. Libation On the steep of Mt. Lasethi, the culminating mass of the ancient Dicta, above Table in the village of Psychro, and about four hours' mule journey from the site of the ancient CaveSancLyttos, opens a great cave, which, from the abundant remains of votive and sacrificial tuary. objects discovered within it, had been evidently a principal sanctuary of the prehistoric There can indeed be little doubt that this was the Diktaion Antron The cult of the island.
1

of the Lyttian traditions, whither, according to the legend preserved by Hesiod, 2 Rhea M> noan took refuge to give birth to the Cretan Zeus. Rhea, as we now know, represents the Goddess great Nature-Goddess of Minoan Crete, part of whose mythic being was also

perpetuated under later

Sweet Virgin Britomartis, the mysterious Aphaia, and Aphrodite Ariadne. With this great Minoan Goddess seems to have been associated a youthful male divinity, later identified by the Greeks with the Cretan Zeus. The aniconic or fetish forms of these, which could, through due ritual Sacred incantation, be charged, as it were, with the divinity, were the sacred Double Axes, of B^ITYAOS which numerous bronze examples were found in the Dictaean Cave, and the holy pillars of the cult,
titles

as Artemis Dictynna, the

'

'

of stone.

may

A garbled reminiscence of such a stone, attaching to this very sanctuary, be found, indeed, in the legend of the /JairuXos swallowed by Kronos in place

of his infant son.

representations of this ancient Stone and Pillar- Worship have been preserved for us in the subjects of the signets and wall-paintings both of Minoan Crete and of the Mycenaean mainland, 3 but a special interest attaches to the discovery of
a material trace of this
'

Numerous

'

baetylic

cult in the

Dictaean Cave

itself.

In April, 1896, I obtained, from beneath a prehistoric sacrificial stratum, covering Table the vast 'Atrium' of the Cave, part of the black steatite slab of a table that had been found, " sacrificial 4 It had possessed four stratum: provided with three shallow cup-like cavities for libations.
1

corner supports, and a larger central prominence below proved that it had been placed p^f^on Its great BAITYAOS. upon the top of a sacred cone or pillar in the manner shown in Fig. 7. antiquity is attested both by the position in which it was found and the resemblance
of the cup-like cavities with
steatite

their raised

Goddess

subsequently found among in the Palace at Knossos.

rims to libation cups of the same black the fittings of a small early shrine of the Cretan

This

latter piece of

evidence as well as other

its

comparisons of an epigraphic nature, to be referred to below, carry back

Preliminary investigations of this cave, resulting in the discovery of various votive objects, were made by Prof. F. Halbherr and Dr. Joseph Hazzidakis in 1886 (Antichita deW Anlro di Zeus Idea, pp. 216 seqq.). For my own
researches there from 1895 onwards, resulting in the discovery of the inscribed Libation Table, see Further Discoveries of Cretan Script, pp.
1

date at

Mr. D. G. Hogarth (B. S. A., 2 Theogonia, v. 477 seqq.

'

vi.

pp. 94 seqq.).
Cult,

See

my

Mycenaean Tree and Pillar

London,
*

Macmillans, 1901, and/. H, S., xxi (1901), pp. 99 seqq. * Further Discoveries, &c., pp. 350 seqq., and Figs. 25 a, 256. An additional fragment, not adding, however, to
the inscription,

350 seqq., and Myc. Tree and Pillar Cult, pp. 13 seqq. (J. H. S., xxi. in seqq.). In 1900 the interior of the cave was methodically excavated by

was subsequently discovered by M. De Margne. " See my Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult, pp. 14 seqq.

i4

SCRIPTA MI NO A
to the early part
f

Triple

least

of the second

millennium before our

era.

The

threefold

rece P tac le
tions.

indeed, suggests interesting analogies with In the a ritual usage that goes back to the earliest religious stratum of Greece.

the Dictaean

Table

itself,

FIG.

7.

The

Dictaean Libation Table and Baetylic

Pillar, restored.

case of such primitive worship as that of the Shades of the Departed, 1 and again that of the Nymphs, a triple libation was frequently offered. The /xeXuc/^Ta, indeed,

which, followed

turn by sweet wine and water, made up these offerings, would have been specially appropriate in the Cave Sanctuary where, according to the legend,
in
1

In the Odyssey

(x.

519-20) the offerings to the

Dead before the

ijSei o?i'&>,

falls

of Styx are thus described:

Ilpirn fifXnepijTo), /JTf7T<iTn de TO Tplrof avff vdart.

SUCCESSIVE TYPES OF MINOAN WRITING

the baby
told
2

15

fed with this mingled milk and honey. are expressly miraculous the that the ritual performed in honour of the Cretan Zeus set forth
1

Zeus had been

We

preservation of the infant and his nourishment by Amaltheia and Melissa, personifying However this may be, the Libation Table takes us back to a period the goat and bee.

when, as the concordant testimony of the early Cretan religious Mother-Goddess herself was the principal object of cult.

relics

shows, the

FIG. 8.

Inscribed Libation Table from the Dictaean Cave.

[*]

(Upper

face, restored in outline.)

But the most remarkable phenomenon presented by the remaining portion of the Dictaean Libation Table was part of an inscription incised along its upper surface in
front

the cups (see Fig. 8). The inscription was in well-defined characters belonging, as will be shown below, to an advanced type of linear script (Class A), which at Knossos is confined to the middle period of the later Palace. It reads from
of
to right, suppose it to
left

Inscription bI n jv ^ linear char-

about

fifteen

and consists of eight or nine characters and two stops. If we may have been symmetrically arranged, it would have originally consisted of We have here an inscription cut characters, and perhaps four words.
Diod.
v. 70.
2

Lactantius,

De falsa

Religione, 21, 22.

i6
Probably a
dedication.

SCRIPTA MINOA
in

on stone, and probably of a dedicatory nature, which may be described as monumental.

the strictest sense of the

word

Destruction of

antiquities

during massacre at Candia

in 1898.

of 1896 did not seriously interrupt the course of these investigations. Revisiting Crete in 1898 I was able to pursue my researches in the central and eastern parts of the island, then in Insurgent hands, and of the Insurrection in the received the kindest assistance and support from the French and Italian Commanders in the districts then in their occupation. Unfortunately, however, in Candia and the

The outbreak

summer

adjoining districts, which had been committed to British protection, and where a large number of native Moslems were collected, the situation was very different. The policy was different, too. The complaisant attitude towards the Hamidian authorities to

which

My

was considered necessary to resort was by no means felicitous in its results. own guide and attendant was thrown into a noisome dungeon, from which he
it

was with

difficulty rescued.

telegraphic facility, from 2 Quarter a series of interesting relics from the site of Knossos, including an inscribed fragment, to be described below, perished in the flames.
'

inevitable massacre followed, directed, with every the Palace at Yildiz ; and during the burning of the Christian

The

The

ex-

ploration

of Knossos
facilitated

by the new
regime
Crete.
in

The advent of the new autonomous Government under Prince George of Greece, to whose friendly support I was much indebted, gave me the opportunity for which I had long been preparing of carrying out by the aid of the spade a more thorough
investigation of the remains of the early civilization of the island at the spot to which all later tradition pointed as its head quarters. Knossos, the city of Minos, the legendary site of the Palace wrought for him, with all the artistic wonders it contained, by his

Prelimin-

craftsman Daedalos, of the Dancing-Place of Ariadne and of the Labyrinth itself, naturally stood out as the first objective. The indications secured during a first visit to
this site

ary indications.

had themselves been of such a nature as

to leave

no doubt of the supreme

relics,

importance of the undertaking. Fragments of painted stucco, ceramic and other a gold signet ring with a religious subject, a part of a steatite vessel with spirited
The
hill
:

reliefs

of

had rewarded
to the hill

Kephala signs on
ancient blocks.

researches on the spot. My attention had been especially turned of Kephala, where remains of early walls and of a chamber with huge store

my first

jars together with other relics

by a native antiquary, Mr. Minos Kalochaerinos. Certain signs already noticed by Mr. W. J. Stillman 3 on some large blocks visible on the southern declivity of this hill might or might not be properly described as masons' marks but they had all the appearance of belonging The probability that, over and above to a people acquainted with the art of writing. the general artistic and architectural results, excavation here might throw a new light on the Pre-Phoenician script of Crete was enhanced by more than one small find. Two seal-stones had come under my notice, picked up on or near the site by neighbourto light
'

had already been brought

',

this point was conclusive. the objects destroyed were those excavated on the Hill of Kephala by Mr. Minos Kalochaerinos.
1

The evidence on

with his house and himself massacred.

3

Among

Published by him

Executive
pp. 47-9.
in

His son was also burnt

alive.

the possession of his brother, chaerinos, British Vice-Consul.

Other antiquities were in Mr. Lysimachos KaloThese were also burnt

in the Second Annual Report of the Committee, Arch. Inst. of America, 1880-1, Mr. Stillman's drawings were also reproduced

Perrot et Chipiez, Grece Primitive, pp. 460, 462.

SUCCESSIVE TYPES OF MINOAN WRITING

1

17

In addition to this, however, ing peasants, which bore groups of hieroglyphic signs. there came subsequently to my notice a fragmentary indication the precise significance Enigmatic fra g ment of which it was impossible at that time to appraise, but which opened out still greater
-

possibilities.

sion

In 1895 I was shown a part of a burnt clay slip then in the possesof a Candiote, Kyrios Zachyrakis, said to have been found on the site of Kephala*, presenting some incised linear signs which seemed to belong to an

advanced system of writing. It had been apparently a surface find, and there was nothing by which to determine its age. The clay slip itself perished at the time of
2 the destruction of the Christian Quarter, but I took a careful copy of it at the time. The object itself, standing as it did entirely isolated, was still of such an uncertain nature

that,

materials on the Cretan script in 1896, I preferred to place this inscribed fragment, the potential significance of which might be so far-reaching, to a reserve account '.

when

publishing
'

some supplementary

the Hill of Kephala therefore I resolved to dig. But, such were the local Excavation a circumstances, that in order eventually to secure full freedom of action in the matter

On

ownership of the property, which unfortunately, according to the system prevalent in Crete, was in the hands of coproprietors, who were Moslem Beys of an exceptionally intractable disposition. Already in 1895 I was able to purchase a share in the property, but it was not till six years later, after encountering every kind of obstacle and intrigue, that I finally succeeded in purchasing the whole site. This was largely owing to the assistance of Dr. Joseph Hazzidakis, now Ephor-General of Antiquities and Director of the Museum at Candia, who amidst all the obstructions to which I had been subjected had constantly seconded my efforts. Difficulties remained of a political nature, but, thanks to the goodwill of Prince George of Greece, these, too, were successfully
it

of excavation

was necessary

to obtain the actual

surmounted, and at last, in March, 1900, it was possible to begin operations. The results have been such as to surpass all expectations. Aided by the Cretan Explora-

and ably seconded by my Assistant, Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, and by the former architect to the British School of Athens, Mr. Theodore Fyfe, The Palace of Mmos I was able in the course of seven campaigns to lay bare a great prehistoric Palace and its dependencies. The 'House of Minos', the works of Daedalos, the Labyrinth itself, have been shown to be no mere creations of ancient fancy. On the general outcome of these excavations and the extraordinary degree of advancement exhibited by the Minoan civilization in various branches of art and of mechanical and sanitary science this is not the place to enlarge. 3 As regards the particular subject of investigation that is the scope of the present work the results were
tion
started,
-

Fund then

indeed decisive.
1900, the exploration of the area above the to light the larger part of an elongated clay tablet with signs
1

On March 30,

Southern Terrace brought and numbers incised upon

Discovery

Cretan

Picts., Fig. 30, p.

24 [293] and Fig. 40, p. 30

6, 7.

Preliminary Reports have appeared in the Annual

[299].
a

See below,
vol.
ii

Pt. II,

o the British School at Athens, vols. vi-x.

See

of this work.

C 2

T8
it,

SCRIPTA MINOA
which
I

at

once recognized as presenting the same form of linear

script as that of

The work of the succeeding days produced the fragmentary clay slip seen in 1895. to be the second West Magazine, and on afterwards a series of these from what proved
April 5 there was found in a small chamber near the South Propylaeum a bath-shaped vessel of terracotta containing a whole hoard of inscribed tablets, several in a perfect The tablets were arranged in rows, and condition, which referred to various cereals.

from the charred wood in which they were embedded, it seems probable that their immediate receptacle had been a wooden box. From this time onwards similar finds
continued at intervals throughout the whole course of the excavations. documents from the Palace of Knossos and its immediate dependencies to nearly two thousand.
Evidences of successive

The written now amount

types of
script in

majority of these clay documents, including the first discovered, presented an advanced type of linear script referred to in the present work as Class B which was in vogue throughout the whole of the concluding period of the

The overwhelming

Knossian
archives.

But the course of the excavations brought out the fact that the use of House this highly developed form of writing had been in turn preceded in the described below of Minos' by two earlier types one also presenting linear characters,
Palace history.
'

as

Class A, the other,

still

earlier,

Egyptian hieroglyphics.
tinct

The

of conventionalized pictorial aspect, recalling archaeological stratification of the site reveals two dis-

Palace eras, and, on the eastern slope, remains of a still earlier building. Beneath the most ancient remains of the Age of Palaces there came to light, moreover, layer
after layer illustrating the stages of a

Neolithic times onwards.

We

primitive culture, from the earliest are thus enabled to trace the whole evolution of the
still

more

Art of Writing in a manner for which perhaps it is impossible to find an adequate The consecutive phases of Minoan culture covered parallel on any other ancient site. by the several stages in the history of the building are seen in each case to have

watch the rise, been the gradual outgrowths of long generations of civilized life. the bloom, and decadence of successive schools of art, and the fuller the volume of our detailed knowledge grows, the greater is the tale of years demanded to explain the
shall not err on the side of exaggeration in estimating Antiquity phenomena before us. and durathe Palace site at tion of Art the period covered by the successive types of developed script on of Writing Knossos at over a thousand It must at the same time be observed that years. at Knossos. the latest of the Minoan documents discovered on this site, those namely dating from

We

We

the period of decline, when the Palace as a Palace had ceased to exist, are older by several centuries than the earliest known records of Phoenician writing. The
twelfth century before our era

may

be regarded as their

latest limit.

I.

3.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC ARCHIVES OF KNOSSOS

later Palace

of Knossos, itself again and again remodelled, Early Middle has largely obscured the earlier fabric, there is evidence, especially on the eastern slope, Minoan' of a great building having existed here in what I have elsewhere ventured to call the Palace at

Although the

on the

hill

'

This period, from a variety of evidence, can be shown to be roughly contemporary with the beginnings of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, and it represents the time during which the first and simpler phase of the polychrome ceramic decoration was produced that was to attain such a splendid development in Evidences
First

Middle Minoan Period.

Knossos.

It is also to this period that we must ascribe the earliest traces the succeeding age. hieroglyof a developed form of script found on the Palace site. These consisted of two clay phic writing. sealings with signet impressions, in each case

in

it

of

showing a group of hieroglyphic or conventionalized pictographic characters of somewhat archaic aspect, and belonging to what is described below as Class A of that series. They were found on the floor of a basement chamber, the
South-East Pillar Room,
in

Seal impressions
illustrating its earliest

a stratum of pottery
1

characteristic of the First

FIG. 9."

Middle Minoan Age.

type (A).

Evidence will be given in a succeeding Section Pillar Room (?). which tends to show that this period roughly corresponds with the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt. A more important find of clay archives and sealings in the most fully developed Important deposit hieroglyphic style took place already during the first year's excavations in the West of clay Wing of the Palace. This part of the building, though it cannot be reckoned among archives in West the earliest of the architectural remains, seems in its original plan to belong to the Wing, beginning of the Second Middle Minoan Age, the period when ceramic polychromy in more advanced reaches its acme. The synchronism of this period with the Twelfth Egyptian Dynasty, hieroglyof which many indications had already appeared, has been now fully established by phic style
Clay Sealing from South- East

the discovery 3 of the remains of a polychrome vessel illustrating the latest stage of the Second Middle Minoan style in an untouched tomb at Abydos containing, together Chronowith other rich Egyptian relics, glazed steatite cylinders with the names of Sesostris logical indications.
(Senusert) III and Amenemhat III. The earliest contents of the West

(type B).

belong, however, to a period style was already in a state of decadence, and must therefore be referred to a later date than that of these Egyptian kings.
1

of the Palace, as far as they are known, Earliest of the 'Third Middle Minoan' when the fine polychrome period West

Wing

somewhat Wing
mainly Middle
'

For the South-East

Pillar

Room

see Knossos,' Report,

'

are

now

at

Oxford (see A.

J.

E.,

Ashmokan Museum

Minoan
III.'

1902.
2

Repeated

in Pt. II,

6.

Report, 1907). The decorative features of the vase are also very closely allied to those of the early part of the

By

Prof. J. Garstang.

The Cretan vase and

cylinders

succeeding Third Middle Minoan Period.

20

SCRIPTA MINOA

H ieroglyphic deposit
be-

longs to
this period.

Immediately .behind the landing ot the stone steps at the north end of the Long Gallery was an elongated chamber which seems to have been intended for a magazine, This earth but which had been shortly afterwards filled in and used as a platform.
filling

Circumstances of
discovery.

has preserved a series of clay documents belonging to the

'

part of the building, and presenting inscriptions in the same ventionalized pictographic script as that of the more advanced specimens of seal-stones

period of this hieroglyphic or confirst

'

observed from 1893 onwards.

The

clay documents were in the form of rectangular

FIG. 10.

'

Clay

labels

'

and bars with hieroglyphic inscriptions

Types of
clay docu-

tablets,

short bars with

three or four sides,

scallop-shaped

labels

perforated

for

ments
found.

suspension (Fig. 10), and three-sided sealings with a hole running along their major axis for the string by which chests containing the clay archives themselves or other possessions had been originally secured. These sealings, in addition to the graffito inscription usually impressed on their larger faces, exhibited one or more impressions
It was particularly interesting of contemporary signets with hieroglyphic characters. of the side thus to find the formal, glyptic type script by side with the more careless and linearized versions of the same signs when hand-written.

'

countof the discovery

Knossos,' Report, 1900, pp. 59-63. In my original acI failed to place these hieroglyphic
'

the
that
this

'

archives in their true chronological position. I recognized, indeed, the fact that the conventionalized pictographic or

more advanced system. The stratigraphic evidence came out later showed that there was no warrant for view. I had been misled by certain details in the

decorative elements of the early prism-seals which had

hieroglyphic script here represented was typologically earlier" than the linear script. But I was inclined to regard the graffiti and sealings as due to the Eteocretan element
'

induced
'

me
'

to bring
art.
I
'

them

into direct relation with later

to

Mycenaean
these
'

had also been led

suppose that

in the East of the Island having preserved a more primitive type of writing to a time when the lords of Knossos used

hieroglyphic seal-stones were more exclusively confined to the easternmost district of Crete than was
really the case.

HIEROGLYPHIC ARCHIVES OF KNOSSOS

The

21

inscriptions on these documents conclusively disproved a suggestion made Business documents reference to the sign groups on the gems, that they had merely a 'symbolized with religious sense', since the very form of these clay records and the numerical entries contained in them show that they had been employed for business purposes. The
1

pictorial

and ideographic character of many of the signs in fact enables us to detect references to the most varied possessions. A clay bar and label are shown in a as detailed of these Fig. 10, but, description hieroglyphic documents is contained in Part III of the present volume, a somewhat brief reference to their character and
' '

contents

may

here

suffice.

tablet in the same hieroglyphic script was found in the Palace of Phaestos Hieroglytablet Italian Mission in 1901. 2 the by perfect clay bar of the same general class as from some of those from the Knossian deposit, but presenting characters of an exceptionally Palace of

primitive type, had been acquired

some time

since

by the Berlin Museum.

relics
till,

It

had,

f^ primitive ex1

however, been put away

discoveries,
its

among

Gnostic and magical

in

view of the Cretan

were recognized by the Director of the Antiquarium, Berlin Museum. Dr. Zahn, who has kindly allowed me to include it in the present work. The first stage represented by the existing West Wing of the Knossian Palace goes far back into the Second Middle Minoan Age the age par excellence of ceramic polychromy but its contents seem almost exclusively to belong to the ensuing period. This period, the Third Middle Minoan, if we may judge from the large deposits Third by which it is represented notably the contents of a walled circular area recently discovered beneath the later West Court pavement 4 appears to have been of long Period at duration. Probably the greater part of the more advanced class (B) of engraved signets, and the bulk of the hieroglyphic archives found in the Palace, come within the limits of this Third Middle Minoan Age. As a matter of fact, side by side with sealings
true associations

"

from that deposit presenting hieroglyphic signs, there occurred seal impressions of a purely pictorial kind illustrating the naturalistic style that characterizes this period. Two examples of such sealings from this deposit are given in Fig. n, a and b. In

one case

there appears side by side with a signet impression showing three hieroglyphic signs, the impression of an oval intaglio with an animated scene of a dog chasing a Cretan wild goat. On (b), which has evidently been impressed with a lentoid bead(a)

dieZeichenauf R.Zahn,Arc/t.Anzet'ger,i<)oi,p.23, '. den Siegelsteinen haben einen religiosen symbolischen

. .

Sinn.

Es

folgt daraus,

derschrift in

dem Sinne

dass wir es nicht mit einer Bilzu thun haben wie Evans will,

Religious formulae of a talismanic nature may also have been engraved on these as on modern Oriental seals. But, as shown in detail below, we have to do with a definite

form of script.
2

mit einer Schrift, in der beliebige Worte und Satze durch die Nebeneinandersetzung der Bildzeichen ausgedruckt sind. Vielmehr haben wir auf den kretischen Steinen in

L. Pernier, 'Scavi della Missione Italiana a Phaestos,'

'

97.

dem Eingeweihten verstandlichen Zeichen den kultlichen Inhalt ausgedruckt, den uns die mykenischen Goldringe im Bilde zeigen.' That religious signs should be frequent, especially on signets, is itself only what we should expect according to Egyptian analogy.
andeutenden,

(Mon. Ant. xii. 1902), PI. VIII, Fig. 2, and pp. 96, F. Halbherr, Resti dell' eta Micenea, etc., Rapporto sulle ricerche di 1902' (Mon. Ant., vol. xiii. 1903), p. 26, 8, P. 121. Unfortunately Fig. n. See below, Part II,
1900-1 the tablet had at
find-spot
3
4

Many of these are, doubtless, the equivalent of Egyptian cartouches presenting the names or titles of kings or offirials into which religious elements would probably enter.

first escaped detection, and its exact consequently unknown. See below, Part II, 8, P. 122. See my letter to the Times (' Further Discoveries in
is
'),

the Palace of Knossos

July

15, 1907.

22
seal,

SCRIPTA MINOA
we
in

see a beautiful delineation of a fish and sepia exceed the exquisite naturalism of this design.
Its close
ITI3.rKCQ

a rock-girt pool.
at

Nothing can

The
i

close of this Third Middle

DV

Minoan Period was marked

Knossos bv a

extensive
in Palace.

widespread catastrophe in the Palace and its dependencies, followed, perhaps after a cer t a n interval, by a great restoration and partial remodelling of the building.
Either owing to the effects of the catastrophe or to the subsequent structural changes, certain chambers and repositories belonging to the original structure were now filled

covered over, in many cases containing relics belonging to the last days of the Palace in its original form. The progress of the excavations thus brought to light in various parts of the site a series of contemporary deposits of this character which
in or

were clearly separated

from the overlying remains of the building as remodelled during the early part of the Late Minoan Age.
off

FIG. ii.

Clay Sealings with impressions of Minoan

Gems

(f).

I.

$4.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC DISK FROM PHAESTOS

Hieroglyphic

has already been noticed in the preceding Section that a clay tablet with a hieroglyphic inscription of the same class as those of Knossos was discovered in
It

Disk from
Phaestos.

the Palace of Phaestos.

July 1908, Dr. Pernier of the Italian Mission, in the course of supplementary excavations beneath some Hellenic constructions at the north-eastern extremity of the Phaestian acropolis, brought to
this

While

work was

in the press, in

light a

the

chamber in which, amongst various objects, illustrating the concluding phase of Middle Minoan Period, was a clay disk covered on both sides with a hieroglyphic
1

inscription larger than any yet discovered. detailed account of this must be reserved for the concluding part of the present volume. Thanks, however, to the kindness of Dr. Pernier, who has placed at my

am

indebted to Professor Halbherr for this piece of information.

HIEROGLYPHIC DISK FROM PHAESTOS

disposal excellent photographs of both sides of the Disk,
I

23
l

am able

to give in this place

summary account

of this remarkable object, together with impressions derived from

a preliminary study.

FIG. ii a.

The

Pha<

Disk.

Face A.

Plates XII, XIII) is 17 centimetres (6-67 in.) in diameter and is completely covered on both sides with an inscription, which in each case coils round

The Disk

itself (see

By the time that this sees the light Dr. Pernier's account of the Disk will have appeared in the forthcoming number of Ausonia. In the fuller account of the object
reserved for the concluding part of this volume
I

hope

to

have the advantage of consulting Dr. Pernier's work. In the meanwhile the summary conclusions here given as to the character of the script on the Disk have such value as results from a perfectly independent investigation.

SCRIPTA MINOA
Hieroglyphs stamped on Phaestos
Disk.

from the centre outwards.

by far the largest hieroglyphic inscription yet discovered in Crete. It contains some 241 signs and 61 sign-groups, and it exhibits the remarkable peculiarity that every sign has been separately impressed on the clay while
It
is

by a stamp or punch. It is in fact a printed inscription. It will be seen from the representation of face A of the Disk, given in Fig. n a, that the signs are arranged in groups between curving lines and separated from one Compared another by upright lines as in the case of some of the tablets from Knossos. That there with is a general parallelism in appearance between the signs on the Disk and those on the Minoan. Cretan seal-stones is evident. So too they divide themselves into much the same categories, such as human and animal figures or their parts, arms and implements, domestic utensils and vegetable signs. But when we come to compare the figures in
in a soft state
1

C.

FIG. ii

b.

Selected Signs from Phaestos Disk.

Great

dis-

detail able.

crepancy
observable

with those of the Minoan hieroglyphic signary a very great discrepancy is observOut of the forty-five separate signs on the Phaestos Disk not more than ten a
breast, a one-handled spout

woman's

an arrow, a carpenter's angle, a A-shaped figure, the head apparently of a dog, a fish, a standing bird, the double olive spray ', and perhaps an ox's hoof more or less resemble Cretan hieroglyphic forms. Even in this short list there are appreciable differences thus we have one female breast given instead
vase,
'

and

of two, the feather of the arrow, here clearly outlined, is generally absent in the Cretan hieroglyph, while the barbs, there visible, are here wanting ; the A has dots in its interior;

the
are

tail

of the bird curves down.

forms.

About

four-fifths of the signs

on the Phaestos Disk

grouped together
'

new and independent

But an examination of some of the most characteristic

in Fig. ii b,
1

figures, as

Professor

brings out this contrast into still sharper relief. Pernier informs me that the whole Disk should possibly be regarded

as a

matrix

'

or stamp.

HIEROGLYPHIC DISK FROM PHAESTOS

The human
figures in their outline

25

and costume are non-Minoan.

We

miss the

approaches indeed certain types of the Minoan habit, and is at any rate distinctively non-Semitic, but the head (d), which has all the appearance of being bald and covered by a close-fitting cap, and (c}, with the crest attached to it, take us in another ethnic direction. The close-fitting cap
(e)

pinched-in waist, and the female figure (g) especially is breadth of body. The belt and short tunic of the man

marked by an extraordinary

occurs as a part of the Hittite costume, though usually with a horn-like tuft above. But the close-fitting cap equipped with a regular crest has no true Hittite analogies. It Comat once recalls the familiar headgear of the Viking swarms from the North and the f male
1

'Great Green Sea',

who ravaged

the Delta from the later part of the Eighteenth to the Twenty-first Dynasty, and appear in the

figures
p'u i aS atf &c.

Egyptian records under the

the Philistines.
'

names of the Tsakkara,

Dananas, and others, and notably the Pulasati or It is also seen in the case of an
less

armed man on the more or

'

contemporary
of the casket

Cy pro -Mycenaean

ivory

reliefs

from Enkomi, while another relief on an ivory mirror-handle from the same cemetery shows a warrior with a round shield. Outside Cyprus, at least, the round shield (j) is also unknown in the
FIG. ji
c.

The Northern Invaders

under Merenptah.

of

Egypt

Minoan cycle of remains, but it is characteristic of this same group oi seaiaring peoples, and the belt
.

1111
2

and short tunic

Still

is

their usual attire (Fig.

c).

more divergent from

It differs

all

known examples
its

of

Minoan dress

is

that of the Woman's

r S

woman

(g).

not only

almost every

detail.

It

general broad outline, already noticed, but in fe r e n neither answers to the earliest fashions, illustrated respectively Minoan.
in

by the figurines of Petsofa and the Snake Goddess and her votaries, nor to the later modes of the Court Ladies of Knossos, as seen in the miniature frescoes, nor to
those of the ordinary Mycenaean class. It is true that, as with these, the breasts have the appearance of being bare. But the short jacket, bodice, tightly drawn zone, apron, flounces, divided skirt, all the characteristic features are here absent, and we
see instead a quite unfamiliar arrangement. The dressing of the hair again, which seems to be drawn back to a kind of point behind, has nothing to do with the
'

'

Minoan, early or
of

some

general outline of the head and hair, however, recalls that of the male Shardana heads 3 belonging to the same group of maritime
late.

The

confederates as the Pulasati and others.

representation of the ship (a) also differs from all similar designs that occur either among the hieroglyphic or the linear documents of Crete. In the case of the

The

Max
5

seen occasionally, however, without this. Cf. W. und Europa, p. 326 (from Rosellini, 89). Kosellini, Man. delf Egitto e della Nubia, PI. 128.
It is

Mailer, Asien

W. Max Miiller, Asien und Europa, p. 3 Cf. W. Max Miiller, op. cit. p. 380.

365.

D 2

SCRIPTA MINOA
Peculiar

Ship on Phaestos
Disk.

Minoan hieroglyphs we see a vessel with oars and a central mast with ropes attached. On some of the linear tablets of Class B this is abbreviated into a half ship, but Here we have neither mast nor oars on the other hand we also showing the mast. If we may have what seems to be an arrow pointed forwards across the prow. regard the figure as an ideograph, it seems to be of a compound kind, possibly to
1
j

be compared with the

captive (h)
enterprise.
It

'

Nome

'

signs

on primitive Nilotic barks.

The

slave

or

with his arms bound behind his back suggests the results of some armed

must be observed that the ships of the Confederate invaders of the Delta from the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards so far agree with the Minoan type that

The present vessel in some respects resembles certain miniature models in lead have been found in a tomb at primitive canoes, of which Amorgos, the date of which roughly corresponds with the beginning of the Middle
they always show a central mast.

Minoan Period

The
to

beak, however, is here a much more prominent feature. natural inference which the absence of sails might suggest is that the people
in Crete.

The

which this record belongs came from very near Phaestos itself. The early remains of Western Crete are still so superficially known that many surprises may be yet in store But it may be reasonably asked, Was there room within the for us from that side. limits of the island for a parallel form of culture so distinct from the Minoan as that revealed to us by some of the most characteristic among the picture-signs upon the Disk? Or, again, could there have been two separate hieroglyphic systems That the ordinary Minoan system was in at such close quarters with one another? use in Phaestos itself is shown from the hieroglyphic tablet found in the Palace. But the most remarkable of all the signs on the Disk is the architectural figure b.

The
Pagodalike

impression produced by this design might possibly be that it is intended But the more to represent a circular-domed building with a projecting platform.
first

building.

probable explanation is that we have here the face of a rectangular building with a hull-shaped roof a view which receives some confirmation from the fact that the two

apex do not converge upwards towards the point of the roof, as if radiating from it, as they would do in a circular building, but seem to support the But, if we have here an oblong building with a carinated curving sides of a gable.
interior supports of the
Its

Lycian

parallels.

obvious that the scheme closely approaches the traditional The framearchitectural type preserved by the tombs and rock carvings of Lycia. work of the structure was necessarily of wood, and the projecting eaves and platform
hull-shaped
roof,
it

is

certainly recall the typical features presented, for example, by the well-known facade of the rock-tomb at Myra, 2 or certain prominent buildings, probably also tombs, rising

above the town walls on the Pinara reliefs. 3 It is natural that the sepulchral art of classical Lycia should have preserved the domestic architecture of a more remote period.
1

The meaning
is

of the knob visible in the fore-part of

Ill,

the vessel
"

not clear.
PI. ccxxvii,
It

end of the lower projecting beam of the building on the Disk is turned up like that of the Myra tomb.
'

Texier, Description, &c., T.

Fig.

2.

Benndorf, Reisen,

I,

Fig. 36; Perrot, op.

tit.,

p. 368,

Perrot, L'Art, &c., V, p. 377, Fig. 264. may as a curious correspondence in detail that the upturned

be noticed

Fig. 252.

HIEROGLYPHIC DISK FROM PHAESTOS

27

These comparisons of course are only of a general kind. The projecting platform or verandah takes us indeed still further East, and suggests comparisons with the pagoda. But in any case the form here represented does not answer to the Minoan facades so far as we know them from the architectural scenes of the wall-paintings and intaglios.
general character of the hieroglyphic script Phaestos presents, in any case, a close parallel with the Minoan, and a certain proportion of ve ai s ahigh the signs are identical. The sign reproduced under i, moreover, though it does not civilization r occur on the Minoan series, may be taken to indicate some community in the domain ^j t
are
to
(

What

we

conclude?

The

It seems to represent a fist wound round with a thong, in other words Minoan. of sport. But the independent a cestus, which was also known to the Minoan prize-ring.

elements exhibited are so numerous that

we

are almost constrained to look outside

the limits of Crete itself for the centre of this rival culture.

of an invading swarm, the destroyers perhaps of arrow on the prow, the captive, the prominence of the helmeted head and shield

Have we here the record Phaestos itself? The ship with the
in

The conthe sign-groups, certainly give the idea of a successful maritime descent. stantly recurring flying eagle with a serpent in his claws (/) was itself in the classical
But, notwithstanding these features, a careful Signs of analysis of the hieroglyphic signs here depicted is sufficient to show that we have not The Disk itself with its artistically executed to deal with a mere piratic swarm.
art of

Greece an emblem of

victory.

preserves had The signs themselves bespeak varied industries. attained a high degree of civilization. see an elegant spouted vase, carpenters' tools, a pickaxe, parts of domestic The slave (//) may himself, as much as the animals, fruit trees and other plants.

imprinted type

is

itself

a sufficient evidence that those

whose record

it

We

constantly recurring hides, be regarded as an article of

enterprise by which such exercised at the expense of

commerce; and the warlike

well have been

human merchandise was procured may

some more
distant population.

In Part III, below, attention a will also be called to some indications of religious element in the inscription. According to this view the Disk should rather be regarded as a record of a The Disk
peaceful connexion between the Minoan lords of Phaestos and some neighbouring record'of race enjoying a parallel form of civilization than as an evidence of hostile occupation, industrial

As to the direction in which this race is to be sought, may be thought to point to the Western coastlands
relationship between the old Cretan stock

the indications at our disposal l^th Lycia. The ethnic of Asia Minor.

and the original Carian population of that The most typical features with which we have to region enhances this probability. deal moreover in the dress and armour closely agree with those of the seafaring peoples who at a somewhat later date are found descending on the Delta. It is a generally accepted conclusion that some of these confederate swarms hailed from the opposite coasts of Anatolia, and in view of the Lycian comparisons above instituted, it is worth
while recalling that among the earliest of these were the Luku or Lukki, of the king of Egypt already makes complaint to the king of Alashiya, or Cyprus, of the Tell el-Amarna letters. 1
1

whom
in

one

Letter

XXVI

see Petrie, Hist, of Egypt during the Seventeenth

and Eighteenth

Dynasties, p. 273.

For these

28

SCRIPTA MINOA

At the same time we are warranted in believing that the Phaestos Disk belongs Approximate date to an earlier date than any of the descents recorded by the Egyptian monuments. of Phaestos Disk not According to the evidence supplied by the Italian explorers, the associations in which later than the Disk was found tend to the conclusion that it belongs to the close of the Third 1600 B.C. the other hand, there came to light in the same chamber Middle Minoan Period.

On

the greater part of a clay tablet inscribed on both sides with the ordinary Minoan It belongs to a time therefore when this linear form of linear script of Class A.

Earlier

than the

Egyptian
records of

had succeeded the hieroglyphic class in Crete itself. Still, so far as the general chronological evidence goes, it would not be safe to place the latest elements in the deposit in which the Disk was found below the approximate date of 1600 B.C. That the Phaestos Disk should be regarded as a monument of peaceful intercourse rather than of hostile descent is at least a possible explanation. Yet there is an ominous side none the less to the appearance within the walls of Phaestos of
script

maritime
Delta.

descents on a

record of this maritime race, eventually, perhaps, to become the leading member That of the Confederacy which was to carry fire and sword into the Delta. Phaestos itself suffered a great overthrow not long after the time when the Disk was
1

days of the later Palace at Knossos were yet to had not The time yet come for a permanent settlement in Minoan It is nevertheless a significant fact that Crete of invaders from whatever quarter. among the group of seafaring peoples with which so many characteristic features of the Disk connect themselves, appear at later date the Akaiuasha of the Egyptian monuments, reasonably identified with the Achaeans. Coming events cast their shadows In the remarkable document before us we seem to have a record before them.
deposited is clear. run their course.

But the

brilliant

not improbably the organizer of the maritime league whose prowess is illustrated by the Egyptian monuments of the ensuing age. This new naval Confederacy was destined to outstrip the Minoan sea power, and it
of the most civilized representative

was

in its

wake

that the migratory

Achaean swarms got

a firm hold

on Cretan

soil.

I.

5.

THE LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS A

Discovery of clay

An

important result of the catastrophe which closed the Middle Minoan phase

documents
with

advanced
linear
script

of the building at Knossos was to supply the earliest landmark of a new and more advanced method of writing. In several of the deposits which owed their final closing to the overthrow in question there occurred, together with other relics illustrating

(Class A).

most advanced phase of the Third Middle Minoan style, tablets and other inscribed objects, presenting a form of linear script (described below as Class A) which differed from that of the extensive hoards of Class B belonging to the last Palace Period. The most remarkable of these deposits was discovered in a large
the
cf. W. Max Muller, Asien und Europa, 354 seqq., who identifies them with the Lycians, and also H. R. Hall,

people

zines of Phaestos

was
is
it

still

in

use

Annual of B. School of Athens, VIII, pp. 176, 177. The graffiti on the jars contained in the later Maga1

a gap on the

show that the linear script of Class A when the Palace was destroyed. There site between L. M. I and L. M. Ill when

was again

partially occupied.

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS A

stone

29

cist or repository lying beneath a later pavement. This contained the fittings of Examples a small Palace Shrine, including a marble cross of orthodox Greek shape, and exquisite vases, reliefs, and figures in native faience, among which were the Goddess with the tories.

snakes and her votaries.

Here, together with a variety of sealings showing the highest development of naturalistic art in gem engraving, was a rectangular clay 2 An early tablet, and disks and labels engraved with linear characters of this class.

magazine
acteristic

South-West, which lay beneath another later floor/ produced a charpot with an inscription of the same style,* while a still more interesting find
to the

FIG. 12.

Ink-written Inscription inside Cup.

took place

Here, immediately above the Pillar Cups with Chamber belonging to the early part of the Middle Minoan Age, in which, as already In noticed, hieroglyphic sealings had occurred, was a floor-level, upon which were found tions.
in the
site.

South-East part of the

several characteristic vessels of the Third Middle

Minoan

class.

Among

these were

two cups exhibiting round their inner surface ink-written inscriptions of this same linear class. 8 These inscriptions, one of which is here reproduced in Fig. 12, were
apparently executed by a reed pen before the
It

final firing

of the clay.

may

be said that wherever there was any

distinct stratification observable the

'

Knossos,' Report, 1903, pp. 38 seqq.

2

appreciated
written.
4

when

this

preliminary

account

was

Ibid., p. 52.

But the strati'Knossos,' Report, 1901, pp. 9-12. graphic conditions of this discovery were not rightly

Ibid., p. 10.
'

Knossos,' Report, 1902, pp. 107 seqq.

SCRIPTA MINOA
This class
occurs in stratum

linear inscriptions of Class

connect them with the

last

latest

Knossos occurred under circumstances which phase of the Third Middle Minoan style, and with the
found
at

marking
close of

M. M.

III.

elements of the existing Palace as originally constructed. An interesting discovery, moreover, made in this connexion has supplied what may ultimately prove to be an

Lid of
alabastron

approximate guide to the date at which these documents first make their appearance. In a deposit belonging to the particular stratum that marks this widespread catastrophe of the building was found the lid of an alabastron, remarkably fresh in appearance,
It is now fairly ascertained engraved with the cartouche of the Hyksos King Khyan. that Khyan, whose monuments indicate that he ruled over Syria and Egypt from the Middle Euphrates 2 to Gebelen on the borders of Nubia, was one of the earliest group of the Hyksos Princes. 3 His continued use of the cylinder seal, 4 as well as his royal style and the decorative scrolls on his scarabs/' corroborate this conclusion, since
1

with name of King

Khyan.

they belong typologically to the earliest Hyksos

Question
as to date

class.

of Khyan.

Unfortunately Egyptologists are at present too hopelessly divided as to the chronology of the Hyksos period to admit of any exact conclusion being drawn as
date of Khyan. Certain synchronisms that it is now possible to establish between successive phases of Cretan culture and the remains of Dynastic Egypt help us indeed to a relative chronology. Thus, on the one hand, as already mentioned, we
to the

know from
and
Date of
deposit

find that the period of co-regency of Sesostris (Senusert) III of his son Amenemhat III corresponds with an advanced stage of the polychrome

the

Abydos

midway
between Twelfth

ceramic style characteristic of the close of the Second Middle Minoan Period. On the other hand we have irrefragable evidence that the acme of the later Palace style of art

represented by the offerings of the Keftian chiefs as seen on and Egyptian monuments, such as the tombs of Senmut and Rekhmara, dating from about Eighteenth the middle of the fifteenth century B. c. From this it may be inferred that the beginII
is

Late Minoan

Dynasties.

nings of this middle stage of Late Minoan

art,

marked by the Knossian

'

Palace

Style' par excellence, go back to at least 1450 B.C. But the well-marked Palace stratum in which the Khyan lid occurred lies on the It is separated from the fine exact confines of the Middle and Late Minoan Periods. age of ceramic polychromy, the close of which corresponds with the reign of Sesostris III, by the transitional period, to which we have given the name of Middle Minoan III. It is also separated from the age marked by the culmination of the later Palace Style,
Knossos,' Report, 1901, pp. 64 seqq., and The Palace of Knossos in its Egyptian Relations' (Eg. Expl. F. Arch.
1
' '

ever, e.g. Breasted, History of Egypt, p. 221.

IANNAC
and
it is

and C'l'AAN do not appear

fair

in the

same
to

lists,

Report, 19x10-01, p. 37).

*

conjecture_that both

names refer

Khyan (E. Meyer,

The
at

stone lion weight inscribed with Khyan's

name

found

Baghdad probably found its way there, as W. Max Mailer has suggested, by water transport from the neighbourhood of Carchemish on the Middle Euphrates.
3

Aeg. Chronologie, p. 85). 4 Three of these are given by Newberry, Scarabs, PI. VII, 7 and 10, and p. 47, Fig. 23. No other cylinders with the names of Hyksos kings seem to be known.
"

identified by Von Bissing with of Manetho, which might easily be a corruption of OI'AAN. Khyan would become Siaan in Greek in the same way as Khufa becomes Souphis

The name has been

See

Petrie's comparative table of the

Hyksos scarab

the

CTAAN

Hyksos and Israelite Cities, PI. LI. The evidence is even stronger than is there indicated, since the scroll pattern as an early characteristic occurs on additional
types,

The identifica(Petrie, Hyksos and Israelite Cities, p. 69). tion with Manetho's still finds adherents, how-

examples(cf. Newberry, op.

cit.,

PI.

XXII,

24, 25

(Type

B),

IANNAC

and

26).

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS A

which synchronizes with the Age of Thothmes Late Minoan.
If,

31

III,

by an intervening period

the First

the date of the close of Sesostris Ill's reign, we might take Approxia middle term between that and 1450 B.C. as a working chronological basis for the
then,

we knew

date of the deposit containing the apparently recent record of King Khyan. Accordto the ing chronological system based on the Sothis cycle the death of Sesostris III

to Sothis

dating<

took place within three years of 1850

B.c.

between 1850 and 1450 B.C. amounts to 400 years. Halving this, and allowing a century and three-quarters each to the Third Middle Minoan Period and the earlier phase of the Late Minoan style, we arrive at the approximate date of 1650 B. c.
interval
for the deposit

The

Minoan Age
remains,

caused by the widespread catastrophe that marks the close of the Middle on the Palace site at Knossos. If, however, as seems probable from the

should allow somewhat more for the first of these two periods, the date of this overthrow might well be The Hyksos conquest of brought down to 1600 B. c.

we

Egypt would then have taken place and Khyan himself have begun
before this date.

to reign a

little

which by carrying the Twelfth Dynasty back to another Sothis cycle would add 1,460 years to the interval between Sesostris III and the Eighteenth Dynasty, and thus put at our disposal no less than 930 years for each of the two Minoan Periods in question, does not seem to be warranted by
alternative hypothesis,

The

the Cretan evidence.

The approximate date of 1600 B.C. above arrived at for the close of the Middle Minoan Age at any rate agrees very fairly with the most recent conclusions of Dr. Eduard Meyer as to the date of the Hyksos conquest of Egypt. It is well known that the worship of Set was the special concomitant of Hyksos
dominion, and the
cult,
'

The 'Era

The

the biblical Zoan, which is bound up with this ', (z In)"and may be reasonably supposed to date from the commencement of the Hyksos rule, the Hyksos Stela of Tanis erected during the reign of Rameses II, which records the 4<x>th

Era of Tanis

year of this Temple Era, seems to supply a date for the beginning of the Hyksos dominion at Tanis. If, then, we may take the middle of Rameses II's long reign of
years as the approximate date of the erection of the Stela, this Hyksos Era would begin within thirty-three years either way of 1670 B.C. 2
sixty-six
It is

Class

noteworthy that at Knossos the inscribed documents belonging to the Linear Other only occur in this particular stratum representing the lowest limit of the
culture.

Middle Minoan
inscribed

documents all however, seem to point to a longer

1

In deposits clearly belonging to the remodelled building the Finds made elsewhere in Crete, belonged to Class B.
local survival of this type of script.

linear c ass '

''

The

small

Eduard Meyer, Aegyptische Chronologie, pp. 51 seqq. E. Meyer, Nachtrdge sitr Aegyptischen Chronologie, Abhandlungen d. k. Pr. Akad. der Wissensch. 1907 (Berlin, 1908,
2

PP- 34> 35 cf- dtff. Chronologie, pp. 65 seqq.). Dr. Meyer further shows that the two last kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty were vassals of the Hyksos and took the title bei '

loved of Seth '. According to his chronological system as applied to the Thirteenth Dynasty kings, this would show It that the Hyksos conquests had begun by 1680-1670 B.C. is interesting to note that the Era of Tanis was also used
' '

by the Hebrews. According

to

Numbers

xiii.

22

'

Hebron
'.

was

built

seven years before Zoan (Tanis)

in

Egypt

SCRIPTA MINOA
Clay documents and
artistic

Palace or Royal Villa excavated by the Italian Mission at Hagia Triada near Phaestos, together with a contiguous house which seems to have been an official residence (Fig. 13),

products of Royal
Villa at

has proved richer

in this particular class of inscription

than the Palace of Knossos. 1

Hagia
Triada.

In this building the phase of Cretan civilization best represented is that which completes the transition from what I have called the Third Middle Minoan style to the

phase of the Late Minoan. It covers a time during which there seems to have been a partial lacuna in the Palace at Knossos, following on a considerable catastrophe.
earliest

b
Fig. 13.

c
(b

Inscribed Tablets and Disks, Hagia Triada

and

c enlarged

two diams.).

moreover, may have there existed of the First Late Minoan Age were largely obscured owing to the continued habitation of the building during the At brilliant period Late Minoan II that immediately preceded its destruction. Hagia Triada, on the other hand, there are marks of a great catastrophe having taken place at a date when the earliest phase of Late Minoan art, with all the beautiful
traces,

What

The naturalism inherited from the close of the preceding age, was still at its prime. deposits of clay tablets, disks, sealings, and tesserae here found inscribed with linear
'

'

Resti dell' eta Micenea scoperti a Haghia Triada presso Phaestos' (Man. Ant. xiii. 1903), Id. Lavori eseguiti dalla Missione archeopp. 21 seqq.
1

See

F. Halbherr,
'

'

1906, pp. 389 seqq.). eseguiti ', &c., p. 28.

13, 14

The tablets of Fig. 13 The clay disks and

xiif,

are from

'

Lavori

sealings of Figs.

are from Man. Ant.

pp. 27, 28, 30.

logica italiana in

Creta (Rendiconti della

'

r.

Acad, dei Lincei,

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS A

characters of Class

33

were contemporary with such exquisite artistic works as the wall-painting of the cat stalking a pheasant amongst the ivy-covered rocks, or the reliefs on the steatite vessels showing the harvest-home rout, the feats of the wild bull hunt, the contests of the arena, and the admirable scene of the youthful Minoan chieftain and his warriors. Many of the gem impressions or sealings from
these deposits exhibit the same high level of art. Thanks to the courtesy of Professor Halbherr,
I

who

directed the Italian Mission,

have been enabled

to include a

number

a careful study of the Hagia Triada inscriptions, and of illustrative materials in the present work. The bulk of these
to

make

be contained in the second volume, and the tablets reproduced in Figs. 13, 14 must here suffice to give a general idea of the prevailing type of the clay documents
will

belonging to this

class.

It will

be seen

that, besides the tablets proper, there are ' clay disks and sealings and tesserae with only a single graffito character, whole hoards
'

of the latter class having

It
is

come

to light.

noteworthy that several of the large pithoi, or store jars, found in the
Palace of Phaestos bear incised inscriptions in this same early variety of the advanced
linear script.
It is

evident that the final

catastrophe of this Palace took place at a time when this graphic style was still
prevalent.

Thanks
cavators
I

to the

kindness of other exable to add

the

have been

"7 *

Deposit of
1

evidence of several more isolated finds of similar inscriptions belonging to Class A.

Zakro Mr. Hogarth found an inscribed disk and tablet of this and fancy-free class. They were here associated with gem impressions in a very fine and winged minotaurs succession of fantastic creations style of art characterized by a and monsters with butterfly wings (Fig. 15). Here too were
In the settlement at
FIG. 14.

Inscribed Sealings, Hagia Triada

(f).

and anemones, and other relics illustrative of the same phase of artistic development as that to which the remains at Hagia Triada and the Temple Repositories at Knossos belong. It was noteworthy, moreover, as a further of transitional trait that in this case there occurred among the sealings two impressions At Palaikastro, again, date. hieroglyphic signets executed at a somewhat earlier for the British School in 1903, during the excavations carried out by Prof. Bosanquet of the same linear class was found on the floor of a housea tablet with an
lilies
'

man-goats, eagle-women, beautiful painted vases exhibiting

'

tr

inscription

E 2

34

SCRIPTA MINOA
1

Of
Gournia.

magazine in a layer immediately below one containing vases of the Zakro types, and which therefore belonged to a very early part of this transitional period. An inscribed

Of
Papoura.

by Miss Boyd (now Mrs. Hawes), in a deposit of the same period found in a private house at Gournia,- which answers both in its form and in the seal-impressions that it bears round its edges to a type of clay document associated with others of Class A at Knossos, Hagia Triada, and Zakro. To these may now be added an isolated inscribed tablet of rectangular form found on a votive site called Papoura that crowns a promontory of Mount Lasethi and overlooks the territory of the ancient It has already been observed 4 that the inscribed Libation Table from the Lyttos. Dictaean Cave, which lies in the same region, presents characters belonging to the same group.
discoid tablet
also found
:i

was

FIG. 15.

Fantastic Seal Impressions from Zakro

(})

Wide extension of
this

The above

finds

show

that

Type A of the

linear script

form

out the whole of Central and Eastern Crete.

of script.

remains belonging to the transitional age that and the early part of the Late Minoan Period.

was once prevalent throughEverywhere we see it associated with covers the close of the Middle Minoan
Throughout
this region
'

it

immediately

Examples
from Phylakopi in

succeeds the conventionalized pictographic or hieroglyphic form of writing. It would even appear that this type of linear script had a still wider extension in 6 the world. There are traces of it or of a closely allied script at Thera, while at
'

Aegean
its

Melos.

Melos

existence

explored by connexion with Minoan Crete, with which the export of obsidian had doubtless much to Numerous specimens of the do, going back into the Middle and Early Minoan Age.
1

The remains of the prehistoric settlement clearly established. the British School of Athens at Phylakopi in Melos show a very intimate
is

ix.

R. C. Bosanquet, Excavations at Palaikastro,' B. S. A., By Mr. Bosanquet's kind permission I am p. 284.

'

tablet,
*

able to include a

copy of

this tablet in vol.

ii

of the

which will also appear in vol. ii. See above, p. 15. Dr. Robert Zahn has favoured me with a copy of a
'

other fragmentary inscriptions of this class were also found at Palaikastro.

present work.
8 3

Two

Gournia, 1909, p. 55, Fig. 31. the courtesy of Dr. Hazzidakis, Ephor-General of Cretan Antiquities, I have been enabled to publish the

By

his exfragment of the rim of a matt' painted vase from linear incised two in cavations signs and Thera, showing first is a common and typical characThe of a third. part the second may be a linearised version of ter of Class A
;

the

'

store-house' sign.

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS A

characteristic
site,

35

polychrome ware of the

so-called

'

Kamares

'

class

were found on that Minoan

beautiful wall-painting depicting flying-fish amid the sea spray, so closely j^Me'io Knossian be taken to that artists show Minoan were by designs, may paralleled actually

and the

employed by the Lords of Melos.

supplied by the abundant remains of imported vessels presenting painted designs of birds in a characteristic Melian style which occur in the Palace deposits already referred to as produced by the catastrophe
contra side of this intercourse
is
l

The per

Middle Minoan Palace. The Temple Repositories alone produced at least a dozen of these large vessels, which may have contained some choice brand of Melian Minoan It was, therefore, particularly interesting to find on the handles of several of wine. ^"dln these imported vases, as well as on examples from Phylakopi itself, of the same or of Melos.
of the
n-7
|

(with male suffix)

Y
(with female suffix)
FIG. 16. Inscription on

Melian Cup.

^y Y&
FIG. 17.

(signature on sealing)

Sign groups of Class B indicating male and female personal names.

other contemporary forms, 2 incised marks, a whole series of which correspond with Indication the Cretan linear characters. This fact alone distinguishes the signs from mere same^anpersonal marks due to the caprice of the individual potter, but a still fuller proof that guage was they are to be regarded as the characters of the Cretan script was afforded by another vessel. On the base of a plain black-faced bowl belonging approximately to the same
In their general outlines age, are incised two signs of the Minoan class (Fig. 16). ' are common to both the linear and B. But the they scripts cup sign with a stroke

'

across

3 shape characteristic of the linear Class A. It is highly interesting thus to find that the collocation of these two characters, presumably forming a word, recurs on tablets belonging to both classes of the linear script. It clearly indicates that the language in both cases was the same. In

its

handle appears

in a

of similar form and in its designs fitting closely on to the Melian class referred to in the text, was found in Grave VI of the Akropolis at Mycenae (Schuchbird vase
'

'

was found
logical

hardt,

Schlieniami's Excavations, p. 271, Fig. 278).

It

may, however, represent some local fabric of a somewhat later date, since it was associated in this grave with a characteristic ewer of the First Late Minoan style (op.
cit..

in the Temple Repositories or in the archeostratum of Knossos, to which it belongs. 2 The Pottery Excavations at Phylakopi, pp. 177 seqq. Marks,' C. C. Edgar and A. J. Evans. 3 See my observations on the 'Significance of the
' :

Pottery Marks of Phylakopi', op. cit., pp. 183, 184. figures here given are reproduced from this work.

The

p. 270, Fig. 277).

Nothing so

late as this latter vessel

SCRIPTA MINOA
Personal

names and
suffixes.

inscriptions belonging to Class B, moreover, these two signs appear in sign-groups having after them the determinative signs of 'man' or 'woman'. In these groups

followed by other characters (see Fig. 17) which from a variety of evidence must be regarded as masculine and feminine suffixes. On the reverse of a sealing
it

is

on the other hand they occur alone, and probably represent the signature of an official. There is every reason to believe, therefore, that the characters on the base of the Melian bowl give the personal name of the owner. It is to be remarked, however,
case that the inscription apparently reads from right to left, which itself may be taken as an indication of an early date. As a matter of fact, while in the hieroglyphic script the characters run indifferently either way, the fixed direction of the linear
in this

of Class
glyphic.

from left to right. It is worth noting, as an archaic characteristic of this type of script in Approximation in form of general, that the clay documents belonging to Class A show a certain approximation documents in their forms to those presenting the hieroglyphic inscriptions. In both cases we find
inscriptions
is

to hiero-

comparatively small rectangular tablets ; there are similar labels and some of the clay disks and sealings show a certain conformity. The system of numerals is also
'

',

respects intermediate between that of the hieroglyphic documents and that of the linear Class B.
in

some

Comparisons between
Classes

and

B.
in-

Contents
of the
scriptions.

when compared with those of the system (B) were by which they superseded at Knossos, are on the whole less lucidly disposed. There is a greater proportion of compound signs, and pictorial figures, indicating the contents of the document, are more sparsely used. Those that are found, however, and
inscriptions of the linear Class A,

The

Graffiti

on

walls.

accompanying numerals show that, as in the case of the other class, the bulk of the tablets had probably a business purpose. Among the pictorial figures that occur is the saffron flower, various vessels, including tripods, no doubt of bronze, and balances which must naturally be connected with the weighing of precious metals. Remarkable examples exist of the application of linear script of this class to other objects besides the clay tablets and sealings. The two cups of characteristic Third Middle Minoan shape with ink-written inscriptions have been already mentioned.' Another application of this form of script curiously anticipates the discoveries at
the

Pompeii. On the stucco face, namely, of some of the walls of the Royal Villa at Hagia Triada were found graffito inscriptions belonging to the present class, some of them
repeating the

same formulas. 2

Inscription

on Dictaean Libation

Table
to

belongs

this class.

But perhaps the most interesting discovery bearing on the use of this widely diffused type of linear script was the inscribed Libation Table from the Dictaean Cave of which mention has already been made."' The penultimate letter on the right of 4 the inscription seems to represent a characteristic form of Class A which is absent
2J,

from the other linear system. As a matter of fact, moreover, the cup-like receptacles of the Dictaean Table, with their raised rims, exactly resemble those of smaller
1

See above,

p.

The

graffiti

29 and Fig. 12. are themselves as yet unpublished.

See pp. 13 seqq.

A detailed analysis of this inscription must be reserved for the part of this work devoted to the illustration of the documents belonging to Class A of the linear script.
4

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS A

libation vessels, in the

37

same dark steatite, found in the Temple Repositories at Knossos together with inscribed clay documents of the present class, and belonging, as we have seen, to the close of the Third Minoan Period. A parallel to the inscribed Dictaean Table has now been supplied by the more
fragmentary remains of a similar steatite object showing part of a cup with a raised rim found by Mr. Currelly at Palaikastro 1 near the mouth of a small cave or rock shelter afterwards used for interments. This example bears some fourteen incised characters

wholly or partially preserved, and the signs themselves exhibit types which are peculiar
to the linear Class A.

interesting to notice that with the appearance of this early variety of the Change developed linear script of Crete a significant change takes place in the character of the jlfeJk*" seals. The practice of using signets and bead-seals with incised inscriptions, so general usage
It
is
:

in the age when the hieroglyphic form of script was predominant, is now given up.- p ^cmThe flat-faced seals so convenient for the engraving of sign-groups at this time disappear, scriptions

Both the small signets and the elongated bead-seals in the form of three- or four-sided arfisti^ y prisms, accommodating whole lines of inscription, fall into disuse. The highly developed designs. artistic spirit that marks the close of the Middle and the beginning of the Late Minoan Age seemed to crave for a deeper and bolder style of engraving best secured by a slightly bossed surface, while it substituted essentially pictorial types for the mere calligraphy of the preceding epoch. The round or oval field of the lentoid and amygdaloid bead-seals or of the besils of the signet rings was now preferred, and became the vehicle for bold and beautiful designs. Thisjiew and fine style of gem engraving for a time subsisted side by side with the usage of the hieroglyphic script in its most developed form, as is seen from several of the clay seal-impressions from the Hieroglyphic Deposit. But the craving for artistic satisfaction seems to have led the owners of signets to prefer Inscripthe purely pictorial form, and, where it was necessary more particularly to empha^S!*^. size the personal name or attributes, this was effected by means of a graffito inscription placed by on the reverse of the clay sealing already impressed by the gem. 3
See B. S. A. xii. p. 2. The Director of the British School (Mr. R. M. Davvkins) has kindly supplied me with a photograph of this object, which will be reproduced in vol. ii of the present work. The associated larnax burials belonged to the close of the Third Late Minoan Period, but the rock shelter seems to have contained
1
'

cotta figures analogous to those of the votive station of Petsofa above Palaikastro, which was also a kind of rock
shelter.
2

'

single

example of

a bead-seal entirely devoted to

to light at

an inscription of this class came

Knossos during

earlier objects, for instance, the

I

two beautiful ivory figures.

observed a similar rock shelter, composed of a projecting ledge of conglomerate, used as a^ small votive cave at Epano Zakro in Eastern Crete. It contained terra-

the excavations of 1908. 3 One or two isolated examples exist, however, of signs belonging to Classes A or B engraved in the field of
intaglios,

SCRIPTA MI NO A

1.16.
Class

THE LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS

superseded in by B in Remodelled classified as B.

Palace.

At Knossos we sec the inscriptions of the Linear Class A the Remodelled Palace by another closely allied system of

entirely superseded linear writing here

Great
deposits of
tablets of this class
at

belong the great bulk of the deposits of clay tablets found in the rooms and magazines of the building, and they represent the form ot about the close of the fifteenth or the script in use at the time of its final catastrophe, form early part of the fourteenth century n. c. As to the higher limit of the use of this
this class

To

time of

final cata-

strophe.

of writing at Knossos we have no direct evidence, but some of the larger deposits It is possible, of clay archives must have been naturally of gradual accumulation. in the earlier half of the fifteenth century therefore, that it was already in existence
well have overlapped the continued usage of the rival form of linear script at Hagia Triada and elsewhere. that the documents of Class B, though far more It is a remarkable fact

before our era

indeed,

it

may

This class
as yet confined to

Knossos.

have as yet only been found on the site of Knossos, either in the Palace itself or its dependencies, including the Magazine of the Arsenal and the Little Palace or House of the Fetish Shrine on the hillside

numerously presented than the

'

other,
'

'

'

to the
Relations

West.
then,
is

What,
of a

the

meaning of

this

between A and B.

new system

of writing ?

What

wholesale appearance in the House of Minos are the relations between these two forms of
'

'

comparison of the signs and inscriptions of these two groups and of both of them with those of the hieroglyphic class must be reserved for the second Volume of this work. Here it may be sufficient to say that the obvious conclusion that the linear class of Script B, which at Knossos supersedes the other, is simply a later outgrowth of Class A, does not sufficiently explain the phenomena with which we have
to deal.
It is

linear script? detailed

advanced.

true that the general fades of these later Knossian documents is more The records are often much fuller and the tablets larger; there is a smaller

system of compound signs. At the same time, the conclusion that Class B was merely evolved out of the other is precluded by the fact that several of the signs belonging to it are not found in Class A, and
selection of characters

and a

less complicated

that

some of those which are shared by both form upon tablets belonging to Class B.

'

'

signaries

appear

in

more

primitive

Two
classes to a certain

The two
on the whole,

systems, which contain a large proportion of

common

elements, must

extent
parallel.

therefore, be regarded as parallel to one another, and it is probable, as already suggested, that the usage of Class B in the Remodelled Palace of Knossos at Phaestos to a certain extent coincided in time with the continued use of Class

A
B

Language
similar.

and Hagia Triada.

The occurrence
It

rate to prove that the language itself

both of similar sign-groups seems at any of those who used the one or the other Script
in
if

was

essentially the same.

looks, then, as

the introduction of Class

at

Knossos

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

39

may have been the result of a dynastic revolution which also, perhaps, left its traces in the widespread catastrophe that brought to a close the Middle Minoan Period of the There was no real ethnic break, and the general continuity of the Minoan Palace. culture remained unaffected.
It
its

underwent, indeed, from

this

time onwards a

new development, which

attained Charac-

most characteristic shape

in the

Second Late Minoan Period,

best illustrated

by
its

the latest remains of the Remodelled Palace at Knossos.

artistic

This period, though

Late

productions were still at a very high level, is characterized by a greater p^od" mannerism than is visible in the works of the preceding age the great age "of Zakro and Hagia Triada. Some of its manifestations, such as the miniature wall-paintings showing the Court ladies with their puffed sleeves and elaborate coiffure, may even be described as rococo. The long traditions of Palace life moreover had generated a style Architecfree, natural designs of the lp 'f native lily or the saffron, of argonaut-shells or seaweed-covered rocks that we find c* Style

of art that can best be described as architectonic.

The

'.

the clay or faience vessels of the two preceding periods, were now being systematized into mere patterns, or giving place altogether to elements of a more artificial origin**

There was a general striving after decorative unity, and the motives found on such movable furniture as the painted jars reproduce the stylized clumps of Nile plants seen on the walls, the alternating rosettes and spirals of the friezes, and even such purely architectural features as columns and triglyphs. This is the essence of the great
'

Palace Style of Knossos. There can be little doubt that

'

we must

ascribe to this

Second Late Minoan Mass

of

Period, that is, to the concluding age of the Remodelled Palace at Knossos, Archives the great bulk of the clay records there discovered presenting the script of Class B. L. M. II. It may even be said that in these documents we find a graphic expression of the

same tendencies

the contemporary Palace Style of art. The Bureauregular rules applied to the variation of certain signs betray the hand of official methods scribes and grammarians. The bureaucratic methods of control here visible are
that
'

'

produced

themselves the outcome of a long inheritance of dynastic organization. In some oi the inscriptions we may recognize a real Court hand the result of a Palace School
'

'

of Calligraphy. derailed analysis of these inscriptions and of comparative examples illustrating Great the different types of character of which this signary is composed, must be reserved f n Ar^of for the succeeding Volume of this work. It may be said here that the whole Writing.

'

'

physiognomy of

this linear script attests a

very considerable advance in the Art of

Writing: The characters themselves have a European aspect. They are ot upright habit and* of a simple and definite outline, which throws into sharp relict the cumbrous

and obscure cuneiform system of Babylonia. Although not so cursive in form as the Hieratic or Demotic types of Egyptian writing, there is here a much more limited selection of types. It would seem that the characters stood for syllables or even letters, though they could in most cases be also used as words. Many are obviously compounds, and 'certain allied groups of signs show a regular systematic variation

Syllabic
'

SCRIPTA MINOA
marian work.

The Gram which betrays the hand of an

at

official

grammarian.

The sinuous and boustrophedon

Numerical
system.

arrangement visible in the hieroglyphic class of the Minoan inscriptions is here abandoned, and the writing is regularly from left to right. Moreover, the spaces and lines between the words, the espacement into distinct paragraphs, and the variation in the size of the characters on the same tablet, according to the relative importance of the text, show a striving after clearness and method such as can by no means be said to be a characteristic of classical Greek inscriptions. Frequent signs occur of value and quantity, and numerals, according to the decimal system, up to 10,000, the highest

Forms of the tablets.

A whole series of tablets is, moreover, single amount referred to being 19,000. devoted to percentages. The clay tablets themselves were generally elongated slips with wedge-shaped ends, containing one or two lines of inscription, though some were larger and oi 1 squarer form, and one example contained as many as twenty-four lines of writing.
They seem to have originally consisted of unburnt clay, though probably sun-dried, and they owe their subsequent induration to the burning of the Palace itself. Fire
itself,

so

fatal to

other libraries, has thus ensured the preservation of the archives of

Minoan Knossos.
Their
storage.

Preferably placed in

During the period of their deposit in the Palace and its dependent magazines, however, various measures were taken to ward off the effects of damp from these clay documents. They were carefully stored, as will be shown, in chests of various materials, which were probably often set on shelves. The lead casing of the early cists beneath the floors of the West wing of the Palace may also have been partly designed as a means of protection for the clay archives. The fact that large numbers of them were found in basement chambers like those of the West Magazines does not necessarily imply that they had been in all these cases originally placed at so low a level. They often, as for example the considerable hoard contained in Magazines XIV and XV, were found at different levels above the floor and on two sides of a dividing wall, showing that they must have fallen through from the chamber above, on the giving way of the upper pavement. The evidence of this is particularly clear
with regard to the tablets found in the Magazine of the Royal Arsenal, West of the Palace, which lay within the basement area, indeed, but at various levels, and many of them

upper chambers.

above fragments of cement flooring fallen from the room above. 2 Two large hoards, 3 again, found above the roadway of the Northern Entrance, had obviously fallen, together with their containing chests of gypsum, from a room or gallery overlooking it on the West side. In this deposit near the Sea Gate of the Palace it was interesting
'

'

to note, as a sign of the 'departmental' distribution of these quarters of the building, that the largest of the sealings with been secured contained a representation of a ship.

documents in various which their cases had

An interesting parallel to the oblong Knossian type is presented by a clay tablet found by the German Mission in Armenia (C. F. Lehmann, Verh. XIII. intern. OrientKongr., p. 134, Fig. 2 and cf. Abhandl. d. k. Gts. d. Wissensch.su Goltingen (Ph.-Hist.CL), IX, No. 3, pp. 108, It bears five horizontal incised lines and shows 109).
1
;

hieroglyphic characters reading from right to left and followed by numbers. The script differs however from
the Cretan.
2
3
' '

Knossos,' Report, 1904, pp. 56 seqq. Knossos,' Report, 1900, p. 50.

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

all

41

But the best example of upstairs storage was afforded by the most numerous of the hoards of inscribed tablets those, namely, dealing with percentages. These 1 were found in the Domestic Quarter of the Palace, partly strewn along a stratum
overlying the pavement of the Upper East- West Corridor, partly brought down with it into the Lower Corridor, and lying in positions which showed that they had fallen from
gallery in which these tablets, or rather the series of coffers that contained them, were originally deposited had here been on the third story, apparently immediately under the roof. One result of this lofty position was that they had been a higher level.

The

more

affected

by the conflagration of the building than those belonging

to other

hoards, some specimens indeed having been charred to such an extent as to obliterate the inscriptions (Fig. 18).

FIG. 18.

Clay tablets from East- West Corridor showing effects of

fire.

In certain cases, however, the coffers containing the tablets had been placed in But also basement chambers. That found in the bath-shaped receptacle * is an instance of j^fme'nt this. Another case in point is supplied by a hoard which may be taken as a repre- rooms.
sentative

example of these deposits.

',

The hoard

in question,

known

as the

'

Deposit

and horses, was found for the most part in a limited area of a small ground-floor chamber on the East side of The bulk of Remains the Central Court, which had all the appearance of an office or bureau. of their these lay within a rectangular space, shut off, except for a small opening, from the cases.
of the Chariot Tablets
largely referring to the royal chariots
;;

Knossos,' Report, 1901, pp. 100-2 See above, p. 18.

'

and

1902, p. 38.

'

Knossos,' Report, 1900, pp. 29, 30.

See below,

p. 42,

Fig. 19.

42
rest of the

SCRIPTA MINOA
chamber by

a stone bench, which may have stood before a wooden counter and have been the seat of an official. Within this back space the tablets were heaped,

broken condition, together with fragments of charred wooden cases. A part of one of these cases showed a waved ornament and a foliate border in relief of a characteristic Late Minoan type, which recurs in contemporary bronze and stone work as well as in the ceramic and painted plaster decoration. Seven small bronze
mostly
in a Deposit of the Chariot Tablets.

hinges also came to light, affording a presumption that there had been at least four boxes. Tablets belonging to various classes of possessions to be found in the royal stores

have been consigned here to different cases. The predominant from which the name of the deposit is taken, exhibited figures ol type (see Fig. 19), a horse's head and chariot preceded by what, from some of the better drawn examples, which show the plates and shoulder-pieces more clearly, may with great probability be

and arsenal seem

to

regarded as a cuirass. It was interesting, however, to notice that in some cases this latter object had been erased and replaced by the outline of a bronze ingot, so that it

would appear

that the royal charioteer

was

metal in place of the ready-made cuirass. types very miscellaneous subjects were also represented

times supplied with the equivalent in In addition, however, to these prevailing

at
in this deposit.

Among them

FIG. 19.

Typical example from

'

Deposit of the Chariot Tablets

'.

were metal vases and a plant with long stamens, evidently the saffron (Crocus Another series of tablets related to swine. Graecus), used as a dye.

sativits

Cases secured by
sealings.

phenomenon, afterwards continually repeated in the case of similar was the occurrence of fourteen clay sealings, still partly threaded by the hoards, carbonized remains of the string by which the boxes had been secured. These presented impressions of engraved signets, among the subjects being lions and bulls, a wild goat and young, a female votary before an altar, a wild bull, and apparently a Minoan Prince in his chariot, this latter, however, almost entirely destroyed by the
interesting

An

conflagration.
Counter-

marks and
endorsements of
sealings.

specially significant feature constantly repeated in other similar cases was that several of these seals had their impressions counter-marked, and their backs

endorsed and countersigned, by controlling officials. Good examples of these are in 20: from the neighbouring Room of the Niche', shows a figure of a, given Fig. a bull countermarked by a balance sign, and presenting apparently two signatures on
'

'

'

its

back; on

b,

from the

fifth

Magazine,
it

we

see a design of a

man

in a

peaked helmet
its

struggling with a bull, cancelled, as

were, by a barred

sign, while

on

back again

appears a double endorsement.

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

The
'
'

43

the Deposit of the Chariot Tablets were clay documents forming found for the most part in a- much broken condition. on or near the They lay floor level, and the conclusion most compatible with the circumstances of the find

was

that they had been stored in rows of small cases set on shelves along the back wall of this small area. Most of the pieces, like the remains of the wooden

Owing, however, to the comparatively low level at placed, some had escaped the effects of fire and were much in their original condition. I had indeed a disastrous experience of how easily moisture could affect the tablets when in this unbaked state. A group of four such which lay intact in their original order on the pavement of the

chests that accompanied them,

showed traces of burning. which they had been originally

Delete-

ture

b 2

FIG. 20.

Sealings with countermarks and endorsements

(f).

room, held together by some indurated earth, were carefully cut out by me in one piece with their earthy matrix, and transferred on a wooden tray to the old Turkish house in the glen below Kephala, which served as head quarters. But a torrential

storm coming on during the night, the rain-water poured in at several places owing to the bad state of the roof, and unfortunately inundated the tray containing the group of tablets. When the mischief was discovered it was too late, and they had been
already reduced to a pulpy mass. In the South-East corner of the eighth West Magazine there also occurred on the floor level a small hoard of very imperfectly baked tablets. These were embedded in
1

'

Knossos,' Report, 1900, p. 35.

See below,

p. 45, Fig. 21.

44
Series of
tablets

SCRIPTA MINOA

found order

in

original
:

referring to axes.

mass which no doubt owed its formation to the dissolvent effects of moisture on what had originally been a much larger deposit of inscribed tablets. They were moreover accompanied by fragments of decayed gypsum, apparently belonging to a small coffer of that material in which they had been contained. What remained of the tablets themselves was in a very bad state, but with the aid of a plaster backing I was able to raise a series which were lying on their faces in a regular file, and thus
a clay

chest (see Fig. 21). From the pictorial figures, added to the linear inscriptions on these, it appears that they referred to bronze single-edged axes.

to preserve a record of their original

arrangement

in

the

gypsum

Hoard
of the Arsenal.

of the finding of another large hoard of tablets in a magazine connected apparently with the Arsenal on the paved Minoan Way, West of the Palace, show that the objects referred to on the tablets were sometimes stored close

The circumstances
1

Tablets

by them.

The

pictorial signs

on the

tablets of this deposit referred to the frames

and

enumerating stores

of bows

and
arrows.

Cases of arrows found

near.

wheels of chariots, spears or lances, the horns of wild goats used in the manufacture of the Cretan bows, and also arrows two large lots of which, of 6,010 and 2,630, or It was, therefore, specially interesting 8,640 in all, are the subject of one record. to discover in the immediate neighbourhood of these tablets two actual depots of arrows lying at a distance of about three metres from one another. The deposits had,
in each instance, been contained in wooden boxes with bronze loop-handles (like those of the chests containing the chariot tablets mentioned above), and, embedded in the remains of the chests, were the carbonized shafts, and, still partly attaching to them, the bronze heads of hundreds of arrows.

Sealings

Here

on chests.

Arrow
mark.

as counter-

were These sealings were three-sided, the string passing through their major axis. Both chests had been secured in an identical manner with three variant sealings, each of which was duplicated. The signet used exhibited a carelessly engraved design of a couchant lion, and this had been impressed on the principal face of all the clay In one case the smaller sides of the sealing (due to the pinching in of the sealings. nodule clay by the finger and thumb) were both of them plain, and the lion device In the second variety this appeared on the principal face without a countermark.
design is cancelled by the arrow sign, doubtless referring to the contents of the chest, while the two smaller sides of the sealing are countersigned in the linear script, the ' Throne and Sceptre sign suggestively appearing at the beginning of one signature.
1

again, as in other cases, together with the charred fragments of the chests, found the clay sealings with which their string binding had been secured (Fig. 22).

The
Methodical
arrangement.

third variety

shows the

lion type without the

arrow mark, and a signature on only

one of the minor faces of the

sealing.

method and elaborate system of control here exemplified are constantly perceptible in the contents and arrangement of these Minoan archives. The tablets, as we have seen, were carefully filed, and it appears moreover that some of
bureaucratic
1
'

The

been noted (see

Knossos,' Report, 1904, pp. 54 seqq. It lias already p. 40 above) that the tablets and the

arrows to which some of them refer had basement from the room above.

fallen into the

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

45

FIG. 21.

Nest of tablets as found, showing their original order.

SCRIPTA MINOA
Titles on

them were arranged

like

back, like

books.

in several cases small sides of the tablets, docketed with a short title referring to the contents of the inscription. Fig. 23 shows the edge of a tablet thus docketed. In this case, as appears from a variety of examples, the first two signs = the total of the objects specified. They are followed by an ideo'

books on a modern shelf so as to show answering to the back of a book, being

their edges, the

'

= 40 graph, in the shape of an oblong figure, indicating their character, and the number (four horizontal lines), which corresponds with the separate items on the face of the
added together. of a degenerate form of the Throne and Sceptre' sign, prefaced to the same ideograph, and by further numbers.
tablet, viz.
i,

37,

and

2,

This

is

succeeded by a sub-heading consisting

'

Seals with
recurring formulas.

Different sets of tablets are dis-

tinguished by certain recurring formulas peculiar to themselves, and a knowledge of such formulas and their dis-

most cases supplies a clue to the individual deposit from which

tribution in

any
Minoan method
aids

particular

tablet

was

derived.
'

The methodical disposition of these documents in the House of Minos

'

modern
justice.

was indeed of such a nature as to settle a case in a modern Law Court. The circumstances were these.
In

1901

discovered

that

certain

tablets

had been abstracted from the excavations and had shortly after-

wards been purchased by the Museum at Athens. It further appeared that one
of our

workmen

a certain Aristides

had

left

the excavation about the

'

same
FIG. 22.

time for Greece, and had been seen in

Athens offering 'antikas

Theft
ot

for sale

under
examining
that

Clay sealings with countermarks and signatures from Chest of Arrows (f).

tablets

detected by
its

suspicious circumstances. I observed a formula that

On

the
all

inscriptions

on the stolen

tablets

means.

the excavation of this particular Magazine a little On his return to Crete, some months later, before the date of his hasty departure. he was accordingly arrested, and the evidence supplied by the Minoan formula was
in

Magazine XV. A same Aristides had taken part

found
in

of the pieces belonged to a deposit showed reference to our day-books brought out the fact that the

some or

Majority of tablets business

records.

accepted by the Candia Tribunal as a crowning proof of his guilt. Aristides 'the Unjust' was thus condemned to three months' imprisonment. As was no doubt also the case with the tablets and labels of the earlier
'

'

classes, the great majority of the clay

documents of Class

contained business

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

records,

47

with

numbers.

such as accounts and inventories, and in nearly all cases are associated The objects referred to by these lists are in most cases easily

Pictorial

recognizable from the pictorial representations appended to the different entries, j^tio^o Some of these have been already specified, and the various properties referred to objects, throw an interesting light on the civilization and economic methods of the con-

temporary lords of Knossos.

FIG. 23.

Edge of tablet, docketed with summary of contents.

Different

implements and weapons, chariots and their parts, and the cuirasses of royal charioteers, ingots, and the scales in which the Minoan talents were weighed, precious vessels and others apparently containing various liquid products, granaries or" storehouses on piles, and different kinds of cereals, the saffron flower used for dies, several kinds of trees, domestic animals, including horses and As already noted, swine, and crook signs which seem to indicate sheep or goats. a whole series of tablets refers to percentages, showing a considerable advance in business methods.
see

We

here

property

enumerated.

FIG. 24. Tablet relating to chariot wheels.

in Fig. 24 shows a tablet relating to chariot wheels, which, conthe sidering rough and declivitous character of a great part of the island, must have been an expensive item. The concluding entries of the two lower lines are followed in

The example given

each case by numbers indicating 40, plus some units.

48
Large
listsofmen.

SCRIPTA MINOA

of persons of both sexes, with what. appear to be personal names, followed in each case by the ideograph of man or woman '. The largest tablet discovered, measuring as much as 26-7 by 15-5 centimetres
contain
lists
'

A number of documents

'

'

was a document of this class. It was from an upper chamber of the Hall The contents are of the Colonnades, and presented twenty-four lines of inscription.
(iof x 6/e
in.),
1

divided into three distinct paragraphs prefaced by separate headings, followed by a series of sign-groups, to all of which the man-sign is attached. At the end of each
list

are

numbers corresponding with the

total

number

of

the

individual

names

Tt'ilrfP

FIG. 25.

Copy of

tablet

showing women's names.

have here, therefore, a description of three categories of persons, The though what their quality may have been it is at present impossible to say. neatly written document reproduced in Fig. 25 shows, on the other hand, a series of
thus indicated.
Other
records.

We

sign-groups followed by the ideograph of woman '. Some tablets contain neither pictorial figures nor numbers, and may be records of a quite different class. good example of this class of inscription, from the
'

large deposit by the referred to above, it

shows eight

lines

Like that Northern entrance passage, is given in Fig. 26. is of exceptional size, measuring 15 centimetres by 12, and The sign-groups, of inscription in characters of good style.
1

'

Knossos,' Report, 1901, p. 108.

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

1

49

probably representing words, here consist of from two to apparently five characters, an upright line marking -the termination of each. The total number of words seems
2 to be twenty, divided into three paragraphs, the first ending on line 2, the second on line 6, and the third on line 8. Here there are no quasi-pictorial indications of rlr
1 /"^

SCRIPTA MINOA
Ink-written

documents.

That, in addition to the tablets, ink-written documents must also have been 1 referred to above, which known is shown by the inscribed cups belonging to Class give some indications of the use of a reed pen. That there was a large correspondence

Broken
sealings.

on materials that have not survived the conflagration of the building may be gathered from the frequent deposits of clay sealings, mostly broken in the process of opening the documents that they had secured or authenticated. The most extensive of these deposits came from an upper room in the Domestic Quarter of the Knossian
Palace
described for that reason as the
'

Room

of the Archives

2
'.

The

material

of the documents which these sealings had originally secured may have been parchment or even papyrus. may also recall the Cretan tradition according to which

We

3 Some of the sealings may have palm-leaves were the earliest vehicle of writing. secured folding wax tablets such as that on which the cr^aTo. Kvypd of Proetos were

said to

have been written. 4

there

Was

there a fuller
literature ?

Was

more than
;

this?

Were

there

still

fuller records,

such as chronicles
like that to the

and sacred writings

Dictaean Zeus?

liturgies,

and books of magic, or hymns, possibly,

May we

suppose that manuscript copies existed of the Laws of

Minos;

that

Epic

Crete, or that

was already partly fixed by writing in prehistoric early prose romance had taken literary form as in contemporary
tradition

Egypt

of these possibilities can any longer be excluded, but the perishable nature of the materials that must be presupposed for the existence of any extensive literature
Monumental evidence
to seek.

None
it

very improbable that it should have survived the catastrophe of the Cretan Palaces. Extracts of such works, and notably legal paragraphs, may eventually be found On the other hand, inscriptions on stone tables or metal to exist on the larger tablets. and plates, such as that on which is contained the treaty between the Hittite king

makes

Rameses
existed
Graffito
inscriptions in

II,

is

are at present wanting, and the only hint that 5 supplied by the Dictaean Libation Table.
graffiti

monumental

inscriptions

Knossian
Palace.

on the walls of the rooms of the Knossian Palace, as in the case of the Royal Villa of Hagia Triada/ appears from an observation already made by me in connexion with the excavation of 1901. On the West wall of the Room of the Two Cists, beneath the floor of which were afterwards found the Temple Repositories, were visible horizontal lines accompanying graffiti that seemed largely to represent simple scores in the shape of more or less upright lines, but which were

That there were

also

accompanied by certain linear characters apparently belonging to Class B. The stucco surface on which these appeared was subsequently destroyed by a storm, but a sketch of the graffiti made at the time when they were first noted will be seen in Fig. 27. We have here a truly Pompeian touch.
1

See
'

"

p. 29.
7

See above,
'

p. 36.

2 3
4

Knossos,' Report, 1902, pp. 75 seqq. See below, p. 105. See below, p. 64. Iliad, vi. 168 seqq.

The graffiti are not Knossos,' Report, 1901, p. 27. mentioned there, however, as they were only observed by me at the beginning of the next season and have
remained unpublished.

See above,

p. 14.

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

already been observed, the great bulk of the tablets presenting the linear Bulk of tablets script of Class B belong to the latest Palace Period of Knossos (Late Minoan II). of latest The art of this period, as illustrated by its most important works, brings it into close Palace
period Egypt. The wall-painting of (L. M. II). the Cup-bearer, for instance, exhibits to us for the first time in his Cretan home Chronoa representative of the enterprising Aegean race, known to the Egyptians as the logical data supplied by Keftiu or Kefts ', so frequently depicted on tombs of that period as bringing offerings Egyptian

As has

relation with the

middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty

in

'

to the Viziers of

Thothmes

III

and Amenhotep

II.

More than

this,

the characteristic evidence.

FIG. 27. Graffiti

on stucco facing of wall,

Room

of the Cists, Knossos.

outline of the copper ingots borne on their shoulders by some of these Keft chieftains The Kefts and their 2 reappear on a series of inscribed tablets from the Knossian Palace, while a hoard

of nineteen of the ingots themselves was actually found in a repository of the Royal Similar ingots. OxMinoan Villa excavated by the Italian Mission at Hagia Triada. Amongst other heads and 4 precious gifts borne by the Keftiu on the Egyptian monuments are gold ox-heads, vases on
:!

offerings.

representing a certain fixed weight, and cups of the same precious metal, characteristic Minoan form best known through the Vapheio Vases. 5

of the
It

tablets.

was, therefore, especially interesting to find on a linear tablet of Class B, of which the
Detailed comparison between the vases seen in the hands of the Keftiu and Mycenaean types were first worked out by Steindorff in Arch. Anseiger, 1891, pp.
1
' '

Archeol.

and Paribeni, Lavori eseguiti d. Miss. nel palazzo di Hagia Triada dal 23 febb. al Ser. 15 luglio 1903 (Rend. d. Ace. d. Lined, Cl. di Sc. tttor.,
'

Op.

cit.,

p. 358,
'

ital.

seqq. For the Cup-bearer' and the companion figures of the 'Corridor of the Procession', see A. J. E., 'The
'

5", vol. xii, pp.

4

317 seqq.).
de

Virey,
6

Tombeau

Rekhmara.
p. 14,

Palace of Knossos in its Egyptian Relations,' pp. 5, 6 (Egypt. Expl. F. Arch. Report, 1900-1). 2 See my Minoan Weights and Mediums of Currency
'
'

in Corolla

Nuinismatica, 1906, pp. 355 seqq., and Knossos,

'

reproduces two such vases from the wall-paintings of Theban tombs, first published cf. too H. R. Hall, by Wilkinson and Prisse d'Avennes Oldest Civilization of Greece, pp. 53-5, and W. Max M tiller.
Steindorff, op.
cit.,
;

Report, 1900, p. 51.

SCRIPTA MINOA
preserved, an inventory relating to oxheads and to cups exhibiting the same typical outline and square-cut handle. 1 The inscription itself is well written, with what appears to be an annotation in smaller characters above one line, and
principal part
is

a small single sign after the figure of the cup, which perhaps describes its metal. The three perpendicular strokes that follow indicate the number of cups to which
the preceding entry refers.

Age of Thothmes
III.

The

general contemporaneity with the age of

Thothmes

III

and

his successors

established by the artistic remains belonging to the latest Palace period at Knossos is thus borne out by the internal evidence supplied by the class of tablets with which
it

is

associated.

We

script

of Class

have, therefore, a double warrant for concluding that the linear was in full vogue by the middle of the fifteenth century B. c.,-

and the beginnings of this style, as noted above, may go back to a somewhat earlier date.
Final catastrophe of Palace at Knossos.

The close of this highly civilized period, known as Late Minoan II, is marked at Knossos
by a second great catastrophe comparable to that which brought to a close the Middle Minoan Age. A chronological landmark for the date of
this catastrophe is

evidence.

It

again supplied by the Egyptian has already been pointed out that

the last Palace period at Knossos is marked by a fine quasi-architectonic ceramic style in harmony with the decoration of the Palace halls.
'

Approxi-

mate
chronology
supplied by Tell el-

Amarna.

Examples of this fine Palace style were exported far beyond the limits of Crete, and have been found in contemporary tombs at Mycenae, in the Vapheio tomb near Sparta, and even as far afield as the In the rubbish heaps, however, of the Palace of Akhenaten at coast of Canaan. 3 Tell el-Amarna were found hundreds of Aegean sherds showing the grand ceramic style already in a state of decadence, and this evidence is corroborated by the imported 'Late Minoan' vases found in more or less contemporary Egyptian tombs. Hence it follows that the great catastrophe of the Palace at Knossos must
have preceded the date of these Egyptian deposits. Taking 1380 B.C.* as the approximate date of the accession of Akhenaten, the Tell el-Amarna fragments would belong to about the middle of the fourteenth century B.C. It seems reasonable,
at

'

FIG. 28. Tablet relating to gold oxheads cups of the Vapheio type.

and

least

See too
I

my

remarks on

this tablet in Corolla Niimis-

year or two of 1500-1450, and makes Amenhotep

to the throne at the later date.'

II

come

matica, pp. 352, 353.

had previously accepted the earlier dating of Dr. Budge and Mr. H. R. Hall (Oldest Civilisation of Greece, pp. 56-9), which carries back the beginning of Thothmes Ill's reign 1015508. c. But, as Professor Ronald Burrows
points out (The Discoveries in Crete, p. 94), 'the unusually strong combination of Breasted, Petrie, and the whole Berlin School places the reign of Thothmes III within a

According to this chronology the tomb of Sen-Mut dates from about 1480 and that of Rekhmara from about 1450. 8 See A. J. Evans, Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos,
4

p. 107.

This

is

Eduard Meyer's

date, Aegyptische Chronologic,

p. 68.

LINEAR SCRIPT OF CLASS B

therefore, to suppose that the overthrow at first half of the fourteenth century.

53
later

Knossos had taken place not

than the

and the new condition of things that characterizes the Period of Reoccupation, were partly due to the successful incursions of men representing a closely allied form of culture from the mainland of Greece is in itself quite possible. But the continued imitation of ceramic forms derived from metal prototypes of the last Palace Period itself affords a conspicuous proof that for a time at least the indigenous tradition remained in the main The evidence of the survival of the Minoan script, Class B, of which unbroken. as yet we have no authentic record on the Mainland side, points to the same

That the catastrophe

at

Knossos

itself,

Indigenous
stfii

inthe main un-

conclusion.

As far as it is great catastrophe put an end to the Palace as a whole. possible to ascertain, some parts of the area were never again the scene of human It is certain, however, that after an interval of time, traceable generally habitation.
The
by about 25 centimetres of

Partial

deposit, a large part of the building was reoccupied, and [j^and* The new settlers recovery. partitioned out, with the aid of cross-walls, into poorer dwellings. who dwelt in these represented a somewhat later stage and a humbler aspect of

the

same civilization, marked by the style which represents the close of the Third Late Minoan Period. Only in the Domestic Quarter of the Palace a part of which, perhaps, was almost continuously occupied are there signs of attempts at
restoration

still

on a large scale which make it probable that dynasts of the old stock maintained a diminished state on the Palace site.
L. M. Ill

great catastrophe of the Later Palace, about the beginning of the fourteenth B. c., may be certainly taken to indicate that the Minoan polity as a whole century It heralds the decline of the great civilizasuffered at this time a severe set-back.

The

but there is still no real break. tion of prehistoric Crete for any wholesale displacement of the indigenous stock
:

There

is

no room as yet

But no

real

should rather, perhaps, see in

fore,
it

it

the results of

some

by foreign invaders. internal revolution, bringing to the

We

plebeian elements of the population. The standard of wealth, and with it the standard of art, fell clay, for instance, largely replacing metal for domestic The proof of this is afforded but the civilization remained essentially Minoan. utensils

may be, more

less

by the remains on the Palace site itself a large part of which seems to have remained for a time at least untenanted than by the extensive Knossian cemetery of Zafer Papoura explored by me in 1904, which covers the close of the Palace
'

Period as well as the immediately ensuing age the earlier part, that is, of Late Minoan III '. The high interest of this cemetery is due to the fact, that throughout
'

'

whole duration it attests a striking continuity of local traditions. To whatever circumstances was due the great overthrow of the later Palace, it did not bring with The models supplied by it any real break in the course of the Late Minoan culture. the great Palace Style of wall- and vase-painting, of metal-work and gem-engraving,
its
1

A.

J.

Evans, The Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos

'I.

The Cemetery

of Zafer Papoura', pp. 1-135 (London,

Quaritch, 1906, and Archaeologia, vol.Jix).

54

SCRIPTA MINOA

continued to be followed, though they became more and more debased. A period of immobility in art is succeeded by one of gradual decadence, but the course of Minoan civilization, whether still along the level or on the slight downward incline,

was as yet uninterrupted

in the main.'

SURVIVALS OF THE ART OF WRITING DURING THE DECADENCE OF THE MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN CULTURE
I.

$7.

Mainland
influences.

Mycenaean themselves.

The evidences of a more serious dislocation, however, are not long in presenting Towards the close of this Third Late Minoan Period marked by the * the a of Palace site we certain reflex action from the Mainland note reoccupation
Mycenaean side in its geographical sense. The Mainland type of
hall

or the

'

'

with

its

fixed central hearth,

which

at this

time replaces the earlier Minoan

2 type in Melos, seems to have made its 3 way in Crete, and is possibly even repre-

sented

on

the

site

of

the

Knossian

set

Palace by the late rectangular structure up at this time near its South Pro-

The immigration of kindred pylaeum. elements driven South from the Peloponnese or elsewhere by the pressure of the Northern invaders may certainly be adFIG. 29.

Part of bowl (L. M. Ill) showing painted inscription.

But even if we allow for a wholesale arrival of such settlers from oversea, the form of culture which
mitted at this time.

they brought with them was little more than the return, in a decadent guise, of elements that themselves had emanated from an earlier phase of the same Minoan civilization. It is a highly significant fact that the old cult of the Mother-Goddess and of her
fetish

Double-Axe survived

in the shrines of this latest

Minoan Age.

Art of

Writing
still

sur-

In Crete, at any rate, together with other traditional arts, the Art of Writing seems to have been still preserved. In the 'Court of the Distaffs' belonging to a region of the Domestic Quarter, where a certain continuity of occupation was observable, there came to light, together with other vessels belonging to the Third Late Minoan Period, a part of a painted bowl (Fig. 29), 4 presenting, beneath its
1

vives.

Op.
2

cit.,

p. 133. p.

See D. Mackenzie in Phylakopi, Palaces, B. S. A. xi. p. 220.

*

271 and Cretan

at

Hagia Triada may have been a hall of this Mainland class. See Mackenzie, Cretan Palaces, B. S. A. xi. loc. cit. 4 Knossos,' Report, 1902, p. 66, and Fig. 33, p. 67.
'

The

rectangular building above the earlier remains

SURVIVALS OF THE ART OF WRITING

55

glaze and as part of its original design, three linear signs, one of which is of abnormal formation. In the same quarter of the site, in a passage near the late shrine of the

Double Axes, were found remains of a hoard of

1

tablets presenting a rather decadent

B of the linear script, here associated with representations of swords from their somewhat leaf-shaped forms, anticipating that of the early Iron which, Age (Fig. 30), seem to belong to a somewhat late phase of the Minoan civilization. It is possible that some other inscriptions found on the Palace site may also be
type of Class
set

down

to this

Reoccupation Period.
L.

In the large building on the hill West of the Knossian Palace, known from the rude stone idols of its domestic shrine as the 'House of the Fetishes ', 2 have been brought

M.
e
'

Ill
in

*^'
Fetish
K

This important building, as yet incompletely explored, reproduces on a somewhat reduced scale many of the salient features of the Palace itself, with which it was brought into direct connexion by a Minoan
to light further corroborative materials.

Moreover, it curiously repeats its history. Here, too, at the same paved way. epoch, a sudden revolution took place in the existing conditions, and the once

FIG. 30.

Tablet relating to leaf-shaped swords.

But on the later seignorial halls were parcelled out among humbler denizens. floors there were found heaps of more or less fragmentary seal-impressions, attesting the survival of similar usages as regards securing documents and possessions, and presenting under a decadent aspect the same artistic types as those of the preceding age. It was therefore important to discover, in juxtaposition with these, remains of tablets 3 showing inscriptions belonging to Class B, but executed in a

somewhat
It

inferior

will

manner. be shown below that there are

distinct evidences

of the existence of Minoan

It a branch of the Minoan linear script in Cyprus at a comparatively late period. f and the indicate existence of to another to a find that seems call attention time to is

closely allied system in Greece itself in the latest Minoan Age. In spite of the negative results obtained by Schliemann

Greece.

at

Mycenae and

Tiryns, all probability seems in favour of some form of early writing having existed on the mainland side. Recent discoveries have now produced the clearest evidence
that the

Minoan type of

civilization

was much deeper rooted even

in in

Greece than had hitherto been

1
'

realized.

A
*
*

marble spout of a fountain

'

Northern the form

comes down perhaps

suggested
in

This deposit Knossos,' Report, 1902, pp. 94, 95. to a somewhat later date than that
the Report.

Knossos,' Report, 1905, pp. 2-16.

cit.,

Op.

p. 16.

SCRIPTA MINOA
of a lioness's head found by the French explorers at Delphi is of identical fabric with more than one specimen belonging to the latest Palace Period at Knossos. The 'Kad- Rooms belonging to an important building, apparently a Palace, including traces of 3 meia of brilliant wall-paintings, have quite lately been struck on the Kadmeia of Thebes. Thebes and the What seem to be the remains of another Palace have been brought to light by
'

'

Palace of

Orchomenos.

explorers at Orchomenos, and the fragments of wall-paintings found there, both in their decorative motives and their indications of pillar shrines and the sports of the bull-ring, are identical down to the minutest details with similar the

German

These discoveries show that in the great closing age of the Cretan Palaces the same craftsmen, or at least those who had worked in the same school, were indifferently employed in the island centre of the Minoan civilization and at Delphi and Orchomenos. They are speaking evidences of the existence, at least during the Second Late Minoan Period, of a Minoan predominance, not to use a stronger expression, extending North of the Gulf of Corinth. The correspondence of 'Minos' with the Boeotian 'Minyas' long since suggested on philological grounds receives a striking corroboration from these archaeological
discoveries.

works from Knossos. 4

In the

Boeotian Palaces

we

find the

same

artistic

designs and technical pro-

Is it reasonable, then, to suppose cesses as in the great foundations of Minoan Crete. that this Mainland culture, so identical in other respects, was ignorant of the Art of

Writing ?
invented letters gains a new Kadmos, as we now know, is simply the Eponymos of the hill citadel significance. traditions of Kadmos of Thebes, the Kadmeia, and represents a local name common to the aboriginal as inventor element on both sides of the Aegean. 5 The epithet oivig, itself, as Pick has shown,

The

In this connexion the old tradition that

Kadmos

Boeotian

of the

Alphabet.

The prehistoric past of Boeotia now has nothing to do with the Phoenicians. proves not to be Phoenician but Minoan, and no single trace has come to light of
Semitic colonization nor of even a single object of Phoenician import. It has been already noted above that during the Third Late Minoan Age, which immediately succeeds that to which the lioness's head of Delphi and the painted stucco
of
belong, the centre of gravity of the Minoan world tends to shift to the Mainland side. The Continental branch at this time begins to react on the culture

Orchomenos

of Crete as well as on that of the

1

Aegean
to

islands formerly

under Cretan domination.

Professor Paul Perdrizet kindly called

'

my attention
An

this head.
1

Knossos,' Report (1900), B.S.A.,

vi. p. 31.

illusviii.

tration is
8

given by Perrot, L'Art dans I'Antiquite,

p. 161, Fig. 87.

These excavations were due to M. Keramopoulos, who See regards the building as the House of Kadmos Am.Journ. of Archaeology, xi, 1907, p. 97. * H. Bulle, Orchomenos (1907) I. Die alteren Ansied' '. '
:

lungsschichten," pp. 71 seqq., 127, 128, and Pis.

XXVIII,

XXIX.
Dr.

And cf. Die Woche, 1904, Heft 5, pp. 215, 216. Bulle, who rightly regards the resemblance with the

Knossian paintings as extraordinarily close, is led to the belief that the work was executed by Cretan artists. He does not consider the building at Knossos to represent a shrine, but his arguments against the religious element in this and other works of Minoan art have by no means been borne out by the most recent Cretan discoveries. The basement of a small shrine like that of the Miniature Frescoes at Knossos has now been brought to light in juxtaposition to the earlier shrine of the Goddess with the Snakes. 6 Fick, Vorgriechischc OrtsnaiHcn, pp. 81,84, I2 & Kad-

mos

is

also a river-name.

SURVIVALS OF THE ART OF WRITING

'

57

That during the Reoccupation Period at Knossos, which answers to the close of this epoch, any appreciable influence was exercised by Crete on Northern Greece is
not at
all

'

probable.
Inscribed

This consideration has an important bearing on the very interesting discovery

made by

Dr. Bulle of a late 'stirrup-vase' at Orchomenos, belonging to the period succeeding the age of the Minoan wall-paintings, presenting a group of four linear menos:

SCRIPTA MINOA
also appears that the numeral signs /. which follow the inscription, answer to those of the hieroglyphic system l and to the earlier documents of the Linear Class A.
It
|

sum which, in the later inscriptions of the According to these they would signify This Minyan type Linear Class A and throughout Class B, is indicated by El. of linear script, of which a fragment has been here preserved for us, seems then The supposition that the stirrupto have had a considerable independent history. vase itself is a late importation from Minoan Crete is, indeed, contrary to all probaRather we may see in it a remarkable indication that the tradition of the bility.
'

313

'

early diffusion of the ArJ of Writing in Boeotia by of truth.

Its signs
fit

'

Kadmos'

possesses a real kernel

to earlier

on

Cretan
systems.

signs and numerals on the Orchomenos Vase fit on rather to the earlier systems of the Cretan script than to the Linear Class B which was in vogue at Knossos during the latest Minoan Age is not the only phenomenon of the
fact that the

The

Minyan

kind on the Mainland

side.

In a chamber

belonging to the borders of the

tomb of the Lower Town of Mycenae, Second or Third Late Minoan Period, Dr. Tsuntas dis-

covered two plain clay amphoras of Egyptianizing form, the handle of one of which was engraved with a group of three
Of these the first is common to both Sign -group linear signs (Fig. 33). on vases the advanced linear scripts of Crete, but the second is a from Mycenae characteristic sign of Class A, and the third only slightly
:

/ft

A
FIG. 33-

evidences of Mainland type of script.

differentiated

system.

On
3

from another sign exclusively confined to that the handle of another similar amphora from the Tholos tomb of

(Acharnae), belonging to the same late Period, was engraved the sign identical with the Cypriote pa, which also belongs to the same Cretan system. have here, therefore, the evidence, scanty as yet, it is true, but highly

Menidi

We

sig-

and perhaps in Attica during the latest Mycenae Minoan and Mycenaean period of a system of script which fits on to a Cretan signary of distinctly earlier date. These inscriptions, therefore, seem to have been engraved in Greece proper and not to have been imported from any contemporary
nificant, of the existence at
itself

Cretan centre.

The remarkable
in the ruins of a

inscription cut

on the handle of a stone vessel found by Tsuntas

4

house on the Acropolis of Mycenae

sign p, however,
is

leads to less certain results

(Fig. 34).

The

first

again characteristic of the Minoan Class A.

The second sign is obviously pictographic in character, representing an instrument. To these may be added two incised characters (Fig. 35) on a bronze axe hammer obtained by me from Delphi." The upper of these signs somewhat resembles a picto1

See below, Part

Tsuntas,

II.

Uttt^rai, p. 213,

and

p. 214, Figs, i,

2; Cretan

Picis., &c., p. 4 [273], Fig.

2 (reproduced in Fig. 33).

4 Tsuntas, MVKQVM, p. 214, Figs. 3, 4 betfer, Tsuntas and Manatt, Mycenaean Age, p. 269, Figs. 238, 239, from which Fig. 34 is taken. The stone vessel itself resembles
;

Tsuntas, the same tomb

loc.

cit.

On

another amphora handle from

Cretan examples.
5

Greek

incised a character resembling the n, which does not occur in the Cretan signaries.

was

Cretan

Picts., &c., p.

[280], Fig.

7.

SURVIVALS OF THE ART OF WRITING

graph of an aquatic
bird,

59
1

Minoan hieroglyphic series. The fountain spout in the form of a lioness's head, referred to above, is by itself sufficient proof of a very direct connexion between Delphi and Minoan Crete. So far as Crete is concerned we are justified in concluding that, whether owing to some blow from without or to some upheaval from within, or, what is more probable, to both causes combined, the centralized Minoan power, of which the great Palaces are the speaking record, was at this time broken up. That a considerable
which occurs
in

the

Break up
c

change had now been wrought may be deduced from the fact that the Kefts, the leading representatives of the Minoan power of the middle and latter 2 part of the Eighteenth Dynasty, entirely disappear from the Egyptian records. Among the names of the Viking hordes who now pour forth from their Aegean homes, the Tsakara and Purasati or Pulasati appear as prominent members of the Philistine Confederacy, to which the latter in all probability gave its name.
political

FIG. 35.

Signs on bronze axe

hammer, Delphi.

FIG. 34.

Part of stone vessel from

Mycenae with

inscription

on handle.

of the results ot the flourishing period to which the Cretan Palaces, earlier Crete and later, were due had been no doubt a great increase in the population. had not only become in a true sense the land of the Hundred Cities ', but of the
'

One

Remains of settlements belonging to the latest Minoan Age are continually coming to light in the remotest glens and mountain fastnesses. With the fall of the central government, however, much of the trade on which the most What, for instance, populous districts must have depended was inevitably ruined. must have become of the purple-fisheries or of the oil-export to Egypt perhaps the principal source of Minoan wealth when the sea was no longer policed ? The With the island no doubt was unable to support the population contained by it. break-up of the Minoan sea power an inevitable consequence of the. political chaos and the pressure of impoverishment on an over-populated area, the more enterthousand
villages.'
1

See below, Hart

II,

9,

No. 81.
3

See

H. R. Hall,' Keftiu and Peoples of the Sea,' B. S. A., Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos, pp. 108, 109.

viii.

pp. 157 seqq.

6o

SCRIPTA MINOA
would be impelled by
their

prising spirits in the different districts seek outlets oversea.

Impulse from Mainland side.

growing needs

to

Minoan Age an impulse from the Mainland side no doubt gave an additional impetus to this movement. There the representatives of the kindred stock, to which the parallel civilization of Mycenae seems to have owed That they had been themits original development, were themselves in a hard case.

Towards the

close of the Late

time largely Hellenized by a surrounding proto-Greek population, It is certain that these owed later represented by the Arcadians, is extremely probable. a manifold debt to the older stock. The abiding traditions of the Arcadians, indeed,
selves

'

'

by

this

Pressure

due to Achaean
invasions.

Peloponnese or among their colonial offshoots in Italy and Cyprus, show how much they had taken over, especially in the religious sphere, from the Minoan World. Both these more old-established elements were now pressed by the Achaean tribes, whose oldest records point to Northern Greece. The first effects of these invasions may well have been to give a spur to Mycenaean colonization in its narrower sense. But the Achaean conquerors seem rapidly to have englobed and

whether

in the

'

'

'

assimilated the
' '

Mycenaean
sufficiently

elements of the Peloponnese. How large a part of the civilization they themselves took over from the earlier inhabitants
earlier

is

proved

by the

living

record

preserved

to

us

in

the

Homeric

poems.
It
is

which Achaeans were

oversea.
Akaiuasha-

probably not unconnected with the new racial torrent from the North finally resulted in the Dorian Conquest of the Peloponnese that the
in

turn

compelled themselves

to

take

part

in

the

movement

Achaeans
sea enterprise

It is significant

their over-

Purasati and

that at the close of this period two generations later than the their fellows there appear, among the Viking tribes that now come to

and

expansion.

the fore in the Egyptian records, the Akaiuasha, who, from De Rough's time onwards, The Akaiuasha first make their have been generally identified with the Achaeans.

appearance

in

the

fifth

year of Rameses III

that

is,

about 1197

B.

in

company

with Libyan and other confederates, as taking part in a combined invasion of the Western parts of Lower Egypt. It results at any rate from Greek tradition that the Achaeans about this time took the lead in a great movement ol expansion oversea,
of which indeed the echo
still

resounds to us

in the

Tale of Troy.

That representatives of the older Minoan stock followed in the train of the Achaean leaders is probable enough. It is certain at any rate that in Crete itself, as is seen from the foundation sagas and names of a series of Cretan cities, 2 Achaean expansion was partly at the expense of the older inhabitants. There arose a Cretan Mycenae, and Lampa claimed Agamemnon as the founder. We have now reached the borders of the transitional Sub-Minoan Age, marked by the incipient use of iron implements. This is precisely the period when the Homeric poems the apotheosis
'

'

For the Minoan elements

in the
2

'

Arcadian

'

traditions of

Rome

may

refer to

my

Myc. Tree and Pillar

Cult.

See Fick, Vorgriechische Orfsnanien, pp. 6 seqq.

SURVIVALS OF THE ART OF WRITING

of

61

Achaean enterprise
be taken to

take their characteristic shape,

Iliad

reflect Achaean domination at may Homeric poems themselves afford a convincing proof that the traditions of the earlier Minoan and Mycenaean culture lived on in that of the Viking race of Greece. But we are at present more immediately concerned with waves of more purely Colonizing Minoan expansion, some of which had long preceded this Achaean tide. There movement can be no question that the colonizing movement from the Aegean shores, one of Mediter the principal radiating points of which was Minoan Crete, began at a considerably anean

and the Idomeneus of the Knossos itself. At the same time

1

the

|"

earlier date.

In Anatolia and Cyprus, in Canaan, in Egypt, in Sicily, and even in Spain, there are indications of intimate contact with the Minoan world, suggesting at least the existence of Cretan factories, and perhaps of even more extensive plantations,

those various regions, going back to the beginning of the Later Palace Period of Knossos, or even to the preceding Middle Minoan Age. The later swarms of
in

emigration followed in the wake of earlier pioneers. This far-reaching diffusion of Minoan influence throughout the whole Mediter- Was knowge of ranean basin, of which the evidences are only gradually coming to light, has an !^ intimate connexion with our present subject. For the possibility can no longer be script thus c excluded that the same agencies by which the products of Minoan art and industry

reached distant lands and germinated there as colonial offshoots, may have diffused a knowledge of one or other of the Minoan scripts. In this connexion a summary
survey of the wide field of Minoan and Mycenaean expansion beyond the Aegean area brings out a series of recurring phenomena of a suggestive kind.

I.

18.

MINOAN INFLUENCES ON THE ANATOLIAN SIDE

^P

well-established affinity between a very early element in the Cretan popu- Non-Greek rm S n lation and the Carians, and the further links of linguistic connexion between these
t
jj

The

again and the Lycians and other races of Southern and Western Asia Minor, suggest
In that region, moreover, we find the question of Minoan influence in that direction. at a later date a series of alphabets, of which the Carian and the Lycian may stand
Andrew Lang (Homer and his Age, 1906, pp. 176 seqq.,andcf. 'Homer and his Critics \Edinb.Rev., Jan. 1908,
1

alphabets,

Mr.

' Jan. 1908, p. 78). To suppose that Epic poets archaized to the extent of recalling a particular transitional phase of
'

pp. 76 seqq.) has

shown conclusively

that the

Homeric

Poems belong
is still

a stage of culture in which bronze used for swords, spears, and armour, while tools
to

and implements are of iron. This corresponds with a distinct phase of which we have archaeological evidence, Thus in the Cypro-Minoan Tombs at Enkomi the weapons

were of bronze, but small

iron

knives also occurred

(Murray, Excavations in Cyprus, p. 25). In a tomb recently discovered inthe north-west of the Peloponnese were L. M. Ill vases, bronze axes, and spear-heads, but an iron
spear butt (Man, October, 1907,
p.

bygone culture is absurd. The primitive artist, whether words or colours, reproduces the society in which he lives. He does not archaize at all. Moreover, an 'archaizer' would have made all bronze: tools as well as weapons. He could not have had the archaeological knowledge to carry out the distribution of the two metals as is done in Homer. The method in the Homeric usage was indeed long since recognized by Cauer and others, Iron, in short, is there because it always was there, and
in
' '

Mr. Lang has the credit of pointing out the distinct

chronological impoi
of the
fact.

156

Lang, Edinb. Rev.,

62

SCRIPTA MINOA

as examples, presenting various indigenous characters, the origin of which has not The generally accepted view is that the Greek as yet been satisfactorily explained.

both of the Carian and the Lycian alphabets were introduced by the Dorian settlers of Rhodes, but the indigenous characters with which they are associated cannot by any legitimate process of derivation be traceable to a Greek alphabetic
letters
1

source. Hittite in-

considered,

must, of course, never lose sight of the fact that large sections of the aboriginal Anatolian stock to which the Lycians, Carians, and their congeners belong, came, at least by the close of the second millennium before our era, within the sphere of the Hittite culture. It is true that, as we now know, one of the most
ancient strongholds of the Hittite power, Boghaz Keui, identified by Winckler with Hatti, rose in the heart of Cappadocia, and its other principal sites, such as Ivriz and Bor (Tyana), Sendjirli, and Carchemish, lay away from the Mediterranean shores.
nevertheless permeated the old Phrygian area, and, as the Niobe of Mt. Sipylos In parts at least of Cilicia, attests, pushed its way westwards to the Aegean. moreover, it also embraced an old Carian population, and the royal name Tarkutimme
It

We

of the bilingual Hittite-Assyrian seal 3 belongs to this latter element. Still further to the East, in the old kingdom of S'am'al, the monuments of Sendjirli have illustrated a similar phenomenon, and two of the last kings of that region, belonging to the period of Assyrianization in the eighth century B.C., bear the name of Panammu, 4 which appears in a Hellenized garb as Ilavap.^ in Caria and Pisidia. The first
5

has indeed a special interest, as one of the Curetes and of the Carian Zeus.

element of
Hittites

this

it

recurs in Pan^maros, the

name

of

and
Carians.

It is still by no means clear, however, that the supposed Hittite language, seen in the tablets from the country of Arzawa found at Tell el-Amarna, 6 in that from 7 Yuzgat, and in the abundant documents of the same kind at present being brought

to light

by Winckler

features, so far

Boghaz Keui, belonged to the Carian group. Its linguistic as they are known, have suggested various comparisons, including
at

The introduction of these Dorian forms into Lycia took place at an early date, since already by the date of the Abu Simbel inscriptions the Dorian colonists of Rhodes had taken over the alphabet of their Ionian
1

&c., pp. 362-4; see the Cilician, Lycian, Pamphylian, and Pisidian comparisons. The King TarhundarauS of Arzapi, who appears on the Tell el-Amarna tablets, bears another name-form of the same Anatolian class.
4

neighbours. 2 For the source of the Carian

E. Sachau, in Ausgrabungen in Stmischirli,

i.

pp. 58

alphabet see Sayce,

seqq.
8

'The Karian Language and Inscriptions' (Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., ix. pp. 112-54), and cf. Kretschmer (Einl. in d.
the Lycian letters see Kalinka, Tituli Lyciae, p. 5, who, however, does not attempt seriously to grapple with the non-Greek forms.
Gesch. d. gr. Sprache, pp. 381, 382).

Kretschmer, op.

cit.,

p.

397

(cf.

Ball, Proc. Soc. bibl.

in the word is also names Panyassis or

On

Arch., 1888, p. 432). found in the Carian, &c., personal Panyasis, and Pandblentis.
6

The

first

element

J.

A. Knudtzon, Die
'

sivei Arzaiva-Briefe, &c.,

'

mil

from Such suggestions as the derivation of \f and *W from Y, can hardly be regarded as convincing.
,

',

Bemerkungen von S. Bugge (1902). 7 Sayce and Pinches, The Tablet from Yuzgat
cation
8
'

(Publi-

'

The

Silver boss of Tarkondemos.'

vii.

Bibl. Arch.,
tites,

(1881), p. 297
;

Sayce, Trans. Soc. Wright, Empire of the Hit-

of the Liverpool Institute of Archaeology). H. Winckler, Vorlaufige Nachrichten ilber die Ausgrain

pp. 165 seqq. Hilprecht, Assyrian*, i. 117 seqq. (as and cf. Kretschmer, Einldtung, against Jensen's view)
;

bungen

Boghazkiol im

Sommer

1907,'

Mitth. d.

D.

Orientgesellschaft, Nr. 35.

MINOAN INFLUENCES ON THE ANATOLIAN SIDE

Aryan.
1

63
Hittite

can hardly be regarded as satisfactory. On the other hand, it is to be observed that the South- Western part of Asia Minor including the later Caria and Lycia seems to have been very little penetrated by Hittite influences. In this

The inclusion, nevertheless, of so many outlying sections of the old Carian stock within the borders of the Hittite Empire has naturally led to the attempt to derive the non-Hellenic element in the alphabet of Southern and Western Anatolia 2 from the Hittite script, and even to connect with it the Cypriote But, except syllabary. in a few cases, the are not and such derivations as correspondences convincing,
from

tolian

ated.

direction,

outside Cilicia, Hittite

monuments

at present fail

us,

warrant for believing that Hittite influence did not assert

within this area.

itself

and there is good in an intensive form

perhaps conclude that throughout at least the maritime tract of Southern Were and Western Asia Minor there may have been some counteracting influence from
the

May we

"

Greek"

Aegean
in

parallel

That
'

The Phaestos Disk even suggests that an independent civilization forms of to the Minoan may have developed itself in this region at an early date. ^)gn" the latest Minoan Age Aegean domination of some sort was exercised over Traces of
side ?
'

parts of the Western Anatolian coastland is sufficiently proved by the Mycenaean and other of remains of this have come to at Miletos a Hissarlik, city period light

and elsewhere. 4

Minor.

Extremely decadent traditions of the same kind are shown in the relics from the cemetery of Assarlik near Myndos, and there has been a general tendency to regard the Minoan or Mycenaean influence on the Anatolian side as very late and superficial. But it was not certainly from far afield that the Phrygians derived their versions of The horned Some the Lions' Gate motive as we see them at Arslan-KaYa and elsewhere. 5 sword type of the last brilliant age of the Knossian Palace penetrated as far as Pergamon, and a gem and an engraved ring, of the best period of Minoan glyptic have been found, the one at Priene, art, exhibiting scenes of the taurokcithapsia, 7 It seems likely that, as the archaeological evidence the other in the Carian interior. accumulates, the Minoan element in Western and Southern Asia Minor will be found to be earlier and more deeply rooted than has been hitherto imagined.
'
'

of

Knudtzon and Bugge,

op.

cit.

Sayce,

op.cit., p. 51,

adds

several Anatolian sites showing a large Late

ingredient.
4

Minoan

III

the Mitannian group, in which case a remarkable Iranian

element has
'

be taken into account (cf. Eduard der Arier in der Geschichte,' Auftreten erste Das Meyer, Sitzitngsber. d. k. Pr. Akad. d. Wissensch., 9. Januar

now

to

R. M. Dawkins,
7.

Year's

Work

in

Classical Studies,

1907, p.

The

later Ionian Miletos

was

traditionally a

names of dynasts but the worship of

fifteenth
2

certainly surprising to find not only Iranian Indra, Varuna, and Mithra established on the Euphrates by the end of the
1908).
It is

colony of the Cretan city of the same name, now Milatos But itself a prolific source of Late Minoan remains. Mr. Hogarth failed to find a Minoan stratum at Ephesus.
5

century

B.C.

Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos, pp. losseqq. The author possesses a fine example of

a bronze

Sayce,

in Isaac Taylor,

Empire of the Hittites, p. reproduced with approval by Perrot, Hist, de I Art, iii. But Professor Sayce has since shown himself quite 521.
in

The Alphabet, ii. p. 123 also These comparisons are 178.

;

short sword of this type found in the neighbourhood of

new aspects of the problem brought out by the discovery of the Minoan scripts. * Sir W. Ramsay has made a collection of sherds from
alive to the
EVANS
I

Pergamon. 7 The gem, one of the finest existing glyptic works of this class, from the beginning of the Late Minoan Period, was formerly in the Tyskiewicz Collection both this and
:

the engraved ring, of gilded bronze, are

lection.

now

in

my

col-

SCRIPTA MINOA
Traditions of Cretan settlement
in

That over and above the pre-existing race affinities there was an actual colonial infusion in these regions from the Cretan side is in accordance with the persistent
tradition of antiquity.

Ana-

Analogy might lead us

to suppose

that actual

settlement

tolia.

Sarpedon
in Lycia.

followed here, as apparently in Canaan, in Cyprus, in Sicily and the far West, in the wake In Lycia, especially, the sagas relating to Cretan of earlier commercial intercourse. conquest under Sarpedon, the brother of Minos, may well be found to have an historic
1

kernel.
Evidence
of local names.

The
its

and on

old Cretan town-names Aptara and Einatos repeat themselves in Lycia, Minassos 1 borders was both a mountain and a town called Daedala. 2
interior

New

basis

supplied for possible source of

combines a topographical name-ending, familiar both to the Cretan and Anatolian branch of the old stock, with the root of Min6s, while Knos the 4 patronymic of Knossos appears in the lists of the Corycian cave-sanctuary. In view of these abiding traces of old Cretan connexion with the Western and Southern littoral of Asia Minor, the discovery of the Cretan scripts must in any case
in the Pisidian

non-Greek
elements in Anatolian
alphabets.

be considered to open new possibilities as to the origin of the non-Hellenic signs in the Anatolian alphabets. If, as seems highly probable, actual colonial plantations from Minoan Crete existed in this region, would they not have brought with them,
as the

The
to

letter

of Proetos

Lycian King.

of their writing ? When we recall the traditional relationship of the royal houses of Lycia and Crete, the well-known passage in the Iliad describing the letter of Proetos King of

Minoan merchants did

to Melos, 5

some knowledge

Argos acquires a new significance. Proetos, the Homeric Potiphar, sends off Bellerophon to the King of Lycia the language of which country he may be supposed to have learnt during his own exile
there
:

8e p.iv Au/cnjvSe, iropev

8'

o ye cr^jnara \vypd,
6

s iv irivaKi TTTVKTU 8vp.o<f>66pa TroXXa,

Seifcu

8'

rjvutyuv

<5

irevOepw,

ofyp

aTroXoiro.

That the o-^Vara \vypd, written in a folding tablet, must be here taken to mean some On the other hand, the attitude of the poet form of writing cannot be doubted. towards them, as shown by the epithet 6vp.o(j)d6pa, is rather that of a more primitive stage of society in which the letters are regarded as possessing a magical
power.
7

existence of the art of writing in Greece was known, then, to Homer, but coupled in a special way with a Royal House having Lycian and Cretan relationships. It may be observed that the closed tablets on which the characters were written,
335 seqq. Kretschmer, op. cit., p. 371, inclines to the opinion that these traditions may be due to later Greek colonists from Crete, on the South coast of Asia Minor, of which there are some
i.

The

Herod,

173

cf.

Hoeck,

Crete,

ii.

Kretschmer,
Hicks,
;

Einl., &c., p. 394,

and

cf.

Pick,

Vorgr.

Ortstiamen, p. 27.
4
'

Inscriptions from
stone,
viii.
1.

Western

Cilicia,'

J. H. S.,

xii. p.
6
6

But since 1896, when his work written, points of view have arisen. 1 The Cretan town (Kpijrwi' Tro'Xir, Steph. Byz., s. v. Diodor. xviii. 44, 47; Kpr, T <'mo\ts, Ptol.) in Pisidia may, of course, be a later settlement.
traces in Pamphylia.

was

new

255 See above, p. 35. Iliad\\. 168 seqq.

Iliad,

3.

'

'

Compare the
ad

The

loc.,

judicious observations of Dr. and Iliad ii. 329, where

W.

Leaf,

<f>66pa

are 'magic potions'.

MINOAN INFLUENCES ON THE ANATOLIAN SIDE

We

65

1 resembling, as Pliny has already noted, the later pugillares or wax tablets, represent a decidedly advanced method of procedure. have here, perhaps, a hint of the

which much of the correspondence in the Knossian Palace was preserved. The closed wooden tablets have perished, but the clay seals, showing traces of the 2 string with which they were secured, have been preserved by the hundred. Similar traditions of the very ancient use of letters seem to have been pre3 served in Lycia itself. According to Pliny, Mucianus, who was Consul in A. D. 52, 70, and 75, related that when Governor of Lycia he had read a letter preserved in a certain temple the material being in this case papyrus 4 which had been
form
in

Traditional

Sarpedon.

written

by Sarpedon when
far then, in

at

Troy.
possibilities

opened by the Cretan evidence, do the non-Hellenic letters of the Lycian and Carian group of alphabets answer to Minoan characters? The question has not failed to suggest itself to the most
6

How

view of the new

CompariAnatolian

and

acute inquirers in this epigraphic field. signs." The difficulty that besets any attempt at detailed comparisons is that we have no one standard signary of Minoan origin that covers the whole ground. The

Conventionalized Pictographic or Hieroglyphic series is still incomplete, and it may be regarded as certain that many of the later linear signs had more or less pictorial prototypes (together with their graffito simplifications), of which examples
'

'

'

'

have not yet been found.

On

the other hand, the two Linear types of Script,

There is are to a great extent parallel, and overlap chronologically. a large common element, but also a number of forms peculiar to one or the other It is probable that they mark the separate usage of distinct dynasties or of system.
and
B,

the tribal elements that these represented. In addition to these, moreover, there seem to be traces of one or more affiliated systems having been current on the mainland
side.

has also to be observed that several signs which already appear in a more or less linearized form on the graffiti of the hieroglyphic class, and seem there to be of
It

fairly

we

occurrence, are not found in either of the later linear systems that have at our disposal. It is possible, however, that such may have survived in
linear series of Late

common

some other

Minoan

date,

and possibly

also

among

signs in

use in the Minoan colonies oversea, the tendency of colonial tradition being often, as is well known, extremely conservative.
It

results

from these considerations that comparisons based on the signs of the

plus ou moins, et les formes lineaires des anciens hieroParfois 1'analogie ne semblera pas glyphes cretois
. . .

1 H. N. xiii. 21 Piigillaniim enim usum fuisse etiani ante Troiana tempora invenimus apud Homerum.

2 3 4
"'

See above, p. 44, &c. H. N. xiii. 27.

Charla.

suffisante,

mais d'autres

fois elle

me

parait tellement evi-

Already

in a private

in 1895, after the publication of Pictographs, M. J. P. Six wrote :

communication addressed to me my work on the Cretan

'

dente que j'oserais presqu'affirmer que quelques lettres lyciennes derivent directement des hieroglyphics cretois.' Further references will be found below to M. Six's suggestions.

To-day, with the developed linear scripts before us,

Je pas eu de peine a trouver toute une serie d'analogies plus ou moins grandes entre les lettres lyciennes qui ne sont pas derive'es de 1'alphabet grcco-phenicien, ou qui en different
n'ai
I

as well as the fuller materials for the hieroglyphic signary, the evidence is very much stronger. Professor Sayce has also shown a due appreciation of the comparative value of

the

new

materials.

66
Minoan,
aiidCarian
signs

SCRIPTA MINOA
script
1

compared.

must in their nature be somewhat eclectic. In the annexed comparative table of Lycian and Carian letters (Fig. 36) and Minoan signs, the examples of the latter are taken from among the linearized hieroglyphic forms as well as from the two linear scripts.

Minoan

LYCIAN

CRETAN
n

CARIAN
E

CRETAN

tl

)K,)K

I4M

5T
\1/
K-

Y
O
A.B.
20

M
FIG. 36

M
signs.

(TABLE

II).

Comparison between Lycian, Carian, and Minoan

Value of
corre

must, of course, be admitted that correspondences of characters of simple formation do not in themselves count for much. Slight modifications spondences geometrical considered, of Greek letters to suit new and somewhat variant sounds may also have occurred
It
1

The Lycian forms

are given with Kalinka's values

from his forms of

table, Tituli Lyciae, pp. 7, 8.

The remarkable

(8, 9) were supplied me by M. J. P. Six (see below). The Carian letters are from Professor Sayce's The larger capitals table, Trans. Soc. Bib/. Arch., ix. 139.

indicate the probable values of the letters. The smaller capitals refer to the Cretan scripts in which the signs preceding them are found. P = Conventionalized Picto-

graphs or Hieroglyphs
the Linear Series B.

A=

the Linear Series

A; B =

MINOAN INFLUENCES ON THE ANATOLIAN SIDE

in certain cases.

67

There

is

no

of the Lycian E, as seen in entiated versions of Y. Other types, however, are of greater value. The second of the Carian signs for SS., 1 ^f, answers to a character that is found both in the

supposing that one or other of the forms No. 2 of the above table, may have arisen as differdifficulty in

hieroglyphic and linear scripts of Crete. The equivalence of the Lycian X with led M. J. P. Six to the conclusion that the versions of the sign, so closely resembling the
first
it

Minoan pictograph,

that appear

letter

is

remembered

or syllable of the town-name. interest when that the old Carian Miletos claimed to be a colony of the homocity,

on early coins of Miletos This result has a special

represent the

nymous Cretan
'

and

that Late

forms of the Lycian U,

Minoan remains have come to 3 given under Nos. 8 and 9, also clearly

light there.
recall the

The

Cretan

the linearized degenerations of which can be traced through all the variant systems of the Minoan script. Typologically these Lycian forms go back to a stage antecedent to any known version of the Phoenician 'am.

eye

'-sign,

might be urged that the signs of the Anatolian group of alphabets that do not seem to belong to the Greco-Phoenician series were in fact supplied by some indigenous system of writing, parallel to the Minoan, which had been independently evolved by the old Carians and their kin. That a very early family of signs of the primitive linear' class existed in this region we know from the graffiti of Hissarlik. The 4 But is of universal occurrence. phenomenon itself, indeed as pointed out above
It
'

Primitive

gnso(
Hissarlik,
*

from the rude scratchings of primitive pictography it is a far cry to a systematic form of script, such as we find in Crete in a highly developed form, with signs that were used as syllables, or even letters, as well as ideographs. That the same elements of primitive writing as underlie the developed scripts of Crete existed in a very similar guise among the kindred populations of Southern and Western Asia
is in itself highly probable. The discovery of the hieroglyphic Disk from Phaestos exhibiting characters distinct from those of the Minoan system has now,

Represent
Different stage in

Minor

of writing.

Should it prove to have been indeed, opened out new possibilities on this side. the work of some neighbouring people from the Anatolian coastland it would itself be
sufficient

proof that at a very early period a high civilization had grown up in that maritime region, interrelated no doubt with the Minoan but standing to it in a parallel

rather than a dependent relation. The future course of archaeological investigation will no doubt elucidate the interesting question. Meanwhile, however, it is well to remember that the Phaestos Disk at present stands alone.
This sign, with its three upright strokes, is clearly to be distinguished from Samek, where they are horizontal,
It
1

dard (B. M.

seems

to survive in the

rji

of the

Mesembrian

coins.

The simpler type Cat., Ionia, PI. Ill, 5, 6). placed after the other under No. 20 is found on another electrum piece referred by Six to Miletos (B. M. Cat.,
I,

seen, as pointed out by Ramsay, in the Lygdamis inscription of Halicarnassos (/. G. A. 500), where it occurs
It is

two Carian names. It is also found on Naukratite sherds (Naukratis, I, PI. XXXII), the Teos inscription (Roehl, /. G. A. 457 B), and, as Mr. Hogarth informs me, on the gold plate discovered by him at Ephesus (Archaic Artemision, ch. vi, ad fin.). 2 The first of the two forms given under No. 20 occurs on the electrum coins of Miletos of the Phoenician stanin

B.C. Head, 5), dating from the -sixth century suggests the same attribution. On later coins of Miletos the civic name is indicated by the monogram |^|. 3 No. 8 coupled with 2 appears on the body of a boar. (Babelon, Perses Achemenides, PI. XI, 4, p. 64, 'vers 460 av. J-C.') The variant No. 9 appears (also with Z) on

Ionia, PI.

op.

cit.,

p. 2,

the reverse of the

4

same

coin.

See above, pp. 3 seqq.

68

SCRIPTA MINOA

I.

$9.

MINOAN CYPRUS AND THE INSULAR SCRIPTS

colonial influence,

Minoan
colonization of

Cyprus.

accompanied by parallel phenomena in a more intensive shape than is to be found on the neighbouring Anatolian coastlands, we Here have a still more striking example on the same side in the case of Cyprus. the aboriginal element represented by Kinyras the son of Sandon, the Teukrids of Salamis, and by such local names as Tamassos and Nemessos seems to have been identical with that of the neighbouring Cilician littoral, and belonged therefore to the Eastern branch of the same ethnic group as the indigenous population of Crete.

Of

Minoan

The

later

Cypriote
syllabary.

In Cyprus, too, at a later date, the Greek-speaking inhabitants are found possessed of a complete syllabary of characters distinct from the Greco-Phoenician, containing certain forms that closely resemble some of the non-Greek signs of the Anatolian

At first sight the evidence might be thought to point to the ultimate alphabets. derivation of the Cypriote syllabary from a very ancient signary which had been the common possession of the old Carian stock on the mainland side as well as in
the island.
Early
culture of

Cyprus
Cretan.

in-

ferior to

no good reason why Cyprus itself should not have given birth to an early civilization on a level with that of Minoan Its geographical position, as near the Syrian as the Anatolian coast, brought Crete. it almost to the gates of the old Oriental monarchies, and influences from this side
face of
it,

There would, on the

seem

to be

are attested not only by the appearance here at a Very remote period of the cylinder type of seal, but by the occurrence of more than one of the Babylonian originals

First high
civilization

reaches

Cyprus
from

and the rude designs on the native Cypriote examples were ultimately derived. There were nearly equal facilities for early contact with Egypt, which to the primitive Cretans had been of such stimulating effect. The rich stores of copper, moreover, exploited betimes by the Cypriotes, makes it natural to suppose that the trade relations of the island would have been widely diffused throughout the East Mediterranean lands from a remote period. Of such influence It penetrated to Hissarlik and even no doubt there are traces in many directions. to the Danubian Valley, and the early wares of Cyprus have themselves been found on the Acropolis at Athens,- at Therasia/ and elsewhere in the Aegean area. Yet despite its mineral wealth, despite its position, within sight of the Lebanon and almost opposite the Nile mouths, the indigenous Bronze Age culture of Cyprus was incomparably behind that of Minoan Crete. It was from a Minoan source
from which both the cylinder form
itself
1
1

Minoan
source.

that the
1

first

elements of high civilization reached

range
of early
the

its

shores.

The

first

signs of

For summary indications of the

influence see J. L. Myres,

Cypriote Catalogue of Cyprus Museum, pp. 17, 18. More recently Freiherr von Lichtenberg, in his 'Beitrage zur altesten Geschichte von Kypros' (Mitth. d. vorderasiat. Gen., 1906, 2), has done much to illustrate the connexions between the early

Valley, and the Alpine regions. Much material bearing on the same relations had already been collected by Much (Kupferseit in Europa) and Hoernes in his Urgesclrichte
1
:;

der bildenden Kiinst in Europa.

p.

Myres, op. cit., p. 17. Furtwangler u. Loeschke, Mykenisclte Vasen,

22;

Cypriote culture and that of the Troad, the

Danubian

Atlas, PI. XII, 80.

MINOAN CYPRUS AND THE INSULAR SCRIPTS

this influence are to

69

of the 'Middle

imported fragments of the fine polychrome ware By the middle of the ensuing Late Minoan Period, however, there appear widespread indications of what can only be regarded as a settlement on a large scale from the Aegean side, in all probability, in part at
be seen
in

Minoan'

class.

least,

from Crete

itself.
2

The handle and fragments

with

of the fine bronze cauldron of

its reliefs of running bulls and lion-headed demons both in style and subject with the best work of the pouring libations, compares later Palace at Knossos. lentoid bead-seal exhibits a design of a kind of Cerberus

the Cesnola Collection,

with

belonging to the same family as the Minotaurs, the man-lions, and man-stags of the same Cretan school, while the objects of faience ware such as the 3 fit closely on to the rhyton in shape of a horse's head of perfect naturalism
legs,

human

masterpieces of the same artistic craft from the royal Minoan factory. Side by side with survivals of the old barbaric products of the Cypriote potters we now note the wholesale intrusion of new ceramic types of finer fabric, which in

and decoration are inseparable from the Late Minoan and with the Nile Valley suddenly become intimate, and Relations Mycenaean the reflex action from Egyptian sources influences the subsequent course both of
their

paste,

glaze,

class.

also of the religious iconography, as illustrated 4 There is, no doubt, also especially by types having relation to the cult of Hathor. a certain fusion of the earlier Oriental traditions witness the gross clay idols and

the

Cypriote

artistic

fashion and

the

cylinder type of seal, though this fantastic and decorative designs in striking contrast to the
retention

of the

becomes the

field

of

wooden productions of

the old Cypriote engravers.

point to observe, as regards our present subject, is that in all Colonial over and above the evidences of direct importation from Cretan or other this, Cy^ Aegean sources, there are repeated indications of the growth of a local or colonial Minoan School, to which the name Cypro-Minoan, or in its latest phase Cypro-Mycenaean,
.

The important

the ceramic fabrics, together with certain imported 8 vessels, there appears a wholly new class of painted vases, representing spotted bulls, pugilists and chariot scenes, peculiar to the island, though at the same time
5

can best be applied.

Thus among

the designs must be regarded as offshoots of the Minoan School. But the highest or on a of the artificers production par, at any rate, indigenous Cypro-Minoan with their faience fabrics are the ivory reliefs, such as those of the mirror handles 7

and the hunting scenes on the draught-board from Old Salamis, 8 which represent the fine tradition of the Cretan Palaces in a somewhat orientalizing form.
1

Myres, op.

cit.,

p. 18.
iii.

with octopus designs, figured

pp. 794,
p. 74, Fig. 128,

in

Excavations in Cyprus,
fabric.

Perrot et Chipiez, Histoire de fArt, &c.,

which

is

undoubtedly of Cretan
urns.

795 figs. 555, 556.

These were, apparently, cinerary

chariot and

But the

A. S. Murray, Excavations in Cyprus, PI. III. 4 I have called attention to this aspect of the religious subject on the Cypro-Minoan cylinders in my Myc.
'
'

c., represent a tradition hunting scenes, from the Late Minoan painted sarcophagi (larnakes], A similar phenomenon recurs in Crete in the sub-Minoan
'
'

Tree
8

and

Pillar Cult, pp. 50 seqq.

(cf.

/.

H.

S.,

vol. xx,

Age.
7

pp. 148 seqq.).

Excavations in Cyprus,
Ibid., PI. I.

PI. II.

As, for instance, the Late Minoan

III 'stirrup-vase'

7o

SCRIPTA MINOA
'

Reasons, largely based on the Egyptian evidence, have been given by me for concluding that the contents of the graves excavated at Enkomi elsewhere or Old Salamis, in which this local Cypro-Minoan Art is already seen in a fully

developed stage, belong

in

the main to the fourteenth and the

first

half of the
at

thirteenth century B.C., in other words, to the ' and to the ensuing 'Third Late Minoan Age.
Inscribed
lafe^Cypro-

end of the Palace Period

Knossos,

Minoan
of Enlfomi.

belong some remarkable relics which show that the settlers' ^ a d brought with them not only the artistic traditions of their Aegean homes, but In connexion with one of the Enkomi tombs were found a form of Minoan script. three balls of clay incised with linear signs (Fig. 37), which do not as a whole belong
this period

To

to the ordinary syllabary in use

island, though, as

may

formity with
it

it.

When

the later Greek-speaking ^population of the be gathered from Table III below, they show a partial conthe discovery of these characters first came to my knowledge

among

was already

possible to point out

some

close resemblances to the Cretan linear

FIG. 37.

Inscriptions on clay balls from Enkomi.

FIG. 38. ring,

Engraved Enkomi.

Inscribed ring from

But the materials that have since then accumulated, and in particular the revelation of the existence of the two parallel linear signaries A and B, have supplied new fixed points of comparison. Besides the clay balls there was discovered in a typical
2

script.

Larnaka.

Cy pro- Mycenaean tomb at Larnaka a gold ring, the besil of which is engraved with characters common alike to the Minoan and the later Cypriote script (Fig. 38).
3

of Cypro-Minoan characters thus ascertained is fifteen. From Table III, where they are put together (Fig. 39), it will be seen that ten of these present and B. In pared with an almost absolute conformity with Minoan types of the Linear Classes Cretan. a version of the common addition to this No. 5 may easily represent slightly simplified
Cypro-

The number

Minoan signs com-

while No. 9 shows considerable analogy with the equally frequent hand with three fingers and thumb, especially the variety seen in Class except that the thumb is here rendered upright. The prototypes, moreover, of the remaining three

'

'

'

'

cup

sign,

A
:

characters
1
'

may

easily be found in the hieroglyphic Cretan series

illustrated in

No. 6 goes back

60

Mycenaean Cyprus as

the

British

Trans. R. S.
2

Lit., vol. xix. p. 73.)

Excavations' (Journ. of the Anthr. Inst., vol. xxx. pp. 199 seqq.). Among the early elements of special chronological value may be mentioned a faience scarab of Queen Tyi, a silver vase of the Vapheio type, and a gold inlaid pectoral of about Akhenaten's time. scarab of

Museum

Excavations in Cyprus, &c.,

p. 27, Figs. 58, 59,

and

1300-1234), found in a tomb at Curium with vases similar to those of the period of partial occu-

Rameses

I's

time

(c.

Myc. Cyprus, &c., p. 217. 3 Myc. Cyprus, p. 216 and Fig. 13. The tomb was discovered on the Tekke site in 1898 by Mr. H. B. Walters. The crux ansata or ankh sign may be simply a religious symbol, in which sense it is of such frequent occurrence on Cypriote coins.
cf.

my

pation at Knossos, suggests the lower limit.

(Cf. Petrie,

CHARACTERS OF CYPRO MINOAN SIGNS OF THE LATER

THE MINOAN CHARACTERS ON CYPRIOTE SYLLABARY SCRIPTS OFCRETE BALLS AND RING WITH VALUES

P
A.B.

[ALSOWJ

H<

)l(

-A
~SI

* BTA

tt
8

T A TA ^/
EI

**

A f

AB

10

+A
A
I
1

H^ A
IZ

A B

13

^
I

8X
T

15

/}1A
FIG. 39

AA
Comparisons of Minoan signs of Crete and Cyprus.

(TABLE

III).

72

SCRIPTA MINOA
' '

to certain quasi-pictorial forms of the ox's head ; No. 7 is only a slight simplification ' ' of the mallet or beetle sign, and No. 13, angularized (as we sec in the alternative

form of the

later

Cypriote
it

le),

also finds

its

Cretan counterpart.

necessary to be about founding too definite relationships on the resemblances of signs occurring in different areas, the agreement here observable between the Cypriote and the Minoan forms is of such a kind as will probably

Cautious as

is

convince the most sceptical of a

Primitive
linearsigns
in

common

origin.

This conclusion,

moreover,

is

greatly strengthened by the fact that the Cypriote characters in question appear There in connexion with the remains of an extensive Minoan colony in the island.
are,

Cyprus.

the indigenous population^ of Cyprus at a still earlier date primitive linear signs analogous to those of Early Minoan Crete, ideographic in character and probably not yet possessing a syllabic Professor Sayce, for example, has called attention to a group of five such value.
indeed,
'

some

indications that there existed

among

'

occurring on a primitive steatite cylinder from the Copper Age cemetery of Hagia Paraskeve, and belonging to a period which considerably antedates that of the Minoan connexion with Cyprus. But such correspondences as those seen under
1

'

'

of Table III sufficiently demonstrate the real relationship of the have Cypriote forms there given with the advanced linear scripts of Crete. here, in short, the evidence of a colonial Cypro-Mycenaean system bearing much

Nos.

2,

3,

and

We

the

same

fraternal

relation to the

Minoan

linear Classes
is

and

as they

do

to

one another. and 15 only

It is to

be observed that No. 2

It
is

only found in Class B, and Nos. 8

divergences which are be due to the influence of

in

Class A.

quite possible that certain

seen in the Cypro-Minoan or Cypro-Mycenaean signs may linear forms already in existence among the indigenous population such as are seen

on the cylinder referred

to.

pared with the later

Cypriote
syllabary.

Minoan The interesting question remains In what relation does the Cypro-Minoan and Cyprosignary, and, in a more general way, the advanced linear scripts of Crete to which Minoan signs com- it is related, stand to the syllabary in use among the Greek-speaking inhabitants of

Cyprus

period? This question has a crucial import, since, should the

at a

much

later

affinity

be ascertained, an

a priori probability would arise that the phonetic values of the Cypriote characters might supply a clue to a certain number of those belonging to the Minoan scripts. In the third column of Table III (Fig. 39),have been set down a series of signs
belonging to the later Cypriote syllabary presenting points of comparison with the That severaHacunas should occur is what would naturally Cypro-Minoan forms.
be expected, considering that the number of the characters of the Cypriote syllabary
Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., xxvii, 1905, p. 254 and Plate XI. Sayce reads the signs Mo-to-ta-se, and observes, The existence of the Cypriote syllabary is thus taken back to an age contemporaneous with the Kretan linear
'

characters.'

The

cylinder

itself,

however,

is

of the usual

advanced linear scripts of Crete. It is probably contemporary with the class of Cretan seals presenting primitive linear signs, and 'belongs to a time when Cyprus and The Crete were still at most very remotely connected. signs themselves are of simple geometrical formation, and

primitive class,
it

and the Hagia Paraskeve cemetery where was found belongs to an earlier age than that of the

must be regarded as of independent Cypriote

origin.

MINOAN CYPRUS AND THE INSULAR SCRIPTS

is

73

only

fifty-four,

whereas the number of those

judge from the parallel double that number.

Cypro-Minoan signary, if we may Cretan systems of Classes A and B, would have been about
in the

Cypro-Minoan signs of which we have a record are in any case a small only fragment of the whole series which we must assume to have existed. fuller field for comparison with the signs of the later syllabary of Cyprus is If to supplied by the two advanced linear scripts in use in Minoan Crete itself.
fifteen

The

these be added

some

linearized versions of signs of the hieroglyphic class which,

though they do not happen to have been included in either the Cretan linear Class A or B, may very well have survived in the colonial signary of Cyprus, it will be found that about two-thirds of the later Cypriote characters bear resemblances to Minoan It is more convenient, however, to reserve the detailed forms. comparison till we come to analyse the advanced linear scripts of Crete. A few general considerations affecting the difficult problems suggested by the
1

Problems
U
eS

Cypriote scripts may nevertheless not be inopportune. b ff riote In the first place it should not be forgotten that though the Cypriote syllabary scripts. makes its appearance among the Greek-speaking population of the island at a comparatively late date, the fact alone that they used this more cumbrous system of writing and not the Greco-Phoenician alphabet sufficiently indicates that it had been a very early possession. The occurrence in the Greek alphabet of certain forms Greek c Ioni a typologically older than the earliest known examples of the equivalent Phoenician ^ characters tends to show that the alphabet had been introduced into Greece before Cyprus
.

"

the

settlers in

Greek had left their at least as as the tenth Cyprus mother-country early century an before our era. the dawn of Already by history indigenous epic cycle, the Cypria, had grown up in the island. The Greeks of Cyprus spoke, as is well known, an archaic dialect akin to the Arcadian, and their prevailing traditions connected them with pre-Dorian Laconia, 2 Their cult of the aniconic Apollo of Amyklae 3 and his Argos, and parts of Achaia.
beginning of the ninth century B.C.
infer that the

We

must therefore

dlffusio^ of

Phoenician
Greece!

Archaic

Cypriote

female associates
in

is

the direct offshoot of that of the

Mycenaean

civilization,

while

the

Lady

of Paphos, with her

Dove and
s.

Pillar Shrine,

and Aphrodite Ariadne,

To these materials may be added a perforated pendant of green steatite from the isle of Siphnos, of irregular form and archaic aspect, presenting six or seven characters
1

v.
s

of curiously Cypriote aspect. some local variety of Minoan

'

It
'

script.

apparently represents (See Cretan Pict.,

&.C., p.

18 [287], Fig. jg, p. 19 [288], and p. 84 [353].) It will be considered in vol. II of the present work in the section dealing with early examples of inscriptions belonging to

the advanced linear scripts.

This object was obtained by^

me
2

in

1894,

and

is

now

in the

Ashmolean Museum

at

Amyklaean Apollo passed from the Greek to the Phoenician colonists of Cyprus, to whom he was known as Resheph-Mikal. (Cf. C. 7. S., Nos. 90-4.) * Nonnos, Dionys. xliii. 6, and cf. Enmann, Kypros mid der Ursprung des Aphroditecultus, p. 36. The well-known columnar figure on the Spartan coin (B. M. Cat., Peloponnesus, PI. XXIV, i and p. 121), formerly identified with the Amyklaean Apollo, has been shown by Furtwangler
(Roescher's Lexikon, art. Aphrodite, p. 408) to represent his consort, the armed Aphrodite. (Cf. Farnell, Cults of
tlie

cf. Engel, Kypros, ii. 104). Paus. iii. 19. 2. The cult of the
;

Oxford.

The name

of the

coast of the island

in

'Achaean Shore' clung to the North (Strabo, xiv. 6. 3), and a priestly caste

Greek States,

ii.

p. 701.)

Cyprus preserved the name of 'A^mo/wcreis (Hesych.,

K 2

74

SCRIPTA MINOA
relationship to the

whose sacred Grove was at Amathus, we see a very near Goddess of Knossos and Minoan Crete.
Were
the

Mother

Cypro-

Minoan
settlers

Greek

evident that the culture brought with them into Cyprus by the Greek settlers was that of an element which had been long under Minoan are bound therefore to face the possibility that they or Mycenaean influence.
all

From

this

it

is

We

represented this culture in its undiluted quality, and that the Cypro-Minoan relics found in the tombs at Old Salamis and elsewhere belonged to colonists who were

already Greek-speaking.

Such a conclusion, indeed, would carry us far, since it might fairly be taken to show that at least the Mainland representatives of Minoan culture, as seen at Tiryns and Mycenae itself, used the Greek language. In that case the script that the immigrants from the Peloponnese brought over with them to Cyprus, and of which we have a record in the clay balls and ring, would demonstrate the adaptation of the Minoan signs to the Greek language as early as the thirteenth or fourteenth
century before our era, and, by implication, at a still remoter date. A reasonable deduction from this conclusion would be that the later Cypriote syllabary represents the direct outgrowth of this early system rather than some later attempt to harmonize

Greek sounds with alien characters. Much, no doubt, in ancient tradition would be explained by the hypothesis that the Mainland representatives of Minoan culture who have left their remains at Tiryns and Mycenae, though in their origin belonging to the same ancient stock as the Minoan population of Crete, had taken over the Greek speech at a comparatively That they were themselves, from early date from the mass of a subject population.
the beginning, a comparative minority surrounded by hostile elements is sufficiently shown by the extensive fortifications of their towns, in striking contrast to the open
cities

the

later

of contemporary Crete. Their position was in fact analogous to that in which Minoan colonists included under the Philistine name found themselves

Cypriote
syllabary
originally

came, no doubt, to a large extent, speaking a Minoan language, but, though they did much to maintain their superior culture, a few generations sufficed to completely Semitize their speech. It must in any case be recognized that the Cypriote syllabary itself has every
in their

new

seats

on the Canaanite
'

coast.

These

latter

'

devised for a nonHellenic

speech.

appearance of having been originally devised for a non-Hellenic language, and that its adaptation to the Greek, at whatever date it took place, was of a cumbrous and
inadequate nature.

There
in the

nothing, however, either in the traditions of the Cypriote Greeks or character of their indigenous script, that compels us to carry the Hellenic
is

colonization
Palaces.
Epic
tradition

of the

island

as

far

back as the flourishing days of the

Minoan

Epic tradition
the

itself

seems rather

favours late date for

Greek

Greek colonization of Cyprus. Cyprian Goddess and her shrine had had time

to favour a comparatively late prehistoric date for It is true that by the Homeric Age the fame of the
to establish itself in

Greece.

It is

to

be

observed, however, that though in later days the Kinyrads, or priestly and royal race

MINOAN CYPRUS AND THE INSULAR SCRIPTS

1

75

of Paphos, bore such Arcadian names as Etevandros, it is with Kinyras himself, who coioniza represents the older stock in the island and whose relations are rather to be sought on c ypruSi It is from this indigenous the Cilician side, that the Poet of the Iliad has to do.
Cypriote prince, moreover, that Agamemnon receives the breastplate with ribs plated with gold and tin and inlaid with kyanos that suggests traditional Minoan handicraft.

certain that in legendary history the colonization or conquest of Cyprus Greek took place after the fall of Troy. Though the story lies beyond the scope of the
It
is

Iliad

itself,

more than one of the Achaean

from captured Troy

their course

chiefs are traditionally made to direct Teukros founds Salamis; to the Cyprian coast.
;

Paphos the seed of Theseus Soldi and Chytroi. Agamemnon himself, according to one legend/' captures Amathus, and after driving out Kinyras and his people divides it among his followers, and the name of Aegisthos attaches itself to the royal house of Idalion. 4 It is perhaps noteworthy as indicating
the Arcadian leader

Agapenor

New

a comparatively recent conquest that in the Odyssey Dmetor of the royal Argive race of lasos, who had intimate relations with the Delta, is spoken of as reigning
'

by

force

we

5 At the recurring epic phrase) over Cyprus as a whole. find the island broken up into a series of small principalities.

'

(a

dawn

of history

a piece of Egyptian evidence which seems to indicate that several of the Cypriote cities known to later history, including some afterwards regarded as Greek foundations, were already in existence by the first quarter of the twelfth
is

There

century before our era. This is the mention in the triumphal list of Rameses III, on a pylon of the Temple of Medinet Habu of names of cities, such as Salomaski, 6 has very reasonably recognized the Katian, Sali and Ital, in which Brugsch
of Salamis, Kition, Soli, and Idalion. It will be seen that, though Kition must be regarded as a Phoenician centre, three of these, namely Salamis, Soli, and Idalion, correspond with cities included in the Greek foundation sagas. They

Cypriote

cities

are, moreover, described as belonging to the Ha Nebu, a name which, though also used to include the Carians, is specially applied in later times to the Greeks. 7
1 For the Greek names of the Kinyrad Priest-Kings, from the eighth century onwards, see Enmann, Kypros, &c., p. 30, and compare Busolt, Gr. Gesch. (2nd ed.), p. 320, n. 5.

Hist, of Egypt (Engl. transl., ed. 2, pp. 158, 159, and Troy and Egypt in Schliemann, Ilios, p. 749. Wiedemann, Ag. Gesch., i. p. 500, n. 2, expresses doubts about these
attributions.
7

"

Cf. my Myc. Cyprus, pp. 213, 214. 19 seqq. are Breastplates represented on a series of clay tablets with the linear script B from the Palace at Knossos.
II,

xi.

Cf. too E.

The

earliest direct
is

Meyer, Gesch. Ag., p. 319. mention of the inhabitants of a

A
3

Cypro-Minoan example

is

handle from Enkomi (op. cit, tions in Cyprus, PI. II, 872 A).
In the Cyprian

seen on an ivory mirrorfrom Excavap. 209, Fig. 5

;

Cypriote town (see below, pp.

79, 80),

temple

official

contained in the Golenischeff Papyrus describing the voyage of the Theban Wen Amon, about noo B.C. The town

where
;

Wen Amon
name

landed

is

given the

name of
to both

Alashia,

poem
228.

of

Theopompos

in Photios, 12

a general

cf.
*

Engel, Kypros,

\.

Aegisthos, king of Idalion, appears, under the form Ikistusu, among the tributary Cypriote princes on the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings Assurhaddon and

An

Egyptians and Assyrians, which recurs in the Tell el-Amarna letters. The government of the place is in the hands of a Princess Ha-ti-bi, in which W. Max Milller detects a Phoenician

for

Cyprus,

common

name

(Mitth. d. vorderasiat. Ges., 1900, p. 26, n. 2).

There

Assurbanipal (G. Smith, History of Assurbanipal,

cf.
5

p. 31

Busolt, Gr. Geschichte,

i.

322).

are further indications of a very close connexion with Byblos. It looks as if some Phoenician plantation, per-

Od.

xvii.

442 \vrap ffi

haps
is

at Kition,

already existed at this time.

Kinrpav

fi'i/<j>

&6auv avTidaavrt,
l<t>i

'laalllg,

Jr Kinrpov

tivatrafv.

SCRIPTA MINOA
Successive

waves of Aegean
immigration into

Cyprus.

from the evidence supplied by the Cypriote remains themselves, that we have to do with more than one wave of immigration from the Aegean side. Certain types of objects found in tombs at Kouklia near Paphos and elsewhere betray a direct affiliation to forms representative of that later stage of culture which immediately succeeded the pure Minoan and Mycenaean in the
In any case, however,
it

is clear,

'

'

'

'

Greek

lands.

The

characteristic safety-pin

with

its

high-stilted

catch-plate

is

the
1

immediate predecessor and prototype of the race of Greek Geometrical fibulas. The peculiar shape and decoration of some of the vases correspond clearly with 'sub-Minoan'or 'sub-Mycenaean 'examples from mainland Greece and the islands, inCYPRIOTE LYCIAN The form of iron sword SYLLABARY cluding Crete.

Cyprus is that of Greece and its Hinterlands, and has, besides, a Western extension on the Italian side. It is evident that on the very threshold
that

now

appears

in

)K

of the Iron
ning, that

Age
is

Greece, about the beginthe eleventh century before

in

-17

our
Conclusions
:

era, a fresh current of

immigration had
side.

set in

on Cyprus from the Aegean

of the true
'

X
4
^

--

M
-

It is possible,

therefore, that the first

mainGreek
settlement
in

arrival

Arcadians

'

and

their

Cyprus

at begin-

kin in Cyprus may have been due to a later tide of immigration following on the wake

CARIAN

ning of Iron Age.

But

partial

of an earlier colonization by Aegean representatives of the older stock. But, -as

/\ X

-M
-

settlement of Greeks
in late

already suggested, in so far as these earlier swarms consisted of Mycenaean main'

'

Minoan
times not excluded.

landers, they may themselves have already to a great extent been Greek in speech.

FIG. 40

(TABLE IV). Comparisons between Lycian and Carian signs and those of the Cypriote syllabary.

In that case the followers of

Agapenor

would not have arrived as total strangers in the island, and an element of transition would have been at hand which may easier explain their adoption of a Minoan signary.
Cypriote
signs compared with Anatolian.

The

further inquiry suggests

itself:

How

far

can the characters of the later

of the

Cypriote syllabary be brought into connexion with the non-Greek forms Anatolian alphabets?

That there are some close correspondences between the two the above comparative Table IV (Fig. 40).
Cf. Myc. Cyprus, &c., p. 294, and J. L. Myres, Cat. of Cyprus Museum, p. 34 (Paphos). The type is given by Perrot (iii, Fig. 595). A similar fibula was found with
'

will

be seen from

This form was

common

but the subsequent evolution

two
the

areas.

Aegean basin and Cyprus, was very different in the kindred type is found in Sicilian tombs of
to the
(Colini, Bull, di Paktti., 1905, pp. 45, 46,

Assarhk, Caria (J. H. S., viii. 74, Fig. 17). Very similar types occur in Crete (H. Boyd, Ant. Journ. of Archaeology, \. 136, Fig. 2).

'

sub-Mycenaean

pottery in a

tomb

at

same period

and

p. 58, Fig. 155).

MINOAN CYPRUS AND THE INSULAR SCRIPTS

77

Six correspondences, four of Lycian and two of Carian characters with Cypriote In the case of Nos. i and 2 the phonetic value forms, are shown in the above Table. seems to be irreconcilably divergent in the two cases. Of No. 4 it may be said that

The X form of the respective Lycian and Cypriote signs have a vowel sound. and m, on the other hand, given under Nos. 3 and 5, can hardly have a separate origin from the similar Cypriote sign signifying mu, and No. 6, the Carian m, closely
resembles the Cypriote mi. 1

I.

10.

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

have seen that the diffusion of Late Minoan settlements along the SouthEastern shores of the Mediterranean best explains the appearance of the preHellenic forms in the Anatolian alphabets, while in Cyprus it unquestionably brought
about the early introduction of a highly developed linear syllabary.

WE

But Cyprus was not the furthest goal of

this

Aegean

side.

It

was

rather, perhaps, the

a^op^

colonizing enterprise from the Minoan for that further advance to the phiHstiVe"
settlement,

extreme South-East Mediterranean angle which was to attach the name of Palestine to a large tract of the Canaanite littoral. It must at any rate be regarded as a remarkable coincidence that the close of the same period is marked in Canaan itself

Coincident
aj^efof Phoenician

by the appearance of a system of linear

script,

wholly unconnected with the Semitic

cuneiform, but presenting many points of correspondence with the in other words, the Phoenician alphabet.

Minoan

signaries

ap

et.

participation of a large Cretan contingent in the Philistine conquests of Cherethim: Southern Canaan is well ascertained. Among the leading members of the confederacy

The

were the Cherethim, who appear as

2 Septuagint, and even, by a not unnatural ethnographical anachronism, as "EXX^ve?. read of these as holding the Southern district towards the Egyptian border, while the kindred Purasati or

KpfJTes in the

11

We

have supplied the actual name of Philistines, were their Northern neighbours. The commercial instinct of the Cherethim is well brought out by the occupation of Gaza, lying on the trunk line of commerce between Syria and the Nile Valley, and forming at the same time the Mediterranean goal of the
Pulasati,

who seem

to
4

This very important comparison was already noted

Soc. Bib/. Arch.,
16.
ix. 128.

influence.

Among these are parbar-K(pi$o\os,M<!kerah=

by Sayce, Trans.
2

Zeph.

ii.

5; Ezra xxv.
is
It

Elsewhere, however, the

fjiaxmpa,liskah=\taxn- To these Professor Sayce adds Lapidoth or Lappidoth=torc\\es, the name of Deborah's hus-

Hebrew form
3

transliterated as \tpe60ft.
is

by no means impossible that an actual Hellenic or Hellenized Minoan element was ineluded under the Philistine name. This would confirm Renan's suggestion that the early incorporation of certain
Isa. ix. 12.

band - from Aa/urab s an instance of special value, as the name should go back to a very early period. * See especially W. Max Milller, Asien und Europa, pp. 387 seqq. These two tribes are the Kreti and Plethi
of David's body-guard,

words of Greek

origin in

Hebrew was due

to Philistine

SCRIPTA MINOA
South Arabian trade route. Gaza itself bore in later times the title of Minoa and was the legendary foundation of Minos and his brethren. Its chief God Marnas, 'the Lord,' was identified with Zeus Kretagenes, and, though the evidence of this
1

cult first

Kaphtor and Keftiu.

does not seem to be any sufficient ground for The connexion, indeed, of the Philistines with Crete stands disputing its antiquity. now on a very different footing from that which it formerly held when discussed by

emerges

at a late date, there

Hoeck, Stark, and other adverse

critics.

New
'

and striking evidence has

lately

come

Kaphtor', the original seat of the Philistines, with the KeftO of Egyptian records, the Aegean home of the Keftiu. The most typical of the Philistine personal names, Achish, the 'Ay^ov?, is twice
Isle of

to light in favour of the identification of the

LXX

repeated, under the form Akashou, in an Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian list which 3 That the Keftiu themgives Keftiu names for. the purposes of a school exercise.
selves,

such as

we

see

them bearing

are the characteristic

to

tributary offerings to the officers of Thothmes III, representatives of Late Minoan culture, is no longer open

fashions of their dress and hair, the offerings that they bear, the stately vases, the ingots and ox-heads of precious metal, reproduce the types in vogue It is to Kefts in their original in the latest Palace period at Knossos. Aegean

doubt.

The

Date of
Philistine

conquests in Canaan.

names of the Egyptian list refer, and the name of Achish may therefore have been rife in prehistoric Knossos before it was borne by a King of Gath. The Philistine conquests of a tract of Canaan seem to have been accomplished somewhat before the beginning of the reign of Rameses III, towards the close,

home

that the

Earlier

of the thirteenth century B.C.* It would even appear that, so far as the Cretan element in the confederacy was concerned, the settlers were following in the wake of earlier commercial establishments in the Canaanite coast towns. On the
that
is,

evidences of Minoan

of Gezer B have been found fragments of imported pottery, some of them in the 6 7 commercial Knossian Palace style, a 'horned' bronze sword of Minoan form, and even, it would
site
intercourse
there.
8 The old ideas of the indebtedness of appear, architectural features of Cretan type. East to West are here reversed, and we see the great Aegean civilization in its latest

For an excellent appreciation of the geographical position of Gaza, see G. A. Smith. Hist. Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 181 seqq. 2 For fresh evidence connecting the Philistines with Crete, see W. Max Muller, Die Urheimat der Philister
1
'

W. Max
'

'

Muller,

Die Chronologic der Philistereingives

wanderung

(Mitth. d. vorderasiat. Ges., 1900, p. 34),

'

grounds for believing that the conquest took place about I22OB. c. In any case it appears from the Golenischeft' Papyrus that Dor was already in Philistine occupation by
1200 B.C.
6 These discoveries were due to the excavations of Mr. R. A. Stewart Macalister, for the Palestine Exploration Fund '. Preliminary notices of the work have appeared in the Quarterly Statements of the Society, and in Mr. Macalister's Bible Side-Lights from the Mound at Gezer. Much interesting work, however, remains to be
' '
'

Com(Mitth. d. vorderasiatischen Ges., 1900, i. pp. 1-13). ' pare also President G. F. Moore's article Philistines ', in
Encycl. Biblica (1902), Mr. H. R. Hall's Keftiu of the Sea (B.S.A., viii. pp. 182 seqq.). In
' '

and Peoples

my

original

work on Cretan Pictographs, &c., pp. 99 seqq., I had already

laid considerable stress

on the Cretan connexions of the

'

Philistines.

(Londoner Tafel), see W. Max pp. 8 seqq.). W. Max Muller rightly observes Demnach haben wir den bekanntesten Philisternamen noch in der Urheimat des Volkes, und diese wird ausdrflcklich zum Land Kefto gerechnet. Damit ist der Zuzammenhang mil Kaphtor doppelt wahrscheinlich
3

The

'

London

List

carried out.
6

Miiller (op. cit,

'

See

my

Prehistoric

Tombs of Knossos (London,

Quaritch, 1906, pp. 107, 128). 7 Preh. Tombs, &c., p. 107.

who observed

geworden.'

is due to Dr. Duncan Mackenzie, deep stratum at Gezer astylobate with column bases of typical Minoan character.
8

This observation
in a

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

phase successfully invading a region
1

79

in which Mesopotamian and Egyptian influences had hitherto alternately predominated. It is clear that the Philistines settled on Philistines the coast of Canaan, though they could never have been very strong numerically, in P?," a an dominated their subjects and neighbours by means of their higher civilization. Aegean In their arms and armour and chariots of war they were superior to those of element> But the Philistines also excelled in the arts of peace. The Hebrews were Israel. reduced to come to the smiths of the 'uncircumcized' for their ploughshares and 2 The golden mice and tumours wrought by the Philistine agricultural implements. artificers as a guilt-offering for the Ark of the Lord, 3 moreover, throw an incidental light on their skill in the plastic arts, and at the same time recall the votive images of animals and diseased human members placed in the old Cretan sanctuaries like that of Petsofa. 4 The special mention of the culture of the olive 6 among the Philistines further reminds us that this was probably the principal source of wealth to the Minoan lords. So too we see the Cherethim of David's body-guard mainas skilful bowmen, 6 and attention has already been tradition the old Cretan taining The imported called to the actual occurrence of a sword of Late Minoan derivation. vases from the Aegean show that their taste in ceramic fabrics remained the same. There are good a priori grounds, then, for supposing that they had not wholly Did they
.

forgotten their insular script. But the relation of the

the Golenischeff Papyrus,

Theban temple-official, Wen Amon, as preserved in contains some indications of a still more direct nature.
quest for cedar-wood, tarried about

Minoan

The Egyptian envoy,

then

in his

in the possession of the Philistine tribe of the

ruler,
It

prolonged negotiations with its is remarkable in many ways.

by name

Dor, Mission of Takkaras, and had occasion for t Badira. This personal narration c. noo B.C.
B.C. at

noo

reveals to us a community, the earliest known among those of European stock, in which the Prince's action was limited by the voice of a popular assembly. 8 It evidences a form of religion like that depicted on Minoan

which the God, brought down by offerings, takes possession of his votary, who dances round in an ecstatic state and voices divine commands. 9 But what more immediately concerns our present subject, the Takkaras are Literary depicted as altogether versed in the ways of bureaucratic scribes and acquainted with among"' Their Prince requires written Takkaras. all the different uses to which writing could be turned. 10 credentials from the Egyptian official. In another place he is made to promise Wen Amon that, should he die at Dor, he shall have a monument put up to him, and
seals

and

signet-rings, in

Sam.

xiii.

igseqq.

On

the culture of the Philistines

see especially Stark, Gasa, pp. 318 seqq. 2 Cf., too, i Sam. xxxi. 3.

W. Max Miiller, 'Der Papyrus Golenischeff' (Mitth. d. the references here vorderasiat. Ges., 1900, pp. 26 seqq. Eine Reise nach Phoniare to this), and by Ermann,
:

'

Sam. vi. 4 seqq. For the votive deposit of Petsofa, which included figures of noxious animals and pathological representai
1

zien
8 9

im

n ten

Jahrhundert

v.

Chr.'

(Zeitschrift

fur

cig.

Sprache, xxxviii (1900), pp. 1-14).

W. Max

Miiller,

tions, see J. L. Myres, B. S. Annual,

5 6
7

ix.

pp. 356 seqq.

Ibid., p. 17.

A
;

'

Head Page'
'

Pap. Golenischeff, p. 25. of the Prince of Dor

is

Judges

xv.

5.

Cf., too, i

Sam.

xxxi. 3.

thus 'possessed' the orgiastic condition being indicated by the determinative of dancing '.
lo

Published by Golenischeff with a French translation,

Ibid., p. 18.

Recueil de Travaiix, xxi. 74 seqq.

German

translation

by

8o
'

SCRIPTA MINOA
1

an envoy come from Egypt, who is able to read, he will read your name upon the tombstone'. But the most striking passage in this connexion is where the
if

Did the
Philistines

containing of the gifts of Egyptian Kings, as well as of their value, amounting He might have been a Minoan King of Knossos. to 1,000 Deben. It may well be asked if some inherited knowledge of this kind, passed on from
out,

Philistine

Prince
lists

has

the

archives

of

his

forefathers

brought

methodical

contribute to formation of

their enterprising neighbours

whose settlements extended

as far South as

Dor and

the promontory of Carmel may not, at least, have contributed towards the invention of the Phoenician alphabet. 3 Phoenician Of the extent of these influences on Phoenician civilization, as a whole, there can alphabet ? no longer be any question. Phoenician art itself may, in many respects, be described
Greek
'Phoinikes

as decadent Minoan, 4 and the enterprising sea-craft of Sidon and of Tyre hardly sprang from a Semitic source. There is evidence that the Greek name Phoinikes or Red
'

Aegean 'RedMen'. red-skinned

Unexplained supersession of

and was originally applied to the dark or Aegean race, of which we have now the living portrayal in the Cup-bearer and his fellows of the Knossian Palace. 6 It is highly pertinent to observe that the Egyptians in Ptolemaic times applied to the Phoenicians the name of Keftiu, which had originally betokened the men of the Isles of the Sea." In the fourteenth century B.C., as is shown by the Tell el-Amarna tablets, cuneiform writing was still in general use in Syria and Canaan, and, so far at least as had once a wider
significance,
7 concerned, this usage continued down to about noo B.C. Whence, then, are we to trace the impulse which, during the immediately ensuing period, resulted in the evolution of the Semitic letters?

Men

'

cuneiform
writing in

Syria

is

Canaan.

It is

clear that the earliest forms of

some of the Greek

letters

the Boeotian Eta

in

for

example

point to prototypes

more archaic than any

to

be found

the most

ancient Canaanite inscriptions, such as the Moabite Stone, dating from about 900 B. c. It follows, therefore, that the origin of the Phoenician letters must at any rate go
1

W. Max
In

Muller, Pap. Golenischeff, p. 24.

2
3

Ibid., p. 20.

my

first
cf.

work on
Table
'

'

Pictographs

',

1895, PP- 95~7

had already been led by the altogether startling parallels between certain Cretan and Semitic forms to make this suggestion, to which I The Palace of Knossos in its Egyptian returned in
[364-6],
III, I
'
'

and

relations

(Arch. Rep. of Eg. Expl. Fund, 1899-1900, p. 181). Since the discovery of the advanced linear scripts and

'

medium of Dr. Kluge's Schrift der Mykenier '. M. Rene Dussaud (Journ. Asiatique, 1905, i. p. 357 seqq.) also combats the Semitic view. 4 S. Reinach observes (Les Celtes dans les Valle'es du Po et du Danube, p. 226), II ne peut plus etre question de civilisation phenicienne a Mycenes mais seulement de civilisation mycenienne en Phenicie.' See too M. Reinach's Mirage Oriental, pp. 721 seqq., and my Eastern
'

refracting

'

'

Question
5

in

'

Anthropology

(Address

to

Anthr. Sect, of

B, the question has been put on a wholly new basis. Some further reasons in favour of the Minoan-Philistine
derivation of the Phoenician letters
in a course of lectures
'

Brit. Assoc., Liverpool, 1896, p. 14).

were advanced by me

on Pre-Phoenician Writing in given at the Royal Institution in January, 1903, especially in Lecture III (summary in Times, Feb. 2,
Crete
',

Fick, Vorgriechische Ortsnainen, p. 123. The same suggestion had independently occurred to me. Prof. R. Burrows (The Discoveries in Crete, p. 142) remarks, It was always puzzling on the assumption that Cadmus, son of Phoenix, was a Semite, that his sister was Europa, and
'

To M. Salomon Reinach (Anthropologie, xi. p. 409) due an early recognition of the plausibility of this hypothesis. Cf, too, S. A. Fries (Zeitschr. d. D. Palaestina1903).
is

her
6

nephew

Minos.'

however,

Vereins, 1900, pp. 118-26), whose knowledge of work, appears to have been derived through the

my

H. R. Hall, B. S. A., viii. pp. 163, 164. 7 The cuneiform script still prevailed in Syria, according to W. Max Miiller, under the Nineteenth and Twentieth
Dynasties (Mitth. der vorderasiat.
Gescli.,
iii.

p. 40, &c.).

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

81

back earlier than this date. On the other hand, the existence of the derivative The South alphabets of South Arabia has been used as an argument for a considerably higher The Sabaean inscriptions do not go back beyond 800 B.C., but an antiquity dating. of many centuries beyond this is claimed for the Minaean Empire. This is certainly not the place to discuss the views of Glaser, Hommel, Winckler, and others on this vexed subject, but it must be said at once that the epigraphic evidence, so far as it has been hitherto ascertained, does not favour the view that the inscriptions of Minaea (Ma'in) go back far beyond the earliest Sabaean, with which as a whole their
'

characters agree.

The

last

word has
to

certainly

not been said on

the
to

relation

of these South Relation of

363 "

Phoenician and alphabet from this source may be said to have failed. According to the other view, Minaean S P the Sabaean and Minaean scripts were derived from Canaanite characters very little f North Semitic. different from the earliest North Semitic alphabet of which we have knowledge.
derive the

Semitic alphabets

those of Canaan.

The attempt

But neither can this view be said to account for many of the phenomena with which we have to deal. It is true that, as we know from its later Aethiopic offshoot, the names of many of the South Semitic letters are practically the same as the
It is also true that the real Phoenician, though in a different order. relationship of many of the Sabaean and Minaean letter-forms with the North Semitic has been

a good deal obscured by the glyptic or monumental element so visible in the Arabian characters.- The letters, as compared with the Phoenician, have an upright,

evenly balanced aspect, and stand, as it were, on their own legs. The calligraphic intention is very visible in their formation and arrangement. But, even allowing for such architectonic modifications and turnings about, the radical divergences are Several of the characters are clearly of quite independent origin very marked.
'

Radical

'

from the Phoenician, and it must further be remembered that the South Arabian alphabet in its developed form has twenty-nine letters instead of twenty-two. It is only by a process of legerdemain that the forms, for instance, of the Phoenician aleph, he, vau, chelh, yod, kapli, samek, pi, tsade, or resh can be recognized in the Sabaean

n,

IjJ,

<X>,

U,
is

9,

f\,

fi,

O,

ift,

Arabian
Semitic.
1

letters

have the appearance of

notably the case with

More than possessing more

|>.

this,

some of
and

the

Proto-

archaic traits than the North

This
'

>|

as compared with

A
He

with

(I).

kunde'

Otto Weber, Studien zur sudarabischen Alterthums(Miltli. d. vorderasiat. Ges., 1901), after a review of

the evidence, comes to the conclusion that the Minaean kingdom (Ma'in) goes back at least to 1200 B.C. He admits, however, with D. H. Miiller and J. H.Mordtmann,

much of this monumental and calligraphic element in order to account for the rapid divergence of the Southern from considers that the Sabaean and the Northern group.
were derived from the North Semitic in a stage not far removed from that represented by the Moabite Stone. But his derivations of the South Arabian
Minaean
letters

Minaean characters, as a whole, agree with the Sabaean forms, which do not go back beyond the eighth century. It also appears that the earliest Sabaean inscriptions those showing the most archWt letter forms run boustrophedon, while, on the other hand, only one bottstrophedon inscription is known of the Minaean class. 2 Lidzbarski, Der Ursprung der nord- und sOdsemiti&chen Schrift' (Eph. fur sem. Epigraphik, i. H. 2), makes
that the
earliest
'

forms from the Canaanite characters are

only methods.
(Z. D.

in

many

cases

obtained

by the most

violent

Praetorius,

His modus operandi is 'Bemerkungen zum sudsemitischen Alphabet'

'

and procrustean justly criticized by

M. G., 1904, pp. 7i5seqq.) and 'Die Geschichte des griechischen Alphabets (Z. D. M. G., 1902, pp. 676 seqq.).

L 2

82
Both North and South
Semitic forms go back to

SCRIPTA MINOA
The
natural inference from these

phenomena

is

that both the

Semitic characters, as

we know

them, go back to an earlier

North and the South and more extensive

common
source.

selections. system, from which they each, to a certain extent, have made independent Even when the characters radically correspond, their differences can in many cases

Philistine

Gaza
natural distributing
point.

only be accounted for by supposing that in each case they have diverged from a common prototype on their own particular lines. In what area, then, are we to seek this parent stock? The most natural meetingof the North and South Semitic groups would be Gaza, the principal Medi-

place terranean outlet of the South Arabian trade routes, and the point where they debouch upon the highway leading from Northern Canaan and Syria to Egypt. It will be seen that these converging lines of evidence at any rate project the
If existence of Semitic letters appreciably beyond the date of Mesha. assume that they came into existence about the eleventh or twelfth

we may
century

before our era, their first appearance would correspond with the most flourishing period of the Philistine settlement. And in this connexion it is especially to be borne in mind that Gaza, the most natural meeting-place of the North and South Semitic
elements,

was

in the

occupation of the Cherethim, who, there

is

every reason to believe,

were colonists from Minoan Crete.

Attempts
to find

source of Phoenician the most arbitrary and procrustean. This view, originally put forward by Dr. Deecke alphabet ; cuneiform (following on his analogous attempt to explain the origin of the Cypriote syllabary), has since been revived, in a somewhat variant form, by Dr. Peiser. 2 Admittedly, theory.
1

the various theories for explaining the origin of the Phoenician alphabet that which would derive its letters from Assyrian cuneiform types is perhaps of all

Among

of the cuneiform combinations chosen for comparison were already obsolete at the time the Semitic alphabet seems to have arisen, but even with the aid of this

many

eclectic process

it

can hardly be said that

in

any single case has a

real

correspondence

been made

the other hand, the recovery of the quasi-pictorial prototypes of the original Babylonian characters has led to an attempt on Hommel's part to derive the Phoenician letters from this source. But, apart from the striking absence of
out.

On

resemblance between the Phoenician and the

objects answering two or three millennia,
to the fact that the to their

earliest

known Babylonian forms

of the

names, the discrepancy of date, which must extend

fatal to this theory.

at least to

would be alone

Nevertheless, owing mainly

names of a

certain

number

of the Phoenician letters answer to

those of the Babylonian series, there has been a persistent inclination in recent years to seek a connexion on that side. 3 Delitsch, for instance, lays stress on the fact that out
of the twenty-two original Phoenician letters the
Der Ursprung der altsemitischen aus der neuassyKeilschrift (Z. D. M. G., xxxi (1877), pp. 103 Dr. Deecke cites certain hieratic Assyrian signs of seqq.).
1
'

names of about
'.

half correspond with

Frage wiederum von anderen Gesichtspunkten aus zu

revidieren
3

rischen

'

F.

Hommel,

Gesch. Babyloniens

a linear character, but their forms are very unconvincing. Das semitische Alphabet' (Milth. d. vorderasiat. Ges.,
''

The crude method

of

nnd Assyriens, p. 54. Hommel's comparisons is criticized

ties altesteti

'

by Delitsch, Entstehung

Schriftsystents, pp. 222,

Dr. Peiser, however, puts forward the hypothesis with the wise caution, that binnen kurzem die
1900,
2).
' .
.

H.

223, who, however, subsequently makes some suggestions of his own (op. cit., pp. 228 seqq.) that tend in the same
direction.

new pragriechischen

Zeichen

zwingen werden, die ganze

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

83

those of objects included in the forty-five to fifty signs that he regards as the original 1 Yet such a partial coincidence in the choice of objects such as parts Babylonian. of the human body, house, door, water and fish can have no special significance. Such

systems of writing, and are no more specifically Babylonian than they are Egyptian or Hittite, Chinese or Mexican. A more definite trace of a Babylonian ingredient is indeed supplied by the fact
obvious selections indeed are
to all primitive

common

Babylonian ele-

that several of the Phoenician letter-names present forms that are rather Babylonian ment in than Canaanite.- But even this ceases to be remarkable when we remember the Phoenician

extensive knowledge of the Babylonian language and literature in Palestine already names. Nor can Zimmern's attempt to show that a attested by the Tell el-Amarna letters. 3 certain amount of Babylonian influence is visible in the arrangement of the Phoenician

letter-

be regarded as otherwise than extremely problematic. That the Assyrian Phoenician order signs, amounting to about 400 in number, had a fixed order has been demonstrated differs indeed by Dr. Peiser, 4 and it appears from the Tell el-Amarna tablets that this from Babylonian. arrangement, which must be regarded as Old Babylonian, was already current in the
letters

West

beginning of the fifteenth century B. c. But it is only by a process of shuffling and cutting, as with a pack of cards, that any kind of agreement can be made out between the order of these and that of even a fraction of the Phoenician alphabet. 5
at the
1

Delitsch, op.

cit.

Omitting Phoenician

letters

now

generally regarded as of uncertain meaning, Delitsch's number of correspondences is reduced from fifteen to

asked
aleph.

mem. are therefore lonian series begins with mu to transpose, in a purely arbitrary fashion, the first start then with alpu six and the last five signs.

We

We

eleven or twelve.
2 *
4

Op.
Cf.
'

cit.,

pp. 227, 228.

G., vol.
1.

But the second and third signs are not bitubeth and daltitdaleth, but idu yod and kappu kaph, this pair
p. 670.

Zimmern, Z. D. M.

Die assyrische Zeichenordnung,' &c. (Z. fur Assyriologie, i. 95seqq.); 'Das Princip der assyrischen Zeichen-

ordnung' (Z./. Ass. ii. 3i6seqq.). Peiser regards this as a kind of graphic (not phonetic) alphabet' employed for the arrangement of certain texts.
'

being represented in Babylonian by a single sign. are now shunted to the series beginning mumem. But here the Babylonian head signs appear in a different In Babylonian, moreover, order from the Phoenician.
' '

We

pu and shinnu are represented,

H. Zimmern, Zur Frage nach dem Ursprung des Alphabets (Z. D. M. G., vol. 1. pp. 667 seqq.). The series below shows, in their Babylonian order, the letters for which equivalent names exist in the Phoenician and
5
'
'

like idu and kappu, by a single sign. It will be seen that in spite of the arbitrary rearrangement of the list to suit the assumption, the effort to establish a correspondence in the order of the signs

Babylonian series (omitting gimel, the identification of which with gammalu (camel) is generally recognized to be inadmissible).
i

breaks down. What, too, is to be said of the eleven original Phoenician characters which have no Babylonian
equivalents
?

The

provided
did

sufficient

400 Babylonian signs material for selection.

half
his
letters

certainly

Why

then

mu

13

mem =

water.

the

selector

choose

from

some

17

nunu

42 enu

(51 1 51 shinnu

52

= tooth. = head. 105 alpu i aleph = ox. 140 iduioyod = hand (side).
21 shin
resh

puifpe =
reshuao

14 nun = fish. 16 a in = eye.

mouth.

other source ? It may also be pertinently asked, If this Babylonian order underlies the sequence of the Phoenician alphabet, why has the South Semitic branch a
different

(140 kappu ii kaph open hand. 147 bilu2 belli = house. door. 155 daltut, ddleth

arrangement ? be observed that the Phoenician alphabet presents a series of related pairs, such as house ', door two aspects of the 'hand' sign; water ', fish '; 'eye', But this is a natural and orhead ', tooth mouth ganic feature that has no connexion with any extraneous
It is to
' ' ' ; ' ' ' '

'

'

'.

Now, when we come

to analyse this

list,

we

find that
is in

system, though it is also to a certain extent visible in the Babylonian arrangement, as, for instance, in the case
of the
'

not a single one of the Phoenician characters same relative place in the list as the Babylonian.

the

head signs.
ii.

'

In the

same way we

find

(cf.

Peiser,

Instead

Z. fiir Ass.,
'

p. 319)

a set of signs in the following

of beginning with alpu, the equivalent of aleph, the Baby-

order,

ox, ass, house, wife, land, child,

man

(homo).'

84 De
,

SCRIPTA MINOA
It

theory.

be seen that the attempts to trace the Phoenician alphabet to an old But the advocates of an Egyptian Semitic source have hitherto ended in failure.
will

origin are hardly in a better case.

According to this hypothesis, the Phoenician letters were derived from certain hieratic forms with which they phonetically agree, but which have no reference to the actual names of the letters. This theory, however, popularized in this country by Isaac Taylor's work on the Alphabet, has been too 2 But the comparative material now deeply rooted in textbooks not to die hard. supplied by the discovery of the Cretan scripts must at any rate be taken to give the coup de grace to this far-fetched scheme of extraction. For on Cretan soil we
can in several cases actually watch the uninterrupted evolution of linear characters from their pictorial prototypes. When we see there, for instance, the hand and
'

ingenious theory of De Rouge manded such general adhesion.

strange indeed that the elaborate and overshould at least, till within recent years, have comIt is

arm' sign simplified before our eyes into a linear design identical with kaph, is it possible to imagine that kaph itself though it means the same thing was evolved on the Eastern shores of the same sea from a by no means similar Egyptian character representing the hieratic degeneration of a bowl ? It is true that the number of Phoenician letters the names of which can be definitely explained by the Semitic languages has been much reduced since Gesenius's time. Many have evidently been taken over from a syllabary, and that syllabary does not seem to have belonged to any Semitic stock. Yet it may fairly be urged that the fuller and translatable forms of the names where they exist supply the true key to the origin of the letters as a whole, and that Gesenius was not wrong in supposing that aleph was actually derived from an ox's head, beth from a house, and so forth. This view is in complete agreement with wide anthropological analogies, and how easily it can be worked out in the case of many of the Phoenician letters was illustrated by a table, reconstructing their pictorial prototypes, prepared by my It will be shown below father, Sir John Evans, for the Royal Institution in 1872.
:j

some of these theoretically reconstructed figures anticipate the result of the Cretan evidence. From this point of view the simple theory of Egyptian derivation proposed by Lenormant is at any rate preferable to the elaborate hypothesis of
that

Lenormant's early view, the Phoenician letter-names were literal translations of those of certain Egyptian hieroglyphs from which they were derived, though he himself admitted that many of his suggested identifications were

De Rouge\

According

to

1 The first account of De Rouge's theory was communicated by him to the Academic des Inscriptions in It 1859, and briefly summarized in the Comptes Rendus.

(p.

226) that 'the most plausible theory that the wit of man, supported by a set of facts that seem to hang well
it

was not
lished
*

till

1874 that his complete Me'moire sur I'origine

e'gyptienne de I

was posthumously pubVicomte Emanuel de Rouge. Mr. Edward Clodd, however, in his Story of the
Alphabet phenicien

by

his son, the

was formulated by M. de Rouge, has been seen that the epigraphic material found in the Aegean renders this apparently well-based and coherent theory no longer tenable '.
together, could devise

and

In a lecture

'On

the Alphabet

and

its

Origin', dc-

1900, passing theory and the as yet very imperfectly ascertained Cretan evidence, comes to the conclusion

Alphabet, published

in

after

in

review

livered
4

De Rouge's

15 of that year. See p. 92 note 3.

March

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

It is true that later on he entirely threw over his very problematic. and became a convert to De Rough's views. 2
1

85

own

hypothesis

recently, indeed, it has been suggested that the Semitic alphabet was ' ' the creation of a man of Canaan who knew of the existence of the Egyptian writing

More

and something of its system, but not enough to borrow individual signs. But this man of Canaan introduces far too personal a factor into a much wider sphere of We recall Lucretius's judgement 4 on the personal theory of the origin evolution.
:i

'

'

OI

language:

Thei-t-tpre^-fo s*ppase

/*>

Sov\e e

<m*r\

a.*

4t\1

-t-imt

o.f>fi>or+t'a^ff(

no.rr\tt

L^
}

Proinde putare aliquem turn nomina distribuisse -ffc/ m\

V<M'*JJ

\^

from

Kim

le*rn+ fAciV

fiff-f \ttef*(s3

'sheer

-tv'lly.

Desiperest.

from a Babylonian or an Egyptian source, ingenious and persistent as they have been, have only ended
attempts hitherto
to derive the Phoenician letters

The

made

problem ? It might perhaps be suggested that the Phoenician alphabet had been evolved from some primitive system existing on the soil of Canaan itself, though the proved diffusion
there of the cuneiform type of script down to the close of the twelfth century 5 B. c. presents an initial obstacle to such a hypothesis, hard to overcome.
It
is

in

failure.

On what

side then are

we

to look for the solution of the

indeed evident that

existed at

class or another

Canaan, as elsewhere, primitive linear signs of one a very early period. Evidence of such is, for instance,
in

Primitive
}

in e arsl i ns

series of potsherds with engraved signs stratum' 'Amorite belonging to the earliest settlement at which are of isolated appearance and simple geometrical 7 for the most part owners' marks, but it is possible that

supplied

by a

or

marks found in the Lachish. These signs,

formation, are probably

some among them were

figures that possessed a received ideographic meaning, the origins of which may go back to the rudest line drawings of primitive pictography. The pre-existence of such early linear signs supplies indeed a formative influence Source of

which must always be taken into account in the evolution of the characters of more But from these isolated scratchings to the full development of more advanced scripts. 8
Although Lenormant's theory was put forth by him Cours d'histoire ') given in 1838, it did not (' see the light in print till it appeared, from a summary supplied by him, in De Rouge's Me'moire sur torigine egyplienne de ['Alphabet phe'nicien (published by E. de
1

ad-

vanced.

in lectures

Rouge
2

in 1874, pp. 5 seqq.). Introduction a un memoire sur la propagation

bet phe'nicien, 1866, p. 106: de 1'origine des lettres

'Nous regardons
pheniciennes

del'Alpha... la question
definitive-

S. Reinach, Rev. Arch.), I compared some of these signs with Aegean types, but owing to their simple forms the Nor have the more parallelism has little significance. recently discovered materials in any way added to the comparisons. It is to be observed, indeed, that the most specialized of these signs, No. 21, which approaches the Minoan linear form H, occurs on a sherd belonging to

a later stratum.

comme

ment resolue par M. de Rouge.'

sur
3

See, too, his larger Essai

i.

la

propagation de t Alphabet phe'nicien, 1872, p. 94.

4 5

Lidzbarski, Eph.f. sent. Epigraphik, De rebus Naturae, v. 1041, 1043.

H.

2, p. 134.

Professor Petrie's theory as to the origin of the alphabet as advanced by him in his Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Pt. I, pp. 31, 32, requires mention in this connexion. Briefly stated, it is as follows He is led by the correspondence of certain primitive Egyptian signs
:

See above,
F. S. Bliss,

p. 83.

A Mound

of

Many

Cities,

or Tell-el-Hesy
Cf., too,

with those of Caria,c., and the Iberian alphabet, to assume the existence of a widely diifused signary common to a
large part of the Mediterranean basin in very early time. The identity of most of the signs in Asia Minor and
'

Excavated, pp. 21, 23, 25, 28. 29, 30, 33, and 42. S. Reinach, Chroniques a" Orient, T. ii. p. 465. 7 In my first work on Pictographs, i. p. 82 [351]

(cf.,

too,

Spain shows them

to

belong to a system with commonly

86

SCRIPTA MINOA
is

the Art of Writing, as illustrated by the letters of the Phoenician alphabet, In short, the evidence for a local origin of the Phoenician letters cry.
existent, while,
Is
it

a far

is

non-

as already shown, the attempts to derive

or a Babylonian source have equally ended in failure. It f tne tnen preponderating influence of the Aegean civilization on the coast of the Minoan script? Canaan, and the actual settlement there of the Philistine tribes, to consider the
to

be

them from an Egyptian seems high time, in view

alternative possibility already suggested the derivation, namely, of the Phoenician letters from a Minoan source. The fact that the names of many of the letters
to

correspond with known Semitic words cannot in the Semitic origin of the script itself, when
Philistine

itself

be thought conclusive as
rapidly the

we remember how

Un-Semitic mass.
letters.'

new-comers themselves were absorbed and Semitized in the Canaanite What is much more remarkable, and has never been explained, is that the
eight of the original Phoenician

names of seven or

cannot be interpreted by any known signs of the Minoan scripts are shown on Table
It is

alphabet of twenty -two letters Semitic language. Comparisons of these with

1

(Fig. 4i).

the Semitic signs with names of unascertained meaning gimel approaches very closely to the primitive linearized form of the Cretan 'leg' sign. The Phoenician he (eta) is probably in its origin a double of
to

be observed that

among

the 'fence' sign, and its Minoan analogies are shown in Table VI. If, as seems supplies the earlier form of zat'n, we have here a Cretan probable, the Sabaean linear character which may go back to the frequently recurring hieroglyph that Lamed answers to the Cretan 'crook' sign, common to represents a double axe.
z

cheth,

the
it

Minoan hieroglyphic
reversed.

series

and

to the linear Class

A, though in the latter case

linear

is

Samek
in

recurs totidem lineis

among

the characters of the

Class

and

a simpler form among the hieroglyphs. The Cretan linear form, according to the analogy of a similar figure on early Cypriote cylinders, should go back to a
'tree' sign.

Tsade

is

also

which somewhat

recalls the

very closely reproduced by a sign of Class A, the outline of adze pictograph of the earlier system.
'

'

even more convincing analogies for the pictorial origin of unexplained Phoenician letters remain to be enumerated. Teth, the Greek theta, is eminently
received values in the later times."
'

Two

From

this extensive

'

Mediterranean signary'

a short series (only signary the Phoenicians selected half the amount of the surviving alphabets) for numerical purposes, as A = I, E = 5, I = 10, N = 50, P = ico,

number
areas.
a

is itself a myth, though a certain of primitive signs naturally recur in various

This usage would soon render these signs as invariable to order as our own numbers, and force the use of them on all countries with which the Phoenicians traded." But it is hardly necessary to point out that the Phoenician system of numeration had nothing to do with the Greek alphabetic method. It was indeed from a Greek source that the later Syrian and Hebrew alphabetic numeration seems to have been derived (cf. Larfeld,

= 500.

on this point to the judicious article of Recent Theories of the Origin of the Alphabet '(Jonrn. Amer. Or.Soc., xxii (1901), pp. 177-98). 2 In this Table, and Table VI on p. 89, S. SEM = South Semitic (Minaean and Sabaean), GR = Greek, A* = early signs of the advanced Linear Script of Crete (found on vases, &c.). A, the Linear Class A; B, the Linear Class
I

may

refer

Dr. J. P. Peters,

'

P,

signs of the
p. 90.

Conventionalized Pictographic or

Hieroglyphic Class.
*

Handbuch der gr. Epigraphik,

1907, p. 416).

The common

See below,

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

a

87

'wheel' sign, but Semitic etymologies have failed to throw any light on its Teth-theta name. No Babylonian or Egyptian hieroglyphic derivation can be claimed for it ^[JJ It is also absent from the conventionalized picto- 'wheel' with any show of probability.

graphy of Crete, which belongs to the period before wheel traffic was known to the Aegean world though this coincidence by itself is not conclusive, since a primitive
;

slgn '

solar sign consisting of a cross within a circle is widely diffused. But, with the first advent of the advanced linear script, becomes one of the commonest of the Minoan

characters.

It

appears

in

both Class

and Class B, and

some

of

its

more

degenerate forms, especially of the latter

class,

present a close conformity with the

PHOENICIAN A
K

CRETAN LINEAR

CRETAN
HIEROGLYPHS

PHOENICIAN
ETC.

CRETAN

CRETAN

LINEAR.AB HIEROGLYPHS

[A Al
[S.

uj

SEMI TIC

n
OOUBLt

<0

13Z

T
D-

A
VZ

CROUP
0* POT

FROM

HUHM
PICTOCR'VPH

HEAD

A, B.

K* UJ

A,B.

B.

Uj
WMtEL CCLOSS
B)

f QD

jj

XIBZC

I
FIG. 41

A.

CROOK

(TABLE V).

Phoenician, &c., letters of uncertain meaning compared with Minoan signs.

the tablets of Class B, moreover, we find the pictorial figure of a chariot-wheel in addition to purely graphic and simplified characters.

Phoenician

teth.

On

Koph
follows
it,

is

is

another letter-name unexplained by any Semitic language. Resh, which Koph and ' by general consent interpreted as the human head, and if derived from
'

a pictograph with this meaning would originally have been a head in profile, From the early Tyrian form of koph, preserved in the Greek koppa (<p), and from the recurrence of a series of allied pairs in the Phoenician list such as

sign.

mem = water and nun = fish 'ain = eye and yod = hand and kaph = palm = mouth it is natural to pe explain it as having originally represented the outline
' '
'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

of a facing head without features.

1

It is certainly, therefore,

a suggestive fact that

cit.,

It was, indeed, formerly compared with an Arabian word signifying the back of the head but Delitsch con;

siders this comparison unwarranted (op.

Cf., too,

p.

227 note).

Peters, op. cit, p. 196.

88

SCRIPTA MINOA

a similar character should reappear as a common sign in both classes of the Minoan linear script, at times under the same simplified aspect, but more generally with thus very closely a loop on either side indicating the two human cars.

We

approach the Egyptian 'face' sign

hr.

In this connexion
is

that in the Iberic alphabets the koph sign the head seen in profile. There, at least,

its

is interesting to observe substituted for resh, or frequently 'head' as was clearly significance
it

Presumpfavourer
pictorial

recognized. In the above instances, although no sufficient key to their meaning can be obtained from the names of the Phoenician letters, the life-history of the parallel Minoan forms affords a strong presumption in favour of a similar pictorial origin.

About the meaning of some

authorities are generally agreed.

two-thirds

of

the

Semitic

letter-names,

however,

According

to the over-subtle theory of

'

De Rougd,
'

Antecedent
Phoenician
letters

any real clue to the origin of the letters. Aleph, for instance, was, on his showing, descended not from an ox but an pe was not a mouth as its name signifies, but a shutter and the tooth eagle But many even of those who sign, shin, was derived from an inundated garden reject De Rouge's theory still regard the names of the Semitic letters as having nothing to do with their real origin. On this important point the Cretan signaries again afford analogies of a most For on Cretan soil we can often watch the actual evolution of the suggestive kind. the The fact that we have here not only two classes of from linear pictorial form. a dvanced linear scripts, but the earlier hieroglyphic system and still more primitive line drawings, enables us in many cases to trace back the advanced linear form to
indeed, these
'
,

names do not by themselves

'

afford

'

'

'

'

',

',

'

'.

Mmoan
scripts.

ts pictorial

letters,
If,

not theoretical, as in the case of the Phoenician but becomes a matter of ocular demonstration.
source.

The

derivation

is

Cretan linear signs resembling Phoenician letters go back to which correspond with their Phoenician names, we have somecorrespond pictorial prototypes withorigin. thing like a proof that these names afford a real clue to the origin of the letters. In Table VI (Fig. 42) will be found comparisons of a series of Phoenician or
Names
therefore,

other Semitic
of the

letters,

the

names of which bear ascertained meanings, with characters

Minoan

signaries.

not to speak of other striking similaritiescoincidences of the kind referred to above are actually found to occur in a succession
It will

be seen from this Table that

of examples.
series,

The 'ox-head' sign, for instance, is common in the Minoan hieroglyphic and we see from the Phaestos whorl that it had an alternative linear form

House'
fef/"and dakth.

closely corresponding with the Phoenician aleph. Beth, the 'house', for which we have an interesting sidelight in the South Semitic form shown in the Table, finds a very close parallel, common to both the Minoan

and B. It seems quite possible, moreover, that the actual prototype linear Script of this is to be recognized in the storehouse sign of the Cretan hieroglyphic system
'

'

indeed, before this was known an identical pictorial origin was suggested by my father. Daleth, the 'door', is also common to the Minoan signaries, but in this case

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

89

CRETAN
ETC

CRETAN

HOENICIAN

I
O-

LINEARA+BI IEROCLYPHS
r

ETC

CRETAN CRETAN
LI NEAR. A*:BlHIEROGLYPHSl

'

AA
CR

AA]

vu
/\
KAPPA

<*

X K
OQ

S SEW

B E
SAFA

EE 2\
A
f
.

DOC,RAPH Or 5 TOREHOUSE CLASS B

7
PALMOFHA

F/y

[Fi CToqR.J

1
5

UJ n

B [IN COMPOUHD]

01 5-SEM

ORCHOMENOS

A 4

-U
U.<0

S-SEM

<

ft:

a:

to
c/?
-"H

RESHo

to

BOEOTIAN

A.B.

A.B

w
<=>
5IDON

NH
td w "
VU

AB

A.B

TYRE

UYTT05

LYCIA fc

a:

.je

X
A
p.

s
FIG. 42 (TABLE VI).

Phoenician, &c., letters with names of ascertained meaning compared with Minoan signs.

M 2

SCRIPTA MINOA
the

the form throws no obvious light on opening of a tent or wigwam.

'

name

unless

it

be the triangular door

Gate

'

There seems some reason

Lenormant,
'fence' or 'enclosure'.
It

signs

he and
c/ieth.

believing, as was long ago pointed out by 1 that he in the Phoenician series is a differentiated form of cheth, the
for
is,

scripts two closely parallel different values, which can

therefore, specially interesting to find in all the Minoan signs of very similar appearance, though used with

be traced
hurdle.
2

back step by step

to

pictorial

origin
bars,

evidently delineating a gate or but the Boeotian form of E

The Semitic he has only

three

original Semitic prototype had (p) four bars, and strengthens the comparison with the Minoan forms. In the Cretan hieroglyphic script this sign seems to have been used in the sense of 'custody'. find
it

shows that the

Thus we

This sense of guardianship also comes out under a more dignified aspect in formulas where it is associated with the sacred Double Axe of the Minoan religion, in what may be an official title.
coupled with a
pig.

'Hand'
signs

yod and
kaph.

hand ', the pairs of the Phoenician alphabet are yod (iota), meaning = hand' or 'palm'. In the Minoan 'the hollow of the coupled with kaph (kappa) the series there are several hand and arm signs. Among hieroglyphs appear either

Among

'

Fish/ or Watersnake ?
' '

'

WWW.

two crossed arms or a single arm, and the hand seen either from the front or on the side. There is also a primitive linear form apparently representing two arms proceeding from a trunk with the hands in profile. In the linear series we find an abbreviated form of this latter, giving a profile view of the hand and forearm, resembling We also see, in addition to the ordinary hand sign, another the Semitic yod. type with the forearm and open hand completely linearized, the fingers being reduced to three. This type precisely answers to the Semitic kaph (see Table VI). The true connexion of the Phoenician names and letter-forms is here again but according to De Rouge" the yod is derived from a hieratic sign confirmed and kaph from a handled bowl representing parallels The Hebrew nun means a 'fish', and the word in this sense is common to all the North Semitic languages. The resemblance to the object described is here not obvious, though it has been suggested 3 that this letter originated from the
'

'

'

'

'

',

abbreviated outline of a
'

fish, taking the upper line of the head, the cross-line of the and line of the the On the other hand, the Aethiopic name for this belly. gill, = a serpent ',* suggests that its real origin may be sought in that letter, nahas direction, and that the name fish was rather applied to it from the association with mem = 'water'. May it originally have depicted a water-snake or eel ? This suggestion certainly receives a striking corroboration from the ascertained history of a similar character in the Minoan script. A zigzag sign of the hieroglyphic class, No. 84 below,
'

'

Lenormant expressed the opinion

(cf.

that he

was

a double

Introduction to Greek Epigraphy,

i.

p.

312

and see

W. Lar-

of chith
"

De Rouge,

Me'moire sur torigine e'gyptienne

7).

de t alphabet phenicien, p.

k\d,Handbuc/ieffrgn'ec/iiscfietiEpigrapMk,igo'],pp.^o,^i). 3 This suggestion was made by my father, Sir John

This form also reappears as a letter of the Phrygian alphabet, perhaps in the wake of Aeolian influences (Kirchhoff, Studien. &c., ed. iv. pp. 54seqq. Roberts,
' ' ;

Evans,
4

loc. cit.
'

Cf. J. P. Peters,
'

Recent Theories of the Origin of the

Oriental Sac., vol. xxii. p. 195).

Alphabet (Journ.

Am.

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

91

which in its angularized simplification closely approaches the shape of the nun, goes back by a regular transition to a conventionalized pictorial rendering of a snake. Even De Rouge's ingenuity failed to discover a hieratic prototype for 'am There are two main the Greek o which is the common Semitic name for 'eye'. types of this letter, the Tyrian, which forms a vesica piscis, and the Sidonian, which The one represents the outline of the whole eye, the other the pupil is circular. and it is obvious that they are derived from a prototype giving both the outline and the pupil. Such an original form is, in fact, reproduced in a common Cretan pictograph in its purest shape, representing the whole eye with both its pupil and In the linear Classes A and B the outline of the whole is preserved, with lashes. only traces of the details, the form thus approaching the simple vesica piscis of the Tyrian class. Some interesting transitional forms will be found to be supplied from
;

'.

E ye
"

'

Slgn

On the other hand, there is a very early a Lycian source. of the eye as a circle with or without a central dot.
1

Minoan

linearization

seems probable that the older and more perfect form of the Phoenician 'Mouth' Sl n e 'mouth' sign pe should probably be recognized in the South Semitic type of the & ~r This character, resembling a vesica piscis, though set on end, evidently letter. 2 This starts, as its name implies, from a pictorial delineation of the human mouth.
It
-

also occurs
'

among
'

The head

the Cretan hieroglyphs. sign resh or rosh the Greek ro

finds a close analogy in a

signifies a
it
'

common
in

character of the linear Class

and

tan,

which

mark
is

',

is

found both

In the latter case the linear and the pictographic series. mark indicative of the beginning of a sign-group.
It

also used as a simple

of the Greek alphabet The cornX, and had been directly taken over from soml? South Semitic source. Though added to Greek"' the letters directly derived from the Phoenician series, their adoption by the Ionian letters and

looks as

if

the complementarv letters

<p,

Greeks goes back, perhaps, to an equal antiquity with that of the borrowed Phoenician It may be regarded as certain that they were in use at Chalcis and Miletos forms. before the end of the eighth century B.C., 3 and as the respective East and West
1

Semitic*
analogies,

See above, Table

It is,

II, p. 66,

Nos.

8, 9.

of course, possible that the North Semitic form been suggested, be intended to represent the as has may,

Milesian Mother City. The Safa inscriptions are themselves perhaps too late, and their locality too inaccessible, for them to be regarded
as the source of these complementary Greek letters. The are to be found in the , V, and analogies with the

mouth in profile. 8 See Kirchhoff,

Einleitung, &c., p. 172.

They appear

already in the Chalcidian colonies founded before that date. They must have been known quite as early at
Miletos (Larfeld,
1907,
i.

earlier

Sabaeo-Minoan alphabet, and

it

seems probable

that

p. 376),

Handbuch der griechischen Epigraphik, and in the Milesian numeral alphabet,

the lonians adopted the South Semitic letter-forms took them from some maritime centre, such as Gaza, they Deecke's in intimate commercial relations with Arabia.
if

dating at least as early as 700 B.C., they already appear in fixed order before the omega, the introduction of which

attempt

hu, khu,

they probably precede.

It is

also to be observed that all

the complementary signs, including the omega, are found in the early inscriptions of Naukratis dating from about the middle of the seventh century (E. Gardner, The
'

Early Ionic Alphabet, '/. H. S., vii. pp. 22oseqq.). This is a further proof of their still earlier existence in the

derive <f>, x, and ^ from the Cypriote forms for and se (see his article 'Alphabet' in Baumeister, Denkmalerd. klass. Alterthutns, i. p. 51) cannot be regarded as successful, dtnega, however, has an independent history, and Prof. E. Gardner's comparison with forms of the Cypriote ko or go an aspirated o is certainly suggestive (/. H. S., vii. p. 233).
to

92

SCRIPTA MINOA

GREEK

CRETAN PHILISTINES AND THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

by

93

my

father

some

thirty years before the date of the Cretan discoveries, actually

anticipate the since discovered forms of Minoan hieroglyphs. It must always be borne in mind that the comparisons here instituted

between
as those

Necessary
r s
t

Minoan signs and the Semitic

letters

are subject to the

same reservations

rva "

have no already stated in the case of the Cypriote and Anatolian characters. unified to draw have system strictly upon. already seen that in Minoan Crete

We

^s

We

only, at an early date, a hieroglyphic and a closely allied primitive of linear signary, but that these were succeeded by two divergent systems advanced linear writing in more or less contemporary use. Moreover, in addition

there

was not

and B, there is some evidence of the existence of one or more variant signaries on the Mainland side during the Third Minoan Age. In Cyprus, again, not counting the later syllabary, we have a fragment of another There are good grounds, then, for closely allied type of Minoan linear script. supposing that there may have existed other provincial or colonial forms of script of which as yet we have no knowledge.
to the linear Classes

these variant systems of linearized writing there was, doubtless, as we and B, of which we have full knowledge, a large see in the case of the Classes

In

all

A
is

common

element.

peculiar to itself. in the number of signs in common use, and thus it happened that, out of a much more extensive primitive stock, the preference shown by local scribes favoured the
survival of certain characters in

each of these classes a series of signs The evolution of the advanced linear script involved a diminution
also
in

But there

one system or the other.

sufficient to explain

These considerations are quite

such lacunas as exist

letters like

in the Lacunas

comparisons instituted. The fact that certain Phoenician bear no obvious relation to known Minoan forms can, for
be taken to

mem =

'

water

'

j^^g.

this reason,

by no means

we
in

other signs have not a direct affinity. The fact that have no fixed and centralized system to deal with in the case of the Minoan

show

that

many

makes it permissible, at least provisionally, to exercise a certain eclecticism the choice of comparison. Gimel has, for instance, been here compared with the primitive linear form of the bent human leg of the Cretan hieroglyphic series,
scripts also

though the evidence of the survival of

advanced Linear Scripts A and B In the same way too the mouth sign is only found among the is not decisive. hieroglyphs. Aleph, again, has for the same reason been compared with the Cretan pictographic sign for an 'ox-head' and its primitive linearization, though no similar character occurs in the advanced linear scripts of Crete itself, so far as they are at present known to me. Taken as a whole the correspondences between the Semitic letters and the Cretan characters are of such a nature as almost to necessitate the conclusion that they
this in the
' '

Extent of

do
1

to a great extent represent a selection

from a provincial Late Minoan signary.

is

spondence between

It is

true that the sign

to

is

found in the Linear Class B, which closely recalls the Greek Alpha, but there
'

no evidence

show

that this is the

ox-head sign reversed.

'

94
Phoenician It will

SCRIPTA MINOA
be shown
in

Minoan
forms.
6

linear signs f Crete, though they, doubtless, possessed the value of syllables, or even at times, perhaps, of single letters, could still on occasion be used with their old ideographic

the course of this

work

that even the advanced

Minoan
linear

wo^cf-signs as well as

This aspect of the Minoan script would greatly facilitate its force as word-signs. adoption by men of other speech. Any individual character could be taken over tn a translated value. Minoan sign, for instance, might represent the full

'

A
'

or

letters,

Such
5

or a part of such a word. The word-sign could be adopted in a translated form as beth or kaph, the phonetic value of which was, however, reduced to a mere b or k by the new and advanced method of
native

word

for

'

house

'

or

hand

',

translated

or literally

Phoenician acrophony. On the other hand, it looks as if names such as teth and koph were literally taken over from the original tongue ex hypothesi that of the
Philistine colonists.
first syllable,

In

some

cases, again, the

names

represent, perhaps, rather the

closed or otherwise, of the original word. The theory here advanced is that the taking over of these foreign terms was, like the adoption of the forms of the letters themselves, the result of the Semitization

brought with them their own variety of the Minoan linear script from their Aegean homes. As stated above, the common elements in the North and South Semitic alphabets seem to point to Southern Palestine, and in particular to Minoan Gaza as the chief distributing point. But the Philistine
of Philistine tribes

who had

'

'

settlements extended considerably further North, at least to the neighbourhood of Carmel. The question may even be suggested whether some Aegean element

may

not have intruded into the

bosom
',

of Phoenicia itself?

This,

at

any
to

rate,

would help

to explain the persistent application

by the

Egyptians,

down

late

Was

there

nucleus to Phoeni-

by which they had formerly distinguished the Minoan population of Crete and the Islands, to the Phoenicians. It is on all fours, a term originally applied to the indeed, with the Greek use of the term Phoinikes true Aegean Red-Men The persistent name of Keftians applied to them by the Egyptians may in this case have been based on a real ethnic ingredient among them representing the true Aegean 'Red-Men'. It must certainly be said that the character of the Phoenician maritime enterprise, their eclectic religion, and the cosmopolitan colonial spirit generated by their great cities somewhat belies a purely
Ptolemaic times, of the
of

name

'

Kefts

'

',

'

'.

Semitic origin.

1 In an interesting conversation that I had with Mr. Gladstone at Hawarden in 1896, during which some of these possibilities were discussed, he enlarged on the maritime spirit of the Phoenicians and on other charac-

teristics,

and concluded with the remarkable expression

of opinion, 'I have always believed that the Phoenicians were at bottom of non-Semitic stock.'

95

I.

n.

MINOAN CONTACT WITH EGYPT,

Philistine settlements

ITALY,

AND SPAIN
Indications
fact^-fes"
in

through the Southern part of the Canaanite littoral, and in particular the occupation of the country about Gaza by the Cherethim, must be taken in connexion with the extensive traces of Aegean contact that appear during the same period in the Delta and a large part of Lower Egypt.
diffusion of the

The

Lower

The
as

actual settlement of

at least of the

Aegean elements on Egyptian soil may go back to the borders Middle Minoan Age, and indeed it is difficult to believe that such works

Diffusion

Minoai

of the inlaid dagger-blades from the Royal Tombs at Mycenae so Egyptian remains l could have been produced in technique as well as in the details of Nilotic scenery

some

elsewhere than on Egyptian soil. 1 The finds of Late Minoan pottery in this region from about the time of Amenhotep III onwards are indeed so plentiful- as to lead us to suppose that important factories had by this time been planted in the Delta

from Crete or other parts of the Aegean. The Philistine settlements in the Canaanite tract that was to take from them the name Palestine to some extent, perhaps, represented the eastward drift of these elements from the mouths of the Nile. It is during this same period of stationary civilization and slow decadence the Third Late Minoan to which this later series of Egyptian finds belongs, that the evidences of Aegean intercourse become most abundant on the Italian side. This is especially noteworthy in the neighbourhood of Taranto and in the old 4 lapygian district/ which was itself traditionally connected with a Cretan settlement. On the Adriatic side Late Minoan remains occur as far North as the neighbourhood of Venice' and the opposite coast of Istria," and on the Tyrrhene shores extend
1

Late
traces"^
Italy

at least to the site of

7

period in Sicily the Minoan Empire to an exhaustive expedition on this side, and even placed the tomb of Minos on Sicilian soil. 8 The abiding influence of this contact is seen not
had already advanced this view in The Eastern Question in Anthropology (Address to Anthr. Section of
I
1

discovery of Minoan relics of the same further recalls the persistent tradition which traced the fall of and

Cuma.

The abundant

Sicily,

"

At Torcello.

See R. M. Dawkins, J. H.

S., xxiv.

p. 126.

British Association, 1896).

2

The Ashmolean Museum

is

now

the repository of

a considerable series of these Late Minoan finds from

Egypt, due to the discoveries of Prof. Flinders Petrie and

others.

H. Gutscher (Vor- und fmhgeschichtliche Beziehungen und Dahnatiens en Italien und Griechenland, 1904, pp. 13, 20) gives evidence of Third Late Minoan influence at Nesactium cf. R. Burrows, The Discoveries in Crete,
Islriens
;

ed.
"

i,

p. 157, n. 3.

remains belonging to the latter part of the Late Minoan Age has been due to the researches of Dr. Quintino Quagliati, Director of the Taranto Museum. Thanks to his kindness, I have been able to go over the materials on the spot. 4 Herod., vii. c. 170, makes the relics of the Cretan host that had followed Minos in his disastrous expedition to Sicily settle in lapygia, where they were stranded owing to a storm. They founded the City of Hyria(Oria) and 'were transformed into the Messapian lapygians'.
in this district of extensive

The discovery

See especially the papers of Orsi in the Bullettino di The paletnologia italiann and the Mtmumenti antichi. references are collected in Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos,
pp. 108, 109, where reasons are given for supposing that the connexion between Crete and Sicily goes back at
least to the First Late Minoan Period, though the most abundant remains are those of the Third Late Minoan

Age. * Herod,

vii.

170

Diod.

iv.

76-9.

96
The

SCRIPTA MINOA
in

only

the civic

name Minoa,

fast to the attributes, the pillar-shrine,

in Sicily.

Nature Goddess of Minoan

but in the cult of Eryx, whose Lady of the Dove held and the symbolic svastika sign of the great Crete.

Sardinia:

signs.

further stage of this Minoan influence is seen in Sardinia, and in this case a gam the evidence is associated with the appearance of linear signs. Some early bronze ingots have come to light at Serra Ilixi near Cagliari of the same form as
'

those depicted on the Knossian tablets and among the gifts of the Keft chieftains on Rekhmara's tomb, and otherwise identical with the hoard of ingots of the same metal from the Royal Villa at Hagia Triada and an example found in the Cypro2

Minoan cemetery of Enkomi

in

Cyprus/
4

Like the Cretan and Cypriote examples,

moreover, these exhibit linear signs, in one case two of them grouped, of which it may be said that, with one exception, they are practically identical with characters of the Minoan scripts. They should probably, however, be better classed with the Cretan signs applied to various objects as marks of a series which, indeed, as will be shown later on in this work, 5 often correspond with those employed for the purpose The average weight of these ingots approximately answers to that of writing.
of those from the Royal Villa at Hagia Triada, and represents the light Babylonian talent of Minoan usage. 6
Minoan

The Tne

evidences of Minoan enterprise extend still further to the West. researches of the brothers Siret into the Early Metal Age culture of the South-

East of Spain 7 had already produced indications, such as the forms of certain stone 8 idols, of a certain parallelism with Aegean culture at a very remote period.
discovery has been now opened by the recent investigations of Professor Pierre Paris 9 of the University of Bordeaux, which tend to show that

But a new chapter

in

Minoan
Minoan

civilization, in the strictest

sense of the word, exercised an extensive influence

throughout the whole Eastern

tract of the Peninsula.

From Tarragona and

A

inland,

Ibmc vase U P tne valley of the Ebro, at least to the neighbourhood of Saragossa, South and East to
decoration.
1
'

Pigorini,

Pani

di

rame provenienti

dall'
'

Egeo, scofirst
iii

perti a Serra Ilixi in provincia di Cagliari

ital.,

(Bull, di pal.

lished
p.
1

xxx by
;

(1904), pp. 91 seqq.).

They were

pub-

G.
'

Spano

(Bullettino archeol. Sardo,

(1857),
'

relations with the West Mediterranean. doubt, however, appears to exist in the most competent quarters as to whether these really represent local finds. 9 Essai surt art et I' Industrie del' Espagne primitive, z vols.

94

cf.,

too, ib. vi (1860), p. 365).

Minoan Weights and Mediums of Currency (Corolla Nutnisntatica, 1906, pp. 355, 356, and Fig. n). 3 Murray, B. M. Excavations in Cyprus, p. 15, Fig. 1535, and p. 17 cf. A. J. Evans, Mycenaean Cyprus, &c.

See

my

In a (Paris, 1903-4), and Arch. AHZ., 1906, 168 seqq. notice of Prof. Paris's book in the Revue Arche'ologique (v.
p. 159),

'

Some

of these are incised on the hard metal.

are stamped on the metal

(Cf. Pigorini, op. cit.,
6 6

when

still

soft

Others from the casting,

Reinach accepts the general conclusion as Ici nous sommes derivation of the designs en presence d'une ceramique a motifs myceniens, mais dont pas un lesson ne pourrait etre attribue a un atelier de la Grece historique.' For further discoveries of the same
M.
S.
to the
'

Aegean

pp. 105, 106.)

class see E. Albertini,

'Rapport sur

les fouilles d'Elche'

In vol.

ii.

(Comptes-rendus de FAc. des Inscriptions, &c., 1905, pp. 611

also Bull. Hisp., Oct. 1906; Jan., Apr. 1907). An interesting review of the materials will be found in Paul

A.
'

J.

Evans, 'Minoan Weights and Mediums of Cur-

seqq.

rency (Corolla Nuniismatica, pp. 358 seqq.). 7 Les premiers ages du tne'tal dans le Sud-Est de fEspagne,
2 vols. (Anvers, 1887). * Some clay vessels and other objects in the Museum at Marseilles, closely resembling those of early Cycladic tombs, have been taken as a further proof of early Aegean

Am.
'

The Pre-Roman Antiquities of Spain ', Journ, of Archaeology, 1907, pp. 182 seqq. On the Minoan or Mycenaean character of the designs, cf. too J. L. Myres, The Year's Work in Classical Studies,"
Baur's article on
'

'

'

'

'

1907, p. 39.

MINOAN CONTACT WITH EGYPT,

'

ITALY,

AND SPAIN

97

the upper waters of the Jucar, to Alicante, and Murcia, and not least from the ancient site that had already given its name to the Lady of Elche ', has been obtained

painted pottery showing a style of decoration affiliated to that of Minoan Crete. The ceramic objects here referred to are not, indeed, articles of import, though at least one vase of the Latest Minoan or Mycenaean Class has been found in Spain. 2
1

The

We
the

vessels in question differ both in paste and technique from the Minoan class. must therefore suppose that they were introduced into Spain from some intermediate centre, probably on the north coast of Africa/ and not directly from
-

Aegean island. But a large proportion of the ornamental designs go back, beyond all contestation, to Mycenaean, and in a distinct measure to specifically Minoan prototypes. A whole series of naturalistic plant and animal forms though the actual selection was often of an indigenous kind fit on to the characteristic designs of the First Late Minoan Age, and certain features that they display must be regarded as a direct inheritance from Middle Minoan polychrome motives. Others reflect the Knossian Palace Style of the succeeding epoch (L. M. II), while 5 and in some others, again, betray the contagion of the Mycenaean decadence,
4

cases present points of comparison with Mainland types bordering on the Geometrical Period.
It
is

clear

not obsolete

archaeologically speaking it is contemporary products and Long fashions that are imitated abroad that the earlier class of designs
since

perf

on these vessels must go back to the First Period of the remodelled Palace But colonial art is often conservative, and there is evidence that this Knossos. class of pottery, in at least its later phases, went on in Spain down to the days of It is Classical Greek influence in the fifth and fourth centuries before our era. noteworthy that some of the later offshoots of the class have been found near Narbonne in Southern France." Nor does this remarkable ceramic evidence stand alone. Some equally clear in- Minoan dications are supplied by ancient bronzes, and notably a series of bulls' heads with Uruslike

Mfnoizing at ceramic

Majorca"

horns from
to

Majorca,

which, whether of indigenous

school.
8

fabric or

not,

certainly

These seem to have had a religious belong intention, and, though the heads are in no instance surmounted by the sacred Double-Axe, the dove of the Minoan Goddess is seen perched upon one of the
a
brilliant

Minoan

of 1907 I had the advantage of going over in Professor Paris's company the specimens of this
1

In

November

There the rocks, argonauts, &c.,of L. M.

are seen in

Spanish ware that he has procured for the Louvre. A great mass of unpublished Cretan material supplements the comparisons that M. Paris had already instituted. 1 G. de Golos (Saragoza, T. I. PI. Ill) figures a pyxis, accepted by Furtwangler as Late Mycenaean. Cf. Perrot,
L'Art, &c., T. VI., p. 940, n. 5. ' But hardly, as M. Siret suggests, Rev. Arch., x. p. 453,

their degenerate geometrical shapes. 6 Specimens now in the Louvre

were shown me by

M.
'

Pettier,

Op. cit., i. pp. 141 seqq. The bulls' heads, now in the Madrid Museum, were acquired by Dr. Jose Ramon Melida from a tongue of land at Costig, known as Son Corro, supported on one side by a Cyclopean wall and
'

'

Carthaginian. e. g. the spiral ornament combined with a loop that proceeds f. om it like a bud and is internally decorated
1

late

containing a talayot of similar construction, * The characteristic features (recognizable at once to those familiar with the Minoan renderings of bulls'

heads) are well defined by Prof. Paris, op.

157, 158.

cit.,

i.

pp.

with cross-hatching.
p. 84, Fig.

Paris, op.

cit.,

p. 64, Figs. 87, 88,

and

170 (Meca).

N 2

SCRIPTA MINOA
and Spain.

Mimon
influences on Iberic culture

connexion that a bronze figure in the Madrid Museum represents both in its characteristic attitude and peaked head-piece a form of the Minoan Warrior-God, of which the best example comes from a Cretan votive cave. We have here, then, the wholesale evidences of an Iberic culture with Minoizing traditions extending over a large part of Eastern Spain and the Balearic Islands.
horns.
It

may

be added

in

this

precede Phoenician.

In Majorca the evidence is of such a kind as to warrant the conclusion that there was In the case of the ceramic remains the a direct connexion with the Minoan world.
traces of

influence must, as already observed, have been rather intermediate agency to be sought perhaps on the North African Coast.
it

Minoan

due to some But in any

considerable Western extension of the Aegean enterprise. It is probable, indeed, that long before the days of Phoenician or later Greek activity in the West, silver and tin reached the East Mediterranean basin in Minoan bottoms
case
implies
a

eventually be found that there were mainland staples on the Iberic side. Tarshish-Tartessos itself has a suffix characteristic of local names throughout the pre-

and

it

may

historic

Aegean world, and Massalias was

-

a river-name

of Crete.
Iberic
inscriptions on

This surprising westward diffusion of Minoan fluences must henceforth be taken into account in

inall

Minoizing
pottery.

matters that concern the early culture of the Iberic It is, therefore, of great interest to find on Peninsula.

one fragment of painted pottery/ belonging

1

to the class

so intimately related to Minoan prototypes, what must 4 certainly be regarded as part of an inscription (Fig. 44). The letters seem to belong to the Iberic class, the
characters

lower line probably representing This was found, with many other WAHN fragments of the Ibero-Minoan class, at Meca, Northof
the

ILUN.

FIG. 44. Painted Iberic sherd from Meca, near Alicante, with inscription.

West

of Alicante, on a site which, according to Professor Paris, shows no sign of later Greek influence. Another fragmentary inscription is on the pedestal of a vase in the Tarragona Museum. 5
Is
it

possible, then, that, as

where, the Late Minoan script

Iberic
Elements
of Iberic
It

seems to have been the case in Cyprus and elsemay have left its mark on the alphabets of the
of the
Iberic

group?
is

certain that both branches

alphabet

Celtiberian and Tur-

exhibit a variety of signs which cannot by any possibility be derived from scripts neither the Phoenician or the Greek. Thus out of twenty-one letters of what may be supPhoenician nor Greek. posed to have been the original alphabet, fifteen are Greek or Phoenician characters

detan

See Myc. Tree and Pillar

P. Paris, op.
P. Paris, op.
cit.,
ii.

Cult, pp. 27, 28,

and

Fig. 15.

* 3

Cp. Fick, Vorgriechische Ortsnamen,

p.

p. 25.

100, Fig. 202.

From Meca,
Only three

near Almansa, South- West of Valencia.

4

cit.,

pp. 100, 101, Fig. 203.

complete signs are visible. 5 Excluding the later y/tsilon and omega. For summary purposes of comparison I have taken the Table of the Celtiberian and Turdetan alphabets in P. Berger's Histoire de FEcriture dans F Antiqitite, p. 336.

MINOAN CONTACT WITH EGYPT,

ITALY,

AND SPAIN

99

or easy derivations of such, but there are also eight alternative forms ot these apparently of extraneous origin, including representatives of beth, mem, vau, tsade, and
koph, which also present non-Phoenician types.

The number

of foreign forms thus

to

amounts

fourteen,

and

IBERIC
.

MINOAN

very nearly balances the Greco- Phoenician ingredients.

From

the
in

compari-

sons instituted

HE
VAU
CHETH

%.

(Fig. 44*),

Table VIII which can only be

tA
P.
P.

regarded as of a rough preliminary nature, it will be

seen that of these fourteen
B.
foreign signs of the Iberic alphabets, eight are identical

with

Minoan

linear forms,

while two forms of cheth pre-

n
K.AP
|||
/' }/\\

sent a distinct approximation

to

them.

As

the

values

of the May we

A R

Minoan signs are unknown, and accidental resemblances between more or less simple
geometrical characters may easily occur, it would be im-

^
'

r e to ce

Minoan

MEM
TSADE

prudent to draw too absolute a conclusion from these

comparisons.
It is

not per-

haps going too far, however, to assert that they do supply

a prima facie case in favour of Minoan influences on the
Iberic
script.
is

KOPH
RESW
A.B
FIG. 44* (TABLE VIII).

One

point,

indeed,

specially

note-

The signs of the worthy. Cretan system given in the last place of the Table, ^2'
must
1

Preliminary comparisons of Minoan and

Iberic linear forms.

as

already

noted

above, be certainly regarded as the linearized derivatives of a pictograph representing the human head and neck, analogous to the Egyptian *? hr. In the earlier type the two ears are still seen in the
;
1

See pp.

87, 88.

TOO
derivative form

SCRIPTA MINOA
which answers
to the Phoenician

koph these have been

for resh

lost.

It is,

therefore, specially interesting to find this appearing in the Iberic alphabets as an

Minoan 'head 'sign

alternative

in its derivative

form
is

(or rosh\

which

universally view of the

acknowledged

to

mean 'head' and which seems

to represent a profile

human

head.

I.

12.

SURVIVAL OF MINOAN ELEMENTS IN CRETE AND THE TRADITION OF THE NATIVE SYSTEM OF WRITING

Depopulation of

Crete on break up of seapower.

Crete, as already observed, was never more densely populated than in the Third Late Minoan Age. But the break up of the Minoan sea-power and the consequent
loss of the oversea

commerce on which

large

numbers of the inhabitants must have

depended

for their livelihood,

would naturally be productive of a great movement of

emigration. Desperate ventures appear to have been undertaken in various directions, and the Viking descents on the Nile-mouths, in which elements of the Cretan population seem to have taken part in company with Akaiuasha and others, may have been mainly the result of bitter need at home.
Legendary
expedition of Minos
to Sicily.

likely enough, therefore,' that there was a large element of truth in the Praesian tradition preserved by Herodotos flattering no doubt to Eteocretan vanity
It
is

which accounted

for the

Dorian settlement by a great depopulation of the

-

island.

actually assigned to this by the native tradition was, in the first place, an abortive expedition of Minos to Sicily, which led, after his death on Sicilian soil, to
It was also partly ascribed to the exhaustive a settlement of his followers in lapygia. effects of the Trojan War, and to a famine and plague that succeeded it.

The cause

Gradual
transfor-

mation.

process by which the greater part of Crete passed into Greek hands is as yet very imperfectly ascertained. The phenomena with which we have to deal point, however, to a comparatively slow progressive transformation rather than to any

The

Partial

break of
continuity
at

Knossos.

sudden wholesale displacement of an old form of culture by a new. There was Thus at Knossos the House of Minos doubtless a good deal of local dislocation. was now entirely deserted, even by the later squatters within its walls, never again, so far as it is possible to judge from its overlying strata, to become the scene of human Its immediate dependencies, and the adjoining part of the town, were habitation. 3 also for a time left desolate, and only reoccupied at a time when iron had completely superseded bronze for cutting purposes, and the Cretan 'Geometrical' style was already in existence. That there was here a real break is further shown by
'

'

2 5

See above, Herod, vii.

p. 92,

note

3,

under R.

171.

So, too, the neighbouring cemetery of Zafer Papoura

at

Knossos, pp. 133 seqq.). At some distance to the West new Geometrical cemetery has now been discovered.
of this a
' '

ceased to be used

this

time (Prehistoric Tombs of

SURVIVAL OF iMINOAN ELEMENTS IN CRETE

the fact that the

101

new occupants

of the site had

lost,

partially at least, the tradition

of the old road-lines.

But although there are traces on the

interruption,

site

of Knossos

the continuity of the

insular culture

was

of at least a partial Survivals of Minoan The culture. not entirely broken.

itself

evidence supplied by other Cretan sites in fact enables us to bridge over any local Such mainland features as the Continental form of sword and the safety-pin gaps.

were themselves of very gradual diffusion and already begin to make their appearance in Late Minoan deposits. Even the great change in sepulchral custom from corpse burial to cremation was effected in the same family vault. The old tradition is visible in the tholos form of the tombs themselves, in the continued use of the characteristic in the perpetuation of many decorative motives of purely 'Minoan' stirrup- vase All this, no doubt, was to a certain extent origin. the work of intrusive elements from the Mainland side, who had partly themselves absorbed the kindred civilization of Mycenae. Still, whatever 'SubMinoan ethnic changes may at this time have been work'

'

'

',

'

stage.

ing themselves out, this Earliest Iron Age culture of Crete must, from the archaeological point of
view, be described as Sub-Minoan One of the best examples of this transitional 'SubMinoan Sub-Minoan stage in Central Crete at present to remains at hand is supplied by the Cemetery of Erganos, not Erganos.
' '

'

'

FIG. 45.

from the site of Lyttos. 2 We see here bee-hive tombs, shrunken in size like those that characterize the cemeteries of the succeeding pure Geometrical
far
'

'

age

Crete, with remains of skeletons in squatting positions in place of the more The pottery found in these or less extended skeletons of the Late Minoan graves.
in

tombs

of a debased quasi-Minoan class with decoration showing Geometrical tendencies, and in one case an ossuary vessel was found containing unburnt bones, The absence of arms and but suggesting a kind of assimilation to a cremation-urn.
is

implements
of bronze.
It
is

in

these graves implies the use of the

more perishable

iron in place

therefore of special interest that in this typically Sub-Minoan Cemetery Inscribed disk of Erganos there should have been found an object which seems to attest some clay from

continued knowledge of the linear form of script. This is a clay disk, reproduced Erganos. above in Fig. 45, to which the Ephor Dr. Hazzidakis kindly called my attention.

The
1

sign
this
'

tf

here repeated
'

is

a frequent character of the Linear Script B, recurring

mente'
(Mitth.
d.
k. d.
'

Sub-Minoan Early Iron Age in Crete and Minoan elements throughout the Geometrical Period there, see Preh. Tombs of Knossos, pp. 134, 135, and compare Orsi. Am. Journ. nf ArchaeoFor
the survival of

arch. Inst. (Athens), 1897, pp. 234

'

lgy< d897), pp. 252 seqq. L. Mariani, op. cit., v (1901), pp. 305 seqq. S. Wide, Nachleben mykenischer Ornai
'

H. A. Boyd, Excavations at Kayousi in 1901 seqq.). (Am. Journ. of Archaeology, v (1901), pp. 146 seqq.). 2 A preliminary notice of the Cemetery of Erganos is given by Halbherr, Am. Journ. of Archaeology (1901),
pp. 271 seqq.

102
in the

SCRIPTA MINOA
group
Jft,

Eteocretan
survival in

East and West.

which appears before the totals in lists and additions of accounts. The inscription seems to read from right to left, the repeated Jf being followed by a sign representing its half, and the whole by a short stroke usually signifying the end of a word. The indigenous Kteocretan element continued, as we know, to maintain an independent existence in the Eastern part of the island and in the West about Kydonia, 2 and, from the extensive survival of the old place-names, it must also largely have persisted in central Crete. Even in the central region no single one of the leading cities, in the Iliad,'- bears a Hellenic name, though Gortyna may lay as mentioned already
1

Knossos and its

abiding
traditions.

Minos and
Labyrinth.

It is possible that Tritta, a name at one time good claim to a 'Pelasgian' origin. borne by Knossos, should be compared with the Thessalian Trikkaf and would therefore evidence the temporary ascendancy there of immigrants of the same Pelasgian stock. But the abiding name of the great Cretan city, Knossos 6 itself, takes us back again to the old underlying element which links on Crete, together with so large a part of mainland Greece and the Aegean region, to the same ethnic family as that anciently The name of Minos itself so faithfully perpetuated diffused throughout Asia Minor. The Labyrinth too, by the local tradition has affinities in the same direction. under the Hellenized form AafivpivOos, finds both its root and its characteristic suffix in the same linguistic family. The -nthos suffix is the regular equivalent in the Western branch for -ndos, -nda, among the primitive population of Asia Minor. 8 Labyrmtkoswas therefore legitimately compared by Max Meyer and Kretschmer with the Carian Labmundos and Labraunda, the latter a principal seat of the worship of a God whose fetish form was the double-axe, the native name of which, labrys, supplies
1

'

'

a natural derivative for that of the sacred

now

This philological comparison has received a most striking confirmation from the results of Cretan excavation.
J

spot.'

1 Dr. A. Taramelli, in his account of the Cemetery of Kourtes, belonging to the same transitional Sub-Minoan
' '

period, figures a heart-shaped pendant of jasper engraved with two linear signs and what seems to be a combina-

tion of

and i (Am. Journ. of Arch., v (1901), p. 299, Fig. 3). This stone was in a peasant's possession, and Dr. Taramelli opines that it came from the necropolis.
fi\

The
-

conclusion

is

probable, but

it

does not reach cer-

c Cf. p. 58. The ultimate triumph of the civic term Knossos' may either be due to the reversion to an older name of the place, or to a renaming at the time of some restored ascendancy of the ancient stock within its walls. Another ancient name for Knossos, also borne by the neighbouring stream, was Kaipnroc (Strabo, x. 4. 7). Fick (op. cit., p. 29) compares it with ffiVuroc, MiXnror, &c. 7 Mykenische Beitrage (Jahrbttch d. k. deittschen arch,
' '
'

tainty.

lust, vii (1892), 191).

s

For the Cretan place-names in their relation to those of prehistoric Greece and Asia Minor see especially P.
Kretschmer, Einhitioig
in die Geschichte der griecliischen

Einleituiiir, &.C., p. 404.

9 it

Max Meyer

(loc. cit.)
'

Sprache, pp. 404 seqq., and now A. Pick, Vorgriechisc/uOrtsnamen (Gottingen, 1905), pp. 6 seqq. The Cretan towns enumerated in the Catalogue (ii. 646 seqq.) as under the chieftainship of Idumeneus are
:1

was simply a \tifipvs Axt \afipiiv6ios geheissen haben muss bevor man den Namen seines Hauses zu \afivpiv8os entstellte.' But the double-axe itself was the fetish form of the God or Goddess and the name in its variant forms is therefore
' ;

See too Fick, op. cit., p. 28. writes of the double-axe as it sacred symbol of the God, der von
'

Knossos, Gortyna, Lyktos (Lyttos), Miletos, Lykastos, Phaestos, and Rhytion, all in the central region. 4 It was said (Stephanos, s. v. Cf. Fick, op. cit., p. 21. Vofnw) to have been also called, like the chief town of Pelasgiotis, Larissa 'this name, no doubt, as at Argos,
'

capable of the simple explanation as the place of the labrys', which is more in accordance with the ideas of
primitive religion.
Prof.

'

Burrows

(op.

cit..

pp. 117, 118)

and Prof. Conway (ibid., pp.227 se(W') wou 'd trace a connexion between the first elements of \afivpiv6os and the

referring to its citadel. 6 Cretan Pictographs, &c., p. 89 (358) note.

Greek \uvpa

a passage.

SURVIVAL OF MINOAN ELEMENTS

The Palace
at

IN

CRETE

103

Knossos proves to have been at the same time a sanctuary of the Cretan Nature-Goddess and her male satellite, whose principal cult objects, here as elsewhere in Minoan Crete, were the Double-Axes. The sacred weapon is not only incised on the constantly building-blocks themselves, but it is seen inserted into the wooden columns of the pillar-shrines or between the altar-horns of the domestic
chapels it decorates the ceremonial vessels and, as in the Carian cult, appears in the hands of the divinity or superposed over the head of the sacred bull. 1 The tradition which gave the name of Labyrinth to the great Minoan foundation at Knossos
;
' '

thus proves to have a solid foundation in fact, 2 and the name, in its signification of 'the place of the "double-axe"', represents, as already pointed out, a survival of a Cretan dialectic form of the once widespread aboriginal language which had its

branches East and West of the Aegean. In this as well as in many other aspects of the local lore
siderable survival of the indigenous

we

Knossos, and district. The Minotaur itself and the symbolic form of the Labyrinth as a kind of key pattern or developed svastika, as seen on Knossian coins, find their prototypes The cult of the Cretan Mother- Goddess, later among the earlier remains. identified with Rhea, was not forgotten; and, though only the ruins of her House could be pointed out, they were still shaded by her ancient cypress-grove.
at
1

Minoan element

trace a very con- Surviving e m e S of in the surrounding

JH r c U i t
at

Knossos.

We

shall

see below that even the tradition of the former existence of

that at
its

was not wholly lost here. It may be inferred Hellenization was exceptionally gradual and that
a bilingual stage.
It is

Minoan script Knossos the process of

inhabitants long remained in

out-

noteworthy
of cities

that,

number

(all

except for the enumeration in the Catalogue of a certain Crete with non-Hellenic names) and the mention of Idomeneus,

Even at the time when outside the scope of the Iliad. the Odyssey took its final form the ethnographic sketch there given of the Cretan population shows us the Dorians only as one among several elements Achaean, The process by which the Dorian speech and institutions Dorian Eteocretan, and Pelasgian.
Crete on the whole
lies

finally attained

predominance

in

the island must have been very gradual, and could

thoroughly Dorianized
city,

1 In this early religious stratum the principal divinity is the Goddess. * For the identification of the Falace at Knossos with

the

Knossos and

its

friendly relations with

Minoan traditions of Athens point to

the existence there of a considerable non-Doric element,

It Lyttos, not Knossos, was the model Doric state. must, of course, be recognized that in later times Knossos, both in its speech and constitution, took over the essential features of a Dorian City. The Dorian tribe of the Pam-

Labyrinth ', 'Knossos', Reports, 1901, p. 54; 1902, pp. Mr. H. R. Hall, 'The 100-4; *93i PP- 35^8, &c. Two Labyrinths (/. H. S., xxv, 1905, pp. 320 seqq.), who
[109] seqq.
; '

the

'

see Myc. Tree and Pillar Worship, pp.

accepts this identification, makes some interesting comparisons with the Egyptian Labyrinth, the work of
'

phyloi

is
1

found

here

('

Treaty between

Knossos and

(Ne-maat-ra the praenomen of adopts. the suggestion that the word Labyrinth was transferred from Crete to Egypt, the form Labaris' being due to a kind of Volksetymologie'. 3 Hoeck, Crela, iii. 417 (and cf. ii. 426), had already remarked that while Lyttos supplies an example of a
or

Lamaris
'

'

'

Labaris

'

Amenemhat
'

III).

He

Dr. R. Meister Gortyna, Halbherr, Mon. Ant., i. 49). (Abh. d. k. Sachs. Ges. d. IVissensch., xxiv. 3, 1904) has further shown that an exceptionally pure form of

'

'

Doric was spoken at Knossos (as at Gortyna). But it should be remembered that the purest English is spoken by the Welsh, to whom it was originally an acquired language, while the Plait Deutsch Hanoverians are said to speak the best High German.

104

SCRIPTA MINOA
itself

Central Crete before the beginning of the historic The large survival of old traditions, moreover, and the absence, above noted, period. of any clear break in the insular culture, tends to confirm the unanimous testimony of ancient tradition, that the Dorian occupation in Crete was due in the main to peaceful

hardly have completed

even

in

The
Dorian adoption of Minos.

settlement.

It is

even made him from the Thessalian Olympos.

a significant symptom that the Dorian legend adopted Minos and a grandson of Tektamos, who was said to have led their first colony

Minoan
traditions

favour
early revival in

Crete.

The
Daedalid
School.

Adoption and adaptation were the order of the day. Religious elements were The cult of the great Cretan Nature-Goddess lived on in taken over wholesale. various guises, and her offspring became a Zeus who was very different from The 'adoption' of Minos was itself the formal expression of an the Hellenic. accepted indebtedness in the domain of law and politics. The Early Iron Age culture of Crete as represented by the Greek settlers perpetuated, to a degree which is as yet very imperfectly realized, the Late Minoan and Sub-Minoan traditions. The rise in Crete of the earliest Art School that could be called Greek was itself largely due to this assimilation of elements inherited from the old indigenous civilization. Already in the eighth century before our era as we see from the bronzes of the Cave Sanctuaries of Ida and Dicta, and of the Temple of the the artistic products of Crete were ahead of those of the rest Dictaean Zeus of the Hellenic world, and the place subsequently attributed to the masters of the School of Sculpture, Dipoenos and Skyllis, confirms this Cretan Daedalid
1
'

'

hegemony.
Did a knowledge
of Minoan
script

survive ?

Minoan elements by the new-comers in the island, the question naturally suggests itself Is it possible that some knowledge of the Minoan script may have been also disseminated among the Greek settlers ?
In view of this taking over of

such a phenomenon is much strengthened by the analogy supplied by Cyprus, where, as we have seen, the peculiar syllabary in use by the Greek colonists down to a late date presents a series of resemblances with the

The

possibility of

Cretan linear characters. There was then no inherent reason

was of a similar adopted the Minoan system of

tion

where the ethnic transformakind, the Dorian or other Greek settlers should not have

why

in Crete,

of such a taking over is in this case deficient, though it is possible that certain archaic Greek letter-forms used in Crete were influenced by early Cretan characters, while X, which may be a simplification of the double-axe sign of the hieroglyphic series, appears as a mark
writing.

The evidence indeed

of division. 2

In favour of

some

survival of the old script, of

which we have

at present

The

archaic

recent discovery by the Italian Mission of the temple of Rhea at Prinia near Gortyna has

forms there referred

to

were () and

(3) for

at

Lyttos

(Comparetti, Leggi di Gortyna, &c., p. 201), recalling the pictographic signs (Nos. 3 and 109 below)
;

afforded further brilliant illustrations of this pre-eminence. 1 The possible operation of these influences was sug-

*\

for

van

at

gested to me by Professor Halbherr, and will be found discussed in my Cretan Pictographs, &c., p. 91 [360]. The

p. 418, Inscr. 194, 1. 6) and Oaxos (op. cit., p. 402, Inscr. 187, I. 3), for which a better comformer work is supplied by parison than that given in

Eleutherna (op.

cit.,

my

SURVIVAL OF MINOAN ELEMENTS

no remaining
trace,

IN

CRETE

105

might certainly be urged the quite exceptional prevalence of the It is well known literary habit among the Dorians in Crete during the archaic period. that the early Greek inscriptions of the island, which include the Laws of Gortyna, far exceed in volume those of the whole of the rest of the Hellenic world.
It is still

more inherently probable that a knowledge of the Minoan linear script Survival should have been preserved awhile by the remains of the indigenous Cretan stock, gtock^t who after the days of the Greek colonization still held their own in the extreme Praesos n East and West of the island. The principal strongholds of these were Praesos where, p c h na as we now know from Greek- written inscriptions found there and in the neighbourhood, the native language survived to the centuries immediately preceding our era and Polichna near Kydonia, within hail of the White Mountains and the fastnesses of the later Sphakiotes. The fact that the late Eteocretan inscriptions were written in Eteocretan Greek characters shows that the native script, if a knowledge of it was preserved, was ["^"j^
ii
.

incapable of competing with the perfected alphabetic form of writing then in vogue Greek among the predominant element in the population. The possibility, however, cannot be excluded that some earlier records in the Minoan script may have existed among these surviving representatives of the old stock, who had thus to the last retained their
native language. There was evidently a considerable body of native tradition from Praesian which the accounts of the early Cretan history and religious beliefs were derived. Herodotos expressly mentions the Praesians as his informants. 2 The ultimate sources

of

many of Diodoros's very detailed notices seem also to have been of Eteocretan origin. One is tempted to ask whether the hymns of the Curetes, of which we now have

a fragmentary Greek version from the temple of the Dictaean Zeus, been derived from a vernacular original in the native script.
'

may

not have

Whether or not some sacred guild, like that of the Curetes, may still have possessed such documents at a time when they were not understanded of the people the native Cretans seem to have preserved a distinct tradition that the Art of Writing was to them at least no new invention. At times they seem to have explained away
',

Surviving

the Phoenician attribution by a verbal confusion between 4>oM>if in its later ethnographic sense of a Phoenician and fyolvii; a palm-tree, and asserted that letters had

script,

been originally written on palm-leaves, 3 a material which, on Pliny's showing, was

a sign of the linear class A.
the

appears as a mark of

Hence Professor Burrows (The

ed., pp. 152 seqq.)
'

Discoveries in Crete, first

separation between two disconnected clauses at Gortyna (op. cit., p. 117, col. ix, 1. 43) and again, in a
horizontal position, at Lyttos (op. cit., p. 534, Inscr. 203, 1. It is true that two of the 7). comparisons above

has been led to suggest that these' EteoCretans represent later intruders from the West, and are not the old Cretans after all. It must be said that, if this
it would involve great cornnoted, in connexion with it, that the Eteo-Carpathians' of the neighbouring island, mentioned in the Athenian tribute lists, would then be in the same

conclusion were borne out,

plications.
'

suggested are with linearized signs of the hieroglyphic or conventionalized pictographic series. They may, however, have survived as religious marks or symbols. Professor R. S. Conway, in his recent analyses of
1

It

may be

case.
2 3

these inscriptions (B. S. A., viii. 257 seqq. and x. 115 seqq.), comes to the conclusion that the language was Indo-

Herod,
Suidas,

vii.

171 ...

\eyovtri

Upaiawi.

.\vSol

Km "lava

ra ypap.p.ara ano TOV toivmos TOV

European, akin
stated,

to the Venetic.

But there are, as already

the original

'Ayr/vopos

evpovros ZXafiov. Tovroa 8f drriXc'youo-t

strong

indications

that

'Minoan'

tvpcdrjvai dirbrov

ypafaiv ev

<oiviKa>i>

element bore

affinities

with the Carians and their kinsmen.

O 2

Io6

SCRIPTA MINOA
for
this
2

used

Diodoros, themselves.
Memorial
of old stock
festival

According to an account preserved by purpose before papyrus. the Cretans imparted the first knowledge of letters to the Phoenicians
1

near Knossos.

us that by the Theren stream, in the neighbourhood of Knossos, the country people largely no doubt representing under a Hellenized guise the old indigenous race came together every year to celebrate the nuptials of the Cretan
tells

He

Knossian account of
invention of letters.

were made, and the actual marriage ceremony was rehearsed through some kind of religious play in the manner that had been handed Diodoros next proceeds to summarize what seems to have down from ancient times been the gist of the religious doctrines conveyed by this commemorative ritual. The Cretan Zeus is here made to work out a comprehensive scheme for the physical, industrial, and intellectual culture of mankind by the agency of his various children. Amongst these, continues our informant, the Father assigned to the Muses the invenAnd the Cretans have an answer to those who attribute tion of letters and of poetry. the invention of letters to the Syrians, and who say that the Phoenicians learnt them from these and passed them on to the Greeks, this being done through Cadmus and those with him sailing to Europe, so that the Greeks call the letters Phoenician. To this they reply that the Phoenicians were not the original discoverers of letters,

Zeus and

his consort.

Sacrifices

'

'.

'

but that they simply changed their shapes. Owing, however, to the fact that the " Phoenician ".' generality of mankind use these letters, they acquired the name

1.

13.

WAS THE DISCOVERY OF THE MINOAN WRITING

ANTICIPATED BY CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY?

Classical

discoveries of prehistoric inscriptions.

nar<^'y

be suspected that the Cretan tradition ol" the invention of letters would nave subsisted unless there had been some actual knowledge of existing documents in an earlier script in the Greek period of the island. In this connexion it is interesting to notice that more than one discovery of such documents is recorded
It

may

during the Classical age. The frequency of these accounts is indeed somewhat 3 remarkable, though their value is very uneven. The discovery of the Late Minoan amphora with painted characters at Orchomenos *
lends a special interest to a more ancient find of a prehistoric inscription in the
1

same
Larfeld,
173,

Plin.
u
in.'

H. N.
v. c.

xiii.

77 'in

palmarum

foliis

primo

script!'

i, it

74 </>acri (sc. oi Kpf)T) rois *oiVt<c(ir OUK apxr,s eipdi/ d\\a rout rimuvs run ypafipaTVii furaffetvai flavor. See on this passage my Cretan Picts., p. 103 [372].

Diod.

3 Several instances are collected by Dr. W. Handbuch der griechischen Epigmphik, 1907, p. which I may here refer. * See above, p. 57.

to

WAS DISCOVERY OF MINOAN WRITING ANTICIPATED?

region.

107

the Genius of Socrates, relates with great circum- Inscribed stantiality of detail how, at the time of the Spartiate occupation of Boeotia, Agesilaos j^^ in opened a tomb no doubt a prehistoric tholos like the 'Treasury of Minyas' that tomb of
Plutarch, in his
1
-

work on

was pointed

out,

near Haliartos, as that of Alkmene.

'

Within, besides the body, there was found a small bronze armlet and two clay amphoras, filled with earth indurated by time, and a tablet of bronze containing many

which excited wonder from their appearance of great antiquity. For nothing could be understood from these, though on washing the bronze they came out clearly the type of the letters being outlandish and most like the Egyptian.' Plutarch further relates that Agesilaos sent a copy of it to the King of Egypt, asking him The priest Chonouphis seems to have been much to show it to his priests. puzzled by it, and spent three days 'hunting out various kinds of characters in old
letters,

He finally reported that the writing belonged to King Proteus's time in other words, to the Age of the Trojan War and contained a general exhortation to the Greeks to found a contest in honour of the Muses, and, 'setting arms aside,
books'.
to devote themselves to the peaceful rivalry of letters and philosophy.' In other words the pundit, in spite of his researches, was unable to interpret the inscription by the light of Egyptian hieroglyphics. This negative result con-

firms a presumption which, in view of the recent discoveries of prehistoric script, It cannot now be could not fail to arise. thought improbable that the tablet may have been engraved with characters in use under the Minyan dynasty in Boeotia,

the

name

of

whose founder has been

tablets

Although no inscribed

legitimately compared with that of Minos. of metal have been as yet discovered among the Absence
records*" on metal

Minoan remains of Crete, this negative phenomenon proves little when we bear in mind how carefully the great Palaces seem to have been ransacked for metal objects at the time of their desertion and destruction.
It is

worth

recalling,

moreover,

in this

connexion, that the contemporary Hittites

in

respects resembling the Minoan, at least in its earlier hieroglyphic stage of evolution, had a certain predilection for inscriptions on metal. Not only are their inscribed signets often composed of bronze or precious metals, but the same usage was also applied to larger documents.
ot

Asia Minor,

who

possessed a system of writing

some

Thus when the ambassadors of the great Hittite King Kheta-sira went to Egypt to make a treaty with Rameses II they bore with them a silver plate on which the It Hittite text of the treaty was engraved in the native language and character.1

Egyptotreaty
silver
plate.

on

D. G.

S.,

capp.

v, vii.

Attention was called to this

Period.

He

passage by M. Salomon Reinach (Anlhropologie, 1900, pp. 499 seqq.), who brought the unknown writing of the tablet there described into relation with the newly discovered Minoan script (as against Foucart's view Recherches sur I'origine et la nature des mysteres d"'Eleusis,

the penetration

resided in Carpathos, and thus represents of 'Aegean' elements into Mainland

Greece.

cited in the

Rev., in Plutarch.'
*

The passage of Plutarch was independently same connexion by Dr. L. R. Farnell, Class. 'An allusion to the Mycenaean Script 1902, p. 137

M. Reinach points out that King Proteus, 1895, p. 10). the Ketes of the Egyptians, belongs to the period of the
'

Trojan War' (Diod. i. 62), which would approximately correspond with the close of the Third Late Minoan

Lepsius, Denkntdler, iii. 146; Brugsch, Gesch. Aeg., De Rouge, in Egger, Etudes historiques sur les 518, &c. traite's, &c., pp. 242 seqq. ; E. Meyer, Gesch. des Alterthums, i. 285 Wright, Emp. of Hittites, pp. 65 seqq.
;

io8
is

SCRIPTA MINOA
'

possible that both the bracelet and the tablet found in the Tomb of Alkmene were really of silver, which from the amount of alloy that it generally contains often conveys the idea of bronze to non-expert eyes the fact, indeed, that the inscrip'

tion

this view,

was brought out clearly by the simple process of washing weighs in favour of and the ornaments of the distinguished dead were also more likely to

have been of precious metal. The use of bronze as a medium on which to cut prehistoric characters is, however, illustrated by more than one piece of evidence. Isolated signs have been found incised on a bronze axe and arrowhead 2 of Late Minoan fabric, and also on a bronze axe-hammer from Delphi/' and reference has already been made to a series of inscribed ingots.
1

Was

the

The account
to the
still

discovery of the

' of the finding of the inscribed table in the Tomb of Alkmene leads more interesting question Whether the recent discovery of the clay docu'

Knossian
tablets an-

ments contained
ancient times.

in the

chests of the

Minoan Palace was not

itself

anticipated in

ticipated ?

Dictys Cretensis's Chronicle of the

In the fourth century of our era* a certain L. Septimius wrote what purported to be a Latin translation of a Greek chronicle of the Trojan War by Dictys of Crete.

Trojan

War.

Septimius dedicated his work to Q. Aradius Rufus, probably the second high official of that name who was Praefectus Urbi in 376. From the literary flourishes with

Greek
original of Dictys's

work.

which the author sought to adorn his work, and the adaptations from Sallust, Virgil, Cornelius Nepos, and other Latin writers with which it is interlarded, advocates were found of the view that the whole was a fabrication of Septimius, and that no Greek original had really existed. 6 All doubts on the matter have now, however, been finally removed by the discovery, due to Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt's researches at Tebtunis, of a substantial fragment of the original Greek work. 6 The MS. is written on the back of a papyrus giving a series of revenue returns dating from the year A. D. 206, and a priori considerations as well as the palaeographical evidence combine in favour of the view that the literary text on the verso is not appreciably later in date. This discovery, therefore, throws back the composition of the work itself to the second or even the first century, and to a time at any rate not

Cretan

Picts., &c., p. 11 [280], Fig. 6.

in

Byzantine writers such as Malalas (sixth century), the

2 3

From

the Dictaean Cave.

'E/cXoyq 'loTopimv,

See above, p. 59, Fig. 35. 4 See TeufFel, Geschichte der romischen Literatur, neu bearbeitel von L. Schwabe (ed. 1890), 423 (Eng. Trans., ii. pp. 375 seqq.). The fact that the Governor of Crete is
spoken of as Consularis
Septimius's
is alone sufficient to show that work was not composed earlier than the fourth Marquardt, Rom. Slaatsverfassung, i. 549).
'
'

and Cedrenus (eleventh century) were based, in different degrees, on a late Greek version parallel with the Latin but independent of it, and that
both the Byzantine and the Latin version went back to a Greek archetype of considerably earlier date. 6 Grenfell and Hunt, The Tebtunis Papyri, Part ii,

century (cf. 6 Notably F. Meister, in the preface to his edition of Septimius (Leipzig, Teubner) H. Durger, De Dicfye Septimio (Programm des Witzthumschen Gymnasiums su Dresden,
;

The fragment seems to confirm Noack's theory 1907. of a Byzantine intermediary version between the archetype and the excerpts found in Malalas on the one side
and
in the 'E/cXoyij

and Cedrenus on the other.

'

Regarding

1878), 1872

W.
,

Greif (Neue Unlersuchungen zur Dictys-

the relation of the Greek original to Septimius's work, the editors of the newly found fragment note that apart from

1900). But Ferdinand Noack (Philologus, 6 ter Suppl.-Band, 1893, pp. 401-500) had adduced cogent arguments to showthat thereferences to Dictys's 'Chronicle
'

und Dares/rage

unnecessary verbiage and occasional minor distortions

the Latin version follows the original faithfully

enough

*.

WAS DISCOVERY OF MINOAN WRITING ANTICIPATED?

remote from that
in

109
Its

which

it

was professedly written

namely, the reign of Nero.

gains a wholly new importance. itself, of course, belongs to the class of literary impostures, but the point of present interest is an alleged discovery on the site of Knossos by which the Chronicles of Dictys' were said to have been first brought to light. 1
historical setting in this

way

The work

'

to the account preserved in the prologue of this work, as given in Alleged Septimius's version, Dictys, who as an eyewitness and a companion of the Cretan chiefs oHnscribed Idomeneus and Meriones had written his account of the Trojan War, returning to tablets at

According

Knossos

in his old

age ordered

it

to be enclosed in a tin chest

and placed

in his

tomb.

In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nero, however, an earthquake that had caused a great overthrow at Knossos exposed the interior of the tomb of Dictys. Some

passing shepherds, observing the chest, opened it in search of treasure, but found instead documents of lime-bark 2 inscribed with letters that were unintelligible to them. The

un-

They took them accordingly

then governor of the island, that they contained secret matters.

master Eupraxides, and he, conjointly with the Rutilius Rulus, presented the documents to Nero, supposing
to their

gcriptinter-

preted^as

Chronicle

The Emperor,
experts,

believing

that

the

letters

were Phoenician,

called

in

Semitic

they (not unnaturally at Nero's bidding !) forthwith proceeded to On learning that these were the memoirs of one of the ancients interpret them. who had been present at the siege of Troy, Nero further commanded that they should be translated into Greek, and placed the work in his Greek library under the
title

and

of 'Dictys'. 3

'Auncient Historic and trewe and syncere Chronicle to quote the title of its earliest of the Warres between the Grecians and the Trojans 4 was a fictitious compilation does not necessarily English adaptation by John Lydgate
fact

The very

that this

'

prove that the account of the discovery on the site of Knossos was itself a pure There was, indeed, all the greater need to tack on the work to some invention.
so far as they go, fit in well with the history of Nero's Story probAs a matter of fact the j^ r eba ise reign and with his personal fondness for the Tale of Troy. thirteenth year of Nero's reign corresponds with his mad progress through Achaia, exposure

genuine

find.

The

details,

But the effect of an earthquake shock, especially at the more declivitous Southern end of the Palace site of Knossos, might well have been to bring to light some cist containing a hoard of The half-burned clay slips themselves might well be confused with inscribed tablets.

and Crete was actually ravaged by an earthquake

at that period. 5

containing
tablets

8
earth-

q" ake at Knossos.

My

friend

Mr. F. C. Conybeare

first

directed

my

Dictys,

comes Idomenei, conscripsi oratione ea quam

inter tarn

attention to the statement of the professed translator of Dictys regarding the discovery of his materials.
1

maxime
traditis.'

diversa loquendi genera consequi ac

comprehendere
'

potui, litteris

Punicisab

Cadmo Danaoque

Tilias in the prologue, libros ex philyra in the dedi-

calory epistle. 3 In the dedicatory letter of Septimius the documents are spoken of as written in Greek but with Phoenician

This seems to be a travesty of the original appears in the prologue. In c. xvii we have Haec ego Gnosius the sufficiently vague statement
characters.

Lydgate dedicated his metrical adaptation of Dictys and Dares of Troy (based on that of Guido dalle Colonne) I quote from the title of the edition to Henry VI. published by Robert Braliam in 1555.
"

version as

it

Cf.

W. Ramsay,

art.

'Dictys' in Smith's Diet, of

'

Biog.

no
'

SCRIPTA MINOA
'

bark documents, and the Minoan script of prehistoric Crete would very naturally be confounded with Phoenician characters. The tablets, as we have seen, had been generally placed in wooden chests, of which only charred fragments remained,
often, apparently, deposited in stone cists
Lead-lined asts conchests of

either

gypsum

or, in the case of the inscribed

But the stone cists or Kaore'XXais of ^g p a ace presented one remarkable feature which has been ascertained in a series of examples, and was possibly common to all. The}' were lined with lead sheeting. Some inner casing, then, of this material may account in the most natural way for the statement that the mysterious documents found at Knossos in Nero's time were
tablets in the
i

Temple Repository,

of limestone.

contained
1

in

a 'chest of
'

tin'.

' Prologus, 1. n, in stannea arcula.' In the dedicatory loculum stanno affabre clausum '. it is described as epistle It may be observed that the white appearance of the

have almost
it

infallibly led

as tin

(plumbum album)

an ancient observer to describe rather than lead (plumbum

nigrum).

decomposed

metal, as seen in the Knossian cists,

would

PART

II

THE HIEROGLYPHIC OR CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC SCRIPT OF CRETE WITH ITS ANTECEDENTS AND AFFINITIES
II.
i.

PRIMITIVE LINEAR SIGNS

AND FIGURES
Primitive

is

IN considering the origins of the conventionalized types of the Cretan script it extremely difficult to lay down any definite line of demarcation between these and

the

more

primitive
its

writing in

adaptation to

methods of graphic expression that had preceded them. Picturepurest form has, of course, a much greater faculty of expression and special circumstances. The savage who has recourse to it draws from

his immediate surroundings. He wishes, perhaps, to record some hunting scene, and gives a summary rendering of the hunters present, of the weapons used, or of some special form of trap, and of the slain animals introducing, it may be, certain elements borrowed from gesture language to give point to his record. So far as this primitive pictography is more or less faithful to nature, and in a proper sense pictorial, it is of course easy to distinguish it from the more advanced But in many cases the stages in the history of writing such as the hieroglyphic. The superficial features do not so easily lend themselves to such distinction. rendering of some of the forms is often so linear and summary, like the rude Summary scratchings of a child on a slate, that it is difficult or even impossible to recognize the Other representations of objects or ideas, once adequately delineated, object intended.

course of generations undergo a certain formative decay, analogous to the phonetic decay of language, till the meaning associated with them has no obvious relation to their form. Figures in constant use would be more liable to undergo

may

in the

this simplification

than those used for occasional purposes, and thus these skeleton
Linearized
of

meaning of which is only traditionally known, are continually interspersed with those whose fuller outlines sufficiently declare their meaning. These linearized
forms, the
signs, often so purely alphabetiform in appearance, are of

such antiquity

that, as

already g^phs

noted, groups of such are already introduced beside the more elaborate and often the highly artistic designs on the works of the Reindeer Period. And, as will be seen

from the comparative Table given above, the actual genesis of these archaic linear signs can in several cases be traced back step by step to their pictorial originals. Thus the process by which the characters of the alphabet were ultimately formed goes back, as it were, to another World. It is possible even that some of these simple
1

ideographic symbols acquired a wide primitive currency independent of language

1

See

p. 4, Fig. 3.

112

SCRIPTA MINOA
as

much
to the

many

gesture signs are intelligible amongst American Indian tribes belonging

signs arbitrary
origin.

Linear of

most heterogeneous groups. In examining this primitive material, however, such as is presented by the linear signs on the pottery of Hissarlik, the Aegean area, or of prehistoric Egypt, we are confronted by an initial difficulty. In addition to these truly ideographic linear signs, we have to deal with purely arbitrary forms which have their origin in individual Such are many owners' marks and other simple geometrical comcaprice.
binations.

Examples
from
Phylakopi.

Aegean area are supplied by a series of marks on the pottery from the Early Settlement of Phylakopi. These, as will be seen from Table IX, Fig. 46,' are formed by simple conjunctions of lines, varied at will, and not to be confounded with the characters drawn from a '5 N/ \'/ ^/ recognized script that occur on some of the Melian
of these from the

Good examples

vessels. 2
Linearized
picto-

\/

VV

MAI

A/ AX

graphs.

But, as already observed, side by side with these simple marks, due to individual initiative and caprice,

are others, often hardly distinguishable from them in point of form, which, like the archaic linear figures of the Reindeer Period already referred to, either represent simple pictographs in the rude 'slate pencil' style be-

T 1

TT

-/

longing to the infancy of Art, or result from the degradation of fuller pictorial forms. Under new conditions
of
life,

+ X X
IL If
TTF

moreover, their numbers would be perpetually

x
,\

recruited through the simplification of pictographic figures

Alphabetiform signs of great
antiquity.

of later vogue. FIG. 46 (TABLE IX). Personal Marks on Pots, Phylakopi. That such linearized signs, rooted in a very ancient pictography, should often have retained a phonetic value as word-signs through all the modifications in their form seems to stand to reason. The detrition due
to age-long use, moreover, would in the case of such figures have smoothed any original asperities of outline and fitted them for general currency.

away

form almost purely What more, it may be asked, alphabetic, and possessing an ideographic tradition. where such conditions held, was needed to call into existence a fully developed
Here, then,
to
in

we have ready

hand a body of signs

system of writing ?
These
Erimitive near
signs,

nevertheless, insufficient

some important respects, however, this primordial body of linear signs and marks was not susceptible of such easy adaptation to the purposes of script. The Their simplicity currency of many of these signs was probably far from general. was such that they often could not be distinguished from owners' marks of purely
In
arbitrary origin and possessing nothing beyond an individual significance. Moreover, the particular value of such primitive linear signs must have constantly
1

to generate

a system of script.

Exc(ivalionsaiPJiylaJkopi,p.i82,F\g.i52. (Reproduced by the kind permission of the Committee of the British

School of Athens.) For the remarks, op. cit., pp. 181-5.

Melian
2

signs

see

my
p. 35.

Sec above,

PRIMITIVE LINEAR SIGNS

differed in various localities or families.

AND FIGURES
in

113

the case of simple linear signs Their there could be no security for identity of meaning is sufficiently obvious. There cCrrenc are fixed points in the evolution of certain plain geometrical combinations which and variant denvatlon may be reached in various ways. Thus the svastika or crux gammata is known to
-

That

have been arrived

different stages. At times it originates addition of terminal spokes, indicative of revolution, to the cruciform star-sign
at

by several

from the

common
to textile

among

primitive peoples.

Sometimes

it

arises

from the angularization, due

requirements, of a pictorial figure, such as a flying bird. Or, again, the same transforming medium produces it through the break up of a continuous plait-work pattern.

On

But it is early Greek coins it arises from the angles of a quadruple stamp. clear that a sign which might be evolved by several alternative processes could not always have borne the same signification.
Advanced be seen that any off-hand adaptation of these heterogeneous elements alphabetiform though many of them appear for the purposes of an advanced script evolved was out of the question. As a matter of fact, the fully equipped systems of out of writing, from Egypt and Babylonia to China and Mexico, came into being in a very tionalized
It will

different

way.

The

process of evolution was

much more

laborious,

and

in all cases P ict

stopped short of the alphabetic goal. The development of an advanced system of writing needs itself an advanced stage of civilization. A savage race, accustomed, it may be, to barter hides or furs for other rude commodities, has no use for a currency of coined money. rough

When, ready picture-writing is all that is needed by- a primitive society. with the Egyptians and other ancient races, the demand at last came for a more elaborate system of writing it was almost wholly supplied by the adaptation of
and

were For There clearness' sake it was still necessary to adhere to pictographic methods. was, moreover, in Pharaonic Egypt, among the royal and priestly caste who had its records in their charge, a desire for calligraphic effect and architectonic embellishThe traditional ment which inclined to the pictorial as against the linear ideal. pictographs drawn in the slate pencil style of the childhood of Art now assumed a more stately aspect, and the details of the objects represented were rendered From the alphabetic point of view, this process was often with greater accuracy. itself in the hieratic and distinctly retrograde, though the simpler method reasserted
'

existing pictographic figures. The old linear signs were insufficient for graphic requirements. They too vague, too imperfectly generalized, too discordant in their signification.

'

demotic
It

scripts.

of simplified signs to be generated from elements of an advanced linear script could at the hieroglyphic figures before the last be reached. The facility with which a fresh supply of linear forms could be drawn from

was necessary thus

for a

new body

Derivation
f

a of linear signs

^J

this

source of conventionalized pictography receives indeed an interesting Egypt. In the First illustration from the remains of the earliest dynastic period in Egypt. p 2
living

^y

114

SCRIPTA MINOA

Dynasty tombs of Abydos there were found, together with a series of monuments and stone presenting hieroglyphs of a very archaic type, numerous vases of clay But a with incised signs often of the simplest linear and alphabetiform character.

HIEROGLYPHS

LINEAR DE-

LINEAR DE-

HIEROGLYPHS

GENERATION
ARROWS
AND
PARRYING
SHIELD

GENERATION

PAPYRUS

CLUMP
HOE
=

*HA

A\ER

V
nnn
L

CURVED THREAD
'ROLL OF CLOTH --NTK

roor=

FORA\ OF

CHISEL

A1ER

FIG. 47

(TABLE X). Hieroglyphic and Linear Degenerations.

careful

investigation

of the

intermediate types and by in almost all cases they are

originals.

origin of these linear signs, as illustrated by fuller the relations in which they stand in groups, shows that

They

belong, in

fact,

merely the degenerate derivatives of hieroglyphic to the conventional Egyptian series, and cannot be

PRIMITIVE LINEAR SIGNS

treated as
antiquity.
if

AND FIGURES

115

they were simply surviving elements of some linear signary of remote

In the above Table

the

we

see a series of purely alphabetic forms closely resembling

F,

standing for It seems probable that in these cases pictographic originals of known meaning. we have to do with a process of degeneration and simplification of normal hieroglyphic forms rather than with the survival of their linear prototypes.
T,
<p,

Greek and Latin characters X, A, A,

I,

y, P, and

L,

At the same time there are cases in which these linear graffiti unquestionably stand nearer to the more primitive types than to the conventional hieroglyphs.
together with a series of rude derivatives of the Egyptian Ka sign, consisting of two hands raised as in adoration, we find linear sketches of the

These
8

occTsiorf-"
ally nearer

Thus,

pr i m iti v e
picto-

earlier

and

fuller

form of

as

the

arms.

The

which the whole human figure is given as well sign again, which is found in the same First Dynasty
this
in

types.

to be a simplification of a linear rendering of a palm-tree, frequently series, recurring among the prehistoric pot-marks, as in Nagada, but which is absent from

seems

the hieroglyphic system.

certain that in Egypt, besides such more recent simplifications of hieroglyphic Survival r characters, a body of linear signs of very ancient derivation survived into the Dynastic cias^of
It is

were no doubt largely used as personal marks, and many of the incised characters on the pottery, such From this source, too, probably sprang as the Twelfth Dynasty vessels of Kahun. of use of made certain groups by Egyptian artificers, notably goldsmiths signs and inlayers, which were employed in the arrangement of different pieces of work,

These traditional figures period. it is as such that we must regard

linear signs

'CraftsS

such as the beads of a necklace or faience plaques for inlaying. It will be shown in another part of this work that, together with the arts themselves, certain 'craftsman's
'

gn S n Egypt
,

'

This and Crete, signs of Egyptian origin seem to have obtained a currency in Minoan Crete. use of linear signs as a means of classifying and arranging manufactured objects is paralleled by the sets of potters' marks like those of Melos, as well as by the marks
incised
'

signs that it

on the blocks of the Minoan buildings. The consideration of such 'craftsman's bound up with the advanced linear scripts of Crete is, however, so intimately can only be adequately treated in the volume devoted to that part of the
1

subject.

Rude
Aegean

linear pictographs and signs area, to a very remote period.

often be personal marks, or, as on two E-like figures, 2 they may owe their origin to the simplification of some decorative motive. But many of the linearized pictographic characters that are found incised on a

may

Crete, as in other parts of the Primitive When they occur on pottery, indeed, they j^c^ete5 " 5 a primitive sherd from the Cave of Miamu with
in

go back

variety of small objects

reasonably supposed to have had an ideographic value. These, it will be seen, often occur on rudely-shaped pendants, bead-seals, and On rude whorls of steatite of a very primitive character. Conspicuous among these are certain

may be

bead-seal's,
j

Vol. II.

Journ. Arch. Inst. of America, 1897, p. 304, Fig.

'

16,

and

A. Taramelli,

The

Prehistoric

Grotto at Miamu,'

Man.

wnor

Antichi, ix (1899), p. 163, Fig. 63.

u6

SCRIPTA MINOA

irregularly-shaped three-sided bead-seals, which have a special typological importance as the prototypes of the three-sided prism-seals, which, at a later period, are so often
Material
for seals,
&c., sup-

engraved with sign-groups in the Cretan hieroglyphic script. The material on which these primitive designs are usually cut is the or 'soapstone' which occurs abundantly in some of the Cretan valleys.
1

soft steatite

The shape

plied

by

soapstone or steatite beds existing in

splinters or slices of stone, perforated so as to be used The mere bored as pendants, roughly rounded whorls, or rude button-like seals. splinter seems to develop into the earliest type of three-sided bead-seal, such as is
is

often quite irregular

mere

Crete.

a.

FIG. 48.

Rude Three-sided Seal

of Steatite

from Kalokhorio.

[f .]

(a, b, c,

sides

d,

section.)

seen in Fig. 48, a type destined, as already observed, to become the progenitor of The seal itself, from Kalokhorio in East Central a long race of Cretan signets. That outstretched arms. Crete, shows on one side (a) a rude figure of a man with As to the character, however, of the in the lower field (b) is apparently an animal. other elements of the engraving which fill the remaining face and the vacant more than that some of them look places of sides (a) and (b), it is impossible to say like an anticipation of alphabetic forms.
1

See Further

Discoveries, &c., p. 328.

melli,

and

is

now

in the

Museum

at Candia.

Taramelli,
ix.

Further Discoveries, &c., pp. 328-30 and Fig. i. It was obtained by the Italian archaeologist, Dr. Antonio Tara3

Ricerche archedogiche
1899).

cretesi,

pp. 154, 155 (Man. Antichi,

PRIMITIVE LINEAR SIGNS

An
irregularly

AND FIGURES
'

117
;

shaped pendant of green steatite, from Arvi (Fig. 49 PI. I, shows on either side linear signs, one of which may be taken to repreP.L. 5), Another unevenly shaped bead-seal of sent the rude outline of an ox's head.

FIG. 49. Steatite Pendant, Arvi.

(2 diams.)

yellowish steatite, recently found in Central or Eastern Crete (PI. below with what appear to be a series of signs connected

I,

P. L. 2), is

monogram matic

fashion,

and

in this respect recalling the characters

together on a very early

in

engraved a rude

block from the Palace

site at

Knossos.

rude

human

figure

somewhat resembling

other linear signs, is PI. I). This type of cylinder, with engraving at the and bottom and a perforation by the side, differs top
entirely from the Babylonian
FIG. 50.

accompanied with seen on a clay cylinder (Fig. 50, and

that of Fig. 48 a,

It

has

Clay Cylinder, Hagios Onuphrios.

now been shown,

in

and Early Egyptian forms. by the discovery of other

examples

the Early

Minoan Age.

The

tholos ossuaries of Crete, to belong to principal figure on the base of this cylinder is a cross or

the

imperfectly formed svastika. The deposit of Hagios Onuphrios near Phaestos 3 from which this cylinder was obtained, must now itself be taken to represent the ddbris of an Early Minoan ossuary like those of Hagia Triada and Kumasa. A button-like pendant of steatite
, 1

Deposit

See also Cretan Pictographs, &c., p. [286] 17, See Xanthudides, KpijTiiou a-<f>pay'tSfs ('ApxVI, 18, p. 157).
In

Fig. 16.
'E<p.

1907,

polychrome vessel found (p. 115, Fig. 108) belongs to the very beginning of the Middle Minoan Age. Many of the
seal types, like the clay cylinder described above, the perforated cones of steatite and ivory, and an oval seal of
steatite

PI.
'

seqq.)

work on Cretan Pictographs (pp. 56 [325] and the Appendix to the same (Quaritch, 1895, pp.

my
I

first

with a ridged back

(p.

106, Fig. 79), are quite

on the evidences of Twelfth Dynasty influences on some of the objects. There can be no doubt, however, in view of the contents of the recently found ossuaries and our better knowledge of the Early Minoan Periods, that it must in the main be referred to an earlier time. Some elements of
105-38)
laid

had

stress

this deposit, as, for instance, a

round-bottomed, prominent spouted vase showing a primitive geometrical pattern, belong to the Second Early Minoan Period. The single

the early ossuaries of Hagia Triada and Kumasa. An Eleventh (See below, pp. 119 seqq.) or Twelfth Dynasty element may, indeed, be detected in an amethyst scarab engraved with three circles by an indigenous hand (op. cit., p. 47 [326]) and possibly by a motive on a button-seal (p. 58 [327], Fig. 49 /;). But at most the limits of the Middle Empire (and of the Middle Minoan Age in Crete) are here touched.
characteristic of

u8
1

SCRIPTA MINOA

from the same deposit (Fig. 51; PI. I, P.L. 4) exhibits two linear signs, the first of which closely corresponds with a character of the linear script A. Still more important is the steatite whorl (Fig. 52; PI. I, P.L. 3 a and b), which also belongs to the Hagios
Whorl
g
\rit h*inear

Onuphrios find. On one side of

signs from

principal design appears to be a rude numan figure with an ox's head, in other words, a kind of Minotaur, accompanied On the other side we see what by a single sign like a V, with a square handle.
this

whorl

(a)

the

Onuphrios

from the body, followed by the same sign, and that, in turn, by four other characters of such extraordinary alphabetic appearance that they Of these the first and second appear on the later might be transliterated H C N.

seems

to be the ox-head apart

FIG. 51.

Button-shaped Pendant, Hagios Onuphrios. (2 diams.)

FIG. 52.

Engraved Whorl from Hagios Onuphrios.

(2 diams.)

linear scripts of

Minoan Crete
is

I ;

is

common mark

fourth

character

found

whorl, which in all probability pictographic signary. in lies beyond the extreme limit of the Palace Period Crete, and precedes the time when the developed hieroglyphic script was in vogue, it does not seem likely that

among the geometrical From the very early date of this

of division on them, and the types of the conventionalized

having an abbreviated phonetic value. That the ox-head and other linear signs on the whorl had an ideographic meaning is extremely probable, and we have at any rate an example of a collocation of primitive signs of alphabetic aspect which stand in a near relation to the more advanced linear scripts

we have

to deal here with characters

of

Minoan

Crete.

II.

2.

PROTODYNASTIC EGYPTIAN AND EGYPTO-LIBYAN INFLUENCES ON CRETAN SEAL-STONES

Pictorial

develop-

ment on
seals.

The tendency of the art of seal engraving as it advanced in technique was to produce more pictorial and decorative figures than those that appear on the class Of this pictorial development, with its of seal-stones with primitive linear signs. broader and fuller intaglio, more will be said in considering the rise of the 'hieroglyphic', or, as it is here termed, 'conventionalized described in the succeeding Section.

pictographic' class of script

The

'primi-

of seal which in Crete immediately precede and partly overlap those with the stereotyped hieroglyphic characters may here be conveniently referred to
'
' '

The types

class.

Cretan Piciographs,

c.,

p. 16 [285], Fig. 12.

PROTODYNASTIC EGYPTIAN AND EGYPTO-LIBYAN INFLUENCES

as of the
'

119

more

In this class must also be included many primitive pictographic class. or less contemporary seals of shapes similar to those showing pictorial ideo-

'

graphs, but the designs upon which are of a purely decorative character. much fuller knowledge of the earlier classes of Cretan seals, supplementing Seals from that derived from the earlier find at Hagios Onuphrios, has now been obtained by l e early

the discovery by the Italian Mission at Hagia Triada, near Phaestos, and by the ossuary tholi Ephor Dr. Stephanos Xanthudides at Kumasa, on the Messara plain, of a series of
'

tholos primitive ossuaries of domed or shape. in stated terms of Cretan be may archaeology as the
'

'

The

periods covered by these

'

and the beginning of the

'

Middle Minoan

'

Age.

Second and Third Early Minoan' The pottery associated with them

Charac-

Some of the pots are made for suspension, teristic is generally of a primitive character. and the pyxis form, so characteristic of the early metal age graves of the Cyclades, O f early is represented both in earthenware and steatite. Vases with prominent beaks preponderate, and the most advanced types show only incipient traces of polychromy. Among the early elements are copper dagger-blades of the simple triangular form. The primitive 'idols' or human figures found in these tholos ossuaries are

Many of the figures associated with the later remains of this specially noteworthy. class are identical with the Early Cycladic marble types, and must in most cases
But in the tholos of Hagia Triada, 2 'Idols 'of have been imported from the North Aegean. which represents an early phase of this culture, there occurred some very interesting g roto indigenous types, of steatite and other materials, which almost exactly reproduce type.
".

the characteristic features of certain early figures found at Nagada and other prehave here repeated the domed head and pointed chin historic Egyptian sites.

We

'

'

of the prehistoric 3 and protodynastic inhabitants of the Nile Valley, and the manner in which the bodies of several of their images are rendered, without indication of arms or legs and tapering to a point below, is also illustrated in the prehistoric Egyptian tombs.

by these figures, as well as by certain seals 'Leg'amua further to receives to be referred below, corroboration, which has hitherto escaped [jfose of
notice,

The

Nilotic connexion evidenced

from the occurrence with the human remains of the Early Cretan ossuaries of Sixth D nast> But >' numerous perforated objects of steatite in the form of human legs and feet. 4
precisely similar pendants, in that case mostly of cornelian, characterize Egyptian interments like those of Mahasna, north of Abydos, belonging to the Sixth Dynasty

and the immediately succeeding period, and associated with types of button-seals which, as we shall see, formed the immediate prototypes .of Cretan examples that These Egyptian or Egypto-Libyan pendants also occurred in the early tholos.'
were
'

'

'

invariably attached to the ankles ', and, like others in the shape of forearms attached to the wrists, evidently served the purpose of amulets or talismans, to

give strength to the limbs in question.

note 3. Halbherr, Scavi eseguiti dalla Missione Archeologica Italiana ad Haghia Triada ed a Festo,' Memorie del r.
p. 117,
4
'

They were
*

doubtless applied in the same

1902, p. 17,

See above,

Petrie,
4

Man,

and

cf.

Halbherr,

loc. cit.

J.
5

Garstang, Mahasna, PI. See below, pp. 127, 128.

XXXIX and

p. 30.

Istituto

Lombardo,

vol. xxi (1904), p. 251.

120

SCRIPTA MINOA
the people with

way by
was
Monkey
pendant

whose remains the great ossuary chamber

of

Hagia Triada

filled,

and we
in

have here, therefore, the evidence of a correspondence in religious

ideas as well as
It
is

personal ornament. also noteworthy, as additional evidence of relations with the African side

and
ivories.

of the Libyan Sea, that one of the pendants represents a monkey and that a large It is possible that seals of this material were number of the seals are of ivory. of the island, owing to the greater facilities of the southern side more abundant on

transmarine communication.

H agios
Onuphrios
remains belong to

The
deposit

recently acquired evidence makes it clear, as already noted, that the early of Hagios Onuphrios, near Phaestos, described by me in 1895,' was in

same
group.

from the remains of one of these primitive 'tholos' ossuaries.- The general facies of the relics found was similar, and it is obvious that, as in the other cases, the interments from which they were derived ranged over a considerable period
reality derived

FIG. 53. Cylinder with Lateral Perforations,

Ossuary Tholos of Hagia Triada.

Here, too, we see Cycladic marble idols, a primitive subtriangular dagger, a suspension vase like those from the lowest strata of Hissarlik, and early seal types of soft stone and ivory. 3
of time.
Seal types of early
ossuaries.

the types of seal represented by the contents of these early ossuaries and by some other contemporary finds are perforated cones, conoids (see below, Figs. 62, 63), and truncated pyramids ; cylinders with an engraved design at their base and a small handle at top ; cylinders (like Fig. 50 above) with a lateral perforation

Among

and engraved on their upper and lower surface (Fig. 53) half-cylinders with designs both on their flat and convex sides rings of steatite and ivory with a large round
; ;

First ap-

pearance of prismseals.

pear-shaped signets (Fig. 54) often resembling water-carafes in outline with a perforated knob above, 6 and button-seals About the close of the period represented by the bulk ol the finds there also appears the class of three-sided bead-seals,
besil
;
'

'.

of
1

dumpy

shape, perforated along the major axis.

This compact variety of

at

'

prism-

Supplement to Cretan Pictographs, &c. (Quaritch, 1895), pp. 105 seqq. 2 See above, p. 117, note 3. 3 It is also interesting to notice that a series of primitive seals of soft stone, consisting of perforated conoids and other types characteristic of the early Cretan ossuaries,

Ashmolean Museum
pellets or globules.
4

Oxford.

They

present groups of

Halbherr, Memorie del

r.

Istituto
is

Figs. 25, 26. This of Hagia Triada.

6

example
is

Lombardo, xxi (1904), from the Tholos Ossuary

It

The example
at

figured

from Central Crete.

was

were discovered some years since at Elaphonisi off the coast of the Morea (near Monemvasia). They are in the

acquired

Candia and

is in

my own

collection.

PROTODYNASTIC EGYPTIAN AND EGYPTO-LIBYAN INFLUENCES

'

121

is the immediate predecessor of a more elongated form which occasionally bears three 'hieroglyphic' inscriptions. The pear or carafe-shaped type, again, is the direct forerunner of a more elegant class of signets which, like the elongated

seal

associated with the hieroglyphic characters. The material used for the seals of the early deposits is almost exclusively soft stone or ivory,

prism,

is

in a special

way

but the pear-shaped type of signet was occasionally cut out of rock crystal. 1 The commercial intercourse existing during this early period between Crete Egyptoand the southern shores of the Libyan Sea, as attested by the abundance of ivory ^|ty objects, and the still more intimate relationship brought out by the Hagia Triada

images and amulets, leads us to a very interesting aspect of the present inquiry. comparison of certain early Cretan seals, and of a series of figures and decorative
designs presented by them, with a special Nilotic class of seals and seal-types, will be found to add many new links to this
chain of connexion.
established
is

a parallelism thus supply indeed of the highest im]

The

os

terminus portance, not only in its bearing on the origins of Minoan culture, but as affording some approximate guide to the chrono-

logical

place of the

Cretan seals of the

FIG. 54.

Pear-shaped Signet of Black Steatite: Early Minoan, Central, Crete, [f .]

And inasprimitive pictographic class. much as these pictographic seal-types are the immediate predecessors of the more
conventionalized class exhibiting the hierofor dating the period

glyphic script,

we have

here

at the

same time a terminus a quo

during which

this conventionalized pictorial script arose in the island.

Egypt appears to have been the cylinder, also Egyptian common to Babylonia. The cylinder was indeed the prevailing form till the early part of the Twelfth Dynasty, when it began to be superseded by the scarab. The frequent appearance of the standard of Neith, the Libyan Goddess, on a class of cylinders that was in vogue before the First Dynasty, must be taken to connect them with the Western Connexion Delta. 2 On the other hand, the close parallelism existing between the early types of Egyptian cylinder and the primitive Chaldaean tends to show that this form of seal This had first made its way into the Lower Nile Valley from the Asiatic side.
earliest

The

type of seal in

of the cylinder type in Egypt with the primitive population of the Delta helps us to assign a source to a special class of these 3 which stands apart from the ordinary series with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and seems to represent a surassociation
vival

throughout the early dynastic period of some indigenous element.

stable, 1906, p. 51.

in the Hagia Triada Another was seen by me in Candi... See Percy Newberry, Scarabs, an Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals and Signet Rings London, Con-

One such specimen was found

ossuary.
!

Mr. Newberry lays stress on the part played by the Delta population in the introduction of the cylinder type into Egypt. 3 See my Further Discoveries, &c., pp. 364 seqq.

Q 2

122
Class of
cylinders presenting non-

SCRIPTA MINOA
The

characters on this class of cylinders, though they contain many signs common to the hieroglyphic series, exhibit certain extraneous elements, and must be regarded as the work of men who had not accepted the conventional Pharaonic standard.

Egyptian
elements.

Certain features on these point to Babylonian influence, such as the recurrence of

FIG. 56. Cylinder from Lajard (Culie de Mithrd).

FIG. 55. Cylinder of Black Steatite, Petrie Collection.

a grotesque pygmy form recalling the embryonic Ptah-Sokar-Osiris which 1 occupies a secondary position on Chaldaean cylinders of very archaic fabric.
I

also

As

group of cylinders in 1895, 'we see evidence of borrowing both from Asiatic and dynastic Egyptian sources the
in
first

remarked

calling

attention

to

this

latter naturally

preponderating

while at

the

same time both

classes of borrowed

elements are reproduced with a certain barbaric fantasy and are combined with
other features which are neither Pharaonic
'

EgyptoLibyan
'

nor Chaldaean.'
like the

Some

of these features,

character.

occurrence of compound animal figures with double heads and fore-quarters,

are direct survivals from the art of prehistoric Egypt, resembling as they do the

and

double ibexes and bulls of the ivory combs slate palettes. To this Deltan form

FIG. 57.

of culture the term Egypto-Libyan

Clay Cylinder in Gizeh Museum. De Morgan.

After

may

The old indigenous element indeed seems at perhaps be provisionally applied. various points to have maintained a more or less independent existence on the borders of civilized Egypt, and from time to time intruded itself within its borders.
Cylinders from
Egypt-

Characteristic examples of this class of cylinder are reproduced from my earlier work in Figs. 55, 56, 57. The shape of the cylinders themselves, which are cut out of black steatite, is larger and more elongated than the pre-dynastic forms, and shows a

much wider

perforation.

In these respects they answer to the cylinder types in

vogue from the Fourth to the Sixth Dynasty.

1

Further Discoveries, &c.,

p. 366, n. I.

Op.

cit.,

p. 366.

PROTODYNASTIC EGYPTIAN AND EGYPTO-LIBYAN INFLUENCES

But
'

123

this class of cylinders leads us to

'

Egypto-Libyan

another evidently contemporary form of seal-stone, which has a very near relation to that prevalent in

Crete about the close of the Early Minoan period. specimen of the type in obtained the late Mr. Greville and said to have been found at by question, Gunter,
1

Karnak,
black
sides.

is

given in Fig. 58.

its

It is three-sided,

or

'

prism '-shaped, with a very large

perforation along
steatite.
It will It

major

axis,

and,

might, indeed,

the cylinders referred to, is formed of be roughly described as a 'cylinder' with three
like

be seen that the figures on this prism belong to the same category Egyptian as those of the less conventional class of protodynastic cylinders. Some of these, pnsm sealscorpion, correspond with hieroglyphic the horned Minotaur-like figure are types, but the double-headed goat and abnormal. When we recall the appearance on the parallel group of certainly
bee, crocodile,
like

the

the

and

the

cylinders of a

pygmy form borrowed from

the

primitive

Chaldaean

cycle,

there

V-..*

b
FIG. 58. Prism-seal of Black Steatite

d
(a,

from Karnak.

[f.]

section

b, c, d,

sides.)

supposing that the horned man of the prism 2 may be due to a 'composite and distant reminiscence of Gilgames and Eabani'. Moreover, the male figure of the present group, sometimes seen, as on the prism, holding up a crocodile by the tail, sometimes, as on the cylinder given in Fig. 57,

seems

to

be some warrant

for

in a

combatant attitude between two crocodiles,

tions, the favourite

bulls.

recalls, under changed local condihero scheme of the Babylonian grappling with lions and wild

at

The prism type a somewhat later

suggests that

of seal
period,
its

is
it

quite isolated in Egypt, and the fact that in Crete the three-sided form of bead-seal is the most is true
in

usual,

appearance

the Nile Valley

least
is

may

be due to influences
' '

from the Aegean side. So much at element, to which both the Karnak

evident,

that the

prism and the allied were due, had intimate points of contact with the Early Minoan culture. In the on Minoan seals. comparative Table XI (Fig. 59), here reproduced," some striking parallels are

Egypto-Libyan Egyptogroup of cylinders i^rJuds

adduced between certain characteristic figures of

1

this

'

'

Egypto-Libyan
-

class

and

See Further

Discoveries, &c., pp. 362 seqq.

3

Op.

cit.,

&c., p. 366.

From

op.

cit.,

&c., p. 369, Table

II.

124
those on

SCRIPTA MINOA

Cretan seals of various periods. Among these we have seen that the animal forms composed of two united fore-quarters are a prehistoric Egyptian tradition. The Minotaur-like figure, on the other hand, as already noted, is best explained by the Asiatic influences which never ceased to operate on the Delta A horned human figure, it may be remembered, appears on the population. primitive whorl described above (Fig. 52) from the Hagios Onuphrios deposit, and the 'Minotaur' proper becomes frequent on Cretan seal-stones from the beginning
of the Late

Minoan period onwards.

It is

possible that these later types

drew

for

NAQADA

CVLINOfH >I>K(SSION
l-'DYMASTY

EARL>f

CRSTAM

PRISM SEALi

OF CM IM*t RA ON LEHTOIO CtM FROM CRtT E fS Mj

PROTOTYPE

FIG. 59

(TABLE XI).

Human and Animal Types

on Egypto-Libyan Minoan Forms.

'

'

Cylinders and Prism compared with

Chronological data.

immediate inspiration from some less ancient source, but the indications supplied the by prism and the whorl tend to show that it was through Egypto-Libyan intermediaries that the type of the man-bull first reached the Isle of Minos. The class of cylinders above referred to, and doubtless also the Egypto-Libyan
their
' '

'

'

be taken to belong to the period that is comprised between the beginning of the Fourth and the early part of the Sixth Egyptian Dynasty. According to the new chronology based on the Sothic cycle this would be from 2840 to about 2500 B. c., while the system of Lepsius would carry back the beginning The period of this period to the close of the Fourth Millennium before our era.
prism-seal,

may

E. Meyer, Aegyptische Chronologie, p. 178.

PROTODYNASTIC EGYPTIAN AND EGYPTO-LIBYAN INFLUENCES

marked by this
in

125

Nilotic influence

on Cretan culture

of which there are other evidences

the shape of imported stone vases is in any case sufficiently remote. During the succeeding Age, from the beginning, that is, of the Sixth Dynasty to the advent of the Eleventh Dynasty and the establishment of the Middle Empire, the

evidences supplied by Cretan remains of sphragistic influences from the same side continue to accumulate.

About the time of the Sixth Dynasty

system
seals in the

2540-2360
'

B. c.,

according to Meyer's
1

Sixth

the earlier cylinder types,

remarks on these, 3 and are certainly not Upper Egyptian

form of stamps begin to make their appearance in Egypt, beside and among these the class of button-seals '.* Mr. Newberry 'The patterns that we find engraved on button-seals are distinctive
in their origin.

seals

'

Hieroglyphs very rarely occur,

FIG. 60.

Egypto-Libyan Button-seal (Newberry, Scarabs, p. 56, Fig. 33). f.

'

'

FIG. 61. Clay Stamps from Early Italian Deposits * (reduced to about linear), a. Pollera Cave, Finale, b. Liguria (in the Morelli Collection at Genoa), Caverna del Sanguineto, Finale, Liguria. (Cf. A. Issel, Note paletnologiche sulla colleziom del Sig. G. B. Rossi, Tav. II. 5, 6.) c. Terramara of Montale (in the

Parma Museum).

and when they do they are clearly imitations of Egyptian characters, made apparently by foreigners.' That they are the work of the same Egypto-Libyan population who produced the class of cylinders and prism-seals above referred to, is evident from the recurrence on them of figures derived from the same cycle. Thus we see animals4 the same running human gazelles and others with linked fore-quarters (Fig. 60), 5 6 that identical of a and a with face of the Karnak prism. On the figure, spider type other hand this button-like type of seal has itself a wide Mediterranean range, and
'

'

finds

its

analogy not only

in

Cretan forms but

7

in the primitive clay

stamps found

in Cretan

In and early early Italian deposits (Fig. 6i), such as the Terremare and the Ligurian Caves. Fig. 61 b, from the Caverna del Sanguineto near Finale, we may actually trace a vague analogies, ' reminiscence of the characteristic double sickle motive to be referred to below.
'

In
1

some of the decorative designs presented by the Egyptian

"

'

button-seals

',

such as

Newberry, Scarabs. &c., pp. Op. cit., pp. 56 seqq.

Op. Op. Op.
cit.,
cit.,

57, 58.
7

Op.

cit.,

Fig. 44, p. 59.

p. 58.

In Cretan Pictographs, &c., p 67 [336], I had already called attention to the parallels presented by these

Fig. 33, p. 56.

cit.,

Fig._,

p. 59.

Egypto-Libyan button-seals to the clay stamps of the Ligurian Caves and of the Terremare.

'

'

126
The
maeander
and
spiral.

SCRIPTA MINOA

the constantly recurring maeander or key pattern, we may with great probability detect Aegean influences such as those which, at a somewhat later date, introduced the spirali-

form patterns on to Egyptian cylinders, as well as on to a series of scarab types which first came into vogue about the beginning of the Middle Empire. Both phenomena indeed may be regarded as due to successive waves from the same Northern source.

North Aegean
origin

of spiral.

There can be no longer any reasonable doubt that a spiraliform system was rife at a very early period in the lands on the European side of the Aegean. This seems to have been already highly developed in a great Neolithic Province extending from 2 3 In the earliest Thessaly and Bosnia to the lands to the North of the Euxine. metal age deposits of the Cyclades, in Amorgos, Paros, Syros, and elsewhere we find a parallel system already deeply rooted. In Crete it also makes its appearance in the Early Minoan Age on steatite pyxides, rings, and other objects of Cycladic form. But its occurrence there is still sporadic, and there are signs that it did not fully domesticate
1

FIG. 64. Ivory

Conoid from Ossuary Tholos of Hagia Triada.

FIG. 62. Ivory Conoid from Ossuary Tholos, Hagia Triada.

FIG. 63. Ivory Conoid from Ossuary Tholos of Hagia Triada.

supplies the leading motive of some of the most brilliant designs of the wall decoration and of the vases of the polychrome style. Thus, although the spiraliform patterns appear among
itself in
till
it

the island

the Middle

Minoan Age, when indeed

the relics found in the early Cretan ossuaries as, for instance, on the besils of certain steatite and ivory rings they are by no means dominant, as in the contemporary

interments of the more Northern islands.

seems, however, that we may trace the influence of the incoming fashion in another way. The suggestion supplied by the returning spirals of the new decorative spirals into maeanders. system is harmonized here with dominant habit oi rectilinear design, and, as has so often happened in the history of spiraliform ornament, it is angularized and translated into
Translation of
It
1

The Neolithic painted

tions of Sesklo

pottery from the Thessalian staand Dimini has now been published by

von
3

sky, Die neolithische F. Fiala und M.

Station von

Butmir

(I),

fortgesetzt

Hoernes

(II).

Thanks

Dr. TsountaS, At npoitTTOpiKai dgpOTroAft? ^iftjji'itiv Ka\ SeffxAou. to the courtesy of the explorers, I had been able

previously to examine the material. 2 Notably the Neolithic Station of Butmir

(W. Radim-

E. von Stern, Die pramykenische Kultur in Sud-Russland (Moscow, 1906), where a good deal of the material relating to Southern Russia, Poland, and the Danubian Provinces is summarized.

PROTODYNASTIC EGYPTIAN AND EGYPTO-LIBYAN INFLUENCES

127

keys and maeanders, the prototypes of the labyrinth in art. Such maeander patterns are the prevalent decorative motives of a whole series of seals of various types found in the Early Cretan ossuaries (Figs. 62-64).* Their genesis explains itself, and they are
thoroughly
at

home

to the island.

comparing the elaborate maeanders on these Cretan seals with the more imperfect and less fully represented versions of similar patterns on the Egyptian button-seals, it certainly looks as if the original suggestion came in this case from the Cretan side. But on the other hand there is clear evidence that certain designs which appear in a purely decorative form on Early Cretan seals are derived from
figured designs belonging to this Egypto-Libyan-group. striking instance of the genesis of a series of such Minoan derivatives from a pictorial type exhibited by a Sixth Dynasty button-seal may be here pointed out.
'

On

'

be seen from the annexed diagrammatic Table, XII (Fig. 65), that a variant The design on a series of Early Cretan seals, the principal element of which resembles a kind of double sickle, goes back to a similar motive on Egyptian button-seals. It pattern.
It will

further appears that on these latter the pattern explains itself 2 by an earlier version, on which we see two couchant lions in reversed positions on either side of a line which from Sixth divides the field of the seal into
'

two semicircles.

The

ultimate evolution

of the

j^"^^
seals.

under the influence of the incoming spiraliform fashions in design can be traced to certain S-shaped figures of a decorative nature which occasionally occupy one of the sides of the Cretan bead-seals of the succeeding hieroglyphic class. The
double sickle
primitive lion type of the Nilotic button-seals seems also to have influenced the arrangement of the animal figures on the Cretan prisms, as illustrated by the

'

reversed pairs of long-necked birds shown in Fig. 65, H, K. The chronological value of this 'family tree' of designs will at once be apparent. ChronoThe Egyptian button-seals on which the motive originates are confined to the period J^J, ^
'

'

between the beginning of the Sixth Dynasty and the foundation of the Middle Empire, Before the end or, according to the new Sothic dating, between 2540 and 2160 B. c. 3 The prototype of the Eleventh Dynasty they seem to have completely disappeared. of our series (A), with the two couchant lions complete, was from a tomb at Dendereh 4 belonging to the Sixth Dynasty. B, from a grave at Mahasna, belonging to the period between the Sixth and Eleventh Dynasties, shows a secondary stage of the design in which the lions' hind legs have coalesced with the base, while in C the base and tail
have combined into the characteristic double sickle It thus appears that the Cretan version, D, from a steatite button-seal found in the Tholos Ossuary at Hagia Triada, and E, from a three-sided bead-seal of the same
'.
'

supplied U
types.

5 material probably found near Knossos, are directly adapted from the secondary stages The examples are taken from Halbherr, Memorie del Mace from the cemetery at Hu (Petrie, Diospolis Parva,
1

r.

Islilulo
2

The

Lombardo, xxi (1904), PI. X, Figs. 25, 26. essential features of the designs that go to

PI.

XXV,

Y,

make

the lions
figure.
5

is

no, and p. wanting but

seal
is

40.
is

part of the back of one of

in

completed

my diagrammatic
Bought
in

the 'double sickle" are indicated in black on Table XII.

The

now

in the

Ashmolean Museum.

Newberry, Scarabs, &c., p. 58. J. Garstang, El Mahdsna, PI. XXXIX, 43 and p. 33. Compare, too, a button-seal (c. Sixth Dyn.) obtained by Mr.
'

Candia and found

Cretan Pictographs, &c., p. 76 [345], Fig. 72. in the neighbourhood.

128

SCRIPTA MINOA

Vl Ty_

Xr M DtN.V

C. VI-

BUTTON-SEAL
OSSUAR.YOF

TRIADA

PRtS/A SEAL (
SIDED) VMl

FIG. 65

(TABLE XII).

Diagram showing Derivation of the Double Sickle' and Allied Types on Cretan Seal-stones from Egyptian Button-seals of Vlth Dynasty.
'

PROTODYNASTIC EGYPTIAN AND EGYPTO-LIBYAN INFLUENCES

129

of the Egyptian design. These secondary stages had, moreover, been reached on the Egyptian side during the period immediately preceeding the Eleventh Dynasty, and
it

approximately to the same Age in round numbers about 2300-2200 B. c. that the earlier Cretan copies must be referred. It follows from this that the more remote offshoots of these double sickle designs, such as the S-shaped version on F
is
'

'

and G, belong

to a

somewhat

later date.

It is

elongated prism-seal on which this occurs (PI. characters belonging to the early hieroglyphic class of Crete.

therefore important to observe that the i, P. 2) bears on one of its faces two
1

Another type belonging to the same Lower Egyptian element as that which produced the button-seals, and contemporary with them, is a four-sided bead-seal of elongated form, which has a special interest, inasmuch as it anticipates the form of a class of Cretan bead-seals which
run parallel with the prisms.

Four-sided bead-seal

from Egypt, Sixth

Dynasty.

An

interest-

ing example of this type, found by Mr. * Garstang at Mahasna in a tomb of the

FIG. 66.

abed

Sixth Dynasty, or of the period immediately succeeding

it,

is

given in Fig.

66. 3

The

Four-sided Seal of Green Stone from Mahasna.

signs on this seal are by no means That at the top of face b seems clear.
to represent the seated

human

figure with

a typical key pattern below, and face the button-seals.

d shows apparently

a lizard, also

common

to,

Another characteristic type of seal belonging to the Egypto-Libyan class with EgyptoLibyan which we are dealing, and covering the same period as the button-seals, is the hemi- hemi4 I am able to cite an ivory cylinders. This form also finds its parallel in Crete. cylinder. Minoan example from the central part of the island, the intaglio designs on which must be example. grouped with the most advanced class of simple pictographic representations on the Cretan prism-seals. On the convex side are figures of a man and his bride with four ewers below, apparently of a metal type the repetition probably indicating abundance of wealth and paralleled by the triplet of similar vases which occurs on some of the most
of the 'hieroglyphic' prisms. 5 On the flat side of the half-cylinder the owner appears as an archer beside a tree shooting at a wild goat, and accompanied by a dog. very important feature about this hemi-cylinder is that the figure of the man with a short dagger at his waist, seen on the convex side, answers to that of clay
primitive

figures

from the Cretan votive deposits, like that of Petsofa belonging to the First Middle Minoan Age, and associated with the early phase of ceramic polychromy.
1

Cf. P. 5,

below.

J.
*

Garstang,
PI.
I,

Mahasna and Bet Khalldf (1903),

i.

pp. 33, 34.

3
4

See too my Report of the Ashmolean Museum for See Newberry, op. cit, p. 56.

the year 1901, p. 6, Fig.

See

P. 4 c, P. 5 b.

R 2

130

SCRIPTA MINOA
II.
3.

THE EARLY PRISM-SEALS OF CRETE WITH

PICTOGRAPHIC DESIGNS.

EgyptoLibyan connexions
of early

Minoan
Crete
illus-

appears from the above comparisons that a whole series of early Cretan seals show a community of form and motives with an Egyptian group, the work of an indigenous Deltan population. The indebtedness as already observed may not have been always on one side, and Cretan or other Aegean types may well have at times
It

trated by

reacted on the

'

'

appearance
of prismseals.

Egypto-Libyan

class.

What

is

clear,

however,

is

that this

inter-

connexion enables us

to arrive at certain chronological equations

between the forms

of seal in use on either side of the Libyan Sea during the period between the beginning of the Sixth and the Eleventh Egyptian Dynasty. This, as we have seen, according

FIG. 67. Black Steatite (bought in Candia).

system of Egyptian chronology, would carry back the seals in question the middle of the Third Millennium before our era. Jo We have also direct evidence that the conventionalized early type of the threesided bead-seals or prisms had come into existence in Crete at least by the end of this period, in other words by about 2200 B. c. somewhat before the foundation of
to the Sothic
1

the Middle Empire in Egypt. The secondary form of the 'double sickle' motive, supplied by a typical example of these prisms (Table XII, E), has in fact been

contemporary imitation of the same motive as The three evolved in the later class of Egyptian button-seals sides of this stone are given in Fig. 67 a, b, c. The occurrence,

shown

to be a

'

'.

moreover, of a specimen of this class of bead-seals in the primitive Tholos Ossuary of Hagia Triada must be taken to confirm the relatively early date at which these Cretan prisms

make

their appearance.

This

is

further borne out

by the parallelism

FlG Early Type of Cretan Prism-seal,

presented by the pictographic designs on this three-sided class with those on a series From the point of view of ivory seals of various shapes found in the early ossuaries. of Cretan archaeology this conventionalized prism type may be said to have originated
Prismseals of

early picto-

graphic
class.

Early Minoan Age. The compact early type of these conventionalized prism-seals shown in Fig. 68 will ^ e seen to ^ e very different from the rough triangular form illustrated by the primitive This type of seal, executed in the soft native steatite, is of linear seal, Fig. 48 above.

somewhat before the

close of the

'

'

See above,

p. 127.

THE EARLY PRISM-SEALS OF CRETE

very frequent occurrence
in the island,

131
in

and

it

must have continued

vogue during

It has a peculiar importance in regard the early part of the Middle Minoan period. to our present subject, not only as exhibiting the fullest material for our knowledge

of primitive pictography on Cretan seals, but as affording the antecedent stage to the more elongated class of prism-seal on which the conventionalized pictographic or
'

'

a fully developed form. The rude pictorial figures and signs seen on the present series are often themselves the direct progenitors of the hieroglyphic characters on the succeeding group. There is indeed already
'

'

hieroglyphic

script first

appears

in

traceable on this early pictographic series of seals a certain skill in the symmetrical arrangement of the figures, which in some degree anticipates the grouping of the

hieroglyphic signs in the succeeding period. series of these prism-seals has been given in

my

earlier

pictographs.

Here

it

maybe

sufficient to

reproduce some

works on the Cretan typical examples, and to

a
FIG. 69.

Grey

Steatite (Praesos).

Together with the more compact or dumpy type there are also included for these purposes certain prism-seals of more elongated form, representing, apparently, a somewhat later development of the

summarize the indications supplied by the

materials.

still It is these seals that are Foreruncontinuing the same pictographic tradition. the immediate forerunners of the hieroglyphic class, though the exact line of demarcation {JfJ^f between the two is not easy to lay down. The three-sided seal, for instance, Plate I, phic types. P. 4 which, apart from the decorative motive of face b, presents ideographic pictures of

type, but

a ship and three ewers to the primitive group.

It
is

might from some points of view be regarded as belonging

Pktograo
prismsea

noteworthy that a large number of these primitive prism-seals show a human figure on one or more faces, evidently referring to the owner of the seal. The associated pictorial elements give an idea of his pursuits and possessions. Thus on the seal, Fig. 69, obtained by me from the site of Praesos, its owner was evidently a master of flocks and herds on face a we see him carrying what appear to be leather pails suspended from a pole, while on one side is a spouted vessel of Early Minoan The owner of the seal reproduced in Fig. 70 is type, and on the other a goat.
:

depicted as a warrior holding a spear, but the goat and suspended vessels show that he combined a more peaceful calling. The owners of other seals are associated with
1

pp. 68 seqq. (/.

See Cretan Pictographs and Prae- Phoenician Script, H. S., xiv, pp. 337 seqq.), and Further Dis-

coveries, &c., pp.

xvii).

331 seqq. and Plates

and

II

(/. H.S.,

132
fish,

SCRIPTA MINOA
1

in

In another case, again, 2 we see two male figures and were evidently fishermen. reversed positions, followed on the sides by a wild goat, and two fishes but it does
;

FIG. 70.

Yellow Steatite (bought

at Candia).

not

seem necessary

to accept

Hommel's ingenious suggestion

that
3

we have

here

selections from the Zodiac, namely, Gemini, Capricorn, and Pisces. The third face of another seal, 4 in which a dog leaps up at a running wild goat, crouched figure, again, drawing a bow clearly indicates the hunter's profession.

a
FIG. 71. Pale

Green

be
Steatite (Crete).

(Fig. 71

b),

also probably indicates a hunter of the Cretan agrimi, like the archer

on

the half-cylinder described above. The frequent recurrence of pots in the hands of the human figures on these seals, References f which are shown on all the sides of Fig. 72, suggests that in many vai"i ant fo rms

a
FIG. 72.

Brown

Steatite (Crete

be
which
in
Note
4

uncertain locality).

cases

we have to do

with the potter's

It is

unrivalled perfection.
1

Crete ultimately attained an almost interesting to observe that many of these vessels present
craft,

Cf.

Further Discoveries, p. 332, No.

8,

and Cretan

Picto-

2.

graphs, p. 70, Fig. 59. * Further Discoveries, &c., PI. I. 8 (/. H. S., xvii, PI. IX. 8). Cited by Furtwangler, Antike Gemmett III, p. 28,

Further Discoveries, PI. I. 6 c (J. H. S., xvii, PI. IX). The other faces of this seal seem to refer to the potter's
industry.

THE EARLY PRISM-SEALS OF CRETE

'

133

very primitive types, such as the askos '-like form, betraying a not remote origin from a skin vessel, seen in Fig. 6, and the pots with a round bottom and 'suspension' handles. have here an indication of a relatively early date. 1 f special interest, as it seems to indicate a man within a fenced Fig- 73 a is

We

enclosure.

The animal shown on

the second face of this stone bears

some resemAllusions to various

pursuits

blance to a camel, which would indicate an intercourse with the Syrian coast. In some cases the delineation of the owner is omitted, but certain figures on the

and

in-

dustries.

FIG. 73.

Yellow Steatite

(Crete).

seal obviously relate to his property or pursuits. Thus a pair of arrows, in one case The ship on other seals denotes the seafaring craft of conjoined, stand for a hunter.

the owner.

recurrence of the pig shows that swine were largely kept, and what seems to be a rude engraving of a cock 2 (Fig. 74 a) may be taken to show that this bird the original home of which has been sought in Persia was domesticated in the

The

Aegean world at a very early date. The frequency of the spider suggests that this was an ideograph connected with the spinning industry and it is noteworthy that in
;

FIG. 74.

Brown

Steatite (Central Crete)

Greek mythology the spider appears

of the textile art

among
often

the legend of Arachne as representative the Lydians, who were so nearly related to the original
in

Cretans. 3

Recourse

is

had

to the graphic device oi substituting a part for the whole,

such as a spray for a tree, or the head of a goat, of a horned sheep, or of an ox, for the animal itself. Among more symbolic ideographs the solar or stellar disk with revolving It is also to be noted rays, and a four-petalled flower, are of frequent appearance.
that the repertory

described above

shows a certain community with that of the primitive Nilotic class as it spiders and scorpions, for instance, recurring on both. If,
&c., p. 63 [332],
*

See Cretan Pictographs,

and

Fig. 52, a, b,

c.

'

Op.

cit.,

p.

73 [342], Fig. 65

a.

Further Discoveries, &c.,

p. 333.

134

SCRIPTA MINOA
1

appears, a stout-legged long-necked bird (Fig. 75 a) on one stone may be identified with an ostrich, we have a reference to trade relations with the southern shores of

FIG. 75.

Yellow Steatite

(Crete).

the Libyan Sea.

repeated.

On

the protodynastic cylinders of Egypt the ostrich

is

constantly

II.

4.

SEALS AND SEALINGS OF THE CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC OR HIEROGLYPHIC TYPE. CLASS A

The class of prism-seals described in the preceding Section already introduces us to a rude form of pictorial expression, by means of which the occupations and glyphs from In the succeeding period we see seal-stones, primitive possessions of the owners were set forth. pictorepresenting an outgrowth of the same three-sided class, becoming the vehicle for
Evolution of hierographs.

signs of a of Egypt.
Phonographic value of
signs.

more abbreviated and conventionalized

In the earlier class
of which

character, recalling the hieroglyphics

figures,

varied as the

we have undoubtedly to do with simple occasion demanded. What we now find is a

seem
to

ideographic
selection

of

have acquired a phonocharacters, many graphic value as syllables or letters, over and above
their original ideographic meaning.

Elongated
prismseals.

The
more

stones themselves are almost invariably 2 of the elongated form (see Fig. 76) which, as shown above,
the
'primitive
picto- FiG?6 Elongated p rism . sealofc ,assA.
.

characterizes the latest class of

This elongated shape does not graphic' prism-seals. appear to have been reached during the period covered by the early tholos ossuaries, and may be unhesitatingly placed within the limits of the Middle Minoan Age. The evolution of the longer field is itself explained by its greater convenience for holding

groups of characters.
'

Overlapping of
earlier
picto-

graphic elements.

largely it is As not series. of the the earlier remarked, already prisms present overlaps always easy to draw the line of demarcation between the two. Simple pictographic figures occasionally occupy two sides of a seal, while characters of the more conventionalized class appear
1

It is

clear that the

latest

class

of 'primitive pictographic

seal-stones

on the

third.

An example
ceptional

of this

is

given in Fig. 77.

:1

Here

Cretan Pictographs,

&c pp. 72,73, Fig. 64 a. The specimen reproduced in PI. I, P. 6,

,

is

an ex-

See

PI.

example of a shorter form. I, P. i, and Further Discoveries,8iC.,

p. 335, Fig. 5.

SEALS AND SEALINGS. CLASS A

faces b

135

occupied by figures of a dog and a spider, both taken from the usual repertory of the primitive pictographic group of seals, and possibly referring ideographicaliy to the occupations of the owner. Face a, on the other hand, contains two
c are

and

which run through the whole hieroglyphic series in sometimes with an additional sign. Reasons will be collocation, though given below for supposing that we have here an official title. The hieroglyphic prism-seals, which thus run parallel with the latest variety
characters, the gate
leg,

and bent

the

same

Hieroglyof ciass'l

of those showing purely pictographic figures, are, like these latter, all of soft stone With these may be grouped the closely allied bead-seals of the the native steatite. same elongated form with four sides instead of three, represented by Plate I, P. n,

and the more abnormal forms shown by Plate I, P. 12-14. Of these the first is an and the third early example of the lentoid bead, the second a perforated tabloid a mere rude finger of yellow steatite with characters in a style closely resembling what has been above described as the primitive linear. Only in the amethyst scarab (P. 9), of Egyptian type though engraved with Cretan characters, do we find a hard material
'

',

used for these early

'

'

hieroglyphic

seals.

_-^
a.

b.

c.

FIG. 77. Steatite Prism-seal,

from Impressions obtained

at Candia.

(j.)

These most primitive types of the seal-stones presenting the Conventionalized From the evidence Pictographic Script are grouped together in Plate I as Class A. supplied by the prevailing prism-type, including some more purely pictographic examples of contemporary fabric, we gain more than one approximate indication of
the chronological place of this earliest hieroglyphic class. It has already been shown that the elongated prism-seal represents the later out- Chronogrowth of the more compact type, an example of which already occurred in the Hagia
'

'

Triada Ossuary, and which shows the influences of Egypto-Libyan button-seals. These connexions are thus seen to go back to the period between the Sixth and Eleventh Dynasties and it follows that the earliest types of the succeeding elongated forms of
;

supplied

prism-seals

belong to the immediately succeeding period, corresponding with the Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt according to the Sothic dating 2160-2000 B. c. This early class seems, however, to have at least partially overlapped the Twelfth
Dynasty.

Already, in my first book on Cretan Pictographs, I pointed out a series of parallels between decorative designs on Twelfth Dynasty scarabs and certain prism1

See below, pp.

269, 270.

EVANS

136

SCRIPTA MINOA
some advanced types
of Cretan button-seals or

seals of the present class, together with

Relations with

Twelfth

I was then, it is true, under the erroneous impression that conoids (see Fig. 78). the spiraliform system, which plays a part in these designs, had its original source But though what actually occurred in Egypt, and spread thence across the Aegean. was the reverse of this, the evidence of an interrelation between certain Twelfth

Dynasty
scarab
types.

Dynasty scarab designs and those on Cretan prisms of the present

class can hardly

EGYPTIAN SCARABS

XllTH

DYNASTY

EARLY CRETAN SEAL-STONES

FIG. 78

the two examples c and/ given in Fig. 78, c, from a scarab found at Kahun, clearly represents the earlier stage of the pattern seen in /below, which appears on a Cretan prism-seal of yellow steatite.

be gainsaid.

Of

But the
Fig. 78,
c,

earlier
itself

form of

this

double

scroll, as
;

seen on the Twelfth Dynasty scarab,

and, whatever the relation of this and kindred designs to Egyptian examples, they must be taken in connexion with a whole

suggests Minoan parallels

a.

FIG. 79.

family of coil patterns affected by Cretan craftsmen in

more than one branch of

art.

Amethyst
scarab of Twelfth

an important part in the elaborate polychrome decoration of the vases of the so-called Kamares class, which attained its acme during the Second Middle Minoan Period. A concrete example of this connexion with Middle Empire Egypt is supplied

Such

coils

and

flourishes, in fact, play

by an amethyst scarab

(Fig. 79),

found

in 1897, in the

Dictaean Cave

it

belongs to

Dynasty

a characteristic class of scarab, executed in this material, which

came

into fashion in

SEALS AND SEALINGS. CLASS A

Egypt about the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty, and continued
It is

137
in

vogue during the

a characteristic of the earlier class of these amethyst immediately ensuing period. ^"o_ scarabs that they were usually left plain below, their base being subsequently covered glyphs. by a gold plate, upon which the device or inscription was incised. This was, naturally,

type with an

was never added, so that plain amethyst scarabs of this period are of That frequent occurrence, and more than one specimen has been found in Crete. scarabs of this class were occasionally made use of by the insular engravers had
often
lost,

or

it

already been made apparent from a specimen found in the Hagios Onuphrios Deposit, the base of which has been simply decorated with three circles by a native hand.

The present example is of much greater interest, for the field has been here engraved with three characters namely, a solar or stellar symbol (No. 108 in the list of hieroglyphs below) consisting of concentric circles and revolving rays, and a beaked
vase (No. 47

both of these signs being drawn from the below), twice repeated, regular repertory of the conventionalized pictographic or hieroglyphic script. The form of the vases answers to that on the earlier series, and has led me to place this

amethyst scarab seal in Class A. It is the only seal of hard material in this series, and the rudeness of the work shows that it belongs to a time when Minoan sealengravers were only beginning to attack hard stones. The attempt may well have been due to their having had this amethyst scarab of Egyptian fabric ready to
hand.
thus see that Cretan seals of Class A, presenting the hieroglyphic script in Class A back its early stage, supply internal evidence of interrelation with Egyptian scarab types of g0 ^, th It would even appear that the earliest Cretan seals presenting the Dynasty, the Middle Empire.
stage of the true hieroglyphic stage must be carried back to the beginning of that period, and to the Eleventh rather than the Twelfth Dynasty. The more primitive
first

We

examples of the elongated prism-seals, in fact, fit on very closely to the dumpier Ossuary Period and, as has pictographic class, which belongs to the close of the the Sixth Dynasty types of in still bears traces of shown above Table been XII,
'

',

Egyptian button-seals. This conclusion receives a striking corroboration from the discovery already Seal-imS referred to above 2 of clay seal-impressions, exhibiting the hieroglyphic script in its P[Q .J"A archaic stage, in certain stratified deposits belonging to the Earliest Palace period at from M. M. Knossos.

Thus the two

primitive type,

Room were First Middle Minoan period, and associated with polychrome pottery of the early 'geometric' class that characterizes this epoch. They were separated, moreover, by
from
the

sealings, P. 15, 16 below, presenting characters of a broad on a floor-level belonging to the found in the SE. Pillar

immediately overlying stratum containing polychrome pottery of the more advanced fabric, that marks the Second Middle Minoan
a distinct floor-level
period.

But a new fixed point

1

in this

connexion has
and Supplement,

containing inscribed cylinders of

See Cretan Pictographs,
&c., p. 56 [357],

now been supplied by the Abydos Tomb, Senusert (Sesostris) III, and Amenemhat III, in
'-'

The new

p. 105.

See above,

p. 19.

See

p. 19.

2,

138
Minoan
chrono-

SCRIPTA MINOA

association with an imported polychrome vessel belonging to the close of the Second Middle Minoan Period. It will be seen, therefore, that the decidedly late example of

the

minimum

Minoan polychrome style found on this tomb belongs, if we provisionally accept the dating supplied by the Sothic system, to about 1880 B.C.' The Second Middle Minoan Period characterized by the fine polychrome style might thus be taken

roughly to correspond with the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, which, on the above showing, begins about 2000 B. c.
thus appears that the earlier polychrome class, the Middle Minoan I, with which these archaic hieroglyphic sealings were associated, must go back to the closing centuries of the Third Millennium before our era. Broadly speaking, the period to
It

which
2000

belongs may be said to correspond with the Eleventh Dynasty, which, according to Dr. Eduard Meyer's chronology, may be dated from about 2200 to
it

B. c.

Of
some

the two sealings from the early Deposit in question, one appears to be from large stamp, the others may be from a somewhat irregularly shaped, elongated

prism-seal.
teristic

Fragmentary remains of similar seal-impressionsone showing a characarchaic form of the arrow-head sign also occurred in a remarkable deposit

3 brought to light beneath the pavement level in the West Wing of the Later Palace. The hoard of objects here found together, representing the accumulation of a con-

tinuous space of time, perhaps of no very long duration, shows the actual transition from ceramic and other types characteristic of the Early Minoan stage of culture to those of the First Middle Minoan phase. pyxis and lid from this Deposit with incised and punctuated decoration, gypsum inlaid, are practically identical with those from the earliest metal age graves of the Cyclades, and with others from the primitive Cretan ossuaries. The globular and

bugle beads, moreover, of pale blue faience with very large perforation also found such as has been noted above here, imply a Sixth Dynasty Egyptian tradition
the other hand, a series of vase types included in this hoard were of the usual First Middle Minoan style, here, as elsewhere, associated
in the case of certain early seals.

On

with incipient polychromy. have here, again, good warrant for concluding that the earlier class of hieroglyphic seals goes back to the very beginning of the Middle

We

Minoan Age.
II.

$5.

SEALS EXHIBITING THE CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC OR HIEROGLYPHIC SCRIPT OF CLASS B.

Hieroglyphic seal-

Class B.

the seal-types illustrating this Conventionalized Pictographic Script in its more archaic aspect (Class A) we are led by transitional stages to those of the fully developed style depicted on Plate II. Although some of the types are obviously less
1 *

From

Eduard Meyer, Ae?. Chronologic, p. 57. In his Nachlrdge zur aegyptischen Chronologic
30,

(1908),

Chronologic (p. 178) he had suggested 2160 to 2000 the limits of this Dynasty.

B. c.

as

p.

Dr. Meyer carries back the beginning of the Eleventh Dynasty to about 2200 B.C. In his Aegyptische

Near the East

' >

Pillar

Room

'.

See Knossos
'

',

Report,

PP- 94

SEALS EXHIBITING SCRIPT OF CLASS B

advanced than others, the whole of the
sake as Class B.
series
is

139

grouped together

for convenience'

One broad
earlier

of soft material, usually 1 those of class with the few of hard stone. steatite, are, very exceptions, present The materials principally used are red and white cornelian, chalcedony, and green This use of hard materials in itself implies a considerable advance in technical Use jasper.
skill, and in some examples a combined elegance and boldness of design is achieved, which evidences extraordinary perfection in the gem-engraver's art. We note, moreover, in the case of the prism-seals, that purely pictographic representations occupying whole faces of the seal become rarer, and at the same time the number of hieroglyphic signs
r

distinction affecting this later group may at hieroglyphic seals are almost exclusively cut out

once be made.

While the

of

st o ne s.

are the following Seal-types 80 the three-sided or bead-seal (P. 17-24), (a) prism, Fig. prevailing type and of P. P. of shorter 20) 19 generally elongated form, though occasionally (as
:

grouped together is greater than before. The typical forms of seal belonging

to Class

The

is still

proportions.

The following new types of seal-stones with hieroglyphic characters now appear (b) The exceptionally globular variety of b, exemplified by P. 31, with circular fields
:

FIG.

80

(2 diatns.).

FIG. 81.

best placed in a class by itself. This type of three-sided bead-seal as a vehicle for pictorial or decorative designs persists into Late Minoan times. An amethyst 2 this of on two of the form, engraved sides, was found in the Vapheio Tomb. specimen
is

Late Minoan II and other examples more or less contemporary with this are known both from Crete and Mycenae. (c) The four-sided equilateral form of bead-seal (P. 25-30) is also well represented.

An

Egypto-Libyan parallel for this type is given above, p. 129, Fig. 66. One example of white steatite (P. 26) is of abnormal length, and contains as many as forty-one characters, Several of the impressions on the clay sealings from not counting signs of division.

the Hieroglyphic Deposit of the Palace at Knossos obviously belong to seals of this or the succeeding type. the engraved base of which, with two very linear characters, The upper side shows, in a degenerate and scarcely like OX, is given under P. 32. recognizable shape, two fore-parts of lions, in reversed positions, rudely cut in relief (Fig.
(d)
81).
1

A remarkable form,
material
is

The

a bluish chalcedony.

Another specimen of

this type,

with the
p. 28

The exceptions known

'

to

me
',

[297], Fig. 35, as green jasper 2 PI. X. 5, 6. 'K<f>. 'A ., 1890,

which

are P. 26 (white steatite) and P. 25, erroneously described in it greatly resembles, but which proves to be steatite.

Picts., &c.,

140
fore-parts of the lions

SCRIPTA MINOA
more
clearly indicated,
at Paris. 1
is in

now

the Bibliotheque Nationale agate. The design consists of four globular two-handled vessels symmetrically grouped This in pairs, and recalling similar vessels on the earlier class of Cretan prisms.
in
It

was found

the Pauvert de la Chapellc Collection, in Crete, and is of banded

archaic characteristic

may

indicate that the present

example might more appropriately

Convoluted
seals.

have been grouped with Class A. surface resembling two hollow leaves curving (e) Bead-seals with convoluted upper A very beautiful specimen of this type from Eastern Crete is in reversed directions.

FIG. 82 a (2 diams.).

FIG. 82

b.

FIG. 83.

shown
Oblong
beadseals.

in Figs.

82

a,

82

b.

It is
is

of white cornelian. *

coarser type of the same

material from Gortyna (P. 34)

'

given in Fig. 83. (/) An oblong bead-seal, the faces of which curve slightly outwards (P. 41). flattened cylinder '. This type continued in use in Late It might be described as a Minoan times, and some gold beads of this form with very fine intaglios occurred in the
3 Similar bead seals of the same Late Minoan age Acropolis Graves of Mycenae. are found in Crete, executed in cornelian or agate, and in one case in black steatite

with gold plating.

That the example

illustrated in P. 41

belongs to a comparatively

a
FIG. 84.
FIG. 85.

Green Jasper Signet,

'Sto Dhaso.

advanced period is shown from the appears on one face of the stone.
'

pictorial design of a

dog

seizing a wild goat that

Signet
seals.

'-

(g)

The

Signet '-shaped seal-stones (P. 36-40) of curiously modern form (Figs. 84-87). stem is often of a highly decorative character, spirally grooved and faceted.
'

In the beautiful specimen given in Fig. 86, the loop of which, however, is unfortuThis signet shows nately broken off, the base has an elegant quatrefoil outline. the not infrequent wolf's (or dog's) head hieroglyph by itself with protruding tongue
E. Babelon, Collection Pauvert de la Chapelle, No. 72 the stone as follows ' Scara(p. 28 and PI. VI), describes
1
:

The lower

face of this

is

also given in

PL

II,

A la place de la carapace de beolde en agate rubanee. 1'insecte, deux protomes de lion en relief, placees c6te a
cdte,

See too Picts., &c., p. 19, Fig. 21 and Fig. 38. from a similarly shaped seal of red cornelian.
3

P. 33. P. 35 is

Schliemann, Mycenae,

p. 174,

Nos. 253-5.

mais dirigees en sens

inverse.'

SEALS EXHIBITING SCRIPT OF CLASS B

and
in

141

cases also this seal type is associated with single characters, at Sometimes animal symbols like the above, such as a cat (P. 36) and an owl (P. 37).

some other

times the design is purely decorative (see Fig. 88 below), or of a pictorial nature. yellow cornelian signet of this latter class, from near Girapetra, exhibiting wild goats on a rocky peak (Fig. 87 a, b), has its stem surrounded by a guilloche or twisted
1

FIG. 86.

Red

Cornelian Signet from Kedrie near Girapetra (Hierapytna). (f .)

first

FIG. 87.

Yellow Cornelian Signet from Khadra.

(f.)

band
the

a feature of which the

2
'

dated examples on Egyptian seals seem to belong to

of this period may with great probability be regarded Evolution^ as ultimate descendants of the pear-shaped seals of the Early Minoan Ossuaries, ea if' sn
'-seals

Hyksos period. The elegant signet

a specimen of which is given above in Fig. 54. The tradition of the simple triquetral pattern there shown seems to survive, moreover, in the more elaborate trefoil scrolls

seen on more than one of the signets of the present class, of which a good example from the neighbourhood of Praesos is reproduced in Fig. 88.

variant form of the later class of signet

is

shown

in Figs.

89

a,

89

b.

It

presents

FIG. 88.

Green Jasper Signet from Praesos.

FIG. 89 a. FIG. 89
b.

a simpler and less elegant contour than those described above, and its more archaic character is further illustrated by its material, which is yellow steatite. It may be conveniently taken, therefore, as standing at the head of the present class of
'signet '-seals.

This
finest

'

signet '-seal

was found
fabric (M.

in

Middle Minoan

a deposit containing polychrome pottery of the M. II). This ceramic class, as we know from
the Twelfth Egyptian

the evidence of
1

Abydos and Kahun, roughly corresponds with

See Further Discoveries, &c., p. 344. Border of scaraboid of Apepy I. Newberry, Scarabs, PI. XXIV. 35. Twisted Uraei occur on a cylinder of Khyan, op. cit. PI. VII. 10. For further Hyksos examples see Petrie, Hyksos and Israelite Cities, PI. IV (Yehudiyeh), The triple threads of the twisted band on Figs. 178, 183.
8

the last example supply a very near parallel to that on A simple form of the twisted band also occaFig. 87.
sionally appears as a scarab border in the early part of the Eighteenth Dynasty (Scarab of the Princess Neferu-ra.
Petrie, History

of Egypt

during

the

Seventeenth

and

Eighteenth Dynasties, p. 78, Fig. 39).

142
Twelfth

SCRIPTA MINOA
;

Dynasty
relations

of an early
' '

signet type.

and it is therefore of particular interest to note that the coiled cruciform on the present signet finds its closest parallel in certain scarab types of that design These show, in fact, the direct adaptation to an oval field of the circular period. A cruciform scheme of this class occurs on a sealing of one of pattern here seen. the Kahun papyri, and is repeated, with a small circle in the middle, on another Twelfth Dynasty scarab impression from the same site (Fig. 90)" The great documentary age of Kahun to which the hieratic papyri mostly belong is
ynasty
1

the reign of
c.

Amenemhat

On 1849-1800 B. c. that both the Minoan and the Egyptian forms of

to the

according to the Sothic chronology, whichever side the indebtedness may lie it is clear
III,
or,

this design

must be referred

follows that the signet-seals of the present class, which stand in a very near relation to that shown in Fig. 89, go back to the borders of the same period. near, in fact, they stand to this
date.
It

same approximate

How

FIG. 90

example

will

be seen by a comparison with the quatrefoil design shown on

Fig. 86.

In that case the four reserved curves with their cross striations correspond with the similarly striated curves of the cruciform figure on the present signet.
Possible influence of metallic

forms

possible that the particular form of the stem of the present seal, with the three rings below the perforation, may be due to the influence of some type of metal signet of the same class, the loop of which was held together with a triple coil of thick
It is

wire.

It is to be noted, moreover, in this connexion, that one of the clay sealings of the Hieroglyphic Deposit at Knossos (P. 64 a below), from a round stamp apparently belonging to a^ seal of the 'signet' class, seems, from the fineness of the engraved

The same metallic appearance have been produced by a metal stamp. is presented by a stamp, perhaps from a signet of this type, that occurs on the We seem here to have a maker's mark, handle of two vases found at Palaikastro.
lines,

to

in all probability
Special personal
relation to

supplying his name.

signets.

other circular stamps, probably from signets of the above class, on clay 6 sealings from the Hieroglyphic Deposit, reproduced below, have a quite exceptional interest as exhibiting the first attempts at personal portraiture in the Aegean world.
This, taken with the repeated appearance on these signets of single animal types which 6 may have borne the significance of types parlants, tends to show that seals of this class stood in a special personal relation to their owners.

Two

Appearance of
portrait

The
series,

association of the

'

signet

'-seal,

Fig. 89,

which stands

at the

head of that

types.

with pottery of the fine polychrome class, is further illustrated by the appearance on other seals of the present category of decorative scrolls showing distinct
affinities

with those on vases illustrating the most advanced phase of this ceramic

Petrie,

Kahun,

&c., PI.

X.

20.

'

See F.

LI. Griffith,

&.C., PI. X. 176, and Egyptian DecoraCf.J.H.S., xxii (1902), p. 89, Fig. 31. It is there compared with an early sealing from the hoard discovered by Mr. Hogarth at Zakro (ib., PI. X. 134).
2

Petrie, Illahun,

tive

Art, Fig. 34.

(Kahun, &c., * See below,

*

'The Historic Papyri of Kahun pp. 45 seqq.), and Hlahun, &c., pp. 47 seqq.
p. 147, P. 43.

'

p. 272.
*

See below,

p. 264.

SEALS EXHIBITING SCRIPT OF CLASS B

style.'
It

143

would thus appear that the sphragistic records of Class B of the hieroglyphic script go back at least to the lower borders of the Second Middle Minoan period. But the advanced naturalism that strikes us on many of the seal types of the Bulk of present category points rather to the succeeding Third Middle Minoan as the most Qa's^B That the first attempts at portraiture belong to flourishing age of this later hieroglyphic class.
should be associated with this class of script
is itself highly significant. consider- M^IC able degree of naturalism, again, in rendering animal forms is evidenced by the horned Minoan r owl on P. 37 and the dove preening its wings on P. 31 a, or the lily on face c of ?f the same stone. Such designs at once transport us from the more geometrical s tic types.
j

traditions of the great age of ceramic polychromy to the free attains its fullest development towards the close of the Third

and beautiful style which Middle Minoan period.

These
referred
to,

naturalistic associations are strikingly

2

confirmed by the contents, already

of the remarkable deposit of clay documents and sealings in the later hieroglyphic style found in the early Magazine north of the Long Corridor of the Knossian Palace. It is hardly too much to say that some of the seal-impressions
the stamps ot hieroglyphic signets belonging to the present class excel in picturesqueness of treatment any glyptic records that have been preserved to us from the Ancient World. 3
in

found there

company with

on these impressions seem to have been engraved on early examples of the lentoid form of gem so generally in use during the No examples are known closing periods of Minoan and Mycenaean culture. of such stones which can be ascribed to Class B of the present series exhibiting
pictorial designs
'

The highly

hieroglyphic characters, though a specimen, belonging apparently to the more archaic series, and executed in soft stone, has been given in P. 12. The lentoid form
of seal
itself,

Early Minoan

as executed in soft stone, goes back in Crete and the Aegean world to the age, and a specimen of black steatite in my collection shows two heads
'

of horned sheep or moufflons in a style identical with that of the primitive prism-seals and conoids of the Ossuary Period ' (E. M. II and III).

In other respects the

dence with those

bead-seal
All this
(b)

in

persists,
in

also show a correspon- PersisThe globular three-sided '^"1^^ vogue during the Late Minoan age. and the oblong form (/) is also a common Late Minoan type, seal types

new forms

of seal that

now appear

is

harmony with

the relatively late period covered by the seals of the

'

nto

hieroglyphic Class B.

Minoan

Nevertheless, it must be said that, in spite of the persistence above noted of one or two forms belonging to this class, there is still a considerable break between able break the types associated with the full development of the hieroglyphic script and those never thein vogue during the Late Minoan age. able at

Thus
do we
1

the most typical three- and four-sided bead-seals are no longer seen. Neither find the signets ', the seals with convoluted backs or with the reversed lions,
'

?l

ose
.

phic series.

Compare,
c,

P. 23

for instance, those on the fine prism-seal, with some of the characteristic scrolls on the

('Knossos', Report, 1903,

2 3

p. 120, Fig. 75).

polychrome
decoration

vessel

of

very

found

in

the

West

advanced and elaborate Building at Knossos

my

See p. 20, and cf. pp. 144 seqq. below. See Fig. n b, p. 22, above. Others will be given general work on the Palace of Minos '.
'

in

144
Change
usage Late
in
in

SCRIPTA MINOA
1

The use

sphragistic

inoan times
:

of seals, moreover, as inscribed slamps had almost entirely gone out, and for it had been substituted, as we shall see, the practice of signing and countersigning the clay sealings with graffito inscriptions of the later linear classes. Intaglios were
still

used as seals as well as ornaments, but their subjects were of a pictorial or

absence of
inscribed
seals.

decorative character.

Evidence
of great deposits of seal-impressions.

the date of the great deposits of seal-impressions belonging to the transitional age that marks the close of the Middle Minoan period and heralds the beginning of the Late Minoan age this revolution in custom had already taken place. It may,

By

cause that the Zakro hoard, 2 consisting of about five hundred seal-impressions, which probably reaches somewhat far back into the Third Middle Minoan age, only contained two representatives of the hieroglyphic
indeed, be due to
special

some

one of somewhat archaic aspect, P. 10, PI. I. 3 At Hagia Triada and in the Temple Repository of Knossos hoards of seal-impressions belonging to a somewhat later phase of this transitional period produced no solitary specimen with hieroglyphic characters. It is to be noted that all these deposits were associated with clay documents in the linear script of Type A. Among the engraved seal-stones and rings found in the Shaft Graves of Mycenae which go back to the limits of the same period as that covered by the two Cretan Deposits last named, as well as in the later cemeteries there and those at Knossos and elsewhere, no single specimen of the true hieroglyphic class has come to light.
class

II,

THE CLAY DOCUMENTS EXHIBITING GRAFFITO INSCRIPTIONS AND SEAL-IMPRESSIONS OF CLASS B FOUND IN THE HIEROGLYPHIC DEPOSIT AT KNOSSOS.
6.

The
f ie
|

r."

Deposit at Knossos.

short account has already been given in the first part of this book 4 of the discovery in the Palace ot Knossos of a deposit of clay documents of various forms This illustrating the hieroglyphic script in its graffito as well as its sphragistic form.

West Wing
seems
to

Hieroglyphic Deposit belongs, as was pointed out above, to the early phase of the of the Knossian Palace, which, according to the latest indications at hand,

Second Middle Minoan period. It covers, however, a part oi the succeeding Third Middle Minoan age, and, judging from the exquisite naturalistic style of some of the gem impressions upon the clay sealings there discovered, it must come down to a very advanced stage in this latest phase of the Middle Minoan culture. It is at the same time remarkable that in the Temple Repositories of Knossos and other deposits that mark the final catastrophe of this
go back within the
limits of the
1

An

oval steatite bead-seal with linear characters ot

'

8
4

Placed in Class

A on
21.

Plate

I.

has been recently found in the Little Palace at Knossos, and one or two isolated cases are known of linear signs appearing on the field of Late Minoan lentoid gems. 1 D. G. Hogarth, 'The Zakro Sealings (J.H. S., xxii,

Type

'

See above, pp. 20,

The Deposit

itself

was found

in

disturbed condition, and isolated specimens occurred in the adjoining area. There can be no doubt, a

much

'

however, as

to its

homogeneous

character.

1902,

pp. 76 seqq., and Plates VI-X).

CLAY DOCUMENTS

145

stage in the Palace history the records of the hieroglyphic script have entirely given From some cause or other possibly place to the advanced linear script of type A.

owing to a dynastic revolution the hieroglyphic form of writing had become obsolete at Knossos somewhat before the date of this catastrophe, which has been approximately dated above, on the ground of various lines of evidence, at about 1600 B. c.
1

contents of this Deposit are still of quite unique importance, since, with the exception of a stray tablet from Phaestos 2 and the early example now at Berlin,

The

they

supply the only record of the written as opposed to the glyptic documents of the hieroglyphic script. They are also of especial value as bringing together the
still

two forms of the

of the seals.

script illustrated

by the

graffito

inscriptions
3

and the impressions

The

clay documents found in the Hieroglyphic Deposit

:

divide themselves into Classes

the following categories

(a)

sealings,

(b)

clay 'labels',

(c)

perforated bars with four documents.

FIG. 91.

(f.)

sides, (d) a perforated

bar or

'

'

prism

with three sides, and

(e)

oblong

tablets.

The
Sealings.

Phaestos example
(a)

is

included in this latter class.

Clay sealings. The sealings found in the Hieroglyphic Deposit of the Palace, with which the script in its graffito form was associated, were all of the more or less three-sided form seen in Plates III and IV. A good example of one of these
It will be seen that it has a perforation along its major axis through given in Fig. 91. which the string passed by which the box or document was secured. This form
is

of clay sealing occurs already in Egypt in the time of the early dynasties. One side, as usual, is flatter than the other, and in the present case a graffito inscription is seen on all three sides. On side b may be noted the sacred double axe and
a character answering to the Egyptian Palace sign. Between the two narrower sides is a kind of rounded crest upon which is a double stamp (see below, P. 64 a], This signet was itself produced by the same seal, apparently of the signet form.
'
1

'

See below, p. 148. Together with one or two specimens found

p. 31.

See

in

the

immediately adjoining area, and unquestionably derived from it owing to a previous disturbance.
-2

146
a

SCRIPTA MINOA
art.

work of

in its field are

The two hieroglyphic characters one of them a lyre contained surrounded by a highly decorative border, and, as noted above, the finepossibly, in

ness of the engraving leads to the conclusion that the seal was of metal the case of so elaborate an example, of gold.
Fig.

92 shows a variant form presenting inscribed characters on

its flat

and narrow

FIG. 92.

side (P. 50 b, c) and with the print of a hieroglyphic seal repeated upper side (P. 50 a).

on

its

rounded

Occasionally, in place of the repetition of the same stamp, we see two impressions, apparently from different faces of a prism-seal (P. 69 a, i, 2), or one such impression

FIG. 94.

FIG. 93.

accompanied by that of a signet (P. 63 a, i, 2). Special attention will be called in 15 below to a sealing of this class in which the counter-stamp shows the delineation of a portrait-head. The hieroglyphic stamps on these sealings are not infrequently coupled with others from intaglios exhibiting pictorial as well as decorative subjects. At times, as in the case
of the sealing reproduced in Fig. 93, we see, in addition to the print of a three- or foursided bead-seal with a hieroglyphic sign-group, imperfect impressions of two signets ', one showing an early decorative device, another from a lentoid intaglio depicting
'

CLAY DOCUMENTS
a hunting scene.

147

There also appears the corner of a fifth impression, from a rectangular bead-seal, on which is visible a female figure apparently taking part in one of the orgiastic cult-scenes common on the Minoan signet-rings. The decorative design on the uppermost impression of the foregoing sealing is of an archaic character, and the same must certainly be said of the pattern twice repeated on the sealing P. 53 a, PI. III. This latter device seems to have been produced by a signet '-seal belonging to the beginning of Class A, which must have continued,
1
'

In variant shapes therefore, in use as an heirloom. of the First and Middle Minoan period. ceramic, glyptic

it

a favourite pattern, both Fig. 94 shows a sealing with

is

impressions presenting a similar type found on a floor-level of this period in the SE. It will be further seen that this early signet type enters Pillar Chamber at Knossos. into the composition and lies at the root of a whole series of fantastic outgrowths

on the Zakro sealings. 2 In only one case is there any obvi ous correspondence of the sign-groups engraved on the seal used for the stamp of the clay nodules and those of the graffiti. In P. 54,

FIG. 95.

however, the collocation of the eye and arbelon signs, which are twice repeated in the impressions from two different seals, recurs in the inscription at the base of the sealing, where they are accompanied by two other characters.
as in P. 76, these clay sealings bear no seal-impressions, but are simply inscribed with graffito hieroglyphs. These are in shape somewhat like a flat bivalve shell with Clay labels '. (b) Clay labels a perforation through the valve (see Fig. 95). They were obviously intended to be

'

'

At

'

'

times,

'

attached by means of a string to various properties. They bear no seal-impressions, but are generally inscribed on both sides with Minoan hieroglyphs. These bars are often perforated Clay (c) Clay bars with a square section (Fig. 96 a, b}. at one end, and in such cases may have been attached to bales or other possessions
like the
'

bars.

'

labels

described above.

The lower
flat

is cut at right angles so as to

produce a

extremity, and sometimes the other also, square surface, but the bars usually taper

above to a more or engraved on all four

1

less

wedge-shaped end. The graffito inscriptions are generally sides, which must probably be read consecutively. At times, as in
broken away.

For

Compare

Its lower face, where the graffito inscription would have been, is this sealing see above, p. 22. /. H. S., vol. xxii, PI. VIII. 57 (p. 82, Fig. 16), and 58-61 ; PI. IX. 89-91, &c.

148

SCRIPTA MINOA
The
flat

the case of P. 102, they appear on only two sides. are also inscribed.

bases of

some of the bars

Numbers
(d)

are attached to

many

of the entries on these documents.

section.

Clay bars or 'prisms' with a triangular

Only one fragmentary

FIG. 96.

example of
Tablets.
(e)

this class of inscribed bar

has been preserved, P. 119.

this

The remaining

extremity of this

was

cut

flat.

Clay

tablets

of oblong form.

Only one specimen of

type occurred in the

FIG. 97.

Hieroglyphic Deposit
corners.

at

Knossos

(Fig. 97,

P.

120),

somewhat broken away

is

at

two

The

inscription,

accompanied by numbers,

only on one

side.

Another clay tablet of the hieroglyphic class, somewhat more elongated than the Knossian example, was brought to light in the Palace at Phaestos (P. 121). Unfortunately the exact circumstances of
its

discovery cannot be ascertained.

149

II.

CATALOGUE OF CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC (OR HIEROGLYPHIC) INSCRIPTIONS ON SEALS AND SEALINGS

$7-

Cretan Pictograplis, &c., 1895. F. D. Further (The numbers of this series are preceded by P. C. P. Discoveries of Cretan Pictographs, &c., 1898. The numbers in brackets refer to the Catalogue of Hiero9 below. The figures are enlarged two diameters.) glyphic Signs,

CLASS A.

P.I. Steatite prism.

(pp. 265 seqq.).
b.

Central Crete.
c.

dog

spider.

(PI. I

Impression obtained F. D. Fig. 5.)

at

Candia.

The formula on a

is

of constant recurrence

P. 2. Pale steatite prism.

Lasethi.

Cf. p. 129

above and Table XII, G.

c is a decorative motive.

(PI. I.)

i wo hippocamps. Steatite prism. Crete I'. P. 3. steatite Copenhagen Museum, a. Two probably ornamental features as those on c. (PI. I; F. D. Fig. 4.)
:

The

trumpet-like scrolls on b are

P. 4.
'

Yellow
'.

button-seals

prism. Elunda (Olous). b is a decorative design derived from the (See above, pp. 127, 128.) For the three vases on c cf. P. 5. (PI. I ; F. D. Fig.
steatite

'

double sickle

'

of the

3.)

a
P. 4*. Steatite.

c
a.

Crete, uncertain locality,

may

be the sea-horse as seen on P. 3

(C. P. Fig. 28.)

150

SCRIPTA MINOA

There P. 4**. Black steatite. Mallia, Crete. represent the dog of P. i b. (F. D. Fig. 2.)

is

no trace of any rigging on the

aft

part

of

the ship on

a.

may

P. 5. Brown steatite prism. The two S-shaped scrolls on each

For formula on a cf. P. 2, &c. ; for b see P. Crete. Bought in Candia (A. J. E.). side of the ox's head on c are probably ornamental. (PL I ; C. P. Fig. 21.)

4.

second sign

P. 6. Steatite prism. Candia Museum, a. The first character resembles the Egyptian 'Palace' sign. b. The may be a blundered representation of the trowel sign (No. 18). c. Heads of ox and two goats. (PI. I.)
' '

P. 7. Green steatite prism. as also c. (PL I.)

Kritsa, East Crete (A.J. E.).

The

trumpet-like scroll on a

is

probably decorative,

P. 7*.

Yellow
b.

steatite prism.

15 below,

Head

Central Crete (A.J. E.). a. Leg and gate signs as P. c. Two heads of ditto. of horned sheep or moufflon,

for this collocation see

a
P. 8.

b
Praesos.
C. P. Fig. 29.)

White

steatite prism.

(PL

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

t
P. 8*. Grey steatite prism. From site of Knossos. Seen in 1894. (From a sketch.) (C. P. Fig. 30.) Much abraded, a appears to be the leg sign. As the lower part of b was much worn away the sign here may really have been y, and in that case we should probably have the frequently recurring formula in which this sign is accompanied with the leg and the gate (see below, (C. P. Fig. 30.) 15).

P. 9.

Amethyst

with curving rays

above.)

(cf.

Dictaean Cave. (See above, p. 136.) The group represents the sun or star symbol, scarab. P. s8 b, 8 a, 25 c, d), between two beaked vases (cf. P. 4 b, 5 c, and 10). (PI. I and Fig. 79

P. 10.

Sealing from hoard found in

House A, Kato Zakro.

The

coil to the right is

probably decorative.

(PL

I.)

and d are decorative.

P. ii. Four-sided bead-seal, steatite. Central (PL I C. P. Fig. 36.)

;

Museum, Athens.

Face b contains the

gate, leg,

and

formula

P. 13P. 12.

P. 12. Lentoid bead-seal of dark brown steatite, a to the left is possibly a bird. (PL I ; C. P. Fig. 40.)

good deal worn.

From

site of

Knossos, 1904.

The

sign above

The

P. 13. Flat rectangular bead- seal, green steatite. Central Crete. On face a is an sign to the left on face b seems to represent an ingot. (Cf. linear tablets, Vol. II.) (PI.

ox and a branch or
I
;

tree.

C. P. Fig. 37.)

152

SCRIPTA MINOA

P. 15'

P. 16.

P. 14. Natural finger' of yellow steatite, the base of which has been cut flat and engraved as a seal. Kalamafka, SE. Crete. The signs are of simple quasi-linear type. The oval above may be compared with the plain disk on P. 32 below. The second sign is perhaps an expanded version of the sepia sign (No. 60). The third sign possibly represents horns. (PI. I ; F. D. Fig. 22, pp. 348, 349.)

The characters are of very primitive type, and the P. 15. Fragment of sealing. SE. Pillar Room, Knossos. associated pottery belonged to the borders of the Early and Middle Minoan Periods. (See above, p. 19.) P. 16. Clay sealing from the same early basement stratum of the SE. Pillar Room as the preceding. The first sign is the human leg.

CLASS

B.

c b arrow-head Province. The of the P. 17. Green jasper prism. Siteia (No. 13) and the trowel (No. conjunction Face c is decorative, showing the familiar 18) is seen on a series of seals of both classes (P. sa, 5*1, i8b, igb). palmette and spirals. (PI. II C. P. Fig. 22.)

'

'

P. 18. Reddish agate prism, with white streaks. Berlin Museum. Faces a and b repeat the signs of For the formula on c see below, Table XXVI D. (PI. II C. P. Fig. 25.)
;

P. 17

a and

b,

on P. 7

P. 19. Steatite prism.

a,

Museum, Candia.
(PI. II.)

The

'

25

d,

27

a,

and

trowel and eye signs (Nos. 18 and 5) are also seen in conjunction
'

33.

P. 20. Green jasper prism. Mirabello Province (A. J. E.). The sign in the left upper corner of face b seems to be an ox-head or bucranium, that below it an insect, perhaps an ant that to the right of the leg sign an ear of corn. For the formula on face c see below, 15. (PI. II.)
;

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

153

P. 21. Red cornelian prism. Province of Siteia (A. J. E.). On face a the sign after the ox-head resembles a degenerate variety of the template (No. 19) as seen on P. 20 c. It might, however, be identified with the Horns of Consecration ', or altar horns, so frequent in Minoan cult-scenes. The next sign is apparently a bird's head and neck. The two running animals on b are perhaps dogs. The which divides the heads on c may be compared with the sign (No. 847) between the lion's head and sepia on P. 34, and coupled with the sepia on P. 27 c. Cf. too P. 39. (C. P. Fig. 26; PL II.)
'

P. 22. White cornelian prism. E. Crete. The coupling of the gate sign (No. 44) with a pig on a seems to indicate some such title as Keeper of the Swine '. The animal on b is apparently a kid, and the axe sign with this ideograph above may refer to a sacrificial function. The scroll on c is probably ornamental. (C. P. Fig. 24 PI. II.)
' ;

Red cornelian prism. Central Crete, 1898. This remarkable seal may contain the name and titles of _P. 23. a Minoan prince, of whom the cat and snake were badges. It is fully discussed below, pp. 27oseqq. (PI. II.)

P. 24. White cornelian prism. Eastern Crete. The second sign on a is the template (No. 19) with a palmette such as was used for decorative designs contained in it. (See below, pp. 287, 288.) On c it is seen without the decorative adjunct. The 'trowel (No. 18) and adze (No. 21) occur in the same conjunction on P. 23 c and 29 b. The x below the plane is the usual sign showing the beginning of a new hieroglyphic sign-group, and recurs on c. (C. P. Fig. 23; PI. II.) The inscription seems to run in a bouslroplicdon fashion. (See p. 252 below.)
'
'

'

U 2

"54

SCRIPTA MINOA

The third sign on b is The group on a is the recurring formula, probably a title, seen on i8e, 20 c, 23 b, and 30 d. 1 the No 02) The collocation of the trowel (No. 18) and the arrow-head on this face is also recurrent. For It is possible that the signs to the left of c and d are variations and cf. P. on d d, 33. and a, trowel el 7 _ 27 eye conjoined c. i _: ~ - AAAmc * u n sii/AfiirA Q|* 'mountains' or country* (No. 114), of the u, me rayed sua symbol (No. 107). The first sign on c seems to be a)C u solar Whether the double crescent on this face am name. a indicate in which case the following signs may geographical
' ' ' '

P. 25. Four-sided bead-seal of green steatite.

Palaikastro, E. Crete, 1894 (A. J. E.).

i_

is

a sign or a

fill-up

ornament

is difficult to

determine.

(C. P. Fig.

35

PI. II.)

From Crete. Central Museum, Athens. Sides P. 26. Four-sided bead-seal of abnormal length, white steatite. a and c are slightly larger than the other two. The X on faces a, c, d, and of which a trace seems to exist at the beginning of b, is the usual initial mark on the hieroglyphic class of inscriptions. (See below, p. 251.) The large X on face a probably marks the beginning of the inscription, so that a would read from left to right. Face b, as is shown by the goat's head, reads from right to left. Face c also runs from left to right. It begins with an X sign which almost runs into the figure below. The initial X on d also shows that it runs in the same direction. There here seems to be no fixed rule. This seal is specially distinguished by the repetitions of the tree sign (No. 97) and of the plough (No. 27). The ship and trees seem to point to oversea traffic in timber. The recurrence of the mountains or regional sign (No. 114 placed on end) on face b, preceded and in the latter case also followed by two ploughs, is noteworthy. In the first case the ploughs are preceded by a mallet (No. 24) and goat's head, so that the mountains sign may be a determinative for the whole group. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that on P. 29 d the mountains sign is again accompanied by the mallet and plough. It looks as if we have here a geographical formula. The fourth sign on c is rather the breast sign (No. 4) than the mountains (See F. D. p. 337, and Fig. 7.') (PI. II.)
'

'.

1 As there pointed out, an imperfect figure of this seal (erroneously described as of ivory) was given as far back as 1872 by Dumont, Inscriptions ce'ramiques de la Grece, pp. 415, 416. It was there compared to gladiatorial tesserae the repeated plough sign was interpreted as pairs of wrestlers, the goat's head compared to an aplustre, and the ship was taken as an allusion to the naval sham-fights in the amphitheatre.

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

155

group with the insertion of the double disk and initial X mark between the leg and gate. We have here an indication that the gate sign could be used as a separate ideograph. The conjunction of the sepia and 2 signs on c recurs on P. 34. In d we again see the eye and trowel together. (C. P. Fig. 34 PI. II.)
' '
;

P. 27. Four-sided bead-seal of yellow chalcedony. From Crete. In Berlin Museum Cat. (No.s6). This seal is of fine execution, and displays a decorative treatment of the If the ship ideograph be taken as the beginning of signs. the inscription a be made out, viz. a, left to right ; b, right to left c, as bpustrophedon arrangement of the sides shown by the position of the saw sign (No. 23), right to left ; d, left to right. Face b shows the usual V, leg and gate

may

P. 28. Four- sided bead-seal. Crete. Central Museum, Athens. The conjunction of the 'trowel' and arrowhead, as seen on d, is frequent. The first sign on c appears to be a dagger (No. 15). (C. P. Fig. 33 PI. II.)
;

Siteia. The seated figure at the beginning of a recalls the ideographs of persons P. 29. Four-sided bead-seal. on Egyptian scarabs, and the spear or javelin sign (No. 14) and head of horned animal, apparently a goat, may indicate the personal name. The spider, perhaps referring to the spinning industry, already appears as an ideograph on the more primitive class of seals. The trowel and plane (No. 21) which follow it appear together in a highly decorative setting on P. 23 c, where they probably represent an official title. The conjunction of the sacred doubleaxe symbol (No. 36) with the gate sign of guardianship on face d suggests that the owner of the seal performed a religious function. (F. D. Fig. 6; PI. II.)
' '

156

SCRIPTA MINOA

P. 30. Four-sided bead-seal of green jasper. From Xidha, near site of Lyttos. Face a shows the familiar V, leg and gate formula. The heads on b and c calves. The two figures to the right of c, separated by perhaps represent the X mark from the calf s head, resemble a tablet suspended from a bent rod or reed. The formula on d is associated with that on a in P. 18, 20, and 23. (PI. II.)

The The

P. 31. Globular prism of dark-green jasper. Crete (Berlin Cat. No. Face a shows a dove pluming its wing. j>8). sign group on b is of special interest from its recurrence in a graffito formula on the clay bar (P. 117 a below). flower on c with the long stamens is possibly a saffron crocus. (PI. II C. P. Fig. 31.)
;

Chalcedony bead-seal with back in the form of two fore-parts of lions in reversed positions. (See above, Mirabello Province. For the X compare P. 26 rfand 27 a, c. The O may be a simplified form of the concentric disks on P. 27 b. See too the oval sign on P. 14. (PI. II.)
P. 32.
p. 139, Fig. 81.)

33-

P. 34-

P. 3 8.

P. 39-

P- 33- White cornelian bead-seal with convoluted back. (See above, p. 140, Fig. 82.) Eastern Crete. The PI. II.) trowel and eye formula is of frequent recurrence. (P. 7 a, 19 c, 25 d, 27 d, with arrow-head.) (C. P. Fig. 38 P. 34. Chalcedony bead-seal with convoluted back as preceding. Gortyna. (See above, p. 140, Fig. 83.) The two uppermost signs (Nos. 60 and 84) are also grouped together on P. 27 c. The sign below seems to be a lion's head with a fleur-de-lis crest. (PI. II ; F. D. Fig. 9.)
'
' ;

P. 35. Red cornelian bead-seal of the same type as P. 33 and 34. An owl with scrolls on each side of its head (horns) above another object, perhaps a fleur-de-lis spray, as P. 37 below. (PI. II.) P. 36. Green jasper 'signet' (for upper side see p. 140, Fig. 84). Goulas. The animal is of the cat-like kind introduced as the principal type of P. 23 a. It stands probably in both cases as the ideographic badge of a king or

high

official.

(PI. II.)
'.

Green jasper 'signet Knossos, 1898. We have here a more perfect example of the figure seen on P. 35, a horned owl in this case above a fleur-de-lis spray. (PL II.) P. 38. Green jasper 'signet'. Sto Dhaso, near Zyro, Eastern Crete (A. J. E. See above, p. 140, Fig. 85). It has already been noted that the mallet and goat's head appear with the plough and mountains sign on P. 26 b, perhaps
P. 37.

as part of a geographical formula. (PI. II F. D. Fig. n.) P. 39. White cornelian 'signet'. Kalochorio, near Kritsa (A. J. E.) sign are also found together on P. 30 b, (PI. II.)
;

The

'strainer' (No. 54)

and arrow-head

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

157

p. 40.

p. 4 o*.

p. 4 i

b.

P. 40. Red cornelian signet. Kentri, near Hierapetra. (See Fig. 86, p. 141.) The wolfs or dog's head with the tongue protruding, which here stands as an ideograph by itself, appears on P. 24 a, with the 'trowel' and 'template signs, apparently representing a title. (PI. II.)
'

P. 40*. Red cornelian signet. Central Crete. It shows the star sign of eight rays within circle with floral offshoots. On face a is a pictorial design representing a wild goat pursued by a hound. P. 41. Rectangular bead-seal. The first sign to the left in the upper compartment of b is a form of spouted vase common on late Minoan intaglios. The second is apparently a bird. The two small crosses on either side of the double axe in the lower compartment seem to show that it stands as an ideograph by itself. (PL II C. P. Fig. 39.)
;

P. 42.

P. 43-

P. 45-

P. 44-

Green jasper with convoluted back (as P. 33-35). Hagios Nikolaos, Gull of Mirabello. From a sketch. seal of which two examples were found impressed on cup handles at Palaikastro. P. 44. Four-sided bead-seal, red cornelian. Central Crete (Ashmolean Museum). There is a cruciform sign of division between the wolfs or dog's head of a and the lower characters. The first of these (No. 16) seems to be a forearm holding a curved instrument. On face b is the recurring conjunction of the 'trowel' and arrow-head. The lowermost signs of c are a handled vase (No. 47) and perhaps the bird's head and neck (No. 83). From its association with the mallet the second sign on d may be the mountains (No. 114), in which case we have a parallel to the probably geographical formulae of P. 26 b and 29 c. It seems to be followed by a floral sign. (C. P. Fig. 33.) The stone was procured at Athens by Mr. Greville Chester, and wrongly labelled by him as from Sparta. The impression of the seal, however, was seen by me in 1894 in the hands of its original possessor at Candia. (See p. 10 above.) P. 45. Impression on clay sealing from the hoard found in House A, Kato Zakro. The fish is probably the same as that on P. 28 a, and may be identified with a tunny. For the conjunction of the eye and trowel cf. P. 19 c,
P. 42. P. 43.

Stamp of circular

'

'

'

'

25

d,

27

d,

33

d.

158

SCRIPTA MINOA

P. 46. Green jasper prism-seal from Kordakia near Kavousi. (From sketch by A. J. E.) Sides same except that the 'tree' sign (No. 9-) is inserted between the 'arrow' and 'trowel' formula.

b and c are the

Mirabello Province. (Now in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. 1 ) Sides a and b P. 47. Cornelian. the same collocation of a lance with what looks like a cane shaft (see No. 14 </ below) and the human eye.

show

P. 48. Green jasper. Mirabello Province. a shows the leg and gate, followed by (Fitzwilliam Museum.) a two-handled vessel. The incomplete characters on b are the trowel ' and adze. For this group following the other compare P. 23 a, c.
'

Found at Hellenika, Knossos. On face a, P. 49. Perforated disk of brown steatite, with two almost flat faces. On face b, also within incised circle, within incised circle, double axe, sepia (No. 60), and a bifoliate figure. spray (No. 100), sepia, the 'hand' sign in profile (No. 10), and spouted ewer (No. 47). From its material and rude style this might preferably be included in Class A.

The kindness

of the Director has enabled

me

to

reproduce this

seal.

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

159

Mirabello Province: in the possession of Mr. R. Seager. Face a shows P. 49*. White cornelian prism. the familiar gate, leg, and y formula, and face b the 'eye' and trowel. Face c shows the only glyptic example hitherto known of the curious sign No. 116, looking somewhat like the fore-part of a vessel with two or three masts, of which several graffito varieties appear.

Nos. 50-75 are

all

sealings from the Hieroglyphic Deposit of the Palace, Knossos. (See above, \ 6.)

P. 50 a.

That below

is

Impressions of suboval seal, probably prism. a rayed disk or star. (PI. III.)

The

sign to the

left

seems

to

be the fore-part

of

a boar.

P. 51 a.

P. 51 b.

head

P. 51 a. Impression, probably of prism-seal. The insect to the right appears to be a bee (No. 86). The sign beneath it (No. 122) is coupled on P. 28 b with a goat's head. (PI. III.) is that of a calf.
left

The

animal's

P. 51 b. Impression, probably of prism-seal. The first sign to the of taking wing. Then follow the mallet and arrow-head.

appears

to represent a \vater-fowlinthe act

i6o

SCRIPTA MINOA

P.

54

a. i.

P. 54 a. 2.

The

Impression of prism- or four-sided bead-seal. The 'club' sign here separates the 'trowel' and eye. perhaps a decorative adjunct. (PI. III.) P. 54 a. 2. Impression of prism- or four-sided seal. This again shows the trowel and eye, but between them is the calls head (No. 64). (PI. III.)
P. 54 a.
i.

scroll is

'

'

P. 56 a.
'

P. 59 a.

i, 2.

P. 56 a. Part of the impression of a prism-seal. trowel' and eye formula. (PI. III.)

This shows the

'

mouth

'

sign (No. 6) coupled with the

same

P. 58 a. P. 59 a.
P. 29
rf:

'

gate,

Trowel and double axe. (PI. III.) and 2. Repetitions of the same impression, probably from a prism-seal. double-axe, and cruciform figure. (PL III.)
'

For the formula compare

P.

60

a.

P. 61 a.
(PI. III.)
'

P.

60

a.

P. 6 1 a. Part of an impression P. 62 a. Impression of signet,

Impression, probably of a prism-seal. The sign on the right seems to be an ear of corn. from a prism-seal, showing the eye and the lower part of the trowel showing double-axe sign. (PI. III.)
'

sign.

(PI. III.)

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

161

P. 63 a.
P.
a.
i.

i, 2.

P. 64

i, 2.

63 Impression of signet showing ship, the initial X mark, and the branch sign (No. 101), probably of an olive-tree, repeated. (PI. III.) P. 63 a. 2. Impression, probably of four-sided bead-seal. (PI. III.) P. 64 a. i and 2. Two impressions of the same signet ', probably of metal. (See pp. 142, 146 above.) It shows the harp sign and No. 30, accompanied by two flowers, within a highly decorative border. For the sealing see above,
'

p. 145, Fig. 90.

(PI. III.)

P. 66 a and 67 a. P. 68 a. 66 a and P. The uppermost sign possibly 67 a. Impressions from the same face ot a four-sided bead-seal. represents a rump. That next to it below seems to be an animal's head. (PI. III.) P. 68 a. Impression of a signet, showing the rayed disk sign surrounded by a border with decorative scrolls. (PI. III.)

P. 69
P. 69 a.
scroll.
i.

<7.

i, 2.

P. 70 a.
'

The
.

P. 69 P. 70 a. Impression of

Impression, probably of four-sided bead-seal. The first device to the left appears to be a decorative middle sign is the sieve (No. 54) cf. P. 26 d, 30 b, and 39. (PI. III.) 2. Part of impression, probably another face of same seal showing J sign (No. 32) and eye. (PI. III.)
' ;

'

'

signet

seal,

showing the double-axe

sign.

(PI. III.)

X 2

62

SCRIPT A M1NOA

P. 71 a.

i, 2.

P. 72 a.

P. 71 . i. Impression of a prism- or four -sided bead - seal with the recurring y, leg and gate formula. P. 71 a. 2. Impression of signet showing beardless male head with curly hair and aquiline nose. For this interesting sealing, presenting apparently a portrait of a Minoan dynast, together with an official title, see below, p. 272. (PI. III.) For this sign, thrice repeated, see P. 72 a. Impression of signet-seal with head of horned sheep or moufflon. above, P. 7*. At the two extremities of the field are groups of dots, seven and five in number respectively. (PI. III.)

P. 73 a. (See above, Fig. 93, p. 146.) 2. Hunting scene; wild goat chased i. Signet type of decorative character. : from a lentoid gem. 3. Impression of prism- or four-sided seal. The first sign appears to be the dog's or wolf's head. It is followed by the usual conjunction of the trowel and arrow-head. There is also, 4, part of the impression, probably of a signet-ring, with a cult scene, and, 5, a fragment of another seal-impression representing an uncertain object.

by hound

'

'

P. 74 a. i. Impression apparently ornamental adjuncts. For the trowel

'

ot
'

The S-shaped scroll and flowers to the prism-seal. and arrow-head formula see above, P. 17 b, 18 b, 19 b, 25 b. The character
'.

left

are probably

(PI. III.)
'

74

a. 2.
i.
it

P. 75 a.

Arrow sign and part of another. Part of impression efface of prism- or four-sided seal.
'

to the right is the

Palace' sign,

and next

to

the

P. 75 a. 2.

bee '. (PI. III.) Part of impression of similar seal with arrow sign and 'trowel

(PI. III.)

i6 3

II.

$8.

CATALOGUE OF CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC (OR HIEROGLYPHIC) INSCRIPTIONS ON CLAY SEALINGS,

TABLETS, BARS,

AND

LABELS.

(The numbers of this series are preceded by P. The numbers in brackets refer to the Catalogue of For general observations on the marks governing the direction of these Hieroglyphic Signs, pp. 181 seqq. The copies of the inscriptions are from 12, and for the numeration, inscriptions see below, 13. tracings of photographic copies, made by the author and corrected from the originals. They are slightly reduced in the process.)

i.

GRAFFITO INSCRIPTIONS ON CLAY SEALINGS.

p.

so*
P.SOc

P.

52 I

P5Zc
P. 506. At the right extremity are the remains of a cross, marking the beginning of the inscription. c. This sign on the small side of a sealing. It reci recurs with other (No. 94), the corn-grain in flower,' frequently stands by itself on the tablet WA, Phaestos IVn.) 121). (PI. (P. vegetable signs
'

The second sign seems to represent ajar containing grain (No. 50). The J or 'crook' sign (No. 32) P. 526. occurs on the four-sided seal P. 26 d in conjunction with the plough (No. 27). In that case it is preceded by X as the Here the X seems, as generally the case, to have the same significance, and the sign of the beginning of the line. reversed position of the sign itself shows that the group here reads from right to left. (PI. IVA.)
' '

P. 54 c
P.

P-53
P. 53 b. The first sign here seems to be an animal's head with sharp ears, perhaps a kid. The second sign is the mallet (No. 24), which on P. 38 is seen in association with a goat's head. P. 53 a. The initial X, followed by two linear signs like N. (PL IVA, IVn.)
I

P. 54 b. The insect to the HMV, right i is j probably niv_ jctini^ same as that on the I V M*--J P. 51 I* a rtllJ and 75 a, where it seems to MMM WU URi O^tll i^ui i |/i \JUI*\JLJ the seal-types _*i-_i--. /-.. BJi L= -. stand for a bee. It is preceded by X as a mark. of the beginning of the The sign with which it is coupled inscription. liner' (No. A second X separates the first group from the trowel and eye formula that follows. may be the strainer" , 54). P. 54 c. This face is imperfect. It shows the mallet and part of the ' saffron sign. (PL IVA, IVn.)
,

>

"

.*>

'

'

'

'

'

'

i64

SCRIPTA MINOA

P.554
P. 55
P.
l>.

PbBb
inscription has the initial sign X,

The

and reads from

(PI. IVA.)
'

left to right.

(PI. IVA.)

56

b. b. b.

The

'

sieve

'

or

'

strainer

'

sign (No. 54).

P. 57
P.

This sign (No. 88) apparently represents a

saffron' flower.
is

(PL IVA.)
(PI. IVA.)

58

About half of the sealing preserved.

On

another side

part of an R.

R6QZ.
P.6lc
P. 59 b. The first sign to the arrow-head (No. 13). (PI. IVA.)
left

(No. 106) does not occur elsewhere.

The imperfect

sign on the right

is

the

P.

60

b.

P. 61

b.

This group, again, begins with the X mark and reads from The first sign may be the gate (No. 44). On P. 61 c the
'
'

left to right.

(PI. IVA.) (PI.

sign follows the initial X.

IVA, IVn.)

P.63i
P.62J

R62c
The animal's head is that of a pig. P. 62 b. The sign in the left corner (No. 123) is of enigmatic meaning. complete figure of a pig is accompanied by the gate sign on P. 22 a. P. 62 c. The flowering grain sign (No. 94) which so frequently occurs in a solitary position on these sealings. (PI. IVA, IVB.) P. 63 b. The field is here divided by cross-lines into three sections. The first in order seems to be that in the third section. distinguished by the initial X and the crescent sign. The eye' probably succeeded the trowel'

'

'

'

'

(PI. IVA.)

p 64 i
is the largest of all the clay sealings found in the Knossian Palace (see above, p. 145) and is distinguished fine signet impression exhibiting a lyre (P. 64 a). All the inscriptions on the sides, in each case consisting of three signs, seem to read from left to The second sign on b is only found here. c we have the interesting right. collocation of the double axe ('labrys') and Palace followed by a bull's or ox's head. The group on d contains sign the 'mountains ' or regional sign and the are tempted to see in b a plough ', which are associated elsewhere. personal name, in c an official title, and in d the name of the country. (PI. IVA, IVB.)

P. 64. This

by the very

On

'

We

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

165

P
P.

6Si
P.6gb

65

65.C
For the flowering grain sign (No. 94) on P. 65 b and c. of the sealing, see above, P. 50 c, 52 c, and 62 c. (PL IVA.)
'

'

c,

which frequently stands by

itselt

on the small side

its P. 68 b. In accordance with the initial X the signs read from left to right. The third sign appears here with crook above instead of below as on P. 52 b. Such changes in the positions of these signs are however frequent, tor a similar collocation of this and the gate sign cf. P. no e. (PI. IVA.)
'
'

P. 69

b.

The arrow

sign repeated after the

initial X.

This inscription reads from right

to left.

(PI.

IVA.)

P.702>

P. 72 b

P.

74*

b, c. The first sign on b resembles a form common to the two linear classes, but which, in the hieroglyphic only occurs on the present sealing. The second sign is also peculiar to this inscription. The incomplete character on c the Egyptian Ankh. A similar sign occupies the field of a lentoid apparently represents a form of bead-seal of black steatite found in Central Crete. (PI. IVA, IVB.)

P. 70

series,

P. 72

b.

Only the 'gate sign can be

'

clearly

made

out on this sealing.

(PI.

IVA.)
(PI.

P. 74

b.

The

sign on this sealing (No. 116) reappears below on the clay bars Nos. 1136, 1146.

IVA.)

uP-75*
P. 75
b.

-P.76a
The
first

P.

76C

sign here seems to be the

same as the

'

strainer

'

(No. 54) but with two handles.

(PI.

IVA.)

P. 76 a, b, c. This example is exceptional in presenting no seal-impression. It has all three sides with graffito inscriptions. The sign to the left of a, after the initial mark, appears to be a glove. It is below (v. Catalogue of Signs, No. 9) that this may have been an article required by bee-keepers. In this case to the right of the group is probably a bee. The sealing may have secured a store of honey. The inscription on face b reads from right to left, as is shown by the direction of the double axe and head. An X appears both at beginning and end. For this group cf. P. 93 a and 108 a. The sign to the right of c is the same as that on P. 52 b and also appears on the clay bars and labels. a jar containing grain, or possibly honey, seen in section. (See Catalogue, No. 50.) (PI. IVB.)

inscribed

suggested

the insect
the goat's

It

may

be

i66

SCRIPTA MINOA

P.786
P. 77. There is no seal-impression and no other sign-group on this clay sealing. be a variant of one that appears on the clay label below. (See Catalogue, No. 49.)

The

first

to

sign on the

left

seems

(PI. IVs.)

P. 78 a,

b.

The

goat's

head appears on both

faces.

(PI. IVu.)

2.

GRAFFITO INSCRIPTIONS ON CI.AY LABELS.

p 80 a
P. 80 a.
it

P.

80

i,

P8la

p. at

.t

The initial sign X shows that this reads from left to right. A second X after the first group of three signs from a second group consisting of two. (PI. V.) P. 80 b. The field is divided into two separate sections by a vertical line. That to the left shows the common trowel and arrow-head formula followed by two units. On the right are two signs, the f (No. 92) and a variant of the two-branched figure (No. 103), which only appears here. They are accompanied by numbers. (PL VI.) P. 81 a. A roughly executed group consisting of the arrow-head, plough, and apparently a saffron flower. (PI. V.)
separates
' '

P. 81 b

shows another plant

sign.

(PI. VI.)

8Za

peat
P,83o.
P83*
gate formula (the leg seen foot upwards).
sign
is

P. 82 a.
(PI. V.)

The
'

first

unique.
'

It is

followed by the

common leg and

Flowering grain (No. 94) followed by three strokes, probably units. (PI. VI.) After the initial X is a shed on piles, probably a storehouse, followed by P. 83 a. This reads from left to right. the ox-head and branch. The first sign in the second group, prefaced by another initial X, is possibly a degenerate form of the single axe. (See No. 126, c.) It is followed here and on P. 86 b below by the cross (No. 112). (PI. VI.)
P. 82
b.
'
'

P. 83 b. The field here, as on P. 80 b above, is divided by a vertical line into two sections. In this case, too, as in the other, the first contains the trowel and arrow-head group followed by numbers. In the second section are the tree (No. 97) and gate signs, with four pellets. (PI. V.)
'
'

'

'

'

'

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

167

P. 8 4 6

The 'angle P. 84 a. Slightly broken. are followed by four dots. (PI. V.)
P. 84
b.

'

sign and
'

'

double axe' in conjunction recur on the bar P. 104

a.

c.

They

For the double

and

double-axe

conjunction see P. 108

(PI. VI.)

85 a

P 85

P. 85 a. The field is marked off into an upper and lower division by a horizontal line, and the lower part is again divided by a cross-line into two sections. The upper division shows a remarkable collocation of the human arm, leg, and crossed arms followed by the saffron flower (No. 88). In the section to the left, below, is the branch sign and leg. In that to the right is what appears to be a linearized version of a two-branched spray (No. 104), followed by the arrow. (PL V.)
is P. 85 b. This again is divided into an upper and lower section. In the upper part the strainer' sign (No. 54) twice repeated, and is followed, as on P. 26 d, by the 'cross'. In the lower division is the 'flowering corn-grain', followed by numbers (= 32). (PI. VI.)
'

86a.

86 b

The double-axe and

a knife in a sheath.

This reads from left to right, and is divided into two groups, in each case preceded by an initial X. dog's head signs that begin the inscription may possibly convey the name or title of an official. In the second group the plough and 'saffron' sign (No. 88) are followed by an enigmatic character (No. 17), possibly
P. 86 a.
(PI.

VI.)

P. 86 b. The inscription, which also reads from left to right, is divided by the X marks into three groups. The second character of the first group is possibly a flower (No. 89). For the second group, single axe and cross ', see above, P. 83 a. The third group begins with the bee sign (No. 86). (PL V.)
'
'

'

i68

SCRIFTA MINOA

87a

37

Z>

P. 87 a. This, as is shown by the initial X, reads from right to left. The first sign (No. 116), somewhat resembling a three-masted ship, recurs on the clay bar P. in c and the prism-seal P. 49 c. It is followed by the 'trowel' and numbers. The angle sign (No. 42) recurs on P. 17 a and on the clay bars. (PI. V.)

P. 87 A. This also reads from right to left as seen in its present position. The sign, twice repeated, with which the group begins (No. 49) is shown to be related to the grain-jar ' sign (No. 50). It is, however, placed upside down, so that the label was probably inscribed with the perforation held below. The writing in that case really runs from left to right. The kidney-shaped figure (No. 93) recurs on the sealing on another label P. 93 b, and on the bar P. in a. The suggestion is made below (see Catalogue, No. 93) that this figure may represent the silphium seed. (PI. VI.)
' '
'

P88a.
The second

P 88fc

P 89o,

896

P. 88 a. P. 88 P. 89

the fence
P. 89 sided bar

sign is probably the plough. (PI. V.) This character (No. 128 I) is common to the linear scripts. (PI. VI.) ' a. The sign to the right here is the fence (No. 46). The fore-quarter of a boar or pig is combined with on P. 50 a, and it is possible that here too the animal depicted is a pig. recurs on the four-sided bars P. 103 d and 109 a, and on the threeb. This group is written the reverse way P. 118 a, b, c. The second sign is the grain-jar (No. 50), here badly drawn. (PI. VI.)
b.
'
:

'

'

P 91
P

a.

P.

91 b

90

For the collocation of the first two signs see above, P. 89 b. The animal's head is uncertain. (PI. VI.) For the A sign see above, P. 80 a and the sealing P. 61 c. This group recurs on the bar P. 114 c and d. It is followed by a dot = 10. (PI. V.) P. 91 a. The initial mark X shows that the group begins with the ox-head. The second sign, which is imfollows the bee on P. 86 b. (PI. V.) perfectly preserved, must be identified with the leafy spray that
P. 90
.

P. 90

b.

'

'

P. 91 6.

The y

sign

is

here coupled with the

'

crescent'.

(PI. VI.)

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

169

92

a.

9ZB

p 930.

The

The inscription, beginning from the initial X, reads from right to left. It is followed by numbers ( = 32). sign (No. 20) only occurs in this place. The fourth sign is possibly a variant of the 'crouched man sign (see Catalogue, under No. 2). (PI. V.) P. 92 b. The first sign here (No. 115) is enigmatic. The second and third signs must obviously be completed as v the strainer (No. 54) and the ' Palace sign (No. 41). (PI. VI.)
P. 92 a.
first
' '

'

It is P. 93 a. In spite of the direction of the goat's head this inscription must be taken to read from left to right. divided, as the initial marks show, into two sign-groups, followed by numbers (= n). The plough', animal's head (here clearly a goat's), and arrow recur in P. 76 b and 108 a. The plough ', goat's head, and complete arrow are on P. 76 b. The succeeding combination of the 'plough and the 'dotted chevron' (No. 115) recurs on the Grouped ar P. 109 d. (PI. V.)
' ' '

'

P. 93 b. This also reads from left to right. ' silphium seed ', and the third the olive spray

The
'

first

sign seems to be a variant of the

(PI. VI.)

'

sepia

',

the second

is

the

(No. 101).

P. 94

P. 94 b

P 95

to right.

P. 94 a. This inscription again, notwithstanding the direction of the goat's head, must be taken to read from left It consists of two sign-groups. The conjunction of the arrow and goat's head recurs on the sealing P. 79 b. P. 94 b. The $ and strainer' appear together on the signet' P. 39.
' '

P.

95

a.

The

characters on this label are very roughly incised. (PI. V.)

The other side

of the label

is plain.

(PL VI.)

96

a-

P 966.
'

P 97

P,97Z>

P. 96 a. The 'mountains' or regional sign (No. 114) and the mallet' (No. 24) are seen together in several groups ' The spouted, long-footed vase recurs on the class of Late Minoan lentoid and (P. 26 b and 29 c with the plough '). amygdaloid gems widely diffused in Crete. The other side of the label is plain. (PI. V, VI.)

P. 97 a. It is possible that the first sign to the left, which is much defaced, was the two-leaved spray seen on P. 86 b. For the third sign see Catalogue, under No. 28. The other face is plain except for a single stroke. This label, though apparently belonging to the same deposit as the others, was found in a disturbed stratum within the Sixth Magazine.

Y 2

'7

SCRIPTA MINOA

3.

FOUR-SIDED CLAY BARS WITH GRAFFITO INSCRIPTIONS.

P.IOO

P. lood. This face, as indicated by the initial X mark, reads from right to left, and is divided by a cross-line into two compartments. In this and other cases the initial X mark is placed on the lines separating the sections. In the mountains or regional sign and mallet are followed by numbers ( = 6400). The second first compartment the section apparently begins with a degenerate version of the 'sepia' sign (No.6o/) followed by the ship and numbers
'
'

'

'

= 1400).
plough

(PI. VII.)
' '

The beginning here is to the left, and this face is divided into three sections. In the first of these the followed by the ' saffron sign (No. 88), here partly effaced. Two dots ( = 20) appear above. The second compartment presents the trowel and arrow-head group with numbers = 300). The third group shows a derivative of the olive-branch sign (No. 101 e], the plough, and another character only found in this place (see Catalogue, under No. 120). The associated numbers, in the form of pellets, 50. (PI. VIII.)
P. 1006.
is
' ' ' '
'

This face reads from right to left it is divided into three sections. The first begins with an unique character like a suspended hook (compare Catalogue, No. 33). This is followed by the curious sign (No. 135) represented as an upright line with a kind of eye' in the middle. The latter part of the second section of the inscription after the olive-spray sign is effaced, and the third shows the recurrent trowel and arrow-head group with
P. 100
c.
:
'

'

'

'

'

'

'

numbers (=

40).

(PI. IX.)

P. loo </. The inscription is apparently divided into two sections at the point where the clay bar was afterwards broken. Its general direction is from right to left. The numbers (= 2660) after the ship in the first section curve back from left to right, so that the arrangement here is really boustrophedon. The third sign of the second section is the double axe, the first (No. 126) is uncertain and only appears in this place. (PI. X.) This bar is practically complete. As pointed out in 13 below the total numbers = nooo.

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

171

P. IOI
P. ioi a. The upper line reads from right to left, beginning with the initial X mark. The four signs of line i are repeated in P. 1020 below. The three latter of these the 'Palace' sign (No. 41), followed by what appears to be a human bust (No. 3) surmounted by a branch are specially remarkable. The third sign from the left in line 2 is the linear form of the lyre ', seen in fuller outline on the fine signet impression P. 64 a above. This sign also occurs on the flat base of the bar. (PL VII.)
'

to

P. ioi b. The inscription reads from left to right. The 'goat's head and 'plough are followed by what appears be a variant of the 'jar' sign (No. 49) and two disks enclosing grains. (PL VIII.) P. ioi c. This side from right to left. It contains two groups (i) the grain-jar' sign followed apparently reads by numbers (= 170) (2) the arrow' sign and numbers (= 160). (PI. IX.)
' '

'

'

P. ioi d.

P. ioi

e.

The The

inscription here

is

closely parallel to

c.

(PI. X.)
'
'

running from left The top and bottom of this clay bar are preserved.

inscription on the base of the bar presents, after the initial X, the to right with numbers below (= 22). (PL VII.)
It

lyre

and an enigmatic

sign,

has no perforation.

P. 102
P. 102 a. The inscription here corresponds with line i on P. ioi a. Next follows the Palace ' sign (No. 41) starting from the initial mark. (PI. Vft.)
'

The

first
'

two signs read from

bust
'

right to

left,

and the

(No. 3) with the spray above.

The third sign is the 'zigzag' or 'serpent' sign (No. 84), which is coupled P. 1026. Reads from left to right. with the preceding on P. 118. The first sign (No. 123) recurs on P. nod. (PL VIII.) The perforated end of this bar is wedge-shaped. The two other sides, c and d, are plain. The bar is broken at
the base.

172

SCRIPT A MINOA

p. 103

P. 1030. This reads from right to left, the second group beginning with a curious sign (No. 135), consisting of ' a looped line, repeated on face c. In the first section the bust sign (No. 3) is preceded by the forked branch (No. 101) and 'gate' and followed by numbers ( = 80). The numbers at the end of the second section seem to consist of four dots and two curved lines (= 42). (PI. VII.)
' '
'

P. 1036 reads from right to left. The first section ot the inscription begins with a curious figure (No. 76), which has somewhat the appearance of an animal's head and neck. It is followed by the cross and eye and numbers (=60). The initial X mark precedes the second section. Here the 'mountains' sign (No. 114) is followed by an enigmatic sign (No. 76) only found in this place and numbers (= 20). (PI. VIII.) P. 103 c. In this case, too, the It is divided as a into two inscription reads from right to left. sections, the line with a kind of loop or eye again beginning the second of these. It is possible that the oval sign at the beginning may be a simplified rendering of the eye sign which is seen in the same collocation on b. The numbers following the first sign-group = 80, those of the second = 50. (PL IX.) P.i03</. This reads from left to right. For the double axe ',' grain-jar ', and group see P. 896 and 109 a. It is here accompanied by numbers = 1640. (PL X.) This clay bar is complete. It has a perforated wedge-shaped apex.
' ' ' ' ' '
'

'

'

<>

P. 104

In this case the 'bust' (No. 3) is doubly associated with the 'olive spray' P. 104 a. (No. 101) and another described under No. 99. The inscription was continued above. (PL VII.) P. 104 b. Both lines here seem to read from left to right. The three numerical signs of line i with the double curve may each represent two units, so that the number represented would be six. Compare line 2 efface c in which the curved units are kept separate. The two long strokes following = 200. Line 2 terminates with the frequent ' trowel and eye ' formula. The other numbers (? =440) at this end of the bar probably belong to the upper line ' following on the cross' sign. (PL VIII.)

Reads from right

to

left.

'

'

Both lines of inscription on this face apparently read from left to right. The 'angle and 'double axe end of the first group recur on the label P. 84 a. The numbers at the end of the line = n, followed by what The AV at the beginning of line 2 recurs as an are apparently three fractional signs (V see below, 13, p. 257). independent group on the label P. 90 b. It is here followed by numbers (= n). Next, after the initial X, appears the recurrent trowel and arrow-head group, with numbers (= 6). The sign at the end of the third group is probably the linearized form of the template '(No. 19). As in a frequently recurring formula, it is here conjoined with the <p. (PL IX.) P. 104 d. Only the first line of the inscription on this side is preserved. It appears to read from left to right. The first sign-group, including the flower (No. 387], is seen on P. 109 b in the same order, with numbers following. The second group is the trowel and arrow-head formula also seen on face c. (PL X.)
P. 104
' '

c.

at the

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

&
9
P. 105
P. 105 a.

The
'

The
'

left

end of the bar

No. 135.
strainer
'

The
or

The numbers at this end = 40, making a total of 100. The record on this face thus compares with those of the 'percentage tablets' of the linear class. See below, 13, p. 259. (PI. VII.) P. 105 A. This line also reads from right to left. The first part is wanting, but the left end of the bar is complete.
at the end = 290. (PL VIII.) Reads from left to right. The fragmentary sign before the cross appears to be the double (No. 101). The numbers = 710, making a total of just 1000 on b and c together. See below, 13, p. 259. P. 105 d. Groups of numbers = 70, 50, and 40 + (PI. X.) This bar is somewhat defective at one end.

inscription reads from left to right, only the numerical part of the first group being preserved (= 60). It is succeeded by the X mark and a group beginning with the curious sign, is perfect. second sign of this group is a linearized version of the strainer' (No. 54) carelessly executed. The colander sign is associated with the zigzag on P. 39 and 94 b.
' '
'

'

The numbers
P. 105
c.

'

olive

spray

'

(PI. IX.)

P. 106

P. 106.

Fragment of

left

by numbers

450.

On

P.

end of bar, reading from right to left a shows the 'dagger sign (No. 280 the dagger' is associated with the V and eye (PI. V1I-X.)
1

15) followed

'

'

'.

P. 107

on face a, beginning with the X mark, reads from left to right. The spray followed by a dot = 10. (PI. VII.) P. 1076. This reads from right to left, beginning with the initial X mark. The store-house sign (No. 4-1) recurs on the label P. 83 It is there preceded by an ox-head and a single branch, making the parallelism very close between
'
'

P. 107. This bar is perfect. The inscription nrst sign-group consists of the double axe and
<ir.

a verfical'Sne
P. 107-c.

(PI

"viin

^^ = 5

'

n th ' S
:

the followin

sides ( c

>

^ the end
'

of the inscription

is

marked

The inscription runs from lefi to right the middle sign seems to be the handled jar' (No. 49 a), upside Above it is the number 20. (PI. IX.) P. 107 From the position of the X mark and the numbers (= 20) the inscription seems to run from left to right, though the goat s head is turned to the left. As pointed out in 13, p. 258 below, the total numbers here = 100. (PI.
down.
</.

X.)

SCRIPTA M1NOA

P. 108

half only of this bar is preserved, with an inscription on the butt (e). For the double axe and ^ see the 'label' P. 84 A, and compare below, P. 118. There may have been more numbers above this group. For the same conjunction of the plough, goat's head, and arrow, see P. 76 b and 93 a. The numbers above are apparently = 170. (PI. VII.) P. io8b. The numbers seem to equal 450. (PI. VIII.) P. io8c. For similar groups of numbers cf. P. 105 d. (PI. IX.)

P. 108.

The lower

P. io8a.

P. io8rf. This side

is plain.

P. 108 e.

from

left

to

The base of the bar. The The numbers = 70. right.

inscription beginning with the 'cross', after the initial X, reads

downwards

P. 109

The base of the bar is defective. The top is perforated. The inscription, as shown by the initial X, reads from right to and 118. It is here followed by numbers = group recurs in P. 8gb, 103
P. 109.
P. 109 a.
rf.

left.

The 'double axe'

(PI. VII.)

'grain jar' and

<>

250.

The numbers

The common 'trowel and arrow combination is followed by numbers may indicate that it stands by itself as an ideograph. (PI. IX.) P. logti. The inscription here reads from right to left. The first sign is the 'plough' (No. 27). This is also combined with the succeeding dotted chevron sign (No. 115) on the label P. 93 a. The numbers probably = 407. A
'

following = 1240. (PI. VIII.) P. IOQ c. This also reads from left to right. 420. The dot on either side of the 'trowel'
'

P. 1096. This reads

from

left to

right

the

same sign-group (1%

flower, ^) occurs in the

same order on

P. 104 d.

'

horizontal line

marks

off a

second section of this

face, but

only part of a single sign, *f,

is

preserved.

(PI. X.)

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

P.
P.

no
The
top or small end
is

no.

part of the larger end of this bar

is

broken away.

inscribed.

It

has no

perforation.

P. no a. This, like the other faces of this bar, is divided into two sections by a transverse line. The ^ and flower are found together in P. 104 d and 109 b. (PI. VII.) ' P. no b. The 'mountains' or regional ideograph is here followed by the Palace' sign (No. 41). The X mark in the second section shows that the reads from left to The first sign of this section resembles the inscription right. leg of an animal. It is followed by the 'saffron (No. 88 c, &c.). (PI. VIII.)
'

P.
P. P.

no c.
1

For the For the

collocation of the
last sign

'

mallet

'

and regional or mountains sign

'

'

cf.

P. 26 c

and 29

c.

(PI. IX.)

10

d.

on

this (No. 123) cf. P. 102

b.

(PI. X.)
is

no e. The
J sign

from the

signs on the smaller end of the bar are prefaced by the initial X. The 'gate' (No. 44 ) by a dash, which may be taken to show that each has an independent, ideographic value.

separated

p.

in
This and the three succeeding examples, P. 112,

P.
113,

in. Perhaps a
114,

and
P.

show a

third of this is wanting at the larger end. great family likeness.

ina. This line reads from left to right. The numerals following the three-barred 'crook' sign 32. The sign of the second group is a version of the 'handled jar', No. 49, followed by a dash, which may be either a unit or mark of division. (PI. VII.)
first

that the jar contained oil. The three annulets that follow it are possibly early examples of the hundred prevalent in the Linear Class B. The first sign of the second group (No. 124) also occurs on the label, P. 87 a. next (No. 121) is enigmatic, and is only found in this place. (PI. IX.)
'

P. nib. The inscription reads from left to right. The doubleIt is closely paralleled by P. 1126 and 1136. branch sign is the same on both, and probably shows that the record relates to the produce of a tree. It is distinct from the olive spray and seems to be a conventional of a fig-tree, the typical leaves of which are pictograph five-pointed (see Catalogue, No. 103). The various modifications of the (j sign in this group of inscriptions are noteworthy. (PI. VIII.) P. inc. This, like the preceding, reads from left to right. The second sign (No. 48) recurs on P. 112 a. It is a variant of the grain jar (No. 50), with a spray in place of grains. The spray seems to be olive and may indicate
'
' ' '
'

sign

The
in

P.

in

d.

The

first

the second section.

sign is the (PI. X.)

human eye

(No.

5).

The

'

strainer'

and

'jar' without grain or

spray are grouped

76

SCRIPTA MINOA

P. 112

About one-third of this bar is wanting. P. naa. The first sign is evidently the three-barred crook of of P. inc. (PI. VIII.)
P. 112.

P.

in

a.

The

next

is

the jar and olive spray

P. 1126. P.
(PI. IX.)

The

'olive spray'.
b.

(PI. VIII.)

use. Compare in

The

five-pointed character of the leaves of the

'

fig-branch" sign

is

here clearly marked.

P. 112 d.

We have

here, perhaps, the

end of a branch

like that of

c.

(PI. X.)

p.
P. 113.

us

P. 113 followed by a stroke, in the second section recur together in P. 114 a. (PL VII.) P. 1136. For the' fig-branch and two following signs compare P. in b and ii2c. The first sign is unique. (PI. VI 1 1. P. 113 c. The three-barred L, recurs on P. in a and 112 a. (PL IX.) P. 113 d. The initial X mark shows that we have here the beginning of a group. (PI. X.)
'

Somewhat less than half of this bar appears to be wanting. The *p y, a. The first sign seems to be the same as P. in a.

P. 114
P. 114.

Somewhat

less than half of this bar

seems

to

have been preserved.

P. 114 a. This line apparently reads from right to left.. The second group V recurs on P. 113 a. (PL VII.) P. 114 b. This also reads from right to left. The first sign is the same as that on P. 113 b (No. 116). The second seems to be the plough '. (PL VIII.) P. 114 c. This reads from right to left. The first sign (Cat. No. 115 d) is one of those that remain enigmatic. The T> recurs on the label P. 90 b, followed there by a numeral = 10. P. 114 d. The IMS here succeeded three double curves, 6. (PI. X.)
'

by

perhaps

P.II5

P. 115. Fragment of bar. P. 115 a. The first sign here is the dog's or wolf's head with protruding tongue (No. 73) the seals P. 24 a and 40. (PL VII.)
P. 1156.

which

is

seen on

The

'barrel' sign here (No. 54)

is

unique.

(PL X.)

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS

177

P.llb

P. 116. This bar P.

is

complete.

It is

perforated at

one end.
' ' '

inscription appears to begin, as indicated by the X mark, on the lower line. The second signgroup, preceded by another X, is the frequently recurring arrow-head and trowel '. The numbers that succeed this 86. In the upper line are two separate groups of numbers 800 and 540. These are succeeded by the trowel and numbers = 44. (PI. VII.)

n6a. The

'

'

P.
'
'

n6b. This,
',

as
'

The double-axe
P.

shown by the X mark, appears

',

plough
46.

and

'

'

also to begin

gate

are followed by

numbers

= 483.

on the lower line, and reads from left to right. In the upper line the trowel and arrow'
'

'

head are followed by

'

(PI. VIII.)
'

n6c. The one-sided spray' (No. 100) is also coupled with the zigzag ^ on the signet P. 36 (PI. IX.) P. n6(/(Pl. X) and e. The first group, here preceded by three dashes, is the 'plough and cross with numbers = 800. An X divides this from the 'trowel' and 'arrow-head' group, which runs over on to the base of the bar and is followed by numbers = 83.
',
'

'

'

The

total

of the

numbers referred

to in this tablet is 2882.

P. 117 P. 117. Part of a large bar or tablet with oblong section. doubtless, originally inscribed, is entirely broken away.

The

face of

one of the broader

sides,

which was

also,

In the right field is divided into an upper and lower zone, and each of these into two sections. upper line are the 'crossed hands (No. 7), the 'distaff' (No. 28), upside down, and *p, a collocation which recurs on the seal P. 306. In the right corner of the lower zone is a fragment of the 'palace' sign (No. 41). Its association here with the crossed hands is paralleled by the early prism seal P. 76. (PI. VII.) P. 1176. This shows what appears to be a very rude version of the 'crossed hands', accompanied by the 'plane' (No. 22), upside down. (PI. VIII.) P. 1170.
division of the
'

The

P. \\~jc. The imperfect sign on this face with a linearized form of the 'jar' (No. 47).

may be
(PI. IX.)

identified with the 'plough' (No. 27).

It is

here associated

Z 2

I 78

SCRIPTA MINOA

P. 118

One end of a large bar with square section. n8a. Probably reads from right to left and exhibits two sign-groups. The first consists of a serpentine form The beginning of the second group is marked by the X. zigzag (No. 84), accompanied by the double axe The mountains and arrow are also grouped on P. 96 a. The sides c and d show the zigzag and double axe This group recurs on P. 896, 103 d, and 109 a. The inscriptions here in conjunction with the grain jar' (No. 50). read from right to left. The numbers on d= 540. (PI. VII, VIII, IX, X.)
P. 118.
'

P. of the
'

'

'

'.

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

4.

THREE-SIDED CLAY BAR WITH GRAFFITO INSCRIPTIONS.

P. 119

P. 119. End of a triangular bar with equal faces. P. 119 a. The 'plane' (No. 22) is here twice repeated. ' P. 1196. The plane' as on a. (PI. VI 1 1.)
P. iigc. Indeterminate sign.
(PI. IX.)

(PI. VII.)

CATALOGUE OF INSCRIPTIONS
5.

179

CLAY TABLETS WITH GRAFFITO

INSCRIPTIONS.

P.I20

P. 120, line i. This line reads from left to right. The first character is imperfect, and neither it nor the secondapparently a vegetable sign occurs elsewhere. The third character is seen in a variant form in P. 100 b. The terminal The sign, thrice repeated in both lines, seems to be a variant of the crook with a single bar as seen at P. in, 112, 113. crook here is at the top as in P. 68 b. It is noteworthy that in whatever form this P sign appears the crook runs in the direction of the writing. In the tablet P. 121 the p sign also appears at the end of groups after numbers. The figures after the first sign present the difficulty that what appear to be two units here precede the dot sign which indicates a decimal. The first sign of line 2 possibly represents a grain of barley. It is followed by numerals = 15. The fragment remaining of the succeeding sign seems to show that it was the same sign (No. 133) that occurs at the head of the last

group

in the first line.

(PI.

X.)

P. 121

P. 121. This clay tablet was found in the Palace of Phaestos (Pernier and Halbherr, Man. Ant. xii, xiii see above, l pp. 21 and 148). The field is marked oft' by a horizontal line with a downward continuation into two sections. The order followed by the groups in this inscription is discussed in 12, p. 254 below. Beginning at the upper left-hand corner we see the gate ', followed by what appear to be a pair of The next figure, a form of the flowering eyes. Next is the 'palm-branch' (No 100), similarly grain' (No. 94), is succeeded by two dots = 20 and the p sign. accompanied by the saffron (No. 88) and the fig-branch (No. 100), these latter also succeeded in each case by
; ' ' ' ' ' '

20 and

p.

section also begins on the left. have here the common flowering grain sign coupled with The cross indicates the beginning of the next group. Here we see a palm-branch again, p. coupled again with the number 25, and, succeeding it, an uncertain sign followed by the saffron and 20. Next the same uncertain sign is repeated, and with this must be connected the fig-branch and the number 25 which concludes the inscription. (PI. XI.)

The second

numbers

We

'

'

25 and

'

'

'

'

This downward

line

function as a

mere dividing

appears as two separate strokes in the copy of the inscription in Man. Antichi, and line is thereby rendered non-apparent. The copy of the tablet here given is my own.

its

i8o

SCRIPTA MINOA

P. 122. Tablet with large perforation and signet impression on the side. (See Plate XI.) This tablet, found in Crete but from an uncertain locality, had been for some years in the Berlin Antiauarium, where, as already mentioned (see above, p. 21), it had been placed among Gnostic amulets. After the Knossian discoveries, however, the Director, Dr. R. Zahn, recognized that it was of Minoan origin. Through his kindness
I

received a cast of the tablet.

The figures and signs have an archaic aspect, and the tablet probably belongs to the same period as the engraved seals of the earlier hieroglyphic Class A. The two narrower sides show a succession of seal impressions On side c are two oblong impressions and belonging to two different matrices, one rounded, the other oblong. one rounded impression on side d three oblong and one rounded. The oblong type shows traces of five characters, among which a bow fitted with an arrow seems to be distinguishable. The design on the rounded impressions may have been of a decorative nature. Face a shows what appears to be the serpent sign seen on the prism-seal P. 23 a and on the four-sided It is followed by a more or less labyrinthine figure, possibly representing the ground-plan of bar P. 118. a building, and angular and other marks. Face b. Beginning at the left end, we see two principal signs ^E and a kind of strung bow, together with
;

'

'

some of which are possibly numerals. The cross that succeeds is possibly a very large initial mark separating off another group. The two Then with central dots may be regarded as a variant of the double-eye sign seen on the tablet P. 121.
others,

circles

follows

a tree-sign sign and C.

(cf.

No. 97) and a looped figure only found in this place.

With these are coupled the

unit (or

hundred)

II.

$9.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

HUMAN
FIGURES AND THEIR PARTS.

1.

The ideograph

of a

man

on the four-sided seal P. the most primitive class of prism-seals, often

itself
is

standing with both arms held downwards is seen by This figure is common on a, belonging to Class A.
in

company with other

pictographs, and

probably to be taken as a sign of ownership.

closely allied type appears as an ideograph Class B.

the

'

man

'

sign

in the

Linear

.0.

2(1

2b

Linear Class B-

figure 2 a with one hand raised occurs at the beginning ' of line a of P. 29 before the lance or dart ', No. 14, and the ass's head, No. 68. The gesture indicates a nuance of meaning different from No. i.
2.
' '

The crouched human

(No. 20) and ox-head on P. 92 a, is possibly a graffito variant of the preceding, though the symmetrical rendering of the arms would indicate a different gesture. The whole type displays analogies with certain
'

b,

which follows the

mason's level

'

forms of the
closely allied

'

man

'

These crouched human

sign as seen on a series of tablets of the Linear Class B. figures bear a strong family likeness to a group

of

Egyptian hieroglyphs showing a man in a half-kneeling posture with one knee drawn up and the buttock resting on the heel and instep of the other leg. This peculiarly Egyptian manner of sitting
not here reproduced, but it is possible that the Egyptian hieroglyphic types had reacted on the Cretan. The pose of the upper part of 2 a, with one hand raised in front of the head and the other arm held in a
is

Egyptian

M^afrph.

downward
'

direction

behind the body, corresponds with the form of the Egyptian

man

'

sign

182
1

SCRIPTA MINOA

reproduced above, which seems to stand as the ideograph for 'speech'.* A closely allied sign, with the hinder arm bent forward, stands both as a general determinative
of
'

man

'

and as the

first

person singular.

$
3. a, P. 101 a
;
'

8
;

b,

P. 103 a
'

c,

P. 102 a

d, P.

104

a.

Human

'

bust

or

'

idol

somewhat resembling

certain marble figures from Early

Cycladic and Minoan graves. It is only found in the graffito inscriptions, and in two cases with a spray above and followed by the Palace sign (No. 41), the arrow-head and the forked branch (No. 99). See P. 101 a, P. 102 a.

ff
4. P. 26
c.

Woman's
with
this.

breasts.

sign described as

Compare the Egyptian sign Q Q mna = a nurse, &c. The probably a rump in my Pictographs (No. 6) may be identical
'

'

Compare,

too, the

uppermost sign of

P.

66 a.

It

is,

however, possibly

a badly rendered version of the 'mountains' sign (No. 114 below).

5. a, P. 76
d, P.

(cf.

P. 25 d,
;

28

c,

33, 45, 543,

56

a)

b,

P.

42

c,

P.

103 c

(cf.

P.

103

b)

in

e,

P. 103 c

P. 121

The human eye seems

It is

P. 27 b ; h, P. 32 ; k, P. 14. ; g, to have the natural signification of

'

oversight' or
it

in-

seems to spection. constantly associated with the trowel (No. 18), where form part of an official title. (See p. 265 below.) The double eyes / seen on the Phaestos tablet and the two pupils h of the Berlin tablet may be regarded as variants. The plain circle on P. 32 is also placed here among the eye signs. But
1

'

From
Op.

the Mastaba of Ptahhetep (Fifth Dynasty), N. de G. Davies and F. LI. Griffith. Plahhetep, PI. IV.
p. 13.

4.

'

cit.,

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

stellar signs.

183

the circles with tangential lines and curves are better grouped with the solar and

There are three closely allied Egyptian eye signs, <^C^_, and -<^^^>' oo and the or double pupil o, ir-t, single (= 'Eye' 'to see', 'to watch'; with the transferred meaning, to do ').
'

noteworthy that the Cretan forms, e, f, and g, h, k respectively, supply correspondences with the two root types of the Phoenician ay'in and O, the latter of which survives in our O.
in
scripts.
It is

This sign survives

both the linear

'

6. This possibly represents the human mouth. trowel ', on the seal-impression P. 56 a.

It is

found, with the

'

'

eye

and

b; c, P. 853; d, P. 117 a; e, P. 117 b. The crossed arms. This seems to be an ideograph taken from gesture language. On P. 7 b it is associated with the Palace sign (No. 41). On P. 31 b it appears with the ' sistrum (No. 28) and on P. 117 with a plough and another implement. On P. 85 a this
7. a, P.

yb;

b,

P. 31

'

character, together with a

human
e

leg

and forearm, are grouped with a saffron

flower.

A sign

resembling type

appears in the Linear Class B.

a
8.
a, P.

2 5 b;

b,

P.

85 b.

This seems also to be a gesture sign. Bent human arm with extended palm. The forepart of the arm with extended palm is seen on one of the Jerabis inscriptions (Wright, Empire of the Hitttles, PL X). Compare, too, the hand and forearm sculptured on a rock at Itanos above an archaic Greek inscription (Comparetti, Leggi di Gorlyna,
&c., p. 442,

No.

206).

Derivatives of this sign are found in both varieties of the linear script.

1
a
9.
LNS

fl

a, P.

51 a;

b,

P. 763.

Human

hand, palm outwards, or glove. Aa

The

fact

that in other presentations

i84

SCRIPTA MI NO A

of the hand, both pictographic and linear, the fingers, or some at least of them, are In this case the line across given, makes it possible that this figure signifies a glove.
the wrist of b would indicate

with what appears to be It is possible therefore that the present sign stands for a glove used in extracta bee. ing the honeycomb. Bee-keeping is a very general industry in modern Crete, and the
in association

lower border. The linearized figure b occurs on a sealing

its

connexion of the Melissae nymphs with the infant Zeus points to in the island in very early times. The hand sign is common in the Linear Class B, but in this case
are delineated.

its

importance
the fingers

all

partly in profile and as if in the act the pictorial of closing. It would thus stand to the preceding as the Semitic yod prototype of which seems to be also a hand in profile stands to the Semitic kaph,

10. P. 4?b. This appears to be the

human hand seen

or = the hollow of the hand

'

',

the latter of which

is

clearly derived from a pictorial

original P. 47 b.

showing the palm.

present sign
is

The

only found, somewhat roughly engraved, on the bead-seal,

11. a,

P.

nb
2 3 a;

(cf.
e,

P. 8* a);

b,

P.

i8a

(cf.

P.

173, 20 a,

b,

30 a);

c,

P.

27 a

(cf.

P.

a); d, P.

P.

85

a;/

P.

8 2 a.

leg as an Egyptian hieroglyphic is used as a determinaleg. tive for 'marching', 'approaching', and also as = arura, 'an acre.'

The human

The bent

Type a belongs

to the primitive linear class,

and shows a curious parallelism with

Phoenician gimel, which may have the original sense of a bent leg. Attention is called in 21 below to the frequent grouping of this sign with the (No. 92), or in other cases with the gate alone. gate (No. 43) and human leg is seen in front of a lion on the field of a lentoid gem from a tomb of
' '

'

'

the

Lower

City,

Mycenae

(E<f>. 'Ap%.

1888, PI. X.

9).

This gem, however,

is

of consider-

ably later date than the seals and tablets showing the regular hieroglyphic script.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

ARMS, IMPLEMENTS, AND INSTRUMENTS.

185

c, P. 833. axe is rare among Minoan remains. The pictograph is best perforated single shown, in conjunction with a bounding kid, on the prism-seal P. 22. In this connexion it looks as if it had a sacrificial sense. perforated bronze single axe of the same

12. a, P. 22 b;

A,

P.

86b;

The

general type, but with the blade somewhat less spread, was obtained by It is incised with Delphi. hieroglyphic signs (see p. 59, Fig. 35, above).

me

from

found on clay labels, seem to be graffito versions of the same sign. In each case they are associated with the 'cross' (No. 112). This type of single axe seems to supply the origin to a sign of the linear series,
c,

Types b and

Class B.

(See Vol.

II.)

13.
P.

a,

P.

5a;
is

b,

P. 15 c;

c,

P. 24 c;

d,

P.

2yd

(cf.

P.

2b); e e

e,

passim;///

76

b,

&c.

one of the most constantly recurring signs. Usually only the head is shown, but at times the shaft is seen, as in and the feathers appear in type d. The early forms of the sign, a and b, show a very broad head. The Hittite hieroglyphs

The arrow

///

present

some

close parallels.

Jerabis

(op.

tit.,

PL

VIII. D.
I.

1.

4,

and PL X,

4;.

Gurun and Bulgar Maden (R. and PL 1 1 and PI. IV, Fig. 2).
18).

H.,

The 'arrow'

is

often coupled with the 'trowel' (No.

(See

21, below.)

On

Aa 2

i86
P.

SCRIPTA MINOA
it

appears twice with the A (No. 130). On P. 9$ a and 76 b it is connected with the heads of Cretan wild goats, and seems to stand as an ideograph for a hunter. On P. 2 b it occurs twice by itself, and on P. 22 c it is also seen alone.
112

a
P. 15; b, P. 22 d; c, P. 293. Lance or dart. The primitive type a, which certainly resembles a lance-head, occurs in company with a double axe and an arrow-head.

14.

a,

seen in P. 14 d, which seems to represent a lance with a segmented shaft, apparently of cane. It appears on two sides of the in one case with the addition of the prism-seal P. 47, in company with the eye
interesting variety oi this character
'

An

is

',

cross (No. 112).

a
15. a, P. 28 c;
Fig- 33 ^b,

P. io6a.
in

The dagger symbol appears

two forms among Egyptian hieroglyphs,

Hittite signs
it is

bakasti

and

x aa

When

it

occurs

among

grasped by a hand

(Hamath, Wright, op. cit., PI. III. H. iv, line i, and Jerabis, op. at., PI. XII). It is a noteworthy fact that the sword, which is typologically an outgrowth of the is not found in the Cretan series. It dagger, occurs, however, as an hieroglyphic ideograph in the Linear Class B (see above, p. 55, Fig. 30) an evidence of a later
date.

C
16. P. 44
a.

holding curved instrument. It may be compared with the Egyptian used as a determinative for what requires strength, and thus nht = strong.

Arm

17. P. 86

a.

Uncertain implement or instrument.

It

seems

to

have a handle with a guard

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

at

187
It is

one end, and

may
'

be, possibly, a knife of peculiar

'

shape
'

in a sheath.

grouped

on P. 86 a with the

saffron

(No. 88)

and the

'

plough

sign.

18.
&c.
;

a, P.

5a

b,

P. 7 a

c,

P.

24

c,

&c.

d, P.

28

d,

&c.

e,

P. 103 b,

&c.

P.

Sob,

g, P. 873, loo b; h, P.

icoc;
figure,
in

k, P.

Perhaps a trowel.
signs,

This

which

1090. is the most abundant of

all

was described by me
'

my
(f

first

work on the Cretan Pictographs,

It is

the hieroglyphic p. 36 [305], as

as a trowel used
'

probably an
in building.

arbelon

'

for cutting leather.

15)
it is

preferable to regard
'

it

of Egyptian form (No. 21), and it is noteworthy that this latter tool, coupled with the saw, forms the Egyptian ideograph signifying a 'builder', a title valued by the Pharaohs.

As shown below

frequently coupled with an

adze

19.
d,

a,
c.

P.

24 c

(cf.

P. 23 b, 253);

b,

P.

243;

c,

P.

30 d

(cf.

P.

i8c and 20

c);

P.

104

The

'template' sign.

pp. 50 [319] seqq.) I that with the palmetto

36 [305] and pointed out the pertinence of the connexion of the plain type a and
In

my
'

first

work on Cretan Pictographs

scroll
'

(p.

and spiraliform

for identifying this figure with a a Palace hall.

template

shown in b. Reasons were there given or stencilling plate for the decoration of

FIG. g8a.

Gem, Goulas
to cite a

(2 diams.).

In confirmation of this

was able

gem from Goulas

of the convoluted

type (Fig. 98 a), in which the palmette design was coupled with a returning spiral pattern recalling the combination of the lotus and spiral in the ceiling of Orchomenos. By means of a practical model (Fig. 98 b, c, d) it was there shown that a template of this kind would have been of great utility in producing such a ceiling design.

i88

SCRIPTA MINOA

FIG. 98

b, c, d.

use of the incurved notches at the top of the figure also became at once The symbol, first applied with the top of the arch uppermost so as to stand apparent. on a line ready ruled, gave the upper outline of the leaf, for which the inner margin
of the arch supplied the tracing. Now, turning the figure upside down, and carefully its to the terminal feet points of the upper border of the tracing already made, adjusting it will be seen (Fig. 98 d) that the double curves fit into the lower opening of the arch,

The

and give the two incurving lines required for the lower margin of the palmette. So far as the date is concerned it has since been made clear from the discoveries at Knossos and elsewhere that this class of decorative design goes back in Crete to the Middle Minoan Period and to an earlier date than the Orchomenos ceiling. The Goulas gem is of the same date as the hieroglyphic seal-stones of Class B. In other words, it belongs to the Second or Third Middle Minoan Period. The divergent spiral designs already appear on a contemporary fresco found in the East Quarter of the Knossian Palace and on vases of the best polychrome style. The palmette, which is seen repeated on P. 23 b, already occurs on a vase of the first Middle Minoan age found near the early Ossuary of Hagia Triada. Moreover, the palmette and divergent spiral are already seen combined in a ceiling of a Twelfth Dynasty
'
'

l Egyptian tomb at Assiout belonging to the reign of Usertesen I. This vegetable motive, here described as a palmette ', has in fact a much earlier history in Egypt.
'

reproduces the characteristic outline and inner ramification of a very early determinative for 'tree', which is also a word sign meaning 'graceful' and 'refreshing'. 2
It

This figure appears on a perch as an Egyptian Nome sign. 3 An example of the 'tree' sign from the Fifth Dynasty Mastaba of Ptahhetep is given on Table XVI (h), p. 240.

be seen that the interior of the template corresponds with the outer edge of the palmette, while the two small curves above answer to those at its base. The connexion of the present sign with this pattern is now further corroborated by the fine
It will

prism-seal, P. 23 (PL II), where the characteristic formula in which it occurs is associated with an arched design on either side composed of three palmettes. ' It has been suggested in I 21, below, that the formula in which the template
'

sign occurs on this and other seals as a palace builder.

1

is

the

title

of a

Minoan prince recording

his activity

Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of

i,

the

Ancient

'

Egyptians,
2

PI.

VIII.

7,

and

cf.

Newberry,
p. 24.

Scarabs, p. 81.

see Griffith, op.

Apparently the Twentieth and Twenty-first Nomes PI. XX. 174, 192. cit., p. 24 and

Griffith,

Mastaba of Ptahhetep,

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

The
sign.
script.
It

189

graffito type

d is probably a linearization of the more pictorial forms of this does not seem to be represented, however, in either class of the later linear

A
P.

20. P. 92 a. This sign is grouped with an ox-head on the clay label It seems to represent a mason's level.

92

a.

K n
a.

24 b); 6, P. 29 b. Adze with handle of an Egyptianizing form, recalling the hieroglyphic character = This Egyptian hieroglyph is coupled with the saw to chose w-s with s-t-p The Cretan sign in all three cases where it occurs is coupled the sense of builder.
(cf.

21. a, P. 23 c
'

P.

'

'

'.

with the 'trowel' (No. 18), probably with the same meaning. The form of the handle of this instrument is quite Egyptian, showing the characteristic imitation of an animal's
leg

and

hoof.

(See Table

XVI,

/,

p.

240, below.).

What

appears to be a derivative of

this occurs in the

Linear Class A.

22. P. ii9a(cf. P. ii9c). Apparently a kind of plane.

tablet (P. 119).
It differs

This figure

is

repeated, but less clearly,

on the same

base

line,

from the preceding adze sign in its greater elongation, the and the knob, which may be a handle or even some kind of screw on the back.

1
23. P. 27
b.

resembling the pictorial original of the hieroglyph w-s Early wooden saws of this form, set with flint teeth and resembling the jaw of an animal, have been found in Egypt. Coupled with the 'adze' this The Cretan sign survives in both sign denotes a builder (see above, under No. 21).
of Egyptian

Saw

form

^b^

classes of the linear script.

1

F. LI. Griffith,

Mastaba of Ptahhetep,

PI.

XIII, 273.

190

SCRIPTA MINOA

ii
24.
a, P.

6b;

b,

P. 243, P. 27
a,

a,

P. 38;

c,

P.

26 b;

</,

P. sob, P.

63

b, P.

109 a, c, &c.
'

on a prism-seal of Class A, shows the earliest form. The = a mallet, determinative of to fabricate sign may be compared with the Egyptian from Gurun affords a close parallel to this and the or build The Hittite
mallet.

The

Type

^
'

'

'

'.

[^

above.

This sign, which may very well have relation to building, or even to a group of buildings or a town, is frequently associated with the mountains or territorial sign In these formulas it is also associated with the plough and goat's head (see p. 262).
'

'

(P.

26

b)

or the plough alone.

P.

It is

also found with the goat's head alone, P. 38, 78

a,

and the ox-head,

50

b,

63

b.

i
25. P. 26 c.

Ring-handled instrument, perhaps of metal. 'trowel (No. 18) and the 'mallet' (No. 24).
'

It

is

distinct in

form from the

26.

P. 18 a.

Compare Peg, mace, or sceptre. '. and whiteness of brilliancy symbol

'

the

Egyptian

<=o =

club,

>

= mace,

'

'

26b, d c, P. 105 b, &c. ; d, P. 64d; e, P. 86 a, &c. Plough of primitive form with the pole and share beam in one piece.
27.
a,

P.

29 c;

b,

P.

;/ P-94b. The type

Ramsay and Hogarth,

Prehelknic

Monuments of Cappadocia,

PI.

IV.

2, line 2.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

resembles that
Early Empire
in

191

use in early Greece and

*j**

Italy,
22223*

and of which a design dating from the

^*at

is

given

in Fig. 27. l in

J^^^
itself.

Ploughs of much the same simple

form are
is

still

to

be seen

a tendency to

make The Egyptian hieroglyph

In the conventional sign as seen above there the length of the share equal to that of the pole.
for

Crete

plough
'

(hb] is

somewhat more complicated, having

'

two handles. This sign is twice repeated again on P. 29 c.

after the

mountains or

territorial sign

on

P.

26 b, and

97 a d, P. 117 a. In my Cretan Pictographs (p. 37 [306], No. 19) I described of musical instrument with a plectrum attached. Though at first sight 28.
a, P.

31 a

b,

P. 31 b

c,

P.

this
it

as a kind

recalls a lyre

opposite sides being connected Regarded as a harp, however, it presents an entirely new type, apparently standing in the same relation to the Asiatic horn-bow as the simple forms of African and other harps do to the wooden bow.

from its horn-shaped sides, with three strings and not by a cross-piece.
it

is

essentially a harp,

its

' the other hand, the Hagia Triada Cup, showing the Harvest Home rout, of the the existence of now revealed has primitive type Egyptian sistrum in Crete. But the sistrum is essentially a metal instrument and the wires run across an oval

On

'

frame, not an open one like the present with horn-shaped sides. In my Report on the Excavations at Knossos (1902, pp. 67, 68) I compared a further sign, with one or two cross-bars, that appears on the blocks of part of the

Domestic Quarter of the Palace

regard
it

as a forked distaff,

with this character, and was induced to resembling a type found in Southern Europe, with a

m~

rr~

pendant spindle.
eventually be thrown on this enigmatic figure. On P. 31 c this sign accompanies the saffron flower' (No. 88 a), on P. 31 b the and the crossed hand sign (No. 7), and the same collocation occurs on P. 117 On P. 97 a it is associated with the same flower and No. 6o/

Further light

may

'

y
a.

See Sophus

Miiller, Charrues,

&r*c.,

Mem.

de la

Socie'te des

Antiquaires du Nord, 1902, pp. 35 seqq. and Fig.

5.

BVANS

fa

192

SCRIPTA MINOA

29.

a, P.

On

Lyre. the seal-impression

64 a ; b and c, P. 101 a and e. This occurs in conjunction with

it

on the

fine signet impression P.

64

a.

shows eight

strings, but the representation is too small to

enable us to draw any absolute conclusion as to the number on the instrument itself. more advanced form of lyre is seen in the hands of a male performer on the

1 In this case there are painted Sarcophagus of Hagia Triada (Late Minoan II). seven strings in other words, it represents the double of the primitive tetrachord the Greek tetrachords when succeeding one another having a tone in common. 2
;

more summary
latest

figure of the

same instrument

is

seen on a fragment of pottery of the

Palace period found at Knossos.

pictographic sign shows that this fully developed form of lyre was in Crete during the Middle Minoan Age in other words, at least

The above already known

a thousand years before the date of the reputed innovation of Terpander, who, accordto Greek tradition, first increased the number of the strings from four to seven. ing

P.

30. a, 64 b (cf.

P. P.

26d;
113
a,

b,

P. 2 3 b;
h,

c,

P. 31 d
k,

d,

P.

2 5 d;
/,

e,

&c.);

P.

75 b;

P.

105 b;

P.

i8c; / 117 a; m,
P.

P. 3 od; g, P. 65 b; n,

P.

ma,

&c.

Pronged instrument of uncertain use. It is of frequent appearance both on the seals and tablets. It forms the central sign in a constantly recurring formula of the
signets (P. 18
15).
1

c,

20

The two

23 other
c,

b,

25

a,

30

d),

signs

with

which which
'

is
it

probably an
is

official title (see

associated

in

this

below, formula are

R. Paribeni, // Sarcofago dipinto di Haghia Triada (Man. Ant., 1908 [XIX], PI. I and p. 37).

Pariben\,loc.cit.(cf.Gevaert,Hist.el f/itvriedela musique

I,

dans FAntiquite,

p. 87).

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

193

the 'template' (No. 19) and the On the clay bar P. 104 c it is also sign (No. 92). associated with a linearized form of the 'template' sign. On the bead-seal P. 30 b it is ' grouped with the crossed arms (No. 7) and the uncertain instrument (No. 28), and
'

the

same

Too

collocation occurs in a graffito form on the clay bar P. 1 1 7 a. much account should not be taken of the small cross-lines seen in the interior

of types e and /, as they are very probably due to the ornamentalizing tendency of the No trace of such adjuncts is to be found in the graffito series. glyptic style.

This sign continues to be frequent

in

both the linear classes.

31. P. 30 c. This has the appearance of a suspended tablet.

r r* ? /
!
I

32.

a, P.

26 d;
;

b,

P. 113

b;
;

c,

P. 112

c,
;

nib;

d, P.
;

68 b;

e,

P. 52

(cf.

P.

1043);

P. 121 (Phaestos)

g, P. 121

h, P. 121

j, P. 120

k, P. 120.

The crook On P. in b we
part

sign, resembling a capital J, is placed in any position. see a small example of this character laid horizontally with the curved

or hook.

This

grouped with the gate arid the sepia (No. 60) on on P. 26 d with the plough and the ass's P. 52 b with the grain jar (No. 50) and Y Thus on the head (No. 68). But its main association is with vegetable figures. Phaestos tablet (P. 121) it is coupled severally with the palm branch (No. 100), the On P. nib and 112 c it is again 'saffron' (No. 88), and the 'fig branch' (No. 103).
this sign is
' ;
'

downwards. On P. 68 b

'

'

'

'

In fruit gathering the crook was naturally a conassociated with the 'fig branch'. venient instrument, and the sign may have acquired a secondary meaning of
'ingathering' in general or even
of a certain fixed measure applicable to fruit or

vegetable produce.

with a kind ot spur at the bottom of the upright stroke, might also be regarded as variants of Nos. 33 or 34 below. In form this sign resembles the Egyptian p =se, which has, however, especially in its earlier shape, a longer crook. This is interpreted as a curved thread, and it forms
k,
1 part of an ideographic figure signifying cloth.

Types/ and

F. Ll. Griffith, Hieroglyphs, p. 45.

aba

194

SCRIPTA MINOA

closer comparison is supplied by the early type of the Egyptian ' Fifth Dynasty form of this, as seen on the shepherd's croolc, w-t = small cattle. Mastaba of Akhethetep, closely resembles type g above. The more usual crook sign,
'

much

which is a badge of royalty (heq), is a later development of this. This sign has a special interest from the fact that three slightly differentiated varieties are found standing in close relation to it and placed in the same groups with
see a sign with a single bar (No. 33), with a spoke in front (No. 34), and with three bars (No. 35). This differentiation of the meaning of signs by the addition
it.

We

of bars

is

well illustrated

by examples of the Linear Class

is applied is itself a developed form, probably shepherd's crook. This artificial modification of the sign, in accordance, doubtless, with some differentiation of its meaning, is of great importance as showing a certain official regulation of the hieroglyphic script.

characters to which this system

where one of the apparently a crook sign of a more

B,

The

plain crook or J sign, as seen above, survives in the Linear Class A.

1. a 1,
33.
a, P.

1
112 b;
c,

inb(cf.

P.

112

a,

113 b);
is

b,

P.

P.

noe.

The

single-barred crook.

ceding sign. On P. noe it is same connexion as the simple crook.

evidently a differentiated version ol the preOtherwise it appears in the associated with the gate.

This

Thus, on P.

while No. 32 follows after it. On P. H2C we P. in b and 113 b, both the single-barred and the simple crook appear together after the On P. in c and 112 a, on the other hand, the sign is seen immediately 'fig-branch'. before or after the jar with the olive spray (No. 48).

precedes the 'fig-branch', see a similar association. On both

it

nib

b t
34.
a, P.

112 a;

b,

P. 112

c.

Both a and b occur on from the one-barred crook No. 33.

Spoked crook.

P.

112 c and are there clearly distinguished

This sign occurs on P. in, preceding the number 32 and the jar (No. 40) with an angular object in its mouth. It is seen again on P. 112 a, succeeded by the number 12 and the jar (No. 48) containing an olive spray.
35.

Three-barred crook.

Ptahhftep

and Akhethetep,

PI.

XIII, Fig. 281.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

CULT OBJECTS AND RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS.

195

OKI
36.
c,

a, P.

15 (type on early sealings)

P. 103 d, 104

b,

P.

24 a

(cf.
;

P. 16,

29 d, 59
;

a,

62

a,

70

a)

P.

41 b

The
fetish

; i/, c, 107 a, io8a, &c. ; e, P. 64 c f, P. 109 a g, P. 70 a. sacred double axe sign is of constant recurrence. The weapon served as the

image of the chief Minoan divinities, and is the prevailing sign on the walls of the Palace-Sanctuary of the Knossian kings. It forms the subject of many religious scenes and its actual worship is depicted on the Sarcophagus of Hagia Triada. There is evidence of the existence of more than one shrine of the Double Axe in the Palace of Knossos, and as, among the allied Carian population, it was worshipped under the name of labrys, it is probable that the name of the Labyrinth at Knossos refers to the Palace-Sanctuary of the Cult, 2 and represented the Western dialectic form answering to that of the Carian Labraundos ( = The Place of the Double Axe '). Assuming that the Cretan name for the double axe approached the Carian we must suppose that the phonetic equivalent of the sign was a dialectic form of labrys. On P. 64 c the double axe is associated with the Palace sign. As an ideograph the sign may at times cover a religious title in connexion with the Minoan priest1
'

In a recurring formula (see pp. 252, 253) it is grouped with the serpent or In one case it is coupled with the 'serpent' zigzag (No. 84) and grain jar (No. 50). a alone, point of some significance when it is remembered that the snake, like the
kings.

double axe

itself,

was a

special attribute of the

Minoan Mother Goddess

(see

'Knossos',

Report, 1903, pp. 85 seqq.).

On
on
P.

two signet impressions of the hieroglyphic series this sign occurs by 62 a in a variant and ornate form, with a high oval summit.
the Late

itself,

On

Minoan gems of Crete the double axe

also frequently occurs

as

the sole type, perhaps possessing a talismanic virtue. Bronze double axes are abundant in the votive deposits of the Cretan cave sanctuaries like that of Psychro
(Dikte).

R. Paribeni, // Sarcofago dipinto di Ilaghia Triada (Mon. Ant., 1908 [XIX], PI. I). J Cf. Kretschmer, Einltitung, &C., pp. 303 seq^. Fick,
;

Vorgriechische Ortsnamen, p. 23,

103.

and see above, pp.

102,

196

SCRIPTA MINOA
The
' '

hieroglyphic formula, in which this sign is coupled with the trowel (see P. 583), may also represent an official title of a kind which would be specially appropriate to the royal founders of the Minoan palaces.

37.

This

sign,

which
'

to be identified with the

coupled with the bull's head on P. 21, is most probably horns of consecration which play so prominent a part in
is
' 1

'

'

the early Cretan religion. They are placed on shrines and altars and at the foot of the cult objects, such as the double axe and sacred trees and pillars.
figures of the prism upon which this sign occurs are unfortunately of careless execution, and its outline somewhat approaches certain degenerate versions of the
'

The

'

template

(No.

19),

from which, however,

it

must be distinguished.

38. a, P. sa; b, P. 6a; c, P. 2ob. This sign is clearly rather a bucranium than a simple ox's head (ct. No. 62 below). As such it had doubtless a religious meaning. A Late Minoan lentoid gem (Berlin Museum Cat., PL I. 22) shows an altar table on which an ox is being sacrificed, the
'

'

front of

which

is

decorated with bucrania

like so

many

later altars (see Fig. 99).

FIG. 99.

Engraved Lentoid Bead

in

the Berlin

Museum.

(?)

my Myc. Tree and Pi'liar Cult, pp. 37 seqq. Slender pilasters appear between the bttcrtniia. Dr. Furtwangler in his description of the gem speaks
1

See

of the bucrania as
Picts., p.

if
I

40 [309],

they were simple supports. In my erroneously referred to this gem as in

the British

Museum.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

197

9
This sign greatly resembles the Egyptian ankh, the symbol of life and '. It is seen by itself on P. 70 c, and also appears as the sole type on a very divinity early lentoid of black steatite from Central Crete, where it apparently had a symbolic

39.

'

'

'

value.

the characters of both classes of the linear script. 1 It also appears with other Certain varieties signs on a Cy pro-Mycenaean gold ring. of the Cypriote ra suggest comparisons.
sign survives

The

among

For the ankh as a Minoan and Mycenaean symbol and its combination with the double axe, see my Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult, pp. 80, 81.

b a.

40.

rt,

P. 41

b,

P.

49

c,

P.

96

This vase with its curved spout resembles Spouted vessel, perhaps the Egyptian libation vases, ^Q qebeh, except that it has a handle, the handle being a usual addition to Cretan adaptations of Egyptian forms. It also recalls the Persian
for libations.

ibrik or metal ewer.

figure recurs by itsell or beside a plant or spray on a series of lentoid and amygdaloid bead-seals found in Crete, and had probably a religious value. spouted vessel of blue-glazed faience was found in the Room of the Throne at Knossos.

The

BUILDINGS AND ACCESSORIES.

41.

a,
;

P.

7 b

b,

P.

6a;

c,

P.

26 a

d,

P.

75

a.

c,

P.

64 c

/, P.

102 a

g,

P. 101 a

h, P.

109
is

b.

This sign
'

identical with

secondary forms of the Egyptian hieroglyphic for

2

Palace

'

= aha.

(see

10, pp. 239,

is

The Egyptian figure in its original aspect is seen to be a tower 240, and Table XVI, c), sometimes placed within a double courtyard.
'

This

represented by
See above,

a nearly square enclosure, the wall of which

"

is

carried half-way

p. 70, Fig. 38.

F. LI. Griffith, Hieroglyphs, PI. III. 30,

and pp. 34-36.

198

SCRIPTA MINOA
at
is

along the front and then turns in itself, which stands for 'palace',

a right angle enclosing an inner court '. The tower represented in its complete form as of two stories,

and Mr.

has suggested with great probability that the diagonal line, corresponding to that of the Cretan sign, marks the direction of the staircase to the roof. It is noteworthy that on the seal-impression (P. 7*3. i) this sign is associated with
Griffith
'

what seems
P.

P.

46 c 6 a,
It

Egypt was an emblem of royalty. On we see it grouped with the sacred double axe, and in this case, and again on it is brought into connexion with the facing head of a horned animal, perhaps
to be the
'

bee

'

sign,

which

in

a bucranium.

seems as if in this instance we had a clear example of Cretan character taken over from the Egyptian series.

tr*
a
42.
a, P.

<
lr

J/*
C.
c,

104 c

(cf.

P.

104 b);

b,

P. 87 a;

P. 843.

It occurs on the two faces of the clay bar P. 104, angle, perhaps of a building. in one case in association with the double axe, arrow and double spray (No. ioie,f).

An
b,

Type

which occurs on

P.

87

a,

seems to be a variant of the same

sign.

It is

grouped

with the enigmatic sign No. double axe.

116.

Type

c,

again, appears in association with the

Compare
Phaestos Disk.

the

Egyptian

knb = an angle.

The

'

'

angle

also

occurs on the

a
43.
a, P. 83 a
;

t
in the

b, P. 107 b.

probably a storehouse. This sign occurs in both cases group, associated with an ox-head and the spray No. 101, perhaps olive.
piles,

Hut on

same

&,
44. Type A.
a, P.

W.
P.
i a,

8* b

b (Class
1

A),
p. 36.

nb

(Class A)

c,

P.

6b

Op.

tit.,

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

(Class A); P. 62 b, &c.
d,
;

199
P.

P.
/,

22a;

e,

P.

i8a;

P.
c,

71

a,
;

&c.

g,

P. 2 3 a;

h,

58

b,

&c.;

k,

P. 104

b; m, P. 823, 107

&c.

n, P.

uoe.

ID
Type B. The gate
'

CD
P.

a, P.
'

193, 303;

6,

2oa;

c,

P.
'

593.
'

sign,

which may

type refers to the same object appears from the indifferent use of both in an identical position in the same frequently
this latter

It is constantly recurring. horizontal (A) or vertical (B).

also signify an enclosure generally, is one of the most divided into two distinct classes according as the bars are

That

repeated formula in which this sign

is

coupled with the

human

leg

and the Y.

See

official titles and to convey the ideographic sense of keeper or guardian. In one case it is coupled with a pig (P. 22 a). In certain formulas it is attached to the sacred double axe (cf. P. 29 d and 59 a), and in these and other ' cases is also associated with the cross sign.
'

below, pp. 237, 261. It seems to enter into

cheth

prevailing comparisons suggested by this character are with the Semitic and he and the Greek eta (see p. 90). It is a noteworthy fact that the four-barred Boeotian type of eta points to a prototype like Type A c-h above (seePicts., p. 92 [361]), and that no trace of this four-barred version is to be found in the Semitic series. The three- and four-barred types of this sign survive into both the later linear
l

The

classes.

45. This sign seems

'

to be rather a hurdle or section of a fence,

and

may in

its

origin

be a differentiation of the preceding, with which it is closely allied. It is found in company with the human bust' (No. 3) on the clay bar P. 1033. The true analogies of this type seem to be with the Semitic cheth, which, if we may

judge from an Arabic word of similar form,

Cretan linear classes.

2 signifies a 'fence'.

The Greek H
in

(eta)

represents the final simplification of the Semitic

letter.

This sign survives

both the
occurs

on

linear H, however, has a very early tradition in Crete, since the Phaestos whorl (P. L. 3 b).
1

The simple

it

See above,

p. 86,

and

p. 87,

Table V.

See above,

p. 90.

EVANS

C C

200

SCRIPTA MINOA

d
the clay impression P. 50 a it is coupled with the c with the gate and vase (No. 47); forepart of a pig; on the four-sided seal P. 44 on one of the clay labels on which the graffito form occurs (P. 89 a) it is coupled with an animal's head, apparently a pig's. It looks as if it had the ideographic sense of
'

46. a, P. soa b, P. 44 Fence or trellis-work.

;

c,

P.

80 a

rf,

P. 89

a.

On

enclosure

'

or

'

yard

'.

UTENSILS, STORES, AND TREASURE.

47.
ft P.

a, b.

P.

5b

(cf.

P. 9);

b,

P. 40, C.

P. 12; d, P.

44d;

*,

P. 42

;/

P.

?c;

87

Groups of three of these vases are frequent on prism-seals of Class A, where they are an inheritance from the more primitive pictographic group. The object had obviously an independent ideographic sense, and

Jug with beaked spout

(prochous).

the recurring group of three vases recalls the frequent repetition of the Egyptian lute = good, in an amuletic sense. On the amethyst scarab P. 9 a vase of this sign nefer

'

'

seen on either side of the disk with revolving rays (No. 108). simplification / which resembles a jug in section, is paralleled by the No. 50 below.
type
is

The
'

linear
',

grain jar

I?
a
Ir

The outline of the vessel closely resembles the but in certain varieties of place of grains we see here a spray of some preceding, kind of plant, apparently an olive, placed within the mouth. It is possible that this was intended to signify that the vase was used for oil.

48. a, P. me; b, P. naa. Two-handled vase with olive spray.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

This sign
tions.
is

201

On

only found on the clay bars P. in, 112, presenting very similar inscripface b of P. 112 a a double spray, probably of an olive-tree, stands by itself.

V
a dash.
;

49. a, P. ind (cf. P. 107 c); b, P. 87 b; c, P. 77; d, P. ma. This sign seems to be a handled vessel, the contents of which are indicated by
It obviously belongs to the same class of Type b is signs as the preceding. a variant a d an of is but with possibly simplified angular substantially the same sign, stroke in its opening.

50.
A, P.

a, P.

102 a
'

b,

P.

109 a
'.

c,

P.

76 a

</,

P.

52 a

P.

89 b

f, P. 101 c

g, P.

90 a

n8d;
The
'

k, P.

n8c.
or honey jar
'

grain

This jar

is

here seen

in section, as

Nos. 48 and 49, with

Types a-g show two-eared jars, but h and k, in which the mouth is closed, appear to be earless. That the latter type, however, represents essentially the same sign may be gathered from its repetition in the same formula with the double axe and zigzag as the others (cf. P. 103 d, 1093, and 118 c, d).
dotted markings within.
grains are similarly indicated within the outline of the insect's abdomen, and may possibly be taken as an indication of the honey that it contained. This gives us some warrant for believing that the grains in the case of the jars may also indicate honey.
sign,
e,

It is

noted below that

in the

case of a version of the

'

bee

'

No. 86

51. P. 91

a.

This sign resembles a funnel-shaped vessel with a projecting handle.

indicated within
it,

Grains are

as in the preceding.

cc 2

202

SCRIPTA MINOA

a
52.
a, P.

101 b

b,

P. 101 b.

Measure of grain. The circle with three, four, or, more rarely, two dots is found in the Linear Class B, and is there specially connected with horses and other animals. From the analogy of the Egyptian @, indicating corn on the threshing-floor, it may
be taken to represent a fixed quantity of grain.
'

The Egyptian

(H) sign, signifying

grains of offering

',

also affords a close comparison.

In the present instance a and b

and an imperfect sign are grouped with the plough. The sign is also found in the Linear Class A.

53. P.
Possibly a barrel or store jar (' pithos'). The cross lines may indicate the hoops of the barrel or the raised cordons which run round the great Minoan store jars. The
figure only occurs once, in

company with

the cruciform sign (No. 112), on the fragmen-

tary clay bar P. 115

b.

6
0.
54.
/,
a,

6
b,

P.

26d

(cf.
;

P.

68a);
75
b.

P.

39;

c,

P.

sob;

d, P.

943;

e,

P.

94

b,

&c.

P.54b;#

P. 105 a

h, P.

This sign apparently represents a kind of sieve or strainer possibly a cheese It is of frequent recurrence and is not infrequently associated strainer or a colander.
with the arrow sign (No. 13). Thus it occurs in groups with the arrow and mallet On P. 94 b it is seen with the (P. 68 a, 94 a) and the arrow and zigzag (P. 39, 105 a). It and the is the also with cruciform sign (No. 112) on 'plough'. 'zigzag' coupled On the latter it is repeated. P. 26 d and 85 b.
'
'

Type h shows a

variant with

two handles.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

203

55. This figure occurs on the early lentoid P. 12, together with the vase (No. 47 and the tree sign (No. 97 b). It seems to represent some kind of utensil.

c)

1 ingot sign, very frequent on the tablets of the Linear Class B. 2 deposit of bronze ingots of this form was found in the Royal Villa of Hagia Triada. Other similar ingots have been found in Sardinia, Cyprus, and at Macarska in

56. P. 13 b. This seems to be the

'

'

Dalmatia. 3
the Cretan Pictographs 4 I had suggested that the sign might represent an archaic form of the double axe, but in view of other recent finds the above
In
attribution
is

my earlier work on
far

more probable.
SHIPS AND MARINE OBJECTS.

57.
e,

a, P.

4a; a*,
P. looa.

P.

4*a;

a**, P. 4** a;

b,

P.

273;

c,

P. 633.

i; d, P.

26a;

P.

icod;/
The
ship.

a belong to the more primitive class, A. There is absolutely no trace of any rigging aft on the last of these. The appearance of a disk above the prow of the second example and of two crescents on b, athwart the upper part of the rigging on either side of the mast, can hardly be an accidental coincidence. We seem to have here signs of time, connected with the duration of voyages. The two crescent moons would in this case signify two

Types

a, a,

months, the disk perhaps a yearly voyage of

The number

greater length. of oars indicated on these vessels varies from five to eleven.

still

In the

The ships show a high stern and the prow latter case two may be steering oars. In form these vessels terminates either in a barbed point or a kind of open beak.
1

See A.

J. E.,

Minoan Weighls and Mediums of Currency

delta
r.

pp. 317 seqq. &c.

3

(Corolla Numismatica, pp. 355 seqq.).

1

Minoan Weights,
p. 35 [304], No. 9.

&c., p. 360.

R. Paribeni, Rendiconli

Ace. dei Lincei, XII,

204

SCRIPTA MINOA

great resemblance to those which appear on a Late Minoan class of lentoid gems found in Crete. One, of black steatite, in my possession, shows a ship with fifteen oars. Another type of vessel, repeated on amygdaloid gems of summary

show a

The open beak in some of these figures may execution, is provided with two masts. recall the swan-headed ships of the confederate invaders of Egypt from the Great Green Sea' in Rameses Ill's time as seen on the frescoes of Medinet Habu.
'
'

'

appears as an ideograph standing alone on the seals of Class A. On P. 26 a it is preceded by the tree sign, No. 97, and followed by four repetitions of the same. On P. 633. i and lood we see it brought into connexion with the double branch (No. 101). On P. 100 a it is placed between the zigzag or serpent (No. 84) and

The

'

'

ship

'

'

'

'

the

'

'

sepia

(No.

60),

and on

P.

27 a

it is

grouped with the cross and

mallet.

the rigging only on the forepart of the ship is of interest in relation to the later simplification of this sign. character of the linear script, Class B, represents only the forepart of a vessel.

The type with

The fact that late intaglios exist showing two-masted vessels makes it possible that another version of the ship sign is to be detected in No. 116 below, with the prow-like projection at one end and double or treble prominences, suggestive of masts and sails. This figure, however, has been here included among the more enigmatic characters.

58. Hippocamp. This sign is twice repeated on face a of P. 3, the 'trowel' sign The sea-horse is also seen on pictographic (No. 18) occurring on the succeeding side. seals of the more primitive class (F. D. p. 322, PL II, 9 c, and cf. 13 a, where two are conjoined). This appears to be the Hippocampus guttulatus brevirostris of the
to later

modified form seems to have supplied many sea-monsters of a similar sea-monster the prototype of Skylla are seen attacking a boat, on a seal-impression from the Temple Repository at Knossos. Two hippocampi are also seen on the transitional Cretan stone now in Mediterranean, which
in a

Greek
1

art.

The head and neck

Copenhagen Museum. In Crete this marine animal was specially chosen as a symbol by the inhabitants of Itanos at the easternmost corner of the island, where two confronted hippocampi form the principal types on the reverse of
its

fifth-century coins.

59.

a, P.

16;

b,

P.

28 a;
1
'

c,

P. 45.
tail

Tunny

fish.

The

general outline of a and the

Knossos
',

of b are characteristic.

On

Report, 1903, p. 58, Fig. 36.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

P.

205

stands alone as an ideograph, on the seal-impression P. 45 it is grouped with the eye and the trowel. What seems to be the same fish is held up on a line by a fisherman on the

28

it

haematite gem, probably of Minoan fabric, in the British Museum (Cat. No. 80). Similar fish, sometimes in pairs, are seen on a series of Late Minoan gems found in
Crete.

They already occur

in
p.

prism-seals from Crete (C. P.

groups of three on the primitive class of pictographic F. D. PL I. 8 c). 70, Fig. 59 c

;

T
60.
a, P.

34

(cf.

P. 38); P.

b,

P.
//,

2yc;

c,

P.

noa);/

P.

iooa;,

8oa;

P. 61 b

(cf.

26d; d, P. 93b; e, P. io6a (cf. P. 68b);/ P. 4ib; k, P. 9sa;

P. io8a,
P. 14.

/,

In this frequently repeated sign I venture to recognize the small eatable sepia or Kalamari of the Mediterranean (French, calmar). The name is derived from the

resemblance to a reed-pen case (KaXa^dpiov). The short tentacles are not separately reproduced, but their double division is rendered by the forked upper end of a and b. On a there seems to be an indication of the eyes and of the broadening of the
lower extremity of the body.

The Kalamari is still the As its principal fruit Italy.

'

'

greatest marine delicacy of Crete, Greece, and Southern it may have perhaps been taken as a symbol of the sea

itself

or perhaps of a sea haven.

The linear types divide themselves into two distinct families, one represented by d-h and the other by k. This latter type, which only occurs on the somewhat roughly executed graffito group of P. 95 a, stands in close relation to a common sign of the Linear Class A. In a glyptic form, closely approaching a and b, the same character is seen twice repeated on the Dictaean Libation Table (see p. 15). The duplication of the sign on the Libation Table is paralleled by P. 41 b, where it occurs twice at the end of one line and the beginning of another after the bird (No. 89) and libation
vase (No.
40).

In two cases (P.

273 and 80 a)

the present sign

is

grouped with the 'zigzag' or

206

SCRIPTA MINOA

In two other instances (P. io8e, 'serpent' (No. 84) and the cross pommde (No. 112). it is with the It occurs with the 'serpent' in cross and Y. n6a) coupled pomm6e

On P. 38 it is collocated with juxtaposition with the lily-crested lion's head on P. 34. the 'mallet' and goat's head, and on P. noa with the 'mallet' and arrow-head in ' connexion with the mountains or territorial sign No. 114.
'

ANIMALS AND THEIR PARTS.

61.

Rude

figure of an

ox on the primitive tabloid

'

'

P. 13

a.

a.

62. a, P. 6c; b, P. Ox-head seen in profile.

seal belonging to Class A. may show that it belongs to

Type a is associated with two goats' heads on a prismThe somewhat longer and more curving horns of type b
an animal of the Urus breed.
This type
is

associated

with the

human

leg and

gate.
[PRIMITIVE (.(NEAR TYPE ]

V.

T;\
b,

-,

63.
P.

a, P.

L. 5 (on early pendant);

P. L. 3

(Phaestos whorl)
/,

c,

P. 21 a; d, P. 21 c

*,P. 92a;/P.8 3
(cf.

a;-,
is

P.

5 8b; h,P. 63 b;

,P.65 b;

P.

50 b

(cf.

P.

65 b)

m,P. 9 ia

noteworthy that the facing ox-head type of the Middle Minoan Age is very different from the bovine type with long curving horns prevalent during the Late Minoan Period. The latter certainly belongs to the Urus or aurochs' stock.

64 c, 1073, Ox-head. It

b, &c.).

The animal on

the hieroglyphs, on the other hand, is short-horned. This seems to be an indigenous species of which skulls were found in the votive deposits of the Dictaean cave and to which Professor Boyd Dawkins has given the name of Bos Creticus. It is
allied to the

Bos

longtfrons or

'

Celtic Short-horn

'.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

Type a
PI.
I,

207

represents a primitive linear type of this sign seen on the steatite pendant P.L. 5, which curiously resembles the ox-head sign that survived in the Phoenician

early geometrical type b is from the Phaestos whorl. On P. 83 a and 107 b we see the ox-head associated with the forked spray (No. 101), apparently of an olive-tree, and the store-house on piles (No. 43). On P. 107 a it is
aleph.

The

grouped with the

a single axe.

olive spray
P. 21 a

On

and the double axe, which on P. 833 is replaced by we see it followed by the horns of consecration (No. 37).
' '

64. a, P. 51 a; b, P. 543, 2; P. 30 b, c. Calf s head. Those on P. 30 are very rudely engraved.

65.

a, P.
(cf.

6a

b,

P.

28 b
a)
;

c,

P.

38 ;
a.

d, P.

76 c

(cf.

P.

94

a,

76

b,

&c.)

e,

P. 107

P. 108 a

P.

93
'

a,

113
'

g, P. 104

The
the
'

In three places it is placed between goat's head is of constant recurrence. plough and arrow sign (P. 76 b, 93 a, 108 a), and on P. 94 a it appears with an
'

arrow alone.
impossible to say whether the sign refers to the wild goat or Cretan On P. 76 b it is coupled with the double axe. a domesticated or to variety.
It is

Agrimi

66.

P.

22

b.

kid or doe.

This

is

coupled with the single axe on P. 22

ib,
'

b.

The

sign

shows

a good deal of resemblance to the Egyptian and bears the ideographic sense of to thirst '.

which also represents a kid skipping

Sfl
a
67.
a, P. 7 bis b, c
;

b,

P.

Head
M

of horned sheep.

72 a. This is perhaps the moufflon, representations of which D d

208

SCRIPTA MINOA

occur on Late Minoan gems. Type a occurs on two sides of a prism-seal of Class A, -The remaining side of the seal shows in one case by itself, in the other duplicated.
the

human

leg and gate.

Type

is

from the impression of a

'

signet

'.

29 a; b, P. 26 d. Apparently an ass's head. Compare the characteristic Hittite sign Empire of the Hittites, Plates VIII, IX, X, XI, and XIX. 5, Jerabis).

68.

a, P.

^~ (Wright,

69. P. 22 a.

The
It is

pig or boar as a whole figure occurs in association with the gate on also found as an ideograph on prism-seals of the more primitive class.

Fore-part of an animal grouped with the fence (No. 46) and rayed disk or It should probably be interpreted as 'star' (No. 107 c) on the impression P. 50 a. the fore-part of a galloping boar.

70.

71.

Dog

crouching as
i

of the prism-seal P. gate formula.

about to spring. This figure appears by itself on face b belonging to Class A. Face a of this seal shows the leg and
it

The complete

figure of a crouching
It

class of Cretan hieroglyphic seals.

not infrequent on the more primitive looks as if in the later hieroglyphic series it

dog

is

had been replaced by the dog's head sign (No.

72).

c 72.
a, P.

ft
P.

e.

21 c

b,

P. 73 a

c,

86 a

d, P.

89 a

e,

P.

62

b.

Dog's head. This head does not show the fangs and protruding tongue of No. 73, and may reasonably be identified with a mastiff of the class that frequently appears

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

209

on the Minoan gems, often with collars round their necks. A seal-impression from Knossos shows two large dogs of this class, with yokes like those of oxen, attended by a youth wearing a crown with peacock plumes. Probably the dog was sacred
to the great Minoan Goddess, as later to the Aphrodite of Eryx. On P. 89 a the dog's head is associated with the fence (No. 46),
gate,

on P. 62 b with the
'

on

P.

86 a with the double axe, on P. 73 a with the arrow and

Ir

trowel

'

formula.

40; b, P. 44 a; c, P. 115 a. Wolfs head with protruding tongue. This sign appears on P. 44 with the arm holding a curved instrument (No. 16) and the forked branch (No. 99), but standing by itself and separated from them by the cross mark. It also appears as the solitary type on the fine signet P. 40, which further proves that it could be used by itself as 73.
a, P.

an ideograph.
(see below,
p.

In this case
264).

it

In

its

possibly represents a personal name or canting badge graffito form it is associated with the cross pommee
'

'

(No. 112) on the fragmentary bar P. 115

a.

This symbol shows a remarkable likeness to the Hittite

PI.

j^)

Qerabis, op.

cit.,

VIII. D,

1.

3, PI.

IX,

1.

3),

where again we

find the

same protruding tongue.

Lion's head facing, surmounted by the sacred fleur-de-lis of Minoan cult. This sign is grouped with the zigzag or 'serpent' (No. 84) and the sepia (No. 60) on the signet P. 34. It may be a canting badge or sign representing the name in this case a compound one of a Minoan prince, and the first part of which was

74-

'

'

formed by the word

'

Lion

'.

(See below,

p. 264.)

tf

^>

75.
Cat.

a, P.

23 a;
'

b,

P. 36.
in

This pictorial sign appears

connexion with the

official

formula Y, leg and

The head and tail the serpent ', on and clearly indicated claws leave no room for doubt that we have here a cat, perhaps the type parlant of a Minoan prince whose title follows (see below, pp. 264, 270, 271).
gate, together with

the fine prism-seal P. 23.

Type

b,

on a

signet,

seems to be an

inferior variant of the

same

sign.

Apparently the head and neck of a long-necked animal. cross (No. 112) and human eye on P. 103 b. D d 2
76.

Coupled with the

210

SCRIPTA MINOA

Apparently an animal's foreleg and shoulder. On P. 1 10 b, associated with It bears a distinct resemblance to the Egyptian sign khepsh = the saffron (No. 88). (See Table XVI, g, 'shoulder', and thus in a derivative sense 'strength of arm'.
77.
1

p.

240,

below

from the Mastaba of Ptahhetep,

Fifth Dynasty).

78.

a, P.

37

b, P. 35-

Horned owl

seated.
is

The horns

are

much

exaggerated.

On

P. 37,

and again

apparently on P. 35, this

grouped with the

fleur-de-lis spray.

79.

Dove pluming

its
'

wings.
'

The

sole type

on
p.

P. 31
264).

a.

This

is

also possibly

a personal badge of the canting the great Minoan Goddess.

kind (see below,

The dove was

sacred to

Bird seated, perhaps an owl or crow. (No. 40) and sepia (No. 60).

80.

On

P. 41

b between libation vase

P.

Waterfowl, perhaps swan, mallet and arrow. with b 51

' '

81.

in

the act of taking

flight.

On the

clay impression

82.

The duck

sign

is

found on the pottery stamp from Palaikastro, P. 43.

83. head on

Bird's head.
P. 21 a.

Grouped with the

1

'

horns of consecration

'

(No. 37) and ox-

Griffith, Hieroglyphs, p. 17.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

211

84.
-,

a,

P.

23 a
P.
P.

b,

P. 122
;

c,

P. 118
;
;',

d,

P. 118 b,

c,
;

e,

P.

39
;

/
/,

P.

27 c

P.
P.

109 b

(cf. (cf.

m,

n6c

90 a, b) 94 b); n,

h, P.

109 a
o,

P. 103

j, P.

34
;

k, P.

26 c

P. 105 a

P. 80 a;

P.

540;

q, P. 105 b

r,

P. looa.

The
P. 23

serpent.

The

original form of

this sign is best

seen on the fine prism-seal

and on the archaic Berlin tablet P. 122. The angular simplification of this sign into a mere zigzag is illustrated by a variety of intermediate types and by the occurrence of both the serpentine and angular forms c and d on P. 118. The form represented on the latter tablet with five sections is in turn identified with the simpler type showing
only three by the recurrence of both in the same formula, associated with the double axe and grain jar' (No. 50) or with the double axe alone (cf. P. 84 b, 89 b, 103 d, 108 a,
'

and 109 b).

paralleled by the process observable in the curving stalk of the 'saffron' sign (No. 88). In that case the natural curves of types a and b
is

This angular modification

in

become

a mere zigzag. On the signet with the cat device (P. 23 a) the serpent supplements what seems to have been an official title (see below, p. 270) composed of the leg and gate. The snake appears in the Palace shrine and elsewhere as an attribute to the Minoan
' '

Mother-Goddess, probably in her chthonic aspect. In this connexion grouping with the double-axe sign on the above-mentioned formulas
suggestive.

its is

frequent
certainly

Elsewhere we see

it

associated with the arrow (P. 104

d,

109

b),

with the cross

pommee
it is

(No. 112), the 'sepia' (P. 27 c, 80 a), and sieve, No. 54 (P. 39, 94 b). grouped with the sepia' (No. 60) and the lion's head surmounted by a
'

On

P.

34

fleur-de-lis,

which

is

possibly a princely badge.

212

SCR1PTA MINOA
INSECTS.

29 bThe spider. Type a appears by the trowel and adze formula.

;

85.

a, P. i c

b,

P.

itself

on a prism-seal

ol

Class

is

attached to

'

'

'

'

also very frequent on the more primitive class of pictographic seals This is the more remarkable when it is remembered that (see F. D. pp. 332, 333). this insect is conspicuous by its absence on the engraved stones and coin types of

The

spider

is

the classical period of Greece, though other insects, such as the ant, the bee, or the In Greek mythology the spider appears in the legend cicada, are common enough. of Arachne as the representative of Lydian textile art, and with that old Anatolian
race this insect evidently typified the spinning industry. The undoubted affinities between the earlier indigenous elements of Crete and those of Western Asia Minor

make the prominence of the and we may infer that here,

looms.

spider in its primitive pictographs the more suggestive, too, the insect as a symbol indicated the possession of

which also seems to have possessed a talismanic virtue, occurs with the scorpion, snake, and human hand on a heart-shaped pendant of gold from Hagia The spider also occurs on the primitive Triada, which doubtless served as an amulet. to referred class of Egyptian cylinders above, and on a Libyan bead-seal from near

The

spider,

Constantine published by me, F. D.

p.

368, Fig. 32.

c.

<

2ob c, P. 54 b d, P. 86 b e, P. 76 a. The bee. The large abdomen and the indications of the proboscis enable us to The grains introduced within the outline identify the insect with great probability. of the abdomen on e recall those seen in the sections of the jars given under No. 50. If in the case of the insect this may be taken to indicate honey we also possibly obtain
86.
a, P.

75

a, i

b,

P.

a clue to the contents of the jars. The bee in ancient Egypt was one of the earliest signs of royalty. Byty, represented by the bee sign, occurs in the Royal title with the meaning he that belongs to
'

Paribeni, Sepolcreto di Haglria Triada (Man. Ant., 1905 [XIV], pp. 64-6).

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

the bee
'

213

the Bee-Keeper '. high official also had the title of Sealer of the Honey [jars]', perhaps the oldest Egyptian title. 1 ' ' It is, therefore, specially interesting to find the bee coupled with the Palace
or,

'

'

perhaps originally

sign (No. 41) on the sealing P. 75 a and on P. 20 b grouped with two recurring formulas which there is good reason to regard as royal titles. 2 On P. 86 b it is associated with a spray or flower with speckled leaves. On P. 54 a it is collocated with the sieve

trowel and eye formula. On P. 76 a there stand in (No. 54) and followed by the connexion with it an animal's head, a heart-shaped figure with grain (No. 93), and the ' gloved hand (No. 9 b). The latter article, as already suggested, may have been a special badge of the bee-keeper's industry.
' '

'

PLANTS AND TREES.

uncertain flower, probably a by itself on the clay label P. 81 b.

87.

An

lily

with recurved petals.

The

sign appears

88.
g, P.

a,

P 31
h, P.

b,

P. 81 a

c,

P.

no a
k, P.

d, P.
b.

86 a (cf.

P. 100 b);

e,

P.

85 a

P. 109 b

54c;

i2i;/, P. io4

d;

86

judge by the more detailed reproduction on the Minoan frescoes this flower, with the stamens on either side of the central petal, is rather the crocus or saffron than the lily. It appears in a very similar shape on the early wall-

To

The flower painting of the 'Saffron Gatherer' from the Palace at Knossos. had, no doubt, a distinct commercial value and supplied the dye which produced the brilliant yellow robes like those of the dancing women on one
of the Knossian Miniature Frescoes.
1

See Newberry, Scarabs, pp.

30, 31,

and

p. 239,

below.

See below,

15.

2i 4

SCRIPTA MINOA
The
its
lily,

which evidently had a religious value

It
is

in

Minoan

cult,

is

distinguished

petals. by form that appears as the crest of the lion's head, No. 74 above. On P. 86 a, icob, and, apparently, 81 a, this sign is associated with the 'plough', on P. 85 a with the human leg and arms. It is found once with the mallet and serpent On the Phaestos Tablet it (P. 54 c) and once with the Y-sign and serpent (P. 104 d). appears among other vegetable signs, prefaced by f and followed by numbers. It had
'

two highly recurved side

this latter flower in a conventionalized

'

there certainly an ideographic value, as referring to the plant It is possible that k represents some other plant.

itself.

which appears on the clay label P. 86 b in association with the mallet, certainly seems to represent a different flower from the preceding. It bears a resemblance to a peony, the medical qualities of which were celebrated in antiquity. The peony itself grows wild in Crete. I have seen plants with excep89. This
sign,

tionally large flowers in the glens of

Mount

Dicta.

90.

a, P.

37

b,

P.

34 (combined with
b,

lion's mask).

which probably represents the most correct form of the sign, rises from the summit of the facing lion's head or mask (No. 74). a is seen beneath the horned owl on the signet P. 37. The sign is perhaps rather a conventionalized form of the iris than of the lily. Like the lily itself it seems to have had religious associations in Minoan art.

The

fleur-de-lis.

Type

Compare

the Hittite

Tr>

Hamath

(Wright,

op.

/.,

PI. IV,

11.

2 and

3).

grouped with the double axe and gate on P. 29 d. It is probably a conventionalized flower of a kind seen on seals of the primitive pictographic class. The quatrefoil that forms its central element closely corresponds with the four-petalled This became later a plain flower which is the Egyptian word sign for wn = to open
91. This sign
is
'

'.

four-limbed cross.

Griffith, Ptahhetep, p. 24.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

215

T
92.
a, P.

/
; ; ; ;

P.

i8c;

ii c (Class A, i) ; P. 28 c, 77, &c.

-,

b,
;

P.

//,

6 a (Class A) c, P. 23 a, &c. d, P. 20 c e, P. 30 d P. 28 c /, m, graffito j, P. 645; k, P. 1033, &c.

; ;

inscriptions, passim.

The Y, or />s/ sign as it may be conveniently termed, represents a plant. have here a striking example of the process already noted above (p. 113), by which the simple linear forms of primitive graffito pictography are brought to life as it were Whether types a and b, both belonging to by the more advanced glyptic style.
doubtful.
P. 10

We

Class A, were intended to stand as a vegetable form or not would have remained But in types d-g found associated with the same leg and gate formula on
'

'

see the progressive reaction of the ideographic sense of the figures transforming their simple traditional outline. Shoots spring from the sides of the stem, and triple fruits and flowers rise from the summit.
In / and m, on the other hand, the influence of the graffito style again asserts itself, and there is a reversion to the old Y-like form. Y of the later Linear Classes A and

we

is

sign forms part of recurring formulas which In the one case it is grouped with seem to represent official titles (see below, 15). the human leg and the gate, in the other with the (No. 30) and

practically identical with this. It will be seen that the present

'template' (No.

19).

important part in

The plant itself must Minoan economy.

evidently have played an

in

The
this,

possibility

must not be altogether scouted that we have

The

as in the succeeding sign (No. 93), a reference to the silphium trade. silphium plant was surmounted by three globular clusters of

flowers, of

which the central one

than the other two.

in Fig.
1

On

generally shown much larger archaic tetradrachms of Cyrene, as shown

is

FIG. 100.

Early Tetra-

drachm of Cyrene.

loo,

2 In later, summary the three globular bunches appear as of equal size. same is the case, and types like the annexed, the representations taken from small figures of silphium in the field of Cyrenaean coins, 3

show a

a
1

approximation to certain forms of the present character. This sign occurs twice with the saffron ', No. 88 (P. 104 d, no a),
distinct
'

No.
J

L. Miiller, Numistnatique de fancienne Afrique, I. p. 9, 2. The reverse of this coin is irregularly incuse.

So, on a

gem

in

my own

collection

exhibiting a

upper part of the plant. The gem scarabaeoid of the latter half of the and was found at Ithome in Messenia.
*

is

a chalcedony

fifth

century

B. c.

silphium plant between two storks, three shoots with globular flower bunches of equal size proceed from the

Op.

'/.,

p. 89, Figs. 334, 339.

2l6

SCRIPTA MINOA
territorial
'

and twice with the 'mountains' or

In the case of sign (P. 77, 103 c). P. 77 it is also accompanied by the jar, No. 49, associated on P. 87 b with the silphium ' fruit (No. 93), and on P. 52 b it is seen with the grain jar '.
'

A
floral,

Hittite sign

may
in

and

also

'^

in a more be compared with this, which occurs at Jerabis, a geometrical form a ; while at Bulgar Maden 3 it forms a purely
1

linear sign

afc.

The same,

or a closely allied symbol,

is

also seen

on the

lion of

Marash. 4

93.

a, P.

87 b

(cf.

P.

ma); b,P.g8b;c,

P.
;

76

a.

Heart-shaped figure with specks or grains possibly the heart-shaped silphium plant. This sign occurs on P. 87 b with two jars such as No. 49.
it is

fruit

of the

grouped with

and the revolving

'

star (No. 108),

in a following a similar type of jar. On

On
P.

76 a it is associated with the glove ', an animal's head, and the bee. The specks In the enclosed in this figure may indicate either seeds or some other edible product.
P.

case of the bee and the jar (No. 50) it above, similar dots are seen within a

is

suggested that they represent honey. In No. 51, circle, and a closely parallel sign (Y) of the Linear

associated with horses) resembles an Egyptian hieroglyph signifying grain, or corn for horses. What then is this heart-shaped object containing presumably edible grains ?

Class

B (where

it is

The

suggestion

is

offered that

we have here

the grains indicating the seed within. On 6 represented as in Fig. ioi, together with grains around representing the seeds.

the heart-shaped fruit of the silphium, early hemidrachms of Cyrene this fruit is

Vl

i)

FIG. ioi.

Early Hemidrachms of Cyrene.

Considering the evidence of very early connexion between Crete and the opposite Libyan coast and the importance of the silphium trade in the early historic period it seems by no means impossible that it formed an article of import in Minoan times.

The
1

climatic approximation
Hittites, PI.

between the Cretan highlands and those of Cyrene

4
1.

Wright, Empire of the

Op.
tit.,

VIII. B,

5.
6

Wright,
L.

op.

tit.,

PL XXVII,

III. col. i,

end.
I.

'
3

PI.

XIX.
].

1.

6.

Miiller,

Numismatiqt<e de

tancienne Afrique,

Ramsav and Hogarlh,

II.

Prehellenic

Monuments of Cap-

p. 12, Fig. 30.

paJocia, PI.

5,

beginning.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

makes

217

it possible that, like many other North African plants, it was indigenous in the but there is no evidence of this. So far as is known the silphium is now extinct, island, and all that is clear is that it was an umbelliferous plant, resembling the Narthex of

North Cashmir.

at

94. a, Knossos
This
is

A
;

glyptic form of this sign occurs as the sole type of a seal-impression found P. 62 c. b, P. 50 c ; c. P. 121 (cf. P. 52 c, 65 c) ; d, P. 85 b ; e, P. 82 b ;

apparently a corn-grain in flower. This character is purely ideographic, being found either alone or accompanied by numbers. Thus on P. 82 it is followed by the number 3, on P. 85 b by 32, on the Phaestos Tablet by 20. On this tablet the present sign is one of a series of vegetable forms. the beginning of the tablet what seems to be a less perfect variety than that given
is

At
in c

preceded by the gate and double eye

'

'

'

',

which probably form a separate introductory

sign-group.

95.

P.

20 b.

Perhaps an ear of barley.

96. Apparently a gourd or pod. This sign is only found on P. 26 c. It is there grouped with two trees and an uncertain sign, perhaps the sieve (No. 54). The figure shows a certain resemblance to some forms of the Egyptian Carob-pod sign (cf. Griffith,
Hieroglyphs, PI. V.
57).

*,

97. a, P. 13 b (Class A) P. 8 5 a;/P. 8 3 b;# P. 46

'

b,

P. 12 (Class

A)

c,

P.

26 b, c

d, P.

122 b (Berlin)

b.

Tree with ascending branches. It is repeated six times on P. 26 a, combined with On P. 83 b it is the ship and arrow ', and recurs twice on face c of the same seal. On a Late Minoan lentoid coupled with the gate and on P. 85 with the human leg
'
'
'

'

'

'.

L. Mailer, op.

at., I.

106-9, an d Supplement,

p. 18.

E e 2

218

SCRIPTA MINOA

the Idaean Cave, now in the Museum at Candia, a votary is seen blowing a conch-shell before an altar, behind which is a sacred grove with trees in the same

gem from

conventional
cylinders.

style.

Similar degenerations of the sacred

tree

occur on Cypriote

"
98.
a, P.

The

8 a (Class A) ; parallel branches.

b,

P. 783.

Type a stands by

itself

primitive class,

b is grouped with the mallet (No. 24) This sign bears a considerable resemblance to a Babylonian ideograph.

on a prism-seal of the more and goat's head.

X,
55b;
e,

v%
99.
g,
a, P.

26 d;

b,

P. 24 c;

c,

P.

443;

d, P.

P.

rood;

P.

1023;

P.

loia.

This seems to be a forked branch or double spray, with its foliation only on one side. It was tentatively described in my first work on Cretan Pictographs as deerhorns It is placed in three instances before the arrow sign (P. 24 c, 101 a, 102 a), in the latter case supplemented by the double axe It is also coupled with the ship (P. 100 d), the mallet, sepia (P. 26 d), the forearm holding a weapon (P. 44 a), and the gate and Y.
'

'.

'

'.

is

It is probably a vegetable figure not clear.

a kind of forked or bent branch, but the evidence

a*

^ a

I
*

VP

100.
iO2a;
e,

a*, P.

4 b; a, P. 39;

b,

P.

121 (Phaestos); b*, P. 49;

c,

P.

n6c;

d, P.

101

a,

P. lood.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

219

Perhaps a palm branch. This sign is distinguished by showing off-shoots on only one side. On the Phaestos Tablet (P. 121) it occurs twice in a series of vegetable signs
followed by the number 20. the arrow, and the serpent
'

or

'

'

idol
99),

(No.

on P. 101, 102, and the Palace

'

grouped with the sieve (No. 54), It is found twice above the or zigzag human bust where it is also associated with the arrow, forked branch
the signet P. 39
'.

On

it

is

'

'

'

'

'

sign.

In general appearance the present spray, though only one side of it is delineated, resembles the palm branch. The culture of the date palm, which still grows within the
island,

began

in

very early times.

Minoan or Mycenaean Daemons are seen on a gem

watering nursling palms.

V
V:
f.

101.

a, P.
a.

63 a

b,

P. 112

(cf.

P.

60

b,

107

a)

c,

P. 104 a

d, P.

93 b

e,

P.

icob

P. 103

The resemblance of the better executed of these sprays to the olive spray. as rendered on the Minoan frescoes leaves little doubt as to the of the olive-tree foliage meaning of this sign. The extensive Magazines of the Palace at Knossos with their The
have been largely devoted to storage of oil, which must have been a principal source of wealth to the Minoan kings. On P. ii2b this sign stands entirely by itself, and must therefore be regarded as an ideograph. On the signet impression P. 63 a two olive sprays are placed in the field above a ship. This may be an allusion to the export of oil from Minoan Crete,

huge store jars seem

to

probably to Egypt. In two cases, P. 60 b, 107 a, the olive spray occurs in groups On P. 93 b it containing the double axe, the special sign of the Palace as a sanctuary. ' b see it with the ox-head is collocated with the P. we 107 silphium fruit (No. 93). On
' ' '

and

'

store-house
e

'

(No.

45),

and

it is

also

grouped with the

'

ox-head

'

on

P. 107 a.

Types

and /seem

to be simplifications of the

same

sign.

102.

a, P.

64 d;

b,

P.
1

70

b.

See

my

Myc. Tree and Pillar

Cult, p. 3, Fig.

i.

220

SCRIPTA MINOA
(cf.

Leafy spray. Type a might be an olive spray the plough and the mountains on P. 64 d.
'

No.

101).

It is

placed between

'

$*

d.

103. a, P. 112 c (cf. P. 113 b); b, P. 121; c, P. nib; d, P. 121. Branch of fig-tree. The characteristic form of the leaf is traceable in a, and it is noteworthy that c (P. in b), in which the leaves have been run together so as to form a purely geometrical figure, occurs after the same linear formula on a tablet (P. 112) which presents a strong parallelism with the other. On the Phaestos Tablet again we see the two alternative forms b and d.
played a considerable part in Minoan Crete. The special sanctity of this tree is well shown in a steatite vase relief from Knossos, and again on a signet-ring from the same site, in both of which it stands within a temenos. 1 But figs had also an importance as an edible product, and from the large size of some burnt

The

fig-tree evidently

specimens found stored in a jar in the Royal Villa of Hagia Triada it would appear that they had been improved by cultivation. On the Phaestos Tablet this sign appears among a series of vegetable forms. It is followed by numbers = 24 and the crook It is associated with this and other varieties of the 'crook' sign on P. in, 112,
'

'.

and

113.

Y
104. Possibly another vegetable
clay label P. 85 a. character of the Linear Class
sign.
It
is

coupled with the 'arrow' on the

this.

B may

be compared with

105.
It

Two

parallel rods with small shoots or

P.

buds

at the top.

This sign
30)

is

found
sign.

on the clay sealing

64 b between the pronged instrument (No.

and the

apparently belongs to the plant series.

1

See

my

Myc. Tree and Pillar

Cult, pp. 5,

6 (Fig.

2),

and pp.

72,

73 (Fig. 48).

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

22.1

106. Spray
apparently, the
'

a kind of gable. This sign is coupled with the arrow on the clay sealing P. 59 b.
in
'

'

'

cross

pomme"e and,

SKY AND EARTH.

.*,**,
107.
a, P.

68 a

b,

on
'

signet-seal
'
'

c,

P.

50 a
'

d. P. 40*.

c is associated

Star or rayed solar symbol. Types a, b, and d occur by themselves on signets with the fence and half-boar on the seal-impression P. 50 a.

108.

a, P.

28 b

b,

P.

23 c

c,

P.

9 (Class A)

d, P.

in a

e,

P.

25

d.

Day-star or sun with revolving rays. The graffito type d, which is grouped with the (No. 30) and 'silphium fruit' (No. 93), recurs in the Linear Class B. d, which is the central sign on the amethyst scarab P. 9, is there imperfectly delineated in order

between the two vase signs that accompany it, so that the curving rays are only shown above and below. Type b occurs as a small subsidiary sign after the adze and trowel formula on the royal signet P. 23 c. e may be regarded as a variant of types a and c.
to facilitate its insertion
' ' '

'

'

'

a
109.
27 b, P. 4* b (repeated five times). This sign obviously stands in close relation to the Solar disk without rays.
a, P.
;

preceding.
sign (No.
5).

It

is,

however, hard to distinguish them from certain forms of the eye

222

SCRIPTA MINOA
Type
b
is

identical with the

also the Chinese

Sun symbol.
= times
(vices).

Egyptian hieroglyphic for sun and day '. It is Type a with the concentric circles resembles forms of
'

'

'

the Egyptian sep

110. This sign might be described as the 'sun and four moons'. with the mountains ', human arm, and two crescents on P. 25 c.
'

It

appears

c
Ir

C
P. iioa);
c,

111. a, P. 27 c

(cf.

P.

25 c);

b,

P. 91 b

(cf.

P.

60 b

d, P.

nob.

crescents which apparently have the value of separate disk appears over another signs appear over the rigging of the ship on P. 27 c. On P. 25 c two crescents are seen above the human arm, ship (see P. 4 a above).

The

crescent moon.

Two

and might be regarded as a fill-up motive the fact, however, that they precede the sun and moons sign (No. 109) makes it probable that they have a lunar significance. The graffito form b is found with the Y and saffron sign (No. 88) on P. 91 b, and with the Y alone on P. no a; c appears between the 'double axe' and 'olive spray' on P. 60 b. This sign must be distinguished from the mere curved stroke which is the form that the unit figure often takes on the hieroglyphic tablets.
:

'

'

'

'

The

crescent

is

also found

among

the signs of both the linear classes.

+.
112.
e,

a,

P.

27
c,

a,

c;
;

b,

P.

26 d

(cf.

P. 32);

c,

P. 115 a,

77, &c.

d,

P.

593, &c.

P. 103 b, 104

&c.

P. 103 a.

The
from the

cross
initial

pommee.

The knobbed ends

It is

of

its

X-sign. placed indifferently the limbs are curved so as to present an approach to the svastika. This sign occurs passim. In two cases, P. 108, n6a, it is grouped with the and sepia (No. 60), and it twice appears alone with the single axe (P. 83 a, 86 b).
'

on

limbs distinguish this character In type d its side or upright.

Y
is

'

'

'

of

The cross appears as a religious symbol on a series of seals found the Snake Goddess at Knossos, occasionally taking the svastika
in the
'

in the shrine

form.

It

remarkable that
(see

same repository an equal-limbed marble cross was

It is

also found

Knossos

',

Report, 1903, pp. 88 seqq.).

also found incised

on the Palace blocks.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

The simple
cross
is

223

widely diffused

in primitive pictography,
is

notably

among
it

the

American Indians, as a star sign, and there the same significance in Minoan Crete.

evidence (see

op. at., p. 93) that

had

The equal-limbed cross appears among the signs of the Linear Class A, together with a variant in which the cross-bar is shorter than the upright stem. This latter
type was generally adopted in Class

of the linear script.

Ill

This character is only found 113. Conjecturally a rain sign, and so = 'water'. on the sealing P. 70 b, together with No. 117 below, and the 'branch' or 'tree' It is common in both classes of (No. 97). The lower stroke is but faintly indicated.
In the latter case the lower stroke is often broken into two or three the linear script. linear In the series it is sometimes superposed, in an ideographic sense, sections.

on certain vessels as
supposing that sense = 'water'.
for

if

to

show what they were intended

to hold.

There are reasons

in

this

may have been

originally a rain sign

and thus

a secondary

Vertical lines descending from a more or less horizontal figure representing the 1 The Egyptian hiero'sky' or 'clouds' are a regular feature in primitive rain signs.

glyph for rain

(vertical

waved

lines

descending from the

'

heaven

'

sign)

may

also be

compared.

Ir

M
'
26 d
;

X'
114.
&c.
'

a, P.

29 c

b,

P.

25 c

(cf.

P.

32

d)

c,

P.

d, P.

64 d

(cf.

P.

96

a)

e,

P. 107

c,

or Territorial sign. graph for mountains and valleys, and so

;/ P. nob, c; g, The Mountains

P. 103
'

c.

riktimme

(Tarkondemos)J^

= country. 2

have here a widely distributed pictoOn the boss of Tarcountry or land It is found again in Jerabis (Jerablus), 3 and
'

We

'

'

'.

apparently on the
1

monument near Bulgar Maden 4 ^V^

seqq.
8
*
;

Mallery, First
p. 373.
1

For North American Indian analogies see Garrick Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
II (1887),

and

cf.

Wright,

op.

Ramsay

Halevy, Rev. Semilique, 1893, p. 55 seqq. cif., PI. IX, J. II, 1. i. and Hogarth, Prehellenic Monuments of Cap1.

Sayce, Trans. Bibl. Arch.,Vo\. VII, Pt.

EVANS

pp. 297

padocia, PI.

II,

2.

224

SCRIPTA MINOA
The Egyptian

P^-O
'

wen = mountains
'

is

applied in the

same way
'

as a determi-

native for

'

districts

and

countries

'.

As

one or two heaps of corn in the middle, in The Accadian symbol, again, signifying a plot of ground, exhibits a form [X^| closely
'.

= granary, it reappears, with ^~\f} snut the simple sense of a plot of ground

observable between the pictographic symbolism of old Chaldaea and that of the Cretans of the Minoan Age. The
a remarkable coincidence
is

parallel to the above. In this connexion

linear

form of the Accadian

ut-tu

with a plant growing out of it. a vessel resembling the libation vase (No. 40), are seen symbolic or conventional representations of the plant growing out of the ground, recalling the Accadian
version almost totidem lineis

|^^ shows a sun above the symbol of the ground But on some Late Minoan gems, side by side with

/^\

|rj.

In another case the ewer divides the two

symbols ^ .\/.
use, but certain

In the age to which these

gems belong

the linear script

was

in

symbolic types which had probably a religious or talismanic value seem to have been handed down from the conventionalized pictography of the prepossible that in Crete this sign denoted the mountain country as opposed to the plain. But its connexion with the 'plough' sign rather points to a more general territorial designation.

ceding period.

It is

noted below (see p. 262), this sign is grouped in a special way with the 'plough' (cf. P. 26 b, where the latter sign is several times repeated) and the 'mallet' On P. 64 d, again, we find it (No. 24), and the same collocation appears on P. 29 c. associated with the plough and olive leafy spray
is
' ' '

As

'.

On
and on
is

P. P.

96 a

it

noc

grouped with the 'mallet', 'arrow', and 'libation vase' (No. with the 'mallet', 'arrow', and 'sepia'. In two cases (P. 77, 107
is
it

40),
c) it

placed beside a kind of jar (No. 49). On P. n8a 'double axe', and on P. nob with the 'Palace' sign.

occurs with the 'arrow' and

d.
115. a, P. 92 b; b, P. 109 d ; c, P. 933; d, P. 114 c. Type a with the closed ends seems to be the most perfect form of this sign. Its ' meaning is enigmatic, though the specks within recur in the case of the grain jar ', the
'

silphium

fruit

',

the disk (No. 52),

'

and elsewhere.
coupled with the 'plough' and numbers; on Palace sign.
'

On
P.

P. 109

d and 933
sieve
'

this sign is
'

92 b with the

and the

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

What

225

appears to be a later version ot this sign with its parallel zigzags generally reduced to mere S-shaped forms and with the intervening dots omitted recurs in both
the linear classes.

A.

"

C
B.

116.

A.

P. 49*

c.

B.

a, P.

87 a

b,

P. 74 b

c,

P. 114 b

d, P.

113

b.

More

especially in its glyptic form, A,

this sign

resembles the forepart of a ship

'

with a high prow and with two or three masts. On the prism-seal P. 49* c, where it is seen in its glyptic aspect, it shows two disks beside the masts ', which may be com-

pared with a similar disk in front of the mast of the ship sign P. 57 a*. It is here ' On P. 87 a it appears with the angle coupled with the trowel and arrow On P. 74 b it is seen alone and also on P. 114. On (No. 42) followed by numbers = 30.
'

'

'

'

'

'

'.

appears at the end of a sign group containing the 'fig-branch' and two varieties of the crook sign.
P.

ii3b

it

'

'

117. This enigmatic sign occurs on the clay sealing P. 70 and the ' rain sign (No. 113).
'

b,

between the

'

'

tree

118. This sign P. 823.

is

grouped with the

'

'

gate

and

'

human

'

leg

on the clay label

119. This

somewhat complicated
a.

sign

is

only found with No. 60 k and No. 125 on

the clay label P. 95

120. This wholly enigmatic character appears on the stamp of the cup handles from Palaikastro, associated with the duck and the jug (No. 47).

Ffa

226

SCR1PTA MINOA

121. This sign

is

found on P.

in c

after

No.

124.

o
a.
b, P. 513. this character remains uncertain. Type a is associated with the of The meaning b with the calf s head and bee. goat's head and the revolving star symbol,

122.

a, P.

28 b;

'

'

'

'

This sign recalls the Egyptian hieroglyph for

'

kidney

'.

123. a, P. 102 b; b, P. nod c, P. 62 b. This figure somewhat resembles an (*). Type a is grouped on P. 102 a with the Type b appears on P. nod in 'grain jar' (No. 50) and the 'zigzag' or 'serpent'. company with the sepia and the cross pommee ; c with the arrow ', followed by the
;
'

'

'

dog's head (No. 72) and gate.

124.

a, P.

me;

b,

On
it is

P.

in

c this sign is
'

grouped with the

87 c. found with another uncertain figure (No. trowel before numbers.

'

P.

121).

On

P. 87 c

V
125. This sign occurs on the clay label P. 95 a with Nos. 119 and 60 k.

\
126.
gun.
It is

Uncertain sign, somewhat resembling the stock and barrel of an old-fashioned grouped with the single spray and the double axe on P. lood.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

227

127. This character, the lower angle of which to the right is conjecturally comIn my former work on Cretan pleted, occurs on the four-sided bead-seal P. 44 d.
Pictographs
Hittite
it

^^ as

was grouped among floral forms from its apparent analogy to the seen on the monument at Ivriz. The dot which occurs above both
1

symbols might be interpreted as representing the head of a stamen or identification, however, remains uncertain.

pistil.

The

on clay label from Idaean cave c, P. 88 b. Perhaps a rude linear presentment of a tree with horizontal branches. Analogies for this simple rendering of trees will be found on early Cypriote cylinders, where the figure with horizontal arms alternates with one like No. 97 c with upturned slanting branches. That these two types, however, as Minoan hieroglyphs, bore different ideographic meanings appears from the recurrence of both forms almost side by side on the
128.
a, P.

122

b,

Berlin Tablet.

Both the variety a with three horizontal bars, and b with only two, survive as signs of the two linear classes. Type b is also found in the Cypriote script with the signification pa.

t
a
129.
a, P.
is

L. 3;

b,

P.

8b.
;

Type a
seal P. 8b.

found on the Phaestos whorl

b occurs with

g and

on the early prismin the

A
Classes

sign

closely resembling this and B.

is

abundantly represented

two

Linear

, 130.
a, P.

^
(cf.

61 c
1

(cf.

P.

80 a);

b,

P. 114

P. 90)

c,

P.

114 c

(cf.

P. 104 c)
III.

d, P.

90 b.

Ramsay and Hogarth,

Prehellenic

Monuments of Cappadocia, PL

228

SCRIPTA MINOA
The delta sign is well represented on the graffito documents. In four cases (P. 90 b, On P. 80 it is c, H4C, H4d) it is found associated with the 'arrow' and numbers.

104

of extremely alphabetic aspect seen on certain bone inlays found in the Palace of Knossos. 1 It appears as an adjunct to another sign of the Linear Class B, and is also seen on the Orchomenos Vase. 2 The Phaestos Disk presents a variety of this sign showing dots within.

placed beside the fence (No. 46). This sign occurs among the series of marks

A triangle of more

acute form

is

an Egyptian determinative of land

'

'.

131.

a, P.

112 c;

b,

P.

nib.

This character consists of a combination of a

is

Z with

the preceding delta sign, and

'

therefore of a
It

compound

nature.

occurs

in

kindred formulas on P.

in

and

112, in

connexion with the 'fig-branch

sign (No. 103) and variations of the 'crook' sign (Nos. 32-35).

E
132. The E-like sign is seen on the early prism-seal P. 8 b. The incision was badly executed and the probable intention of the engraver was to produce a sign still more closely resembling an E.
It is

grouped with R (No. 44

h)

and

C.

133. This sign occurs with an unit on the tablet P. 120, where it is followed by the threefold repetition of the crook (No. 31 k). Ht on P. 100 b may possibly be a variant
of
this.

The

sign

is

common

to both linear classes.

N
134.
a,

A/
b,

Phaestos whorl
is

The N
1

sign
See
'

; b, P. 53 c. both on the Phaestos whorl and the sealing P. 53 found,

associated

Knossos', Report, 1901, pp. 118, 119.

'

See above,

p. 57, Figs. 31, 32.

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

229

with a simple vertical stroke which in the former case appears to be a sign rather than a number.

A variant of this sign

appears

in

the Linear Class A.

/.
I,

I
c

135. The meaning of this sign is uncertain. It may be thought to resemble a pin with an eye in the middle like the early forms of bronze pin found in Cyprus, Egypt, It occurs on the prototype of a Northern class of fibulae. Italy, and elsewhere latter in the case with Y. P. icoc, 103 a, c, and 105 a, coupled
possible that a glyptic form of this character may be detected in a signand leg formula on a small prism-seal in the preceding the common template ',
It is
'

Candia

Museum

recently published by Dr. Xanthudides.

DECORATIVE ELEMENTS ON THE SIGNETS.

or incomplete figures have not been included in the above list, such as the second sign on the left of P. 113 b. Two partially obliterated figures occurring before the numbers on the upper line of the tablet P. 120, one of them of apparently a vegetable nature, have been also omitted. It must further be remarked that, in addition to the above
'

A few uncertain

list
'

of signs, other devices

are found on the signets, which it seems safe to regard as fill-up ornaments due to the horror vacui of engravers rather than as having a true ideographic value. In some cases, as on P. 23 b, c, we find elaborate decorative designs clearly

demarcated from the hieroglyphic groups, or, as on P. 3 c, 7 b, 17 c, occupying a separate These designs, as has been already pointed out, are of special chronological value for the comparisons they offer with the decorative motives on pottery and
side of the seal.

other materials.

There are however certain other figures, in the form of scrolls, coils, and sprays, which are so embedded as it were in the hieroglyphic groups that it is difficult, apart from their decorative character, to separate them from the actual signs. In my original
of the conventionalized pictographs several of these devices.
list
I

had, under express reserve

it is

true, inserted

But the new material supplied by the

graffito inscriptions

on the clay documents

has provided a useful criterion for determining the true character of these figures. From their non-appearance in association with the linearized inscriptions that appear on
UpoiarnpiKai <r<f>payiSi( roO Movo-ft'ov 'HpfixXeioti ('K(j>. This bead-seal is of 'Apx- 1907, PI. VI, 387 and p. 153).
1

acrobats, perhaps connected, as Dr. Xanthudides suggests, with the Taurokathapsia, and on face b a bull.

yellow cornelian from Mallia.

It

shows on

face

a two

23o

SCRIPTA MINOA

the clay bars, labels, and sealings we may justly infer that in the case of the seals they are merely in the nature of superfluous flourishes.

The

following are

some

of the most typical examples of these decorative figures

2
136*.
a, P.

<*".
;

sc,

24b;

b,

P. 50,

24 b

c,

P.

290;

d, P.

22

c,

and

cf.

P. 3C.

sign should perhaps be simply regarded as a decorative flourish. In P. 22 c and 3 c indeed we see it in a mere ornamental stage with lateral off-shoots. It must nevertheless be observed that in the linear scripts the 3, and occasionally S, appears as

The S

It is possible, therefore, a regular character, apparently with a fixed phonetic value. that in the conventionalized pictographic series, also, it may sometimes have had

a special signification.

seen on either side of the bucranium (No. 38). On P. 24 b it appears ' ' before and after the trowel and adze formula, while c is placed horizontally above

On

P.

5c

it is

'

'

the

'

mountains

'

sign on P. 29

c.

<3
137*.
a, P.

fe
38;
c,

3b
'

(cf.

P. 7 a); b, P.
is

P. 693.

same case as the S sign. It is also seen trumpet under a mere ornamental aspect, as on the seal-impression P. 693, where a triple ' shoot is added. The early type a is grouped with the eye and trowel on P. 7 a, and on P. 3 b is repeated on each side of the trowel. Type b, as seen on P. 38, is placed

The

'

or coil

in

much

the

'

'

'

with the goat's head, 'mallet', and 'sepia' as

sign group.

if

forming an

integral

part

of the

This does not appear as a character

in either of the later linear classes.

138*. This 'coil supplements the arrow and trowel on P. 17. Like the preceding it does not appear among the graffito inscriptions, and is probably only a decorative A more angular sign, however, which has some analogy with it, is found in the fill-up. Linear Class A.

'

The
'

figure itself recalls the Egyptian

'

ft

'

skein of thread
9.

',

the determinative for

'

linen

',

binding

',

&c.

Compare too

the twisted cord

sen =

to turn

back

',

and

CATALOGUE OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS

6 kes, the tied-up bundle = near Tyana, occurs the sign
1

231

'

to

bury

'.

On

the Hittite silver seal procured at Bor,

identical with the Cretan.

' 139*. This bifoliate figure only occurs on P. 47 b accompanied by the sepia and ' double axe. This also should probably be regarded simply as a decorative fill-up
'

'

like the scrolls referred to above.

1

Ramsay and Hogarth,

Prehellenic

Monuments of Cappadocia,

p. 17, Fig. 2.

N9
A.

I,

CRETAN HIEROGLYPHS OR CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHS,

B. INSCRIBED ON CLAY JABLETS & SEALINGS.
A.
B.

A. ENGRAVED ON SIGNETS.
B.

X. WANTING
A.

IN

ONE OR THE OTHER CLASS.

A.
B.

A.

B.

B.

43

x
X

c
17

45

"

i
33

u
X
x

46

wITKT
II

TT

20

A
X
X I
X

14

-X
><
fe

* uv
x
10

22

so

23

37

X
x X
53

X
25

38

X
68

39

Jft X

40

f
x

X
x

"

42

70

N9II.

CRETAN HIEROGLYPHS OR CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHS,

B. INSCRIBED ON CLAY-TABLETS & SEALINGS,

A. ENGRAVED ON SIGNETS,

X. WANTING

IN

ONE OR THE OTHER CLASS.

71

85

1.3

'!'

I?7

V
f

72

86

100

73

67

101

x
x
116

fc^/
74

88

X
fl

130

A A.

75

89

103

90

4 x

104

76

105

77

X
XX

A/

x
I\J

91

106

78

92

TTT
107

x
121

135

79

X
X
94

s
10.

80

109,

123

81

X
X
96

1
97

x
124

82

x/
x

in

r
112

12i

84

98

-x

234

SCRIPTA MINOA

II. $ 10.

ANALYSIS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC OR CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC SIGNARY

Synoptical

Tables of glyptic and

graffito

Synoptical Tables XIII, XIV exhibit a typical series of the signs of the Hieroglyphic or Conventionalized Pictographic script. The signs on the right, which are as a rule of a more pictorial character, represent the glyptic forms as seen on the

The

types.

Those on the left show the graffito versions that appear signets and seal-impressions. on the clay documents. Where examples of one or the other category are wanting a cross (X) is inserted. 1

Analysis of
subjects.

The

total

number of

the hieroglyphs given in the above Tables

:

is

135, divided

under the following heads

i-n.
12-35.

The human body and

its

parts

36-40. 41-46.
47-56. 57-60.

61-84.

Arms, implements, and instruments Cult objects and symbols Houses and enclosures Utensils, stores, and treasure Ships and marine objects Animals and their parts
Insects

.... ......

n
24
5

6
10

85,86.

87-106.
107-114. 115-135.

Plants and trees

Sky and Earth

...... ........ ........

. .

4
24 2

20 8
21

Uncertain objects and simple geometrical signs

Total

135

To
first

The new
materials.

other hieroglyphs, three on P. 120 and the sign on P. 1136, of which the delineations are imperfect. 1 My first list of the Conventionalized Pictographs of Crete drawn up in I895, founded
these

may

be added

at least four

From this total, however, solely on the evidence of seal-stones, included 82 numbers. 7 must probably be deducted as coming under the head of scrolls or 'fill-up' ornaments,*
and 8 on other accounts, 3 while 14 should
the
list.
4

really

be regarded as variants of others

in

This reduces the

total

number

to 53.

5 Subsequent researches from the same glyptic sources enabled me to add 12 The total number of hieroglyphs known previous to the additional signs in 1898." discoveries of 1900 and the ensuing years was therefore 65.

It will

thus be seen that the total

over double that formerly recorded.

number of signs now ascertained to exist At the same time, of the 65 old signs,
(to

is

of

1 Since these Tables were drawn up a glyptic form of No. 116 has come to light (see P. 49* c, above). * Nos. 20, 49, 69, 70, 78, 80, 82. * Nos. 42 (uncertain), 46 (uncertain, perhaps variant of

be grouped with 12), 15 (fuller form of 14), 18 (variant 26 (variants of 24), 30 (cf. 29), 61 (cf. 34), 53, 54 (cf. 52), 55 (ornate type of 71), 62 (variant of 60), 81
of
17), 25,

(cf.6 5 ).
1

47). 51

(n

steatite reliefs of doubtful attribution),

64

(vari'

See Further

not necessarily a hieroglyph), 74 (imperfect, probably the sieve sign), 76

ant of
initial

X), 67 (initial X). 7 2

From

the
'

list

Discoveries, &c., 1898. of given, F. D. pp. 339, 340, No. 92

'

'

(variant of

sepia

')

(cf. Si)*

(a variant of the

'

mountains

'

sign, No. 66), 13, 73

' lion's hand, the must be added, making 12 in

must be deducted, but, on the other mask' and the 'cat' (Nos. 74 and 75)
all.

ANALYSIS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY

235

which only the glyptic types were at first known, no less than 33 can now be recognized in a graffito or linearized form upon the clay documents. A comparative study of existing material shows that, out of the total number of

Respective

135 signs, 45 are only seen in a glyptic form, 43 are confined to the graffito class, glyptic while 45 occur both under their glyptic aspect as seen on seal-stones, and in their and grafgraffito or linearized shape on the clay documents.

""

perhaps legitimate to add 6 other signs, namely Nos. i, 2, 9, 23, 70 and 129, the linearized equivalents of which are found in the documents of the later script, Classes A and B, and which should ultimately be found on the clay documents exhibiting the graffito forms of the hieroglyphic class. This would raise the
this latter class
it is

To

of the signs appearing under both aspects to 51, to which must be added the glyptic form No. 132, which is itself of the linear class, making 52 in all. More than this, out of the 45 signs that have hitherto only been found in a glyptic
total

number

form, 30 at least occur on the seals in groups with other signs of which graffito or It is legitimate to infer that were the doculinearized examples are known to exist. evidence forms would also be found to exist of these 30 signs. fuller, graffito mentary

By

a similar argument

we may

also conclude that the majority of the signs at present

form have corresponding glyptic types. It is possible that a small minority in either class may be confined to the seals or to the clay documents respectively, but the hieroglyphic system itself must be recognized as forming a consistent whole. The discovery of the clay archives with in- Signs true h er u" scriptions of this class sets at rest for ever the suggestion that the signs upon the seal-stones should merely be regarded as having a symbolic or talismanic value. 1 We merely SI have now the irrefragable proof that they formed an integral part of a system of ^! g J|^ s script, which on the seals may have served for official titles and religious formulas, but Their aponly
in their graffito
j

known

on the clay

largely made use of for business purposes. fonfusi" The more cursive and linearized type of the signs seen in the graffito inscriptions ness purmust not, however, be allowed to obscure the fact that the main characteristics of the ^^11
tablets

was

which we are dealing are essentially of glyptic origin. The earliest evidence of this form of script is found on the seals it is on these that we see the once purely pictorial types transformed into the more conventional and abbreviated forms that answer to the hieroglyphic stage. It is this general dependence on sphragistic usage that helps to explain the somewhat extraordinary phenomenon that meets us in the existence of this form of Minoan
script with
:
,

hiero-

largely derived from

sea l s>

script.

has been shown above that in Crete and other parts of the Aegean area, as in Thrace and the Troad and in Egypt itself, a numerous family of linear pictographs and signs existed at a very early period. The later linear scripts of Crete largely
It
'

Contrast

'

^^
picto-

ra hs revert to these primitive types, and the cursive graffito form of writing as seen on the s P clay documents of the hieroglyphic class constantly illustrates the same tendency.
1

See above,

p. si,

note

i.

236
The condifavourable
for applica-

SCRIPTA MINOA

Why
itself

then,

it

may

be asked, should a more pictorial form

ol writing

thus interpose

between the
l

earlier

and the

later class ?

earlyHnear
figures to

The question has ^art> ^he ^ mear

already been to a great extent answered in Section i of this signs were too vague or too variant in their significance for

advanced
script

the purposes of script. The alphabetic forms were in many cases already there, but e ar* ^ writing had not yet attained to that stage of development in which the full value of these simple linear elements could be appreciated. Graphic expression had

constant need to draw on the living source of picture-writing. It was only painfully and gradually, by means of a conventionalized pictography and an elaborate hieroglyphic system, and in turn through the subsequent simplification of this as
rendering, that linear signs began to assert their true signifiThis was but the repetition of a process which had been constantly at work cance. from the earliest days of picture-writing, as we know from the linear signs of the
its

seen in

graffito

Reindeer Period. But the starting-point in this case was not from these simple images, but from the already highly advanced hieroglyphic signs. When, as in Table (p. 114),

see a series of First Dynasty hieroglyphs giving birth to purely alphabetic forms by a mere process of hasty writing we recognize the real process that gave birth to the advanced forms of linear script.
Pictorial
S
ri

we

The conventionalized pictography

of Crete in

its

earlier

stage,

as illustrated

of the old linear

ky the ruder class of seals and pendants shown in Section i, was itself largely of that kind described above as the 'slate pencil' style. Its readiness to take simple
linear

graphs of Crete

forms of a remarkably alphabetic character is shown by several of these examples. It is natural to suppose that certain elements in the advanced linear script
f

Middle

Crete, as

we know them
fact,

Minoan

Due

to

n ne drawings. that, as a matter of

Late Minoan Age, go back to these conventionalized But the interesting phenomenon with which we are confronted is
in the

Egyptian

during the intervening period, or, roughly speaking, the Middle Minoan Age, these simple figures underwent a pictorial transformation. It can hardly be doubted that this pictorial and decorative revulsion which pro-

duced the hieroglyphic script of Crete was largely due to Egyptian example. Extent of Apart from the possible Libyan connexion suggested by some of the Early Cretan remam s of the Ossuary Period ', there is abundant evidence of the direct indebtedness tofUusnce on Minoan of the Minoan civilization to that of Egypt, going back to the first dynasties. Not only s a wn l e family of Cretan vases in various materials of Early Egyptian derivation, but thready" the prototypes themselves, in the shape of proto-dynastic stone bowls of syenite and dynasties s On the native steatite cup diorite, have come to light on the Palace site of Knossos. from Hagia Triada showing a harvest dance, the time is set by an Egyptian sistrum of the simple form in use in the early dynasties. The Knossian faience ware and inlays, which can be traced back to the beginning of the Middle Minoan Age, are themselves derived from Sixth Dynasty Egyptian models and present, as will be pointed out below, makers' marks curiously parallel with the Egyptian. On the other hand, as has been shown above, 2 the brilliant polychrome ware
'

'

See Vol.

II.

See

p. 19.

ANALYSIS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY

of Crete

237

was already by the days of Sesostris a valued article of import in the land of the Pharaohs, and at Abydos the general furniture of a rich Egyptian includes an elegant Minoan vase. It cannot then surprise us that, as shown above, certain Cretan types of signet, such as the half-cylinders, the button '-seals, and with them the three- and four'

sided bead-seals, the earliest vehicles of the Conventionalized Pictographic script, should correspond with types existing in the Nile Valley, nor that in certain cases there

should be an undoubted interrelation in the figures or patterns that these seals More than one Egyptian scarab of Twelfth Dynasty date has been found in present.

from the Thirteenth Dynasty onwards, as we know from the discovery of the diorite figure of Wazd User and the lid of Khyan, Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions must have been familiar to the
Crete,

and

at

any

rate

Ol
^

'^^

denizens of the Cretan palaces. In Crete, with the establishment of what seems to

have been a highly organized dynastic government under the Minoan priest-kings, it is natural to suppose

Imitation a"
hierog?y-

H
TABLE
To

that the

same

striving after stately

monumental expres-

phic style 03

dynast"

may have produced a similar result in the use of a glyptic official script. Moreover, when the very early evidences of relations between Crete and the Nile Valley are fully realized, it cannot be thought sursion

prising that Egyptian models should in this, as in so

XV. Fig.lO4. many

it is

other respects, have been exercising a formative

Comparative Groups of f, Leg, and Gate, influence.

possible to watch the actual transformation of the earlier Transr linear class of signs in Crete under the influence of the decorative glyptic style. It is, rii moreover, specially interesting to observe that on some of the earlier three-sided seals linear

a certain extent

of the same elongated class as that with which the Conventionalized Pictographic signs are chiefly associated, whole groups of characters appear under the older linear guise, Good examples of this are afforded by the grey steatite seal-stone from Knossos
(P. 8),

glyptic in-

another of the same soft material from the province of Siteia from an uncertain Cretan site.

(P.

7),

and

P.

is composed of three linear characters, the significance sign-group on P. of which might not be so clear if a comparative study did not bring out the fact that the same group is of repeated occurrence in a more pictographic shape which brings out

The

the true origin of the signs.

The comparative groups given

sign,

in

Table

XV (Fig.

104) sufficiently

show

that the

first

which resembles a Y, is in its origin a vegetable sign. No. 2, a rude gamma, turns human leg, and No. 3 a door or gate. 1 It must be remembered that, of these examples, the linear group (A) occurs on a steatite seal-stone of distinctly earlier fabric The other more pictorial groups (B and C) are taken (Class A of the present series).
out to be a
1

The

leg

and gate signs by themselves are

also frequently coupled

on the pictographic

seals.

238

SCRIPTA MINOA

from seals of much more advanced technique, executed on harder materials. Here, then, we have the older, hardly recognizable linear signs, reverting to naturalistic forms
This process reactionary

from alphabetic point

of view.

by greater technical skill. On the primitive stones such as the whorl from the Hagios Onuphrios deposit (Fig. 52) and the pendant from Arvi (Fig. 49) the rude outline sketch of a horned head makes its appearance, little nearer nature than the Phoenician ale/. On the pictographic seals this or similar heads take more realistic shapes, and enable us to recognize, as the case may be, an ox or goat. The mere angular crook or T of Table XV (Fig. 104, A. i) clothes itself, as it were, with flesh and blood and becomes a human leg. A mere circle completes itself as a human eye. The upright with cross lines that seems to have stood for a tree takes a more arboreal outline. In this way the more pictorial stage of this sign-writing at times supplies a welcome retrospective key to
the traditional meaning of the primitive linear characters. At the same time, as in the case of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, 1 this calligraphic process, in which we see the reflection of their influence, must from the alphabetic
point of view be regarded as in the main reactionary so far as form is concerned. However imperfectly applied as yet to the purposes of a formal script, the old linear forms,

under the influence of a more

artistic taste as directed

such as

we

see

them both

in

the primitive Cretan and

'

Aegean

strata

and

in prehistoric

Egypt, were those that ultimately triumphed alike in the Late Minoan script of Crete The primitive engraver who made an ox's head with and in the Phoenician alphabet.

an angle and cross strokes, a human leg as a mere bent line, or a tree with an upright and three horizontal lines was nearer the beginnings of alphabetic writing than the artistically trained Egyptian (or his Cretan imitator) whose picture sign informs us of the genus or even the species.' 2 Such phenomena as the survival of some of the primitive linear types and
their partial reversion to more naturalistic forms, in conformity with the new artistic was style, are themselves useful evidences that the Conventionalized Pictographic script

Character
of Egyptian influ-

ence on

deny that this Cretan hieroglyphic form of writing received many suggestions from the Egyptian side. It must be borne in mind, moreover, in this connexion that the Minoan rulers had abundant
to

essentially of indigenous development. At the same time this is by no

means

Minoan
hiero-

glyphs.

No

servile

imitation,

opportunities for a direct acquaintance with the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, specimens of which, as already noted, were actually found in the Palace of Knossos. 3 Yet it is abundantly clear that we have not here to do, as in the case of certain Phoenician

as Phoenician.

handiwork, with mere blundered copies of Egyptian cartouches or inscriptions. A formative influence may well be admitted, but in this as in other directions

Minoan them in

culture
its

was

able, while largely profiting

by Egyptian models,

to assimilate

insular position of Crete was, in fact, of great value in It was open to the securing the independence of the native arts and industries. of suggestion, but not to the domination, of foreign example, and the servile copying
fashion.
1

own

The

Further Discoveries, &c.

(/.

H.

S.), p. 395.
3

Ib.
p. 237.

See above,

ANALYSIS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY

239

Egyptian forms, to be found in the neighbouring Palestinian regions which Pharaoh's hosts could overrun dryshod, is never traceable in the early Cretan handiwork. It is evident that a good deal of the parallelism that exists between the Cretan and Common
the Egyptian hieroglyphs is of a quite general nature and such as is to a large extent ^H hiTro-' shared by all systems of conventionalized pictography. Thus it will be found that the glyphic

heads under which the Cretan hieroglyphs are here classified are almost equally applicable, not only to the Egyptian system but to such widely separated groups as the original picture signs of Babylonia, the primitive 'keys of the Chinese writing, 2 and the Maya pictographs of Central America. 3 Such categories as the human body and its parts', 'arms and implements', 'cult objects and symbols', 'houses' and domestic utensils the earth and sky form parts of a plants and animals It is purely natural classification which might be adopted in any part of the globe. to details that when we come the distinctions of leave their and the mark, only locality prominence given to the lotus and papyrus in the Nile Valley may be transferred in Crete to the saffron or the olive, while the Chinaman perchance chooses a bamboo, and the man of Yucatan a mimosa. Several of the signs belonging to the above categories, such as the sun, moon, and stars, the eye, hand, or other parts of the human body, and certain simple implements
different
1
' '
'

syst

'

',

',

',

and weapons, may be considered to be common to all systems. The parallel appearance of such in Crete and Egypt is not therefore a proof of indebtedness on either side. In some cases, however, the coincidence goes beyond this, and we see among the

Egyptian

certain religious symbols, objects of cult, attributes of royalty, ^wed in" forms of instruments and other objects which present a specifically Egyptian aspect. exceptional

Minoan hieroglyphs

A
will

select series of
in

be seen

comparisons between Cretan hieroglyphic and Egyptian forms Table XVI (Fig. 105). One or two parallels that can hardly be accidental
'

are best explained by religious influences. these are the ankh or life sign a, in The ankh. Among ' its origin a girdle-knot, and the libation vase b, to which a handle has been added.

The ankh
art is

signs of both classes, and in Late Minoan found outlined with the sacred double-axe symbol with an obviously religious It is also seen in the hands of beast-headed demons of Nilotic origin on intention. 4

recurs

among

the

linear

a shell relief from the Palace of Phaestos/'

Perhaps the clearest parallel of all is supplied by c, the prototype of which must undoubtedly be sought in the Egyptian Palace' sign. As pointed out above, the diagonal line which appears in both is probably a simplified linearization of the stair'

Egyptian

Place

The bee, d, was also in Egypt Other sugcase leading to the upper story in the original tower. e stl e Y a symbol of royalty, and it is certainly a suggestive fact that on the seal-impression S dences. P. 75 a it is associated with the Minoan version of the Palace' sign.
.

'

Cf. Delitsch, Entstehitng des dlteslen Schriftsystems,

28.

Oberblick
''

iiber

die

ursprunglichsten
la

babylonischen
chinoise;

pp. 82 seqq. 4 Myc. Tree

6

and Pillar Cult,

'

p. 80.
'

Schriftzeichen.

Remusat, Elements de

grammaire

P.

Scavi a Phaestos, 1900-1901 (Mon. Ant. G. Hogarth, 'Zakro Sealings' (J.H.S., D. XII,Tav.VIII);
L. Pernier,
!9O2, PP- 91, 92,
6

Berger, Histoire de f Ecrititre dans I'Antiquite, p. 49. 3 Daniel G. Brinton, Primer of Maya Hieroglyphics,
warn

and Fig.

33).

p. 198.

H h

240

SCRIPTA MINOA

MINOAN

EGYPTIAN

EGYPTIAN
'AHA'

ANKH'
GIRDLE.

KIMG' PALACE'
DIAGONAL STAIRS}

LIFE SYMBOL

QEBEH'
[LIBATION
XII'"
,
I

RCTN'AL TITLE

VASE

''BEEKEEPER

DVN.

'MAN' 'SPEECH
[-10

ALSO
-.

K'

WORKER.
ACTIVITY

A/EW
SHOULDER Of A\EM
'OFFERING'

N-H'

ANGLE

k
'SET
'

m
TABLE
XVI. Fig. 105.

EGYPTIAN COMPARISONS WITH

MINOAN HIEROGLYPHS.

ANALYSIS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY

The

241

squatting figure e, though it does not exactly reproduce the characteristically Egyptian manner of sitting on one heel, yet conveys a general suggestion of the influence of a common Egyptian sign for man '. l The crossed arms,/ show a close affinity
'

with the well-known ka sign. The figure shown in g, if rightly interpreted as the foreleg of an animal, finds a close analogy in the Egyptian 'haunch '. The palmette, h, Palmette contained in the template sign (No. 19 above), is simply a conventionalized version of
'

an early form of the Egyptian tree sign as seen, for instance, on the Fifth Dynasty

Mastaba of Ptahhetep. In Egypt itself this early tree figure survived, as in Crete, in a decorative connexion, and, combined with the spiral, appears as a motive of a
Twelfth Dynasty ceiling pattern. The typical form of the handle
tools,
legs.
'

the
'

wooden The carpenter's

true that

with a group of Egyptian Tools and handles of which were fashioned somewhat in the form of animals' vesse]s
in the

adze

sign,

/,

links

it

trowel

angle, k, and the saw, m, point to the (No. 18) also finds close Egyptian parallels.

same

Nilotic source.

The

though they certainly imply the indebtedness of prehistoric Crete to Egyptian civilization, might not by themselves supply sufficient proof that the Minoan scribes had set themselves to imitate the hieroglyphic forms of these objects. Some of them appear in a modified form, the Minoan equivalent of the Egyptian libation vase (kabh), for instance, being provided, as we have seen, with a handle in accordance with a usual Cretan practice when adapting Egyptian forms
It is

some of these

tool-signs,

of vessels. 2
In the case of several of these tool-signs, however, over and above their general resemblance to Egyptian prototypes, a certain parallelism with Pharaonic usage is
'

Parallel

^dze'and
' '

3 observable in their method of application. Special attention will be called below to trowel J ' the constant collocation of the adze and trowel signs on the Cretan signets, and the ^" d <,fav^ comparison suggested by the similar grouping of the adze and saw hieroglyphs in Crete c on Egyptian monuments, 4 where they are used to convey the title of a royal builder.
t f\

'

'

'

'

'

'

Another

the 'template', the Egyptian connexions of which are 5 brought out by the palmette contained in it on P. 24 a, is in the same way coupled with the trowel in official formulas on seals, and also seems to enter into the title of
architectural
'

sign,

'

a royal Minoan builder. In view of these comparisons,

it

seems legitimate

to infer that, over

and above the

Special

general formative influence which the Egyptian hieroglyphic system may have exercised on the Cretan, some traces exist of a more direct indebtedness. This, as we have seen, seems to be specially observable in the case of certain signs connected with

cretarf
signs de-

Egypt/'

and symbolism, with the badges and titles of royalty, and the impleSeveral other suggestive ments of the mason's craft and of architectural decoration. comparisons have been also noted in the observations appended to the catalogue of
religious ritual
1

See above, pp. 181, 182. See A. J.E., The Prehistoric Tombs ofKnossos (London, See
p. 267.

PI.

XXXV.

6) this collocation is
'

followed by t*"n
op.
cit.,

= block of
p.

stone and signifies

273).)
6

mason

'.

(See

Pt.

I,

30 (No.

Quaritch, 1906), p. 149.

3 4

See above, pp.

187, 188.

On

the Mastaba of Ptahhetep (F. LI. Griffith, Ptahhetep,

H h 2

242

SCRIPTA MINOA
'
'

Such, for instance, are the hand holding a curved instrument signs given above. crook (No. 32), the circle containing dots (No. 52), recalling the (No. 16), the and No. 122 suggesting the ideograph for kidneys '. Egyptian granary sign,
'

the The deep, underlying community that unquestionably existed between a very early Minoan stratum of the Cretan population and that of Southern Anatolia would naturally lead and Hittite hierous to look on that side for the closest comparisons with Minoan hieroglyphs.

Were

glyphs
directly related ?

In the catalogue of the Cretan signs given above certain comparisons have been made with Hittite forms. Many resemblances are of a general kind, and the mere

recurrence of such signs as a human hand, a goat's or ox's or ass's head, the mountains sign, an arrow or a conventional flower, need have nothing more than a general
' '

anthropological significance.
Minoan
hieroglyphic re-

It

must also be borne

considerable.
later date

The

that the chronological discrepancy seems to be Hittite inscriptions, so far as they are known, belong to a distinctly
in

mind

cords
anterior to
Hittite.

than the Cretan hieroglyphic system. The full development of the latter took place during the Twelfth and Thirteenth Egyptian Dynasties, and the usage of this quasi-pictorial form of script in Crete seems hardly to have survived the Middle

have seen that in the stratum which at Knossos marks the catastrophe of Empire. the Middle Minoan Palace, and which has been roughly dated, above, about 1600 B.C., 1 the hieroglyphic script had already been succeeded by the advanced linear of Class A.

We

But the

first

manifestations of the Hittite

power on

Thothmes III, lie well within the limits of the New Minoan Period in Crete, where by that time the linear script of Class B was already well established. The Egyptian records tend to show that the high tide of the Hittite dominion belongs rather to the Nineteenth Dynasty and to the age of Rameses II (c. 1300 B.C.), when Qadesh on the Orontes had become one of their principal strongholds. It is unquestionable, moreover, that many of the Hittite inscriptions come down
Difference

the Syrian borders, in the reign of Empire in Egypt and of the Late

general arrange-

in

to a considerably later date than this. Regarded as a whole the Hittite characters are of more complicated form than the Minoan hieroglyphs, and their arrangement is less simple. It is also to be observed

ment and
forms of
Hittite characters.

and more linearized class, such as is illustrated, for example, by the seals from Kuyunjik 2 or the stone bowl from Babylon, 3 present very few obvious resemthat the later

Parallels observable.

blances to the linearized types of the Cretan hieroglyphic script. Among the more striking parallels that have been noted above between the

Cretan and Hittite series are the wolf's head with protruding tongue (No. 73), the ass's head (No. 68), the fleur-de-lis (No. 90), the plant sign in the form of a Y, and
'

'

the possibly floral sign, No. 127.

Metal
seals.

certain parallelism is also to be noted between some of the metal seals of the It is true that the distinctive Hittite class and the Cretan seals of the 'signet' class.
Hittite form, like that
1

from Bor, 4 has the lower plate or matrix of the seal attached
4

See

p. 31.
PI.

L. Messerschmidt, Corpus InscriptioititHt Hf/fiticanini,

2
'

Wright, Empire of the Hittites, PI. XVIII. 1-8. Op. at., PI. XXV (Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., May, 1885).

XLII.

6.

ANALYSIS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY

to the loop

243

signets hitherto known, moreover, are cut out of stone, though, as pointed out above, the character of some of the clay impressions, notably P. 64 a, tends to show that Minoan metal types also existed.

by three

lion's legs.

The Cretan

surrounded by a decorative ring, curiously recalls some of the Hittite seals. Considering the dominating at one time filled Minoan in East Mediterranean lands, the culture the position by possibility must not be excluded that certain elements in the early Anatolian culture were influenced from the Cretan side. That, in any case, the Hittite seals in question
This
latter

example, with the characters

in the central field

are of distinctly later date than the Minoan 'signets' is beyond all possibility of doubt. In comparing the two hieroglyphic groups it must be further observed that several Absence of

of the most characteristic of the Hittite signs are. conspicuous by their absence in the Cretan series. Among these may be mentioned the boot with upturned end, the peaked
.

cap, the tongs or pincers, the knite with curving point, the hare

..,.,..
cult object

acte ristic Hittite

and seated

signs from

eagle,

Minoan
series,

together with other frequently recurring figures of uncertain interpretation. other hand, it is extremely remarkable that the double axe, which is prominent
the

On

the

among

Minoan hieroglyphs and represents a

Asia Minor, should be absent
well to
It is

shared by the old Carian populaInherent

tion of

among
that,

the Hittite signs.

remember, however,

ty ventionalized Pictographic script of em o te region affected by the Hittite civilization took very different complexions in their connexion developed forms, a high probability nevertheless remains that they have some deeprooted elements in common. It has already been pointed out l that the geographical picto-

though from one cause or another the Conof Crete and that of the extensive Syro-Anatolian

position of Crete, as before

brings with
its

it

things an extreme insular outpost of Western Asia, the almost necessary consequence that the most primitive stratum of
all

Anatolia,

culture, together with the earliest

element

The continuity on the Anatolian mainland. inlet of sea between Crete and the mainland of Greece at a time
was
still

indigenous stock, finds its true geological causes which had inserted an
in its

open to the East really imposed this condition, and fauna and flora of the island find their nearest affinities in the neighbouring tract of Asia Minor. When it is realized to what a remote stage of human history picturelanguage goes back, and that even in the Reindeer Period of the West certain signs seem to have become fixed, it can hardly be doubted that the most primitive elements in the Cretan signary fit on to an Anatolian parent stem. The Nilotic or European ingredients must be later arrivals.
'

a land passage for the same reason the

when

'

It is

and

possible, however, to hold these theoretic reserves as to its ultimate origin yet to admit that the general character of the conventionalized pictography of
is

of comparisons other than those of a quite general nature that it is possible to institute either with the Hittite or the The formative influence of Egypt and some Minoan Egyptian series is extremely limited.

Crete

extremely independent.

The number

small borrowings from that side must be admitted, but on the whole the Minoan hlc Sy p It forms indeed an epitome of the system hieroglyphic system is essentially of home growth.
1

"

See

p. 102.

244
essentially

SCRIPTA MINOA
it

of

home

early civilization of the island as

existed about the end of the third millennium before

growth. A record of

our

era.

A certain number of signs (Nos. 2, 3, 7, 8, 10) give us hints of gesture language

arms

Minoan
e

tries, and commerce.

and implements are passed in review, and we see the tools, some of them obviously of Egyptian origin, used by the masons, carpenters, and decorators of the great Cretan p a aces j ne 'lyre' of eight strings (No. 29) shows that this musical instrument had already reached the same stage of development as that of the Classical Age of Greece, over a thousand years before the days of Terpander. We have before us the indications of a mercantile and industrial as well as of a pastoral and agricultural community. The recurrence of the ship sign is specially suggestive, and if Nos. 92 and 93 may be interpreted to stand for the plant and heartlike fruit of the silphmm we have already proofs of maritime and commercial inter]

course with Cyrene. The ingot (No. 56) illustrates the medium of currency otherwise recorded by the clay tablets of the linear class and by the actual deposit of bronze The varieties of vases and other domestic ingots in the Palace of Hagia Triada.
utensils are

spinning and bee-keeping industries seem to be represented by the spider (No. 85) and the bee (No. 86). Among domesticated animals we see more than one kind of ox and may watch the

numerous.

The

supersession of the Cretan short-horn, the Bos Creticus of Boyd Dawkins, by the longThe horned Urus breed of cattle prevalent throughout the later Minoan Age. frequency of the goat sign makes it probable that we have not always to do with

Swine and horned sheep are also the wild goat, but also with a domesticated variety. found, and the head of a dog, perhaps of the big Molossian type, otherwise represented on the gems. Species of wild animals are illustrated by the lion's mask and wolfs
head, and in No. 75 we see the cat already acclimatized in the European area. The goats may in many cases at all events be intended for the Agrimi or Cretan wild goat, and the horned sheep (No. 67) recalls the fact that the hunting of the moufflon is
certainly depicted

on the

later

Minoan gems.

and Agriculture is well to the fore. The plough (No. 27) is of constant recurrence, there were evidently a great number of plants and trees under cultivation. No. 94 shows the grain of a cereal in flower, No. 95 is probably an ear of barley, No. 96 apparently a gourd, and the olive branch (No. 101) and the fig (No. 103) contribute to the list of signs. An important branch of cultivation seems to have been that of the saffron crocus (cf. No. 88), which supplied the brilliant dyes for the Minoan ladies' robes, and many later
tablets of the

same plant. means so prominent as in the Egyptian hieroThe hieratic element is not by any of the glyphic series, and in two cases where it is traceable, the appearance namely ankh and the libation vase, we have already noted the probable influence of Egyptian
two
linear classes refer to the

In addition to these, however, the double axe and the altar horns religious usage. to the cult of the (No. 37), as well as the bucranium (No. 38), have an obvious reference
great

Minoan

divinities.

245

II.

ii.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SCRIPT

is

The most important question regarding the Conventionalized Pictographic signs How far how far we have to do with simple ideograms or 'word-signs', and how far the phono-6
in

system had reached the phonographic stage syllables or even of single letters.

which the signs have the value of

graphic
fafrfeV?"

In the tablets illustrating the later systems of the Cretan script, the linear characters are generally clearly distinguished from the more pictorial and purely ideographic
figures that follow them, and to which they refer, such as chariots ingots of metal or vessels of special forms, fruit trees and cereals.

and

their parts,

of the signs that appear on the clay documents of the hiero- A few signs m y be glyphic class may in the same way be represented for the purposes of a special ^ and not have had a Some for torial ideoforms, instance, general currency. inventory vegetable rams S like Nos. 87 and 89, of which only isolated specimens occur, or vases with special
certain
,
.

number

contents

may

be placed

in this category.

At most, however,

it

seems that a very small

but the

From the repetition ^o! so proportion of the signs can be referred to this exceptional class. of so many of these hieroglyphs in various groups, and the large proportion of them grams. that are found on the seals as well as on the clay documents, we may infer that they
were of general use as

On
indeed, In

integral parts of the script. the other hand, it seems probable that a large

number,
'

if

not

all,
'.

of the Combinaf

characters could be
is

used by themselves ideographically as

word-signs

This,
in

|Jj"

ra

to a great extent also true of the linear scripts.

phic and

many

cases

we

groups.

Sometimes, single sign a seal-stone. At other so as to indicate the the face of repeated occupies plural times we see a character marked off from others of a group by an X or cross,
the conventional
there
is

find .signs in isolated positions, especially in the earlier class, a

which otherwise occur

often

thrice isolated
word-signs.

mark indicative of a new sign-group or word-sign. Occasionally a dividing stroke. Characters found in such isolated positions may be taken to indicate separate words or ideas, though the same signs when found in groups may have had a purely
It is however possible, as already observed, that phonetic or syllabic value. characters were never used except as ideograms. The mark of separation is sometimes omitted. This omission, for instance,
'

some
is

not Ideogra'

unfrequently observable in the case of the ideographic usage of two signs, the gate ^e^dfrig or door and the human eye which specially characterize what may be taken to be phpnpgra
'

'

'

'

official titles

on some of the
the
'

signets.
'

official"

may gate ' * It is found continually at the beginning '. the title of or Guardian imply Keeper Q ' of a recurring formula, the two succeeding signs of which are the bent human leg and dividing Sometimes it is separated from these by the usual hne sign, but never between them.
or
titles.

Of these,

'

door
'

'

when used

as an ideogram

naturally be taken

to

'

'

^
-

dividing X, as on P. 20 a and 27

b.

In other cases, however, as

on

P.

23 a and 30

a,

246
there
is is

SCRIPTA MINOA
no mark of division between the
coupled
with the
' '

'

gate

and the succeeding

signs.

The
(cf.

'

'

also

bent leg

',

either with

or without the

gate P. 18 a,

1 7 a).

an appropriate ideogram for the functions of an 'Overseer'. It is also of frequent recurrence on the signets, where it is found in connexion with trowel ', by itself or in company with a title relating to building, in which the the arrow-head sign, figures. On P. 27 d we see the eye divided off from the
is
' '

The 'human eye'

'

'

'

by a double line, on P. 33 by an X elsewhere, on the other hand, one group with it (cf. P. 7 b, 19 c, 25 d, 54 b, &c.).
'

trowel

'

it

forms

Cumulative

In addition to the isolated disposition of word-signs we occasionally encounter what may be called cumulative ideographic groups. In this case two or more signs

groups.

with a closely allied signification are placed together so as to cover a more extended This usage was well known to the Egyptian scribes, Thus, on the expression. clay label P. 85 a, a human fore-arm, leg, and crossed arms are placed together per-

haps conveying the meaning of by a saffron flower. So, too, on arrow-head combined as if to give coupling of the adze and trowel
' '
'

'

labour

'

in

various forms.

They

are succeeded

'

'

'

the clay sealing P. 15, we see the axe, lance, and a comprehensive idea of weapons. The repeated supplies a similar example of the same cumulative
' '

method. The collocation, again, of the sacred double axe and the Palace sign on P. 64 c seems to represent the House of Minos' in its double aspect of Sanctuary and It would thus be equivalent to what seems to have been the original sense of Palace.
'

the

Expression

sHe'weas by ideoconjunctions.

on the Phaestos tablet before a series of vegetable figures and signs of quantity seems to mark an official who cornAllied to this cumulative usage bined the functions of guardian and overseer The s tne expression of certain compound ideas by the union of more than one sign. mountains or territorial sign on P. 29 c is connected with a plough, and on P. 26 b it In these cases we seem to have the compound twice occurs between pairs of ploughs.
collocation of the

word The

AaftvpivOos.
'

'

gate

and

'

human eye
'.

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

signification

plough-land

cultivated plains.

In the

same way the heart-shaped

fruit

object enclosing grains store jars on P. 87 b may be

contents.
'

placed after the two reasonably supposed to supply an indication of their Or, again, the inclusion of grains in the jar itself gives the compound

compared above with the silphium

idea of grain jar

'.

From what has been

compound forms
1.

said

above

it

will

be seen that there were both simple and

of ideographic expression.

We find

Isolated word-signs, sometimes repeated, as in the case of Egyptian hieroglyphs, to indicate the plural.

Word-signs of kindred meaning grouped together for the more comprehensive expression of composite idea. a compound 3. Word-signs of different meaning grouped together so as to express
2.

idea.
It

would further appear

that certain

word-signs or ideograms were attached

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SCRIPT

to

247
Determinad
of groups

what may have been phonetic groups without any mark of separation. In this case they would have performed a function akin to that of the Egyptian determinatives. These seem to be often placed at the end of groups. Thus the seated human figure after the sign-group on P. 29 a may indicate that the signs preceding it form a personal name. The human bust after other groups on P. 101 a, 102 a, and 104 a may have a similar significance. In the same way in the tablets of the Linear Class B whole rows of sign-groups are sometimes seen, followed in each case by a human figure either male or female, and probably representing lists of personal names. A variety of considerations lead to the conclusion that, apart from the ideographic usage shared perhaps by all the characters and to which indeed some of them were probably confined the phonographic element was also well represented by the Cretan

Evidences

phic

ele-

hieroglyphs. In a purely pictographic system the number of signs is necessarily very large. Limited " er c Every fresh object, whether made use of directly or indirectly as a means for expressing

an

a separate picture. It is true that in conventionalized systems of pictography such as that of the Mayas or of early China we find the number of rootsigns reduced to a few hundreds. But in such systems they were greatly multiplied
idea, requires in fact

In the present case this composite element is practically non-existent, while at the same time the number of figures is comparatively

by the creation of compound forms.

limited.

can be ascertained from the existing material is, as we have seen, only 135, and from this we may legitimately deduct a certain number of quasi-pictorial signs of special application and not forming part of
total

The

number

of Cretan

'

'

hieroglyphs

that

the general currency. The natural inference from this limitation of the signs

number
it is

were capable of a phonetic

value.

When

that a large proportion of remembered, indeed, that the

is

Egyptian hieroglyphic system, in which the phonetic as well as the ideographic element was well represented, included over 400 signs, it becomes probable that the use
signary. a natural law in the evolution of advanced forms of writing that in proportion Law of as a system ceases to be ideographic, and becomes purely phonetic, the number of signs
It is

of

phonograms was proportionally even more

rife in

the

Minoan

decreases.

In the advanced linear script of Crete (Class B), which has great claims to be of signary 6 considered mainly phonetic, the number of signs is about 100. In the Cypriote syllabary element increases. there are some 54 characters. Finally, in the Semitic alphabet there are 22 letters.

'

That there was a marked ideographic element in the Minoan hieroglyphic system has been already sufficiently shown. Besides isolated ideograms we have at times to do with groups of kindred objects, such as tools, weapons, human arms and legs, which evidently have a cumulative value. But when we come to analyse in detail the sign-groups on the seals and tablets it becomes evident that the conjunction of many of the figures in these groups cannot be explained by any association of ideas, such as the objects themselves would naturally From the point of view of ideography such groups are disparate. suggest.
I 1

Disparate

sign-groups

blewith

248
ideographic usage.

SCRIPTA MINOA
No
by such
collo:

perceptible connexion in ideas seems to be evoked, for instance, cations as the following

It

and the trowel The double axe a store vessel, and a snake. and bifoliate figure. The double axe sepia The mountains sign, the arrow the mallet and libation vase The sieve and bee The mallet, Y -plant and lyre and snake The saw sepia may, therefore, be assumed as a working hypothesis that a phonetic as well as
fish,
'

the

'

human eye
',
'

'

',

'.

'

',

',

'

'

'

'

'

'

',

'.

'

'

'

'.

'

'

',

'.

'

'

'

',

',

'.

Numbers
of signs in

groups compared
with
Egyptian.

an ideographic element entered into the Minoan hieroglyphic system. The phonograms probably consisted, as in Egyptian, of single syllables, open and closed, and double syllables. As a matter of fact an analysis of the average number of signs in the respective groups does not work out very differently from the Egyptian when
deductions are

made

in the

latter case

for

the frequent repetitions of equivalent

phonetic signs with which the hieroglyphic writing was encumbered. The following tables give the rough percentage of the number of characters in the

Minoan groups and of

On
Numbers
in
I

their use in a separate position as single signs

Graffiti.

Seals.

No. of

Numbers
in

No. of

groups, examples.

groups, examples.

Composite
figures.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SCRIPT

phenomena.

249

The palmette

a composite appearance. a rule the figures are simple and self-contained.

placed within a kind of framework (No. 106) has also These examples, however, are quite exceptional, and as
is

On
of the

the other hand, there

evidence of an

artificial

modification or variation of

Artificial

certain signs which,

more than any other

feature, points to the systematic ordering tion of certain signs.

modifica-

Minoan hieroglyphic script. This is exemplified by two of the alphabetiform

131.

characters,

and

J or
its

f.

Thus

the simple form of

No.
the
'

A seen under No. 130 has a small Z attached to This might, however, be called a compound geometrical sign.
character of the variation
is

vertex in

The

artificial
'

more

clearly perceptible in the case of Variations

33, 34,

crook

sign,
is

No.

32,

and the variants given under Nos.

and

of ' crook

'

35.

linked in a special way, as is seen in the Phaestos Tablet, with some quasi-pictorial vegetable figures, such as the saffron and flowering ear of corn, the palm branch, and the fig branch, followed by numbers.

This sign

sign.

suggested above that the crook, as an implement connected with the ingathering of fruit,
It is

may have become

measure.

The

differentiated
it

the symbol of a certain fixed signs which are

in the

'

u U

J J
D.

connected with

same groups would

thus represent variant quantities. The variations of this sign are produced in the most artificial way by means of crossbars or spurs, as will be seen from the annexed

Table

XVII

(Fig. 106).

It is

system

interesting to observe that the same of differentiation by the addition of

TABLE

XVI I. Tig. 106.

Crook Sign.

Differentiations of

belonging to the Linear Class B, The latter of specially connected with numbers and referring to domestic animals.
cross-bars

recurs in the case of

certain signs

these seems to originate in the shepherd's crook. The alphabetiform elements among the Mincan hieroglyphs in many cases repre- Alphabetic These simple figures may forms in sent, as already pointed out, a very primitive tradition.

That they originally depicted objects in a rude infantile style of art compared above to the child's must be inferred by all analogy, and as word-signs they 'slate-pencil' drawings In some cases, as has been shown above, doubtless retained a record of their origin. they came, as it were, to new life under the influence of the Egyptianizing and artistic glyptic style, so that the simple linear form is actually the older so far as the seals are
at

times be regarded

as

heirlooms

of

remote

antiquity.

hieroglyphic signary.

concerned.

gradually linearized

A
of the

we see purely pictographic figures of later convention Minoan the scribes. by fair proportion of the signs belonging to the Minoan hieroglyphic series assume
In other cases
5),

simple geometric aspects.

human eye (No.

Sometimes, indeed, as in the case of the linearized versions of the crossed arms (No. 7), the serpent (No. 84), the figures i i 2

250
are modified almost

SCRIPTA MINOA
beyond recognition.

In these cases a series of examples illustrates the transition from the pictorial to the linear figure. In many other instances, however, we find simple forms of which the origins are obscure.

seventeen of the linear forms represented bear close resemblances with The relation in which the Minoan hieroglyphic system stood later alphabetic forms. to the later linear classes of the Cretan script will however be illustrated in the succeeding
1

Some

volume of this work.

II.

$12.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTIONS

Complicated ap-

pearance of
hierogly-

the later linear script, which regularly runs from left to right, the order of the signs and groups of the Conventionalized Pictographic series is a much less casual inspection of some of the seals and tablets on P. 24 c, for simple matter.

Compared with

phic inscriptions.

example, or P. 101 a seems to reveal a confused medley of signs, the order of which, without further knowledge of their values, it would be hard to extricate.
detailed study of the material, however, enables us to discern that already at this period the Minoan scribes followed definite rules, and that the inscriptions themselves present certain marks which afford a guide to the beginnings and ends of

Clues to
arrangement.

more

groups.
Evidence from clay
bars.

The
tions
is

clearest available evidence for establishing the order of hieroglyphic inscripIt will be seen that on these it was the practice to supplied by the clay bars.

begin the inscription near the perforated end. The other end of the bar blank, but the part near and up to the perforated extremity is inscribed.

may
It

be

left

cannot be

imagined that a starting-point was made away from

this

end of the bar

after

such a nice

must calculation of the space required that the inscription exactly filled the interval. therefore suppose that the scribes used the perforated end for their approximate
starting-point.
flat

We

In the case of a long inscription lower end of the bar, as is seen in P. n6d, e.

it

could run continuously over the

bars the inscriptions start from the perforated end has this necessary corollary. In cases where there is only a single line of inscription the numbers which, as will be seen, succeed and never precede their connected sign-groups are
fact that in the clay

The

found away from that extremity of the bar.

P. 109 a,
Various
directions of the inscriptions.
b, c, d.

Simple examples of

this are seen

on

The
to
left,

inscriptions on the clay bars run indifferently from left to right

is

and from right

more than one line, are continued in a curved or bonstrophedon fashion. The perforated end was laid on the left side when the scribe wished to write from left to right and vice versa. On some bars all the groups start in the same direction. Thus on P. 116 they run On other bars the direction of the inscription varies. Thus entirely from left to right.
and, where there

on

P.

107

we see a
1

regular alternation
Nos.
5, 13,

on faces a and

c the lines

running from

left to right,

32-34, 44, 45, 84, 92, 109, ui, 112, 128, 129, 130, 132, 134.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTIONS

on b and d from right to
boitstrophedon.
left,

251

as

if

the object had been to write the whole inscription

100 the inscription runs from right to left on faces a, c, and d, while on b it takes the other direction. On P. 103, again, lines a, b, and c run from right to left and
P.

On

d from

left

to right.

The

threeit is

and four-sided bead-seals afford evidence of the same

not always so patent as that supplied by the clay bars. labels, like those on the bars, begin close to the inscripns n They generally start on its left side and run round from left to right. In ^ la b els perforation. some cases, however, as on P. 92 a, they run from right to left. 1\\e graffiti on the clay sealings also run either way.

kind of variation, though

The

inscriptions on the clay

the clay tablet P. 120 both lines run from left to right. The Phaestos Tablet shows a more complicated arrangement, the inscription starting from left to right and

On

terminating in a curiously sinuous manner (see below, p. 254, Fig. in). The clear data, supplied especially by the clay bars and labels, bring out the value
of a small recurring mark, which forms a very serviceable guide to the order of the inscriptions. This is an X cross, more rarely +, methodically placed at the beginning The x It is sometimes only put at the beginning of of groups or before isolated word-signs. an entire line, at times of only one line on a bar, thus apparently marking the beginning
' '

initial

of the whole inscription, as, for instance, on P. 109 a. In other cases the first group is It without it, but it is placed before the second, as on P. 103 b, and, apparently, 24 c. is sometimes omitted, but where it occurs it is applied with great regularity as an

and thus has a special value in determining the order of many of the groups, notably on the seal-stones, where the evidence is otherwise not so clear. The initial X mark is sometimes boldly incised and of the same dimensions as the other characters an instance of this being supplied by that to the left of P. 26 a but as a rule it is distinctly smaller. At times it is quite minute, occasionally almost microscopic, as that which marks the beginning of the group on the signet P. 39. The fact that a somewhat parallel graffito group (P. 105 a) showed an initial sign in an analogous position induced me to look for it on the signet with the aid of a lens, and
initial

sign,

by

this

means the small cross became

clearly perceptible.

With

the

same

assistance

discernible before the double-axe sign on the edge at the end of face c of the three-sided bead-seal P. 44,' where the stone is somewhat worn.
is

a minute

of the arrangement of the signs on the three faces (a, b, c) It will of this seal is given in Fig. 107, the arrows indicating the direction of the lines. be seen from this that the whole may be read as a continuous inscription, with lines

'

diagrammatic sketch

in alternate directions, so that if they had been in a single field the arrangement would have been boustrophedon. This arrangement is indeed shown, from the evidence supplied by the initial X marks, to have been adopted on face c. Examples of the same inscription recurring in different documents, and in each case provided with the initial mark, supply some useful illustrations of the methods

running

Evidence
r
r

^M^z

arrange-

This had not been perceived by the artist who drew the enlarged figure of this seal-stone given in Pictographs,
1

The S-shaped

scrolls at the

two ends of b are omitted

as being probably decorative adjuncts.

Sr*c.,

p. 22, Fig. 23, b,

and reproduced below under P. 24

c.

252

SCRIPTA MINOA

of arrangement. These comparisons show that though the direction in which the lines run may be either from right to left or left to right, horizontal, undulatory or there was a fixed method this order. boiistrophedon, really underlying

INITIAL

FlG.107.
Example
of Boustrophedon Order on Prism-seal.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLES SHOWING ORDER OF GRAFFITO INSCRIPTIONS

(DIAGRAMMATICALLY DRAWN).
INITIAL

PtTv.F0

CATION

FIG. \o&.a.
a (from P. 109 a). Shows sign-group followed by numbers (= 250) starting from the of the clay bar and running horizontally from right to left. end perforated
Fig. 108
initial

X- mar kat the

Fig. 1086 (from P. 103 d). a clay bar, but from left to right

Shows

the

same sign-group
(

starting in the

and with the numbers

= 1640)

written above in the

same way as a from the perforated end of same direction and curving down-

wards.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTIONS

PERFORATION TOP OF CLAX 'LABEL'

253

FIG.IOSC
Fig. 108 c (from P.

89

b).

The same group

starting

from the X-mark on a clay

label, left of the perforation.

FIG. ice. #.
Fig. 109

a (from the clay bar

P. 101 a).
left,

The sign-group runs from the initial X-mark horizontally from right curving down at the last sign (the bust ').
'

to

END OF

BAR.

Fig. 109 b (from P. 102 a).

The same sign-group

is

and running from

right to left in a

very undulatory course

seen, starting from the X-mark, here at the perforated end of the bar, for the greater economy of the available space.

In addition to the
sloping, as

initial

mark we
P. 63
b.

on the clay sealing

often find lines of division, vertical or slightly Lines of c This is specially useful in separating boustro-

On phedon groups, such as those on P. 100, or the clay labels P. 80 b and 83 b. P. loo the initial X is superposed on these uprights at the points where the new groups
begin.

At times these
b, c, d.

lines are

simply terminal, giving a finish to the inscription as

on

P. 107

both sides of the label P. 85, the field is divided into two compartments by a horizontal line, the lower compartment of a being again divided by a vertical line.

On

So

too on the Phaestos Tablet, P. 121, a by horizontal and descending line.

we

see the field divided into two compartments

254
Horizontal

SCRIPTA MINOA
On
B
the field
is

regularly divided by same purpose as those of modern Each line generally contains a separate entry, but one with another the Sign-group ruled paper. occasionsuccessive lines form an integral part of the inscription as a whole, and at times part
lines.

the clay documents of the Linear Class horizontal lines, which seem to have served the

ally carried on into suc-

ceeding
line.

apparently the same sentence is carried on into the succeeding line. An interesting instance of what seems to be the same practice is found on the bead-seal Here the field is divided into two by a horizontal line. The initial P. 41 b (Fig. no). cross (here+) shows that the inscription begins with the 'libation vase', while the double
of what
is

axe

marked off as a separate word-sign by a pair of crosses (see As there is no intermediate initial sign it looks as if the group on line i Fig. 1 10, a). In ran over into line 2, and ended therefore in two 'sepia' signs (see Fig. no, b).
in the

lower

line is

FlG.
FIG. no.
Order of Inscription on Bead-seal.

III.
inscription.

The Phaestos

Tablet,

showing the order of the

support of this view

'

may

be cited the
'
'

fact that

on the Dictaean Libation Table the

The
Phaestos
Tablet.

same sepia sign is duplicated at the end of a group. On both sides of the label P. 85, the field is divided into two compartments by a horizontal line, the lower compartment of a being again bisected by a vertical
line.

'

too on the Phaestos Tablet, P. 121, ments by a horizontal and descending line. The lower part of the Phaestos Tablet

So

we
is

see the field divided into two compart-

of

somewhat complicated arrangement,

Investigation of its

arrangement.

but the order of the signs becomes simpler when we recognize certain guiding princiAfter the first two signs, the gate and human eyes which, as shown above, enter ples. largely into official titles and convey the natural sense of guardianship and oversight,
there follows a succession of four triple groups. These consist first of a vegetable sign, the 'flowering corn grain', 'palm branch', 'saffron flower', and 'fig branch' respectively;

secondly, of numbers and thirdly, of the crook sign, P (probably, as noted above, a symbol of quantity), or in its place, in two groups of the lower compartment, another somewhat maeander-like sign.
;

The order

thus arrived at

is

indicated in the above plan (Fig. in), each of the

ARRANGEMENT OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTIONS

255

arrows that show the direction of the inscription also corresponding with a separate sign-group. The inscription in the first compartment runs from left to right and curves downwards. That in the lower division of the tablet also runs from left to right the
;

latter part of

it,

second group
following the

is

however, takes a very undulatory course. Here the beginning of the ' indicated by the initial mark, the maeander signs, as already noted,
'

numbers

after the

palm branch and

for

saffron just as the p in the

103),

compartment.
of
tail

The

last

group, beginning with the fig-branch (No.

upper forms a kind

is

to the inscription,

and (perhaps

want of room) the supplementary sign

here omitted after the numbers.

orientation of individual signs, notably on the signets, greatly depends on the Signs convenience or even the caprice of the engraver. Thus a glance at the seals on

The

Plate II
slanting.

shows the arrow-head

in

The

'

trowel

'

(No. 18)

every position, pointing up or down, sideways or is sometimes seen with its handle uppermost, some'

times
'

it is

placed on
'

below, or it is the template (No.

(No. 24) appears with its handle above or laid horizontally, and the same variation is observable in the position of
its side.

The

mallet

'

19).

quasi-decorative arrangement of the signs on the seals was partly responsible for this variation, as well as the need for packing the groups of characters into

The

a narrow field with the greatest possible economy of room. But the same laxness of usage is also perceptible on the clay documents, where the practical reasons for
it

were
It

less cogent.

must

at the

human

figure, legs

same time be observed that certain types, such as the ship, the and arms, animals or their heads, and many vegetable forms, the

which is clearly pronounced, could hardly be placed in a wholly inverted position. Such designs therefore often supply a trustworthy clue as to the way up that a line of characters is supposed to be set.
pictorial character of

By

itself,

however,

this

evidence

is

not sufficient to

show

in

what

relation such Relation of

In the Egyptian hieroglyphic dtrectfonof figures stand to the direction of the inscription itself. of the the line. face Thus a ship is steered inscription. towards beginning writing the characters
to the left

and animals
in the case

face in the

same

direction.

On the other

hand,

it

will

be shown

of the linear script of Crete this rule is reversed, the direction of such signs as the flying bird, the human figure, animals and their parts, or other moving or movable objects, such as the prows of vessels, being turned to the right

below that

in

conformity with the direction of the lines of the inscriptions. Which then was the practice followed by this earlier hieroglyphic script of Crete ? For deciding this question we have to rely on the more certain evidence supplied Animate,
initial

by the
_.

X-mark referred
that as a rule

to above.

tend to
kgypt.

show

Here the most conclusive examples certainly the Minoan hieroglyphic usage conformed to that of

generally facehiero-

glyphic groups, as

figure laces the sign-group, with numbers immediately succeeding it. On P. 24 a the wolfs head faces two signs, the direction of which, as in the former case, is indicated by the initial mark. The same is true of

On

the label P. 92 a the seated

human

in

EVANS

K k

256

SCRIPTA MINOA

the dogs' heads on P. 86 a and 89 a, of the goats' heads on P. 101 b, 104 a, 107 d, 108 a, of the cat on P. 36, of the bird on P. 41, of the bird's head on P. 21 a. This is perhaps sufficient to prove the general rule, though an exception occurs on P. 26 d,

where the

ass's

head faces

in the

same

direction as the inscription.

II.

13.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC NUMERATION

Difficulties

attending
hierogly-

phic numeration.

establishment of the system of numeration on the clay documents of the the two linear hieroglyphic class is by no means so simple as on those presenting The materials for comparison are not so numerous. They are forms of script. At the same time the naturally limited to the clay documents and are often imperfect.

The

general arrangement of the inscriptions is more complicated. Less assistance than might have been expected is here obtained from the numeral
characters of the Linear Classes

A and

Units.

form hundreds, namely, and thousands of the unit, however, consisting of a small upright or slightly slanting stroke, is already found in the hieroglyphic class, though the more usual figure is a curved line like
a reversed C. 1
In the later Class (B) of linear inscriptions the 10 is invariably represented by a horizontal line. In the Linear Class A, especially on the earlier tablets of that series, we encounter, however, an alternative usage, a pellet or dot being subThis fact has a valuable bearing on the numeration of stituted for the horizontal line.
the hieroglyphic inscriptions, since in these, too, pellets are often repeated in the penultimate position, and must evidently be also interpreted as tens.

to the higher figures there is in these a complete change. The later

B.

With regard

the

Sign for
'ten'.

system the decimal system was in vogue 2 is shown by the fact that in no case does the repetition of a single figure exceed nine. The round sums into which many of the totals add up according to the method

That

in the hieroglyphic as in the linear

Signs for hundred

'

of interpretation here adopted give a retrospective confirmation to this conclusion. In the linear systems the hundreds and thousands are indicated respectively

by simple

circles

and by

circles

raising the

amount

to 10,000.

with spokes, a horizontal line within the latter ( = 10) In the present case we see the pellets or dots repre'

and 'thousand '.

senting tens immediately preceded as, for instance, on P. 105^, 1096, n6b by 3 (Fig. 112). long slanting or upright lines which must be interpreted as hundreds Before these, again, as on P. n6b, looa, 103 d, &c., one or more lozenges appear to
'

which the

signification of 'thousands

'

may

be safely attached

(Fig. 113).

There

is

no

higher sign.
sometimes are made a continuous two curves, as on P. 104 b. These composite = 2 so that the numerical group in figures must each question would read 206.
1

Two

C's superposed

figure of

up to nine, the unit to eight. the hieroglyphic inscription P. 211 appear three small annulets which are possibly an anticipation of the
eight, the 10
3

On

O=

loo seen on tablets of the two linear classes.

The

1000 sign

is

repeated up

to six, the 100

up

to

THE HIEROGLYPHIC NUMERATION

As
in the later linear

257
Fractions.

On the Linear systems, fractions are sometimes observable. a simple angle L, sometimes in pairs one over the other in reversed positions, It is apparently the same fraction that not infrequently appears as a fractional sign.
Class A

meets us

in the

form of

thrice repeated after a 10

and an unit on

P. 104 c (Fig. 114).

In this case the

probably represents a quarter, so that the amount indicated on

P. \\6

FIG. 112.

V
(

vv
(FROM
P. 105? I/)

=
P )04 c j
.

FROM

FIG. 113.

FIG. 114.

Specimens of Hieroglyphic Inscriptions followed by Numbers.

An angular sign possibly representing the the tablet would be nf. appears by itself on the archaic clay bar P. 122 b.
The

same

figure

plan on p. 258 (Table XVIII, Fig. 115), drawn up in accordance with these results, gives a general conspectus of the system of numeration found on the hieroglyphic tablets.

The

largest separate

amounts mentioned
' '

in the hieroglyphic

documents, and the

Separate

only amounts in which the thousand sign is found, are 6400 and 1400 (P. iooa), 2550 (P. loo d), 1640 (P. 103 d), and 1240 (P. 109 b). Generally we see a succession of numerical groups on different sides of a clay bar. The amounts represented, for instance, by the numerical groups on different faces of P. 116, all of which are complete,
read as follows
:

a.
b.

800, 540, 44, 86

483,

= 1470

46 = 529

d.
e.

800
83.
in

These various amounts, which give a total of 2882, stand one another, though there are two sums of 800.
K k 2

no obvious

relation to

258
P. 103,

SCRIPTA MINOA
which
is

also completely preserved, supplies the following

a.
b.
c.

sums

42 = 122 = 80 60, 20
80,

80,

50 = 130

d.

1640.
in this

The
any

total is

here 1972, and

case again the successive amounts do not

show

definite relation to

one another.

NUMERALS OF HIEROGLYPHIC SYSTEM

UNITS

_
__

) OR

|/

)))))oKlUH o

TENS

=10;
/= /oo
;

HUNDREDS-. \ OR

^^
L
*
;

soo

THOUSANDS.
FRACTIONS

= IOOO)

V,

PROBABLY =

3 V-4 VV t! ))))

IDEAL

EXAMPLE.TABLE
XVIII.
is

Fig.115.

Sums

of 100 and

On

P. 107,

where the

inscription

again perfect,

we

reach a more definite result

round numbers.

a
b.
C.

I0

50 20

d. 20.

The

total

phenomenon

therefore here 100, a result which corresponds with a repeated ' observable on what has been called below the percentage tablets of the

amount

is

'

Linear Class B.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC NUMERATION

In the same

259

way

the

first

case to sign-groups seem

three sides of P. 105, where the numbers attached in each to be perfectly preserved, give a round sum in hundreds
:

a.
b.
c.

40,

60 = 100

290
710.

The total is thus noo, a being 100, and b and c together 1000. The remaining side, d, of P. 103 is of an exceptional character, showing three separate = tens, without any hieroglyphic signs attached. The respective groups groups of pellets amount to 70, 50, and 40. On P. 108 c we also find three isolated numerical groups
(one incomplete) without

any hieroglyphs.

The document preserving

Some clay bar P. 100. but sufficient traces remain in

reasonable certainty.

the largest sums is, as already noticed, the perforated of the figures on the bar have suffered from superficial fractures,
all

cases to enable us to

make

out the amounts with

a.
b.
c.

6400, I4OO
50, 300,

= 7800

20 = 370

40
2660,
2

d.

130 = 2790.

just ten times the sum (noo) arrived at from the have here a fresh and addition of the figures following the sign-groups on P. 105. of a tablet a total sum in illustration with round numbers. striking dealing As a rule the numbers follow after sign-groups in the same direction, which, as will Position

The

total

here

is

nooo, or

We

be seen below, may be either from right to left, as on P. 101 c, 103 a, c, 105 a, b, 109 a, d, or from left to right, as on P. 104 c, 105 c, 1096, c, n6b, d, e. In some cases, however, they are placed over the connected sign-group, as on P. 83 b, 103 d, 118 d, or beneath it,
In all cases the numbers, like the signs themselves, may take a curving as on P. 103 b. or boustrophedon course, such as is seen on P. 103 d, 104 b, 108 b, and notably on It may be laid down as a general rule, which also holds in the case P. 100 a and d.

er

o n ""bi et s

of the linear script, that the connected.

numbers never precede the sign-group with which they are

of this system of numeration seems to lie in the possible confusion Defect of between the elongated upright or slanting strokes that stand for hundreds and the
pos^big

The weakness

shorter strokes, at times straight like the others, indicating units. It was probably confusion for this reason that in the later classes of script a new form of the 100 sign was adopted, 3 The lozenge form of the 1000 sign was also discarded consisting of a small circle.

and a figure which stands

spokes
1

in relation to the

new

100 sign

a circle, namely, with

introduced in

its

place.
is

The base

of a fourth upright of the hundreds

just

perceptible.
1

Traces of a sixth pellet

= 10)

* The annulets seen on P. in c of the present series should possibly be interpreted in the same way.

are visible.

260

SCRIPTA MINOA

II.

$14.

CORRELATION OF THE GLYPTIC AND GRAFFITO INSCRIPTIONS: RECURRENT SIGN-GROUPS

Although one class of hieroglyphic inscriptions appears on seals and the other on common to wnat must be regarded as business documents, many of the groups and conjunctions seals and of signs are common to the two categories. That certain formulas and signs should be confined respectively to the glyptic or to the graffito class is only what might be expected, though the comparatively limited field at our disposal makes it unsafe to draw too sweeping conclusions from negative Certain phenomena. Nevertheless, it is probable that from the very nature of things certain n P n'ar to one ideographic expressions should be more in place in one class of inscriptions than in the
Sign-

or the

other.
to be described in the succeeding Section, should be mainly confined to the signets accords with their individual character. Among the specimens of Class II, which alone can be regarded as approximately contemporary

Canting^' badges.

That certain canting personal badges,

'

'

with the clay documents, the cat, lion's mask, dove, horned owl, and fish are peculiar But a very conspicuous example, the wolfs head with protruding tongue to the seals. (No. 73), is also found on the tablets. So, too, the goat's head, which, at times at least, may also belong to the same category, occurs in both materials.
Official

seals

and
'

These animal badges, as will be shown in the following Section, are associated on tne sig nets with certain characteristic formulas, there explained as official titles. These, as it was perhaps reasonable to expect, are less frequent on the clay documents. The constantly recurring group of the human leg and gate is only found in a single place in a graffito form (P. 82 a, Table XIX, a, below). The first two signs of another formula frequent on the signets, consisting of the template and a pronged instrument (b of Table XIX below), also only appear together once among the written documents, The equally common adze and trowel namely, on the imperfect clay bar P. 104 a.
'

'

'

'

the clay archives. On the other hand, the recurring arrow and trowel formula (c in Table below) of the signets is almost equally well represented among the graffiti (P. 80 a, 83

group of the seals

is

not seen

among

'

'

XIX
b,

'trowel' and 'eye' (B n) appear in P. 546 and d, 109*?, n6a, d, <?). 104 b. The sepia and sign of the glyptic series recurs on the clay sealing P. 61 b, on the bar P. iooa associated with the ship, and with an interposed cross on the

zoo c, 104

The

Compari-

This formula, perhaps, as suggested above, a personal name, connects itself with the lion's mask badge. These and other instances of parallel sign-groups occurring both on the seals and
label
P.

'

'

80

a.

same

sign-

groups

and

graffito

on the clay documents are often of service in enabling us to recognize the identity of A comparison of a certain number the same sign under its glyptic and graffito forms. 1 of such groups common to both categories is given in Table XIX (Fig. U6).
In order to simplify the comparisons the signs are represented as running in the same direction, namely, from
1

form.
left to right,

with the exception of

left.

a,

which should be read

from right

to

RECURRENT SIGN-GROUPS

261

Just as some of the formulas on the signets are absent from the graffito series, Recurring so some recurrent sign-groups of the clay documents are not found on the seals. groups peculiar
to

Examples of the latter, with small arrows indicating the direction in which the characters run, are given in Table (Fig. 117).

graffiti.

XX

very notable feature both on the seals and on the clay documents is the Adherence to fixed number of recurring sign-groups in which the order of the characters is rigidly order in
sign-

SIGNS ON

SEALS

CLAY DOCUMENTS
ON

SIGNS ON

ON CLAY

groups.

SEALS

DOCUMENTS

'

\oSa-

(P-94*)

TABLE
maintained.
It

XIX.

Tig.116.

Glyptic and Graffito Versions of Identical Sign-groups.

might have been supposed, for instance, that the signs of the

frequently repeated formula, consisting of the gate, leg, and

Y, tl

^^^I'

would
tends to

sometimes change

their positions.
'

But

this is not the case.

'

The evidence
in the middle,

show

that the

'

gate sign

is

always

at the beginning, the

'

leg

and the

at the end.

So, too, in the formula often associated with

it,

262

SCRIPTA MINOA
sign, <p, is consistently in the middle.

pronged

In the

continually recur in the

same

order.

All this

same way b and/of Table XX indicates a fixed and highly conven-

TABLE

XX.

Fi^.117.
in Graffito Inscriptions.

Sign-groups only found

FIG. 117. a, P. 84 b, io8; b, P. 89 b, 103 ef, loga, n8c,ef; c, P. ioia, 102 a; ef, P. 90 b, 104 c, 114 c,d; The arrows P. 8ia,86a, ioob; /, P. 104 ef, 1096; g, P. 766,93(7, io8rf; /;, P. 930-, iot)d; k, P. io8e, show the direction in which the characters run. Of these it will be seen that b is repeated five times, d four, e and g three. For the undulatory arrangement of c see above, p. 253.
f,

n6.

tionalized

arrangement of the hieroglyphic

script,

very far removed from the more

Intercalated signs
in

or less fluid conditions of primitive pictography. At times, however, an extraneous sign is intercalated in a regular group, as the

groups.

a.z

TABLE XXI. Fig.118.

Transposition of Signs in Similar Groups.

between the double axe and arrow in Table XIX, //. So, too, on P. 96 a we see the arrow sign inserted between the mountains' and the 'mallet' of Table XIX, k.
'

'

angle

'

RECURRENT SIGN-GROUPS
In other examples signs forming
their relative positions.

263

component
2,

parts of a group are seen to shift

Instances
"

from P. 107 b and 83 a respectively, the ox's head is in both cases followed by the double branch, but the barn or store-house sign, with which they are coupled, is placed in one instance at the beginning and in the other at the end of the group. Table XXI, b i (P. in b) and 62 (P. 112 c], exhibits two groups, including what has been above recognized as the fig-branch sign, and composed of very similar elements,
In Table
(Fig. 118),

XXI

and a

'

'

'

'

catforTof

signs in

but differently arranged. sign may be wanting from the beginning of b i. It will be seen that, apart from the conventionalized pictographic figure of the fig-branch, the signs of these two groups, resembling italic /'s and t's, are of a class

already referred to above (p. 249) as probably representing measures and quantities. They are themselves of plain geometrical form, artificially differentiated by cross-lines, The remaining sign, resembling a A with a Z spurs, and other simple modifications.
attached to the apex, may belong to the same category. This conclusion would also account for the fact that none of the above characters, except the & which represents
the prototype of its group, appear on the signets. So, too, as might be expected, the numerical signs are absent on the glyptic series. Good examples of similar variations are also presented by the mallet ', plough ', ' and mountains signs, as grouped together on P. 226 (Table XXI, c i) and P. 29 c
' '

'

XXI, a 2). The mallet here maintains tains is changed. The plough is inserted after the mallet. The
(Table
' '

'

'

'

place, but the order of the sign is also reduplicated in c i,

its

'

plough and mounand the goat's head

'

'

collocation of the

'

mallet

'

and

'

goat's

head

',

as will

be seen on Fig. n6/, recurs both on seal-stones and

graffiti.

II.

15.

EVIDENCES OF OFFICIAL TITLES, PERSONAL NAMES, AND CANTING BADGES ON THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNETS
Minoan

reasonable to suppose that in a general way Egyptian sphragistic usage will Egyptian be found to throw a welcome light on that of the Minoan world. The Cretan seals JJ|f
It is

themselves, as a means of securing property and of authenticating documents, served the same purpose as the Egyptian scarabs and earlier cylinders. 1 There can be no

sphragistic
l

means adopted for these ends, as in so many other departments, Minoan civilization was directly indebted to the example of Egypt.
doubt, moreover, that in the
It has been already noted that the three-sided clay sealings, for instance, specimens of which were found in the hieroglyphic deposit of the Knossian Palace, resemble on a somewhat lesser scale a type in use under the early dynasties of Egypt. It seems probable that, as in the case of contemporary scarabs, the signs on the Minoan seals
' ' 1

For the various applications of Egyptian seals and

series

Scarabs : an Introduction

to the

study of Egyptian Seals

a classified

of characteristic

scarab-types

sec

and Signet-

ings (Constable, 1906).

especially the

useful

work

of Mr.

Percy Newberry,

264

SCRIPTA MINOA

often relate to personal names and official titles, sometimes, perhaps, of a religious It has indeed been observed, character, and also including geographical definitions.

may
in

more than one

region, that the need of expressing

by a kind of rebus the names

of

the earliest operating causes in the persons, divinities, or places has been one of development of pictographic writing.

Like the contemporary Pharaohs, the Minoan priest-kings for such we may and titles, suppose them to have been would naturally desire to have their names
Suggestions from
royal cartouches.

sacred or otherwise, artistically engraved upon their signets. As a matter of fact, the of an Egyptian grouping of signs on the Cretan seals is often highly suggestive cartouche, and the combination of such groups with decorative elements has much in

common

with the designs of a very usual class of Middle Empire scarabs. This is well shown by the beautifully executed prism-seal P. 23, reproduced below type of which
is

in Fig. 121, the principal

a seated cat.

Personal badges
or cogno-

therefore, a highly suggestive phenomenon that we find, especially on the seals, a series of figures, each representing a part, or in some cases, like the above,
It is,

mina on
Cretan
signets.

the whole of an animal, which have every appearance of being personal badges or These occur either as the sole type, as on P. 28 a, 31, actual names or cognomina.
36,

connexion with other signs but in the latter case they are nearly always distinguished from the associated characters by their much larger size witness the cat on P. 23 a, the dove on P. 31 a, the lion's mask on P. 34, and the horned owls on P. 35 and 37. The following signs of this class may be enumerated

and

40, or in

The

lion's

mask with
it.

the fleur-de-lis crest,

P. 34,

with a sign-group in smaller

P.

characters above

The seated
placed by
seal P. 5.

cat,

surrounded by smaller hieroglyphs,

23 a (Fig. 121

a),

and

itself on the signet P. 36. The crouching dog (or wolf), on face a of the primitive hieroglyphic prism-

The wolf's head with protruding tongue alone on the signet P. 40, coupled with sign-groups on P. 24 a, 44 a. It is also seen with the cross on the clay bar
:

'

'

P. i 15 a.

Head of a
Horned
signet P. 37.

long-eared animal, probably an ass: on the fractured prism-seal P. 4.81: owl coupled with fleur-de-lis on the convoluted bead-seal P. 35, and the
:

Dove preening her wings

seal P. 31.
A. fish
:

standing by

itself

on face a of the three-sided bead-

placed by itself on P. 28 a. Spider seen by itself on the primitive hieroglyphic prism-seal P. 5 the adze and 'trowel on P. 296 of Class B.
:

c,

preceded by

'

These signs may well be personal or canting badges, answering

'

'

to the distinctive

In this case we may either suppose that they were simply appellation of individuals. such as Lion ', Wolf ', Cat ', &c., or that the persons referred to bore cognomina
' ' '

OFFICIAL TITLES,
compound names
into

ETC.,

ON THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNETS

265

The lion's mask comwhich these appellations entered. bined with the lily spray, and the special characterization of the wolf's head, dove, and In either case, such name-forms would owl, rather point to compound structure. answer to a wide European usage.
these types parlants are connected with groups or with single word-signs which, both from their apparent ideographic value and their recurrence on seals, we have good reason for identifying with official titles.
It will all

be shown that almost

by
the

specially valuable illustration of these presumably official formulas is supplied 'Family a closely interrelated group, consisting of the gate and human leg, with or without
formulas

y sign,
'

head and trowel

In Table

mA
^ ^^ *^f
',

the

'trowel' and

human

eye,

X ^ >&$

and the arrow-

g^Ule
vices.

a rough diagrammatic form the various connexions in which the canting badges in question stand with these recurring groups, as well as their combinations with certain other formulas of the same
(Fig.

XXII

119)

have put together

' '

in

official

character.
to the

are placed here in the primitive hieroglyphic Class upper section of the diagrammatic Table those of Class B, which must be of somewhat more recent date, are placed below.
;

Those belonging

more

For the sake of clearness the signs are here given in their most normal forms, and are set in the same direction namely, from left to right. The initial X marks have been also inserted where they could be supplied from any of the specimens. In this way the whole series of sign-groups, representing what we may venture to The regard as Minoan titles, is seen to develop itself into a kind of Family Tree
'

'.

personal badges themselves are here shown

generations.

in

some cases

to

recur in successive

The

gate and leg series (A)

is

types of two collateral branches It will be seen that the descendants of these (B n, C n) 'trowel' (C) on either side. constantly intermarry, as it were, with the representatives of the main line (An), that is
to say, that they

taken here as the central stem, with the ancestral human eye and 'trowel' (B) and the 'arrow' and

appear on faces of the same seal-stones as those showing the gate

and

leg.

That several of the sign-groups on these signets are official formulas rather than personal names may be fairly inferred from their continual reappearance over what must have been a considerable period of time. The prototypes of the principal groups A, B, and C are, as we have seen, already found in Class A representing seal types of a distinctly earlier and more primitive age than those of Class B. Those of Class A would in the main belong to the First Middle Minoan Period; those of Class B, to the Second and the Third division of the Middle Minoan Age. The occurrence in several cases of the dividing X-mark on vertical lines of

Ll2

SCRIPTA MINOA

OFFICIAL TITLES,
partition
'

ETC.,

ON THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNETS

' '

267

shows

that
'

among
',

'

eye

',

template

',

trowel

the signs used in this group of formulas, the gate ', leg ', ' and arrow could on occasion be used separately with an
'

ideographic value.
It

further appears that the signs

every case capable of a more

functions.

of in the above groups are in almost or less obvious interpretation, expressive of official
' '

made use

Thus
'

the
'.

'

or Guardian

gate ', as already observed, is evidently appropriate to a Keeper Recurring The bent human leg, indicative of advance, might well betoken a leader, for ^ui as
official title

and express an

analogous to
is

'

Dux

',

'Hye/iwv,

German

The human eye Herzog). Moreover, several signs of the

the natural
class

emblem

or the Saxon Heretoga (the and of an Overseer

'

their

'.

phl

placed together so as to produce The coupling of an adze of Egyptian form with the
as
it
'

signification are the cumulative result referred to above.

' '

same

and of kindred
trowel

found

fication.

in

thus combining

of a
'

does the carpenter's and mason's crafts supplies the collective signification have here a perfect analogy to the Egyptian combination of the builder '.

We
'

adze

'

and

'

saw

to

convey the same

idea,

the fact that this combination entered into

and the parallel is the more interesting from one of the most exalted titles of the Early
'

saw of the Egyptian form, perhaps referring to a similar title, In F, again, we find the trowel coupled with formula occurs given under G. the template sign, as if to mark the title of founder and embellisher
Pharaonic Period.
in the
' '

'

'

'.

The
the
'

prism-seal P. 29, which supplies the formula in which the spider is coupled with ' adze and trowel ', exhibits what appears to be another title of considerable
'

which a double axe and gate are followed by the floral symbol, No. 91. the sealing P. 59 we see the double axe and gate separated by a cruciform
interest in

On
sign.

Considering the special sanctity of the double axe as the fetish of the great Minoan divinities, we may with great probability detect in these combinations a reference
to

some such

priestly title as

Keeper of the Place of the Axe

(Aa(3vpii>0o<s).

Table XXIII (Fig. 120) gives a series of these official signs with their ideographic interpretation and their probable signification when combined. The arrow emblem of the chase or of war, which is coupled with the human eye and the 'trowel seems less congruous in the latter case. It may, however, be taken to indicate that the personage referred to was a hunter or warrior as well as a patron
'

',

'

of

more peaceful
It
is

arts.

possible that though the ideographic element is so well represented in the present series, certain sign-groups should rather be taken as possessing a phonetic value. It looks, moreover, as if in some cases the two elements were combined.

Thus on

(from P. 27 c) the initial sign, a saw of Egyptian form, may, as suggested But the two succeeding above, stand as the ideographic symbol of a royal builder. characters, the 'sepia' and $ (a derivative, as shown above, p. 211, No. 84, of the
are of an incongruous nature, and may have performed purely phonetic functions, as the syllables of a name. As (from P. 34), these same characters prefaced to the lion's mask conveyed, perhaps, the proper name of a prince of whom the lion's
' '

serpent

sign),

268

SCRIPTA MINOA
itself

mask

was rather the personal badge or

appellative.

That the animal figures

connected with the groups should be taken in a personal relation can hardly be doubted. It is interesting to observe that the oldest examples of the gate and leg series,

and 10 respectively, are associated on other faces of the stones, in the one case with a male figure confirming the personal application of the formula in the other with two of the types parlants already referred to, namely,
as

shown on the
;

bead-seals, P. i

SIGNS

OFFICIAL TITLES,
associations of

ETC.,

ON THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNETS

A

269

An

and B

further include the seated cat and the bull's head, and the union of n leads through and to the lion's mask. certain cousinhood is thus

An

further established with the offshoots of the collateral branches

B n and C

n,

including

the calf's head and the

fish.

presented to us a kind of 'family tree' of what, ex hypothesi, regarded as the names and titles of Minoan princes, and bearing on its branches, like so many scutcheons, a whole series of types parlants, in all probability representing their personal badges or cognomina.
closely allied animal devices as those that Similar On badgesreare connected with the earlier group of signets reappearing in the later class. a seal of Class A, already referred to, the leg and gate is associated with a crouching curring in

In Table

XXII may be

then

we have

In

some

instances

we

find the

same or

In H, on the other hand, we see animal, either a wolf or dog (Table XXII). gene^ the wolf's head placed beside the affiliated adze and formula on a seal tions. trowel of more advanced style. The spider, again, which may indicate a connexion with
' '

textile

But these instances of the recurrence belongs to both classes. of personal badges are of a different order from the continuous survival of such official formulas as the leg and gate. They take place per sciltum and suggest a very usual law
industries,
in

patronymics by which ancestral names recur after an

interval, often in alternate

generations.

with various appellative types of a personal nature belonging to successive ages makes it quite conceivable that as the materials for comparison are enlarged, it may be ultimately possible to distinguish the royal names
of similar official
titles

The combination

and dynastic succession

Minoan Crete. some of the ideographs, as well as their persistent recurrence, certainly lead to the conclusion that among them are to be found the titles applied to the actual priest-kings. It is even possible that the name of Minos, which according to the Cretan tradition was applied to more than one prince, may be of the same nature as Pharaoh, which in the Bible becomes almost a personal name,* or the Libyan 3 to have been a native name for and which, Battos, recorded by Herodotus king
in

The

character of

Titles of
j

'

',

compared with the Egyptian royal title Byty.* The original meaning of this latter word, as noted above,"' was equivalent to the bee-keeper' the 'sealer of the honey jars being one of the highest of the subordinate
' '

indeed, has been

worth observing that on the seal-impression P. 75 c the bee is coupled with the Palace sign and that on P. 20 of which face a presents the gate, leg, and Y formula, and face c is the fellow title seen in Table XXII D the bee appears on the remaining side in company with the bent leg and other signs. Of all the groups that may be confidently regarded as official titles the gate and, In its earliest forms leg, sometimes associated with the Y sign, is the most persistent.
titles.

In this connexion

it

is

'

',

cation of
'

Derived from the Egyptian Per-'o, the original signifiwhich was Great House or Palace '. 2 Cf. Pharaoh, King of Egypt,' Exod. vi. n, &c. See Cheyne, Encyclopaedia Biblica, s. v. Pharaoh'. So, too, Herodotus (II. iii) makes it a personal name in his King
'
' '

Pheron
3
<

(or Pheros),

son of Sesostris.
36.

IV. 155.
Petrie,

'

"'

Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, Part I, p. pp. 212, 213. Cf. Newberry, Scarabs, pp. 30, 31.

270

SCRIPTA MINOA
find
it

we

associated with a

human
'

figure.
'

Under a

later aspect

we

shall see

it

closely

connected with the first attempt at human portraiture. The signification of Guardian and Leader implied by the leg and gate is frequently supplemented on successive
faces of the

same
'

seal

by a

title

represented by the 'adze

' '

'

and

'

trowel

',

natural to the

Royal
signet.

founders of the great Palace Sanctuaries, and by its companion formula (Table XXII F), in which the adze is replaced by the template sign, the symbol of interior decoration. It therefore, of great interest to notice that these two characteristic is,
'

formulas, together with that given in cut cornelian prism-seal 1 P. 23, here

of Table

XXII, appear on
(Fig.

the exquisitely

reproduced

121) from a drawing by

the upper and lower spaces of face c of this seal bear a close analogy with part of the foliate designs on a magnificent polychrome vase found on the Palace site at Knossos belonging to the borders of the Second
Gillidron.
scrolls that
fill

M.

The

FIG.

121.

Cornelian Prism-seal found near Knossos.

and Third Middle Minoan periods, and which excels in richness of decoration It must be said of the any other known product of this ceramic style (Fig. 122). seal itself, which was found at or near the site of Knossos, that of all the hieroglyphic
specimens yet found it has the best claim to represent the signet of a Minoan priestIt will be further seen that the striking decorative parallels between this seal king. and the polychrome vessel afford a clue to its approximate date. The prince to whom it belonged would have reigned about the close of the twelfth or the beginning of the
thirteenth Egyptian dynasty, or, according to the the eighteenth century B.C.

new chronology,

in the early part of

The

principal type of face a

is

occupied by the figure of a cat-like animal accom-

formula, and to the right by a snake, which may be panied by the gate, leg, and taken as having a direct relation to the cat, which seems to be the personal badge of

snake, as appears from the contents of early Cretan It is also shrines, represents the chthonic aspect of the Minoan Mother-Goddess.
the
seal.

owner of the

The

Purchased by

me

in

Candia

in 1899.

OFFICIAL TITLES,

ETC.,

ON HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNETS

271

noteworthy that there was found in the Palace Shrine of the Goddess a small figure of a spotted, cat-like animal, which apparently rested on the head of a votary, who herself holds out two snakes. The importance of the personage, of whom we may regard the cat as the canting badge, is shown by its reappearance as the sole type on another

more or

less

see the companion formula (D) set, like the inscription of an Egyptian cartouche, in a reserved space between two arched designs of highly elegant character, each of which seems to contain a triple group of palmettes. This motive, as has been shown above, 1 has a special relation to the lowest of the
three signs engraved in the present group, which seems to be a form of
'

On

contemporary signet. face b of this prism-seal

we

'

template

for

FIG. 122.

Polychrome Vase from Knossos (Close of M. M.

II).

repeating this palmette decorative combination. 2 itself is seen in the arch of the template.

On

another prism-seal the palmette

between two foliate scrolls of bold and beautiful execution, referred to above, is the adze and trowel group. These, like the template sign of face b, may, as already suggested, have reference to the achievements of a Minoan prince as a builder and decorator of a Palace sanctuary, as patron of the arts, and of all that in
face
c,
'
' ' '

On

later tradition

was prefigured by the name of Daedalus.

Signet
s
'

There
the

is,

leg,

moreover, another interesting piece of evidence which directly connects and gate formula, here applied to the cat with the actual effigy of
',

a sealing (Fig. 123) from the hieroglyphic deposit of the beside the Palace, impression of the face of a prism-seal like the above, of the same advanced fabric, with these three characters, there appears another stamp from a seal a
1

Minoan personage.

On

'

'

portraits

"

PP-

PI. II, P.

24

a.

272
of the round
' '

SCRIPTA MINOA
signet

type exhibiting the portrait ot a male head. The features are sharply characterized, with an aquiline nose and the waving hair that meets us in some of the Palace frescoes (Fig. 124). The design must be regarded as the earliest attempt at real portraiture yet discovered in any part of the European area, and that it
Portrait of

should have been attempted at

all

goes

far to

prove that

we have

here the actual

priest-king and his son.

FIG. 123.

Sealing with Portrait Head.

On another curiously Armenoid in its general traits ol a Minoan dynast. sealing from the same deposit the head of this adult male personage is associated with the impression of a second signet showing the profile head of a very young boy,
likeness

We seem here to have before us an example of presumably his son (Fig. 125). an association of the kind for which we have been accustomed to look on the
'
'

coinage of the Roman Empire. It is a natural inference that the

official

formula belonged to the personage with

124.
Portrait

FIG.
Heads
associated on Sealings.

whose

thus brought into connexion. From the contemporaneity of style a indeed, go step further and attribute to the same prince the fuller title as seen on the cornelian prism-seal, together with its personal device, the seated cat. Should this Minoan portrait, recovered thus from the Palace archives at Knossos, be indeed that of an actual priest-king, the architectural references in the titles may
effigy
it

is

we may,

have a

historical

connexion with the building.

PART
III.
i.

III

THE PHAESTOS DISK

SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE DISCOVERY AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DISK
of

account of the Phaestos Disk which appears in Part I of this Results derived from a preliminary study of the photographic copies courteously fur ' her volume, supplied me by Dr. Pernier, was already in print before I had the advantage of studying the results arrived at by the discoverer himself. This circumstance is, in
1

THE summary

some

respects,

not without

its

advantages,

since

the

provisional

conclusions to

which I was led in the earlier part of this work have been derived from an independent study.

at least the

value of having

Dr. Mariani, the editor of the Ausonia, has now supplied me with an advance copy of Dr. Pernier's full and excellent publication of the Disk, accompanied by
detailed

and

careful drawings of the signs

by Signor

Stefani, together with photo-

graphs taken when the object was more fully cleaned. Finally, I have been able to Under these circumstances it seems study the Disk itself in the Museum at Candia.
desirable to give a more detailed account of this unique hieroglyphic monument, and at the same time to examine the conclusions to which its discoverer has been led.

rectangular repository, analogous to the The Disk This repository formed Kaselles' of the Knossian Palace and of Hagia Triada. ni stratum, was to annexe to the at which under an Palace of Phaestos, brought light part
itself

The Disk

was found

in

'

^M

some
within

Hellenistic
this

Although the soil rectangular cavity showed signs of disturbance and contained a few
constructions,

outside

its

north-east

angle.

intrusive fragments,

the

some of them of late Greek date, the prevailing character of ceramic remains found in the same stratum with the Disk shows, as Dr. Pernier

has rightly recognized/' that they belonged to the concluding phase of the Third Middle Minoan Period. The painted vessels represented here and in some adjoin-

same character are in their general appearance identical with those that both at Knossos and at Phaestos mark the close of the earlier Palace. They and to the stratum of at Knossos the Temple Repositories thus belong to the date the alabastron lid inscribed with the name of the Hyksos King Khyan, containing the approximate date of which, as shown above, may be placed about 1600 B.C. It is in this stratum, at Knossos so widely extended, that inscribed documents of
ing cists of the
4
' ' 1

See above, pp. 22 seqq. See Dr. L. Pernier, Ausonia,

i.

Op.
Op.

cit.,
cit.,

pp. 260-4.
p.

1909, pp. 255 seqq.

and

261, Figs. 3, 4;

p.

262, Fig. 5;

p.

263,

p. 257, Fig.

Figs. 6, 7.

274
Disk found with linear tablet of Class A.

SCRIPTA MINOA

the Linear Class

first

appear, and

it

is

a broken tablet of this class was found

full

in the repository

therefore of special interest to note that with the Disk. 1 To the

import of this fact there will be occasion to return. The Disk itself is composed of such refined clay that
'

it

is

compared

by

Dr. Pernier with the material of the

Dr. Mackenzie, however, who is opinion that the clay is not Cretan.
imprinting the characters.

egg-shell cups of the Knossian Palace fabric. a specially competent judge in such matters, is of

'

The Disk

is

Method of varying from 158 to 165 millimetres, while its characters were stamped in relief with punches

not perfectly round, the diameter thickness is from 16 to 21. 2 The

when

the

clay

was

wet,

each

separate variety of sign being impressed in all cases by the same stamp, so that the total number of the stamps used was thus 45, answering to the number of the Dr. Pernier suggests that their material was hard wood or ivory. 3 It seems signs.
possible, however, that they

were of metal

cast in matrices of engraved steatite.

Their

numbers and
arrangement.

Face A (PI. XII and Fig. 128) contains 31 sign-groups, separated from one another by incised lines, and containing 123 signs in all. Face B (PI. XIII and in the same way 30 groups and 118 signs. The total number of Fig. 129) presents characters is thus 241, and of the groups, 61. The ends of the inscription on both sides of the Disk are marked by a line showing five punctuations. Another
curious feature in the

below, is the marking off of certain signs at the beginnings of groups by a vertical or sloping dash below. It will be seen that the arrangement of the inscriptions on both sides of the
inscription,

to be

referred to

Disk, winding outwards from the centre, presents a prima facie resemblance to that of an inscription of the Linear Class written in some kind of ink in the

inside of a cup from the Palace site of Knossos. 4 In that case, however, the inscription is not, as is the present one, spiral and continuous, but consists of two
Arrangement compared with Minoan.

concentric rings of writing round the initial group. On the other hand, on some of the clay bars and labels from Knossos
at
6

we

see

times a curved and incipient spiraliform arrangement of the sign-groups which shows a certain affinity with the more elaborate ordering of the inscriptions on the
Disk.

The guiding

lines

above and below, with cross-divisions between the several

Horizontal lines accompany sign-groups, also find analogies in the Minoan system. the inscriptions in both the linear classes, but on those the ends of the signIn the case of some of the groups are marked by short upright strokes or dots. Minoan hieroglyphic inscriptions, however, we have both the guiding lines above and below, and vertical lines uniting them at intervals which mark the division between one sign-group and another.
1

Op.
a

at.,

few individual

pp. 266 seqq. and Fig. 10. The signs present peculiarities, but in their general aspect

e. g.
6

'Knossos, Report, 1902, P. iooa.

p. 108, Fig.

66

a.

are quite characteristic of Class A. Careful comparisons with linear signs of this class from Hagia Triada are

given by Dr. Pernier on p. 269 (Fig. n). 1 Op. cit., p. 271. * Op. cit., p. 278. Dr. Pernier does not think that the punches were either of stone or metal.

Compare, for instance, P. 100, 117. At the same time, as noticed above (p. 251), the initial X mark more frequently denotes the beginning of the new group. On
P. 100

and elsewhere we see

this

superimposed on the

vertical dividing line.

275

III.

2.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY OF THE PHAESTOS DISK

XXIV

contains a complete synopsis of the signs represented on the Disk. The figures are copied from my own tracings, and, though not so complete as the excellent drawings prepared by Signer Stefani for Dr. Pernier's publication, may yet

Table

have an independent value as regards some details. It will be seen that the subjects group themselves into headings the regular Minoan hieroglyphic series. Thus we have
:

like those of

1-9.

The human body and

its

parts (including articles of dress).

utensils.

10-23. Arms, implements, and

24.

25.

A building. A ship.

26-34. Animals and their parts. 35-39. Plants and trees. 40-45. Uncertain objects.

CATALOGUE OF SIGNS ON PHAESTOS DISK

1.

(see

Table

XXIV)

shows
is

The crown of his head Catalogue figure of a man in short tunic and belt. a slight crest which is possibly due to a summary attempt to indicate that he
Marching
For comparisons with the head-

wearing a crested helmet. 2. Head of a man in close-fitting crested helmet.

gear of the Pulasati, &c., and of a figure on the Enkomi casket see above, p. 25. An 8-shaped 3. Head of a man depicted as bald, or with a close-fitting cap.

on the cheek. This, as Dr. Pernier has suggested, may indicate a or ornament such as appears on certain Minoan figures. a tattoo mark, painted 4. Naked man with his arms bound behind his back evidently a captive. male child. The characteristic outlines of Naked the forepart of the body, 5. the helpless attitude, and the comparatively small size of the figure sufficiently
is

mark

visible

warrant
6.

this interpretation (Pernier,

No.

3).

Woman

a skirt below.

with the breasts apparently bare, wearing a girdle, a short gown, and An object seems to hang from her girdle. The arrangement of the
curiously recalls that of the male Shardanas of the time of whole aspect of this figure with its exaggerated breadth of waist
this
3

hair as noted above

Rameses
7.
I
it

II.

The

contrasts strongly with the

have taken

Minoan and Mycenaean female types. 4 Dr. Pernier 5 would sign to represent a woman's breast.
I

see in

a pileus or cap. symbol of a female divinity.

1 2

have suggested below

a child.

that

the breast sign

is

the

Op.

cit.,

p. 281

and note

i.

The appearance
p. 25.
cit.,

Dr. Pernier (op. cit., p. 281) describes the figure as that of a man nudo o coperto soltanto da una corta camicia '.
'

due
3 5

to the

of a 'shirt' seems to be simply attempt to render the prominent abdomen,

4

See
Op.

He

notes the signs of organic weakness ', which naturally explain themselves if we regard the figure as that of
'

p.

292 (No.

39).

See above, See p. 291.

p. 24.

276

SCRIPT A MINOA

10

19

2ft

II

20

29

38

12

11

H_
WUiJ
31

39

22

AO

D
25
Al

15

2A

A2.

16

A3

17

26

AA

18

36

A5

FIG. 126

(TABLE XXIV).

Signs on Phaestos Disk.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY OF THE PHAESTOS DISK

those of Minoan pugilists. 1 9. This sign has every appearance of being a kind of
8.

277

Fist

bound with

cestus, like

tiara.

There seems

to

be some analogy between this and certain forms that appear in Hittite inscriptions 2 b s ). Fig. 127 b shows an early form of the Persian mitra. (Fig. 127 a
,

a
FIG. 127.

b
Hittite Tiaras.

more cursory form appears in the Minoan series. This 11. Horned type of bow, as appears from seals, is already found in Crete by the beginning of the Middle Minoan Age. In the 'Arsenal Magazine at Knossos, moreover, belonging to the close of the Palace Period, tablets ibex evidently used for the manurelating to horns of the Agrimi or Cretan
10.

Arrow.

The arrow
'

sign in a

or

'

Asiatic

bow. 4

'

'

',

facture of such composite bows, were found, together with others relating to arrows, The Asiatic bow, and in association with large stores of the arrows themselves. 5

a Hittite sign of frequent recurrence. 6 with a central and six peri12. In this sign I have recognized a round shield 7 Dr. Pernier appositely compares it with a Hittite sign found at pheral bosses. 8 If the Phaestos Disk be a matrix, then this sign in its positive He remarks Jerabis.

without the string,

is

'

in the opposite case aspect would show raised bosses and might represent a shield being furnished with circular cavities, it would rather suggest a libation table or It is not without hesitation that I would Ktpvos seen from above. put forward the
:

hypothesis that the sign in question may represent in a conventional guise the Disk It must be said that the repeated appearance of this sign in company with the itself.'
warrior's head in a crested helmet
is

certainly best consistent with the view that

it

The close comparison with the Egyptian sign denoting corn on represents a shield. the threshing-floor must still be noted.
13.
14.

This looks like a knotted club, such as that attributed to Hercules.

tops of the two prominences in this figure as well as the slots in the base are characteristic features of manacles, the slots being for the attachment of thongs.
flat
I

The

am

unable to subscribe to Dr. Pernier's view

that this represents the

'

mountains

'

or regional sign. 15. Pickaxe.

16.
17.
1

We

should expect pointed or at least rounded prominences.

Apparently a knife with curved back. Perhaps an instrument for cutting leather with a curved handle above.
'
'

See above,
Hatnath.

p. 27.
"

Knossos,' Report, 1904, pp. 57 seqq.

* 3
4

Messerschtnidt, Corpus Inscr. Hettit., T. iv. Ib. T. xi. Jerabis. For a fuller reproduction of this see Signer Stefani's
in

See above,
Op. Op.
at., p.

7
"

p. 25 291 (No. 37).

I.

Messerschmidt, C.
tit.,

H., T.

xiii. 7,

and

cf.

T.

xl. 17.

drawing

Ausonia

(p. 290,

No.

30).

p.

287 (No.

23).

278
18.

SCRIPTA MINOA
This occurs in the regular Minoan series (No. 42). carpenter's angle. 19. This resembles a kind of plane. The handle is clearly traceable in one of the earlier photo20. Handled vase.

graphs of the Disk, though subsequent cleaning has effaced it. The mouth of the vessel and the spring of the handle suggest derivation from an original askos type. These features are not found in jugs of Cretan fabric as late as the close of the Third Middle Minoan Period, but are common in the contemporary Cycladic wares
at

Melos and elsewhere.

21.

curious double

single four-toothed Cretan linear series (Class B).

22.

comb or comb with

rake, perhaps connected with the weaver's craft. a short handle occurs as an ideograph in the

wooden musical of double pipes with a long mouth-piece. instrument of this character (Svirala) is in use among the Serbian and Croatian peasants. Dr. Pernier 2 regards this as a column and 23. Possibly a square-headed mallet.
This

may be a form

answering to a particular kind seen on Minoan reliefs and architectural From this view I venture to differ for the following reasons (i) The paintings. columns in question are either continued above the capital or at any rate, as on the (2) The capitals rhyton of Hagia Triada, show a fragment of an architrave above. width themselves are oblong, not square, and with their greatest horizontally. beams/' small show disks on their of the ends (4) They (3) They borders, resembling are probably not capitals at all in the ordinary sense, but oblong frameworks encapital
:

casing the ends of cross-beams.

comparison of this with the traditional 4 my remarks in Part I of this volume. The evidently wooden columns in front terminate below in a kind of reversed cone, another structural point that shows an entire divergence from known Minoan usage. 25. Ship, with, apparently, an arrow pointing from its prow. A pendant object is also seen hanging from the The vessel has a wellforepart of the 'arrow'. marked beak and the stern terminates above in a trifoliate ornament. .From the
24.

Pagoda-like

Lycian architecture

For building. must refer to

'

',

forepart rises a

knobbed indeterminate
in Part I/- the

object.

As noted above
Disk from
all

absence of a mast distinguishes the ship on the the figures of vessels that occur in the hieroglyphic or linear scripts of
'

Minoan

Crete.
' '

the other hand, the combination of what seems to be the arrow sign at the prow with a pendant attachment suggests some curious parallels with Egyptian nome'

On

Especially is this the case with the symsigns of early Dynastic or pre-Dynastic date. ' bols attached to what appear to be the forecastles of Nilotic barges on a remarkable
'

series of painted vases found

1

in

the prehistoric tombs at

3

Nagada and other

sites.

Evans, Through Bosnia, &c. (1877 ed.), I noted there (p. 21) of these wooden p. 22, Fig. 3. 'double pipes' that they differed from the ancient tibiae in having their ends united by a long mouth-piece 'the V has " become a Y.' Op. cit., p. 289 (No. 27).
J.
:

See A.

Even such a small example as that on a clay sealing from Knossos (Report, 1903, p. 56, Fig. 35) exhibits this feature, 4 See above, pp. 25 seqq.
6 6

pp. 25, 26.

See

Petrie,

Nagada and

Ballas,

Pls.LXVI, LXVII.

THE HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNARY OF THE PHAESTOS DISK

These

279

signs, often weapons such as a double harpoon or the crossed arrows of Neith, are attached to poles rising from small towers at what appears to be the prows of the 1 vessels, and a little below these are two slanting appendages which afford a parallel

to that

on the present

vessel.

26.
27.

Horn

of ox.
'

The half-hides or hides seen on one side Hide of animal, probably an ox. ' 2 of a from the Arsenal only seal-impression Magazine at Knossos afford a close
parallel. 28.

Ox's

foot.

Head of an animal of the feline genus, seen in profile. The comparatively head and seem to me to short general outline weigh against Dr. Pernier's view that the head is that of a mastiff/ For its possible connexion with the great Goddess
29.
1

see below.

The facing 30. Head of a horned sheep or perhaps a moufflon, seen in profile. in the Minoan hieroglyphic series (No. 67). head of a similar animal occurs an 31. Flying bird, apparently eagle, who seems to hold a serpent in his claws. The
linearized representation of a flying eagle, both classes of the Cretan linear script.
32.

but without the serpent, occurs in

Seated dove. Compare the dove preening its wings, No. 79 of the Cretan hieroglyphic series, and also the bird No. 82, which, however, seems rather to be
a duck.
4 33. Fish, probably rightly identified with a tunny by Dr. Pernier.

34.

An

insect, possibly a

bee seen from above.

35. plant or tree sign. 36. The forked spray here shown closely resembles certain varieties of what has been described as the 'olive branch', No. 101 of the Minoan hieroglyphic
series.

37.

plant with a fan-shaped flower

and buds on either side of the

stalk.

This floral design is a constantly recurring 38. Marguerite or star-anemone. It may be an assimilation of some feature in Minoan and Mycenaean decorative art.
indigenous flower to the Egyptian lotus as seen from above. & 39. Dr. Pernier is probably right in identifying this sign with the saffron flower, No. 88 of the Cretan hieroglyphic series.

40-42. Uncertain signs. 43. Triangle with internal granulation. Minoan hieroglyphs (No. 130).
1

The simple

triangle occurs

among

the

The

figures of these vessels with a central break to

near, but not

*
3 *

at,

the prow, which has been doubled by a

the line of oars and, apparently, two small towers on either side of it in the middle of the vessel have caused

primitive attempt at perspective,

Report, 1904, p. 57, Fig. 20.

much
is

discussion.

believe that the simple explanation

Pernier, op.

have here to do with a primitive attempt to draw the boats from the front showing both sides, and that the two towers really represent a single forecastle
that
' '

we

Op.
s

cit.,
cit.,

p.
p.

Op.

tit., p. 284 (No. 284 (No. 10). 286 (No. 21).

12).

EVANS

N n

280

SCRIPTA MINOA
may
be a conventional representation

44. Enigmatic figure. 45. Dr. Pernier considers that this sign of water. 1
III.

3.

ANALYSIS OF THE SIGN-GROUPS ON THE DISK

may be

Sign-

P Face A.

'

said to be distinguished by its more martial appearance, since the head with the crested helmet appears in front of thirteen groups, in

Face

(Fig. 128)

FIG. 128. Phaestos Disk.

Face A.

3 twelve cases followed by the round shield. 2 Three others begin with the shield, and shield and crested head together terminate the final In two cases group.
1

Op.

at., p.

287, No. 24.

3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 24, 27, 31.

'

7,

26, 30.

ANALYSIS OF THE SIGN-GROUPS ON THE DISK

'281
Martial
6

again the concluding signs of the group are the arrow preceding a head with a crestless, 1 Two groups, moreover, show the arrow-sign preceding a ship close-fitting cap.

which has also an arrow pointing from its prow. 2 The rapidly marching male figure 4 3 It is also noteworthy that in A 27 the shield begins four groups and ends another. and helmeted head are placed before a representation of a captive with his hands behind his back, and in A 24 before a figure of a heavily draped woman. The shield and helmeted head, or the latter sign alone, in five cases follow what 5 appears to be the figure of an ox-hide, which in two instances is reduplicated/' and the ox-hide itself terminates two of the groups. 7 It is possible that these too have an and the skins of sacrificed beeves. On the Sarcoideographic meaning represent
phagus of Hagia Triada the votaries are seen wearing the skins of slaughtered oxen. The ox-horns, again, appear in five places.*/ Previous to the thorough cleaning of the Disk, Face B was considerably blurred. SignThe more recent photograph, however, from which is drawn my tracing in Fig. 129, ^Face B
gives a practically .complete version of its contents. The head with the crested helmet appears as a terminal in five places a on this side of the Disk, and, as on Face A, this sign followed by the round shield appears
at the

end of the whole

inscription.

occasions at the beginning of a twice, in both places 11 in connexion with the plant, possibly a fruit tree. On the other hand the female breast (No. 7), which is found three times on Face A, appears here in fifteen places, 12 being twice repeated in one group, and begins the whole inscription. It also forms
the
sign of the concluding group. The pagoda-like building also makes its 13 The ship with the arrow at the prow appearance in five places, twice in group 18. 14 is depicted five times, twice in connexion with the ox-hide."
initial

The marching figure occurs group. The woman sign is seen

five times, 10

on three

which appears once on Face A,' 6 is here The cestus introduced into four groups. 17 The analogy presented by this sign with the cestus^^ worn by the Minoan boxers is very noteworthy and attests, as already remarked, 18 religious a certain community in sporting habits between the Minoan Cretans and those who spo used the hieroglyphic script seen on the Disk.
fist

The

armed with the

cestus thong,

This
breast.

pugilistic
It is
'

symbol

in

three cases

is

found

in juxtaposition

with the female

with the

interesting to observe that on a fragment of wall-painting found together ' Toreador frescoes in the Palace of Knossos, and, like these, representing

The sport of the royal arena, straps are seen bound round a female hand. hand, however, in that case was not clenched, and the object may have been simply to strengthen the wrist for the acrobatic feats of the bull-ring in which girl performers
some
also took part.
I

It is

not necessary, however, to suppose that the breast associated

4
7

A 4. A 21.
i,

A
5

12, 18.

As,

9, 12, 15, 18.

*

A 2, 6, ii, A 3, 15.

17.

" B

i, 3, 4, 5, 6,

7 (twice), 8, 10, 11, 13, 21, 23, 29, 30.

25, 26. 28, 30.

A 7,
10

10, 13, 16, 23.

B " B
IS

6,

18 (twice), 21, 26.

10

" B
"

2, 9, 19, 22, 27.

19, 27.

25.
cf.

5, 10, 12, 13.

B 3, 14, 20, II B 3, 15.

*

18

14, 16, 19, 23, 24.

See above,
cit.,

p. 27,
7).

and

Dr. Pernier's observations,

op.

p.

283 (No.

N n 2

282
with the 'armed
'

SCRIPTA MINOA
fist

on the Disk refers to the sex of the

prize-fighters.

The Minoan

evidence points to the conclusion that the sports of the arena, whether of the cow-boy order or those exhibiting pugilists and wrestlers, were held in a religious connexion and in honour of a great Nature-Goddess. Both in Cyprus and Anatolia

FIG. 129. Phaestos Disk.

Face B.

Female
symbol
of -great

the female breast

is

seen as the most natural

Goddess

certain breast-shaped ritual vessels from prevailed in Crete.

.

emblem of a kindred divinity, and Minoan sites show that the same symbolism
l

may

and a breast-shaped

instance a remarkable breast-shaped vessel from Siteia belonging to the First Middle Minoan Period ' scaldino from Palaikastro.
'

ANALYSIS OF THE SIGN-GROUPS ON THE DISK

283

That the head of the feline animal here seen was connected with the Goddess is Feline not improbable, and it is possible that it may, after all, represent a lioness, the regular Rhea In any case it is certainly worth observing that connexion, guardian of the Minoan

^f^

'

'.

It is also noteworthy that breast symbol is in five cases associated with it. 1 a possible in B 21 the female breast is placed before the pagoda-like building In B 18, on the other hand, the indication that it may depict a shrine of the Goddess.

the

double representation -of -the building is preceded by the feline head. It is assumed' in the above remarks that 'the signs on the Disk are not infrequently used in an ideographic? or determinative sense.

Of

this

usage there are several indications analogous to those that are found on Evidences
:

the hieroglyphic'documents of the regular Minoan series. Such are 2 the feline 1. The reduplication of certain figures such as the ox-hide, 4 and the pagoda-like building, which seems to give them a plural sense.
2.

graphic
3 head, element

cumulative ideographic expression by which a picture sign is supplemented by one or more of the same class In this way, for instance, so as to complete the meaning that it is desired to express. the continual coupling of the helmeted head and round shield may be taken to
as a
'

The evidence

of what has been described above

'

complete the idea of a particular class of warrior.

3.

There

head, that is, taken to be used in an ideographic sense. Thus the helmeted head and shield, which as already noted seem to be complementary signs, constantly appear in this position.
It is

a further presumption that certain figures that constantly appear at the right-hand extremity of groups, must, from their general character, be also
is

probable, moreover, that the highly pictorial figure of a pagoda-like building should in all cases be taken ideographically, possibly as representing a temple or The very detailed figure of a woman, and the captive, may also be regarded temples.
as ideographs. 4. By a process of subtraction of elements such as the above
that other characters included in the sign-groups
it

may

be seen

on the Disk must also be capable of standing by themselves with an independent meaning. That there is a decided ideographic element among the characters on the Disk But r c ters " it is impossible to is no doubt right in deny. On the other hand Dr. Pernier ^ .fr
p t that like those of the the at in phonetic. least, concluding ordinary inscription consists, part Minoan class, of phonetic characters. The divisions into which it is broken up may,

as in the other examples, be regarded as representing separate words, with complementary illustrations of an ideographic and determinative nature, rather than as

whole sentences.
of the characters here are evidently used with a syllabic value, and it is interesting to compare the analysis of the inscriptions from this point of view with that arrived at in Part II, 10 (p. 248) above, from the glyptic and graffito inscriptions

Many

of the ordinary
1

Minoan hieroglyphic
n,
12.
'

class.

A 29, and B

5, 10,

A 8,

"

15.

A 28.

18.

"

See

p. 246.

Op.

til.,

p. 295.

284
Numerical

SCRIPTA MINOA
Making

a liberal deduction for the signs that seem to be here used with ideographic values the analysis of the sixty-one groups on the Disk leads to the following

groups.

approximate results

Numbers
I

in

groups.

Number

of Examples.

12

2 3

25
21

4
5

o
61

Comparisons with

Minoan
hiero-

For purposes of comparison the equivalent of these figures in percentages is given below, and is placed side by side with the percentages resulting from an analysis of normal Minoan hieroglyphic groups as gathered from both seals and graffiti.
Percentages derived from Phaestos Disk. Percentages from Minoan Seals and Graffiti.

glyphic groups.

Numbers
in groups. I

2 3

4
5

28 5
III.

4.

NON-MINOAN CHARACTER OF THE HIEROGLYPHIC SYSTEM REPRESENTED ON THE DISK

detailed study of the Disk has only confirmed the view already expressed NonPart of this volume l that it is itself of non-Cretan origin, and that it
of the Disk

more

in the first

probably attaches itself to an old Anatolian element of which some later traditions are This would not exclude an insular area, such as the to be found in Lycian remains.

mainland contact. in his account of the Disk, while admitting * that the signs Dr. Pernier, indeed, show a noteworthy divergence from the ordinary Cretan hierohere delineated glyphs and that the doubt seems legitimate whether the writing on the Disk belongs
once Carian Rhodes,
'

in close

examina-

'

',

yet inclined to regard it as being of Cretan fabric. He considers that the different aspect of the figures on the Disk may in part be due to their possibly representing a different moment in the development of the Cretan hieroto the
latter, is
'

same system as the

'

a development of which, as he rightly suggests, the fictile inscriptions glyphic system of Knossos reveal the last stage.' In part he thinks that this divergence may be due to
the difference in the technical processes employed for the production of the signs, in the one case by means of engraved seal-stones and graffiti on clay, in the other case

'

'

by means of impressions from wooden or ivory punches cut in relief. As regards this last argument it may be fairly observed that the

difference in the Objections

technical processes here exhibited might be regarded as itself only another indication of non-Cretan origin. difference, moreover, in technical production is not sufficient arguments

p^^g

to account for the great variation in the subjects selected for characters. As regards Mirfoan first argument, the archaeological evidence, as accepted by Dr. Pernier himself, origin. shows that the Disk belongs to the lower borders of the same period the Third

the

Middle Minoan to a slightly anterior stage of which the hieroglyphic archives of Knossos itself must be ascribed. 3 It is later, not earlier, than these. The length and unique character of the document is also pleaded, 4 but, here again, Absence of the very copiousness of the material makes it all the more remarkable that many of the J^f" most frequent signs that appear both in their glyptic and graffito forms in the ordinary glyphs of Minoan hieroglyphic system are conspicuous by their absence from the Disk. It is 0"^?"' only necessary to cite such recurring forms as the eye (No. 5), the trowel (No. 18), rence. the broad arrow (No. 13), the double axe (No. 36), the sieve (No. 54), the Y and
'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

to both classes of the ordinary hieroglyphic script. Finally, it is wholly impossible to accept Dr. Pernier's conclusion that the writing System on "' on the Disk represents a local hieroglyphic system of Phaestos parallel to but largely a oca
its

vegetable variations,

common

divergent from that of Knossos and the other parts of the island where the normal Phaestian Knossian type of hieroglyphic script is found. The conclusion itself is counter to the

whole trend of the archaeological evidence at our disposal, which tends to show that in all their main features the successive stages of the advanced Minoan culture present a
1

Section

4,

pp. 22-28.

3 *

See above,

p. 145.
cit.,

Op.

cit.,

p. 297.

Pernier, op.

p.

298.

-86

SCRIPTA MINOA
The phenomena with which
first

we have

curiously identical physiognomy in the different regions. to deal suggest, at least during the Middle and the

part of the Late

Minoan

Age, a highly centralized administration in which there

was

little

room

for

independent
at

Hieroglyphic

hieroglyphic regional developments. any rate throughout the Central and Eastern parts of the island, and an example has been found 1 at least as near Phaestos as the site of Gortyna. But there is a still more decisive fact

The

seal-stones of Crete extend

system of Phaestos the normal Minoan.

which has been strangely

Pernier,- the discovery, namely, during the first year's excavation in the Palace of Phaestos, of an inscribed clay tablet,* the

lost sight of

by Dr.

characters of which essentially agree with those of the normal hieroglyphic system The close concordance that marks the as illustrated by the archives of Knossos.
architecture and disposition of the two early buildings and the character of their contents, as illustrated by the products of the ceramic and other arts, extends itself to
their

form of writing.

Disk belongs to time when

the Linear

Nay, more, we see just the same revolution in the character of the script effected at At Knossos, in the stratum that marks precisely the same epoch in the two Palaces.
the latest stage of the earlier Palace, the hieroglyphic script that characterizes a slightly earlier phase of the same building is seen to have been superseded by the linear script of

Class

was

rife in

Crete.

deposit as that in which the Disk was found, and 4 marking the last stage of the Palace, there occurred, as Dr. Pernier himself has recorded, the half of a clay tablet inscribed on both sides in the normal linear script of Class A.

Class A.

At Phaestos,

in the

same

In other words, the Disk belongs to a time when in Crete itself the hieroglyphic system had become obsolete. But in Anatolia, as we know from the Hittite remains, the hieroglyphic method of writing survived to a considerably later date.
System of Disk nevertheless
parallel

That we see upon the Disk a form of writing representing much the same stage of evolution as the hieroglyphic script of Minoan Crete cannot be doubted. A certain
small proportion of the signs are indeed, as already noticed, the common property of both systems. Dr. Pernier is no doubt right in calling attention to a certain parallelism in the method of arrangement. 5 In both cases we find lines of division, and the Minoan
inscriptions

with

Minoan.

too

show a curving

order.

The

length, and there are the same indications of

the purely artistic side, too, There is a marked naturalism about some of the figures notably the tunny fish, the bird, the insect, and the heads of the ram and the feline animal, which is quite in keeping with the contemporary Minoan style. 6
usage.
Fashions seen on Disk the
antithesis to Cretan.

On

sign-groups are of about the average syllabic as well as of ideographic there are obvious points of resemblance.

Yet this very fidelity to nature is itself a means of informing us that we have here to do with a somewhat different element, with non-Cretan fashions and costumes and ' a foreign system of architecture. Enough has already been said above as to the comparisons suggested by the crested helmets and round shields with the accoutre1

See above,

p. 156 (P. 34).

'

Op.

cit.,
cit.,

pp. 266-271.
p. 298.
cil.,

Dr. Pernier remarks, op. cit., p. 300, il disco ci monstra quale era la scrittura in voga nella piii antica reggia di
Phaestos.'
1

6 '
~

Op.

Cf. Pernier, op.

p. 299.

See above, pp. 25 seqq.

P. 121, p. 179 above.

NON-MINOAN CHARACTER OF HIEROGLYPHIC SYSTEM

ments of the
later invaders of the

287

Delta from the Southern Coasts of Asia Minor and

to the later Philistine region of Canaan. have seen that the woman's figure with its heavy broad proportions presents the most absolute antithesis to that of the wasp-

We

waisted Minoan ladies.

In the pagoda-like building there is a resemblance, that can be hardly accidental, to the traditional Lycian architecture with its projecting beams and hull-shaped roof. It may be here added that the Asiatic horn bow, so well delineated in

No. u, though known in Late Minoan times, was by no means the typical early form in Crete, which was that of the simple European and African class. The recognition in No. 9 of a kind of tiara affords another suggestive link with the Anatolian side. In the Phaestos Disk, then, and the hieroglyphic script that it presents, we may recognize the product of a parallel and closely allied culture existing somewhere on the South- West coastlands of Asia Minor and not improbably in the Lycian area, The people to whom it belonged may well have spoken a language closely akin to that of Minoan Crete, and the strong religious element that we seem to detect in it points to the cult of a Mother-Goddess, in her fundamental aspect and salient attributes a sister
form of the Mother-Goddess of prehistoric Crete.

Disk procb'sei^
allied

probably
existing in
'

to i ia

III.

5.

EVIDENCES OF METRICAL ARRANGEMENT IN THE INSCRIPTIONS ON THE DISK

phenomena presented by

the arrangement The two is it, it may well be asked, that the of the inscriptions on the Disk. inscriptions on both faces of the Disk are so evenly balanced ? That they are not continuous is fully clearly shown by the dotted line, evidently a mark of termination, that occurs at the
It is

time to consider certain remarkable

How

end of each.
that each face

But how was

possible so nicely to calculate the size of the Disk itself exactly contains the required number of sign-groups, leaving not a
it

justed,

vestige of margin ?

be reasonably concluded that the inscriptions as stamped on the Disk were Copied ro protc copied from a prototype showing the exact size of the round of clay required for the [ On the other hand the fact that the inscription on both faces fits into the purpose.
It

may

accounted for by the circumstance that the number of sign-groups was approximately the same on either side thirty-one on Face A and thirty on Face B.

same space

is

In this very close agreement of the number of the groups on the two sides of the Two equal Disk we have an indication of an artificial composition of which, as will be shown inscrl P-. r
.

tions with

It is concluding below, the distinguishing strokes beneath certain signs afford a further proof. word that number of the balance in the on either side is still more probable, moreover, groups
'

In conformity with Dr. Pernier the letters and B have been here attached to certain faces of the Disk, but there is no proof whatever that this was the real order in
even.

which they stood. On the other hand, too, it is to be noted that the last sign on Face A the odd No. 31 is divided from the rest of the inscription on that side by the dash under its initial sign. It is not improbable, therefore, that this sign-group a terminal to the whole of the word as contained represents supplementary inscription EVANS O O

a88

SCRIPTA MINOA
faces.

on both

Adopting this as a working hypothesis, Face B really contains the first is part of the inscription and Face A the second, and the body of the whole inscription
divided into exactly equal parts of thirty sign-groups apiece. distinctive feature which at once strikes us in examining the Phaestos Disk

Initial

is

strokes, incised at
intervals.

the strokes, generally sloping to the right but sometimes vertical, which recur at These are evidently engraved by a hand accustomed to intervals under certain signs.
write from
left

clay

was

still

to right, after the moist.

stamping of the characters themselves and while the

:

The

The The The male child (No. The fist wound with
(No.
8)
;

following signs are distinguished in the above manner The ' carpenter's angle (No. 18) once. 5 female breast (No. 7) three times. 2 The ox-horn (No. 26); three times. 6 marching figure (No. i); twice.
'

3 5); once.

the cestus thong three times. 4

The The

tree (No. 35); once. 7

8 triangle (No. 43); once.

These
strokes not

designed
to

mark

ideo-

graphs.

Such marks are always appended to the initial sign of a group, and there are 15 in 10 9 Since the upright cross lines that divide all 9 on Face A and 7 on Face B. the inscription on both sides into sections must be reasonably taken to indicate the 11 beginning and ending of the several sign-groups, it is obvious that some other explanation must be sought for these more intermittent marks. At first sight it seemed natural to suppose that these strokes below certain characters might perform an analogous function to the short lines or dots which occasionally mark off a single sign of a group both in the hieroglyphic and the linear In that case there would class of inscriptions belonging to the regular Minoan series. 12
be good reason for assuming that the strokes in question indicated that the signs with which they were connected stood alone, with an independent ideographic meaning, and
not simply as a syllable or
letter,

forming part of a word.

But further examination of the material shows that this explanation will not hold. The same signs, which in some places appear with the mark attached to them, recur elsewhere (as shown in Table XXV), in a similar or identical collocation but without
the distinguishing stroke. What then is the meaning of these distinguishing marks, intermittently recurring, always at the beginning of sign-groups ?
Strokes
indicate

beginning
of sentences.

explanation that offers itself is that these strokes indicate the beginning of separate sentences or sections of the inscription. In the case of the first group on either face they are not wanted, as the beginning of the whole inscription is
clearly shown,
1

The most reasonable

A 29, B
B 5,

7, ii.

and they therefore do not appear. B 28. A 10, 17. that

! 3

10, 13.
"

A 31.
'

A
'

10, 13, 16.

10

it was so here. The faint line that

crosses a corner of the

'

breast

'

7
"

A 5.
:

25.

is

The lower part broken away and

as,

sign in A 25 the evidence in this case is therefore

of the

fist

and

cestus

sign in B i seems to be an accidental scratch rather than a deliberate incision as in other cases under this sign. It
is

therefore omitted from the enumeration.

11

uncertain

however, in the other cases where this sign appears at the beginning of a group (B 10, 13) the stroke is added below, it seems best to assume

This

is

Dr. Pernier's conclusion, op.

this will be seen in P.

tit.,

pp.

294,

2 9512

An

example of

noc above.

EVIDENCES OF METRICAL ARRANGEMENT

289

According to this view the inscription on Face A is divided into 10 sections, and that on B into 8. To these must be added in each case another distinct break caused by the long descending line that on both faces occurs at the end of the eighteenth sign-group, so that the outer line of A and B begins with group 19.

A. 5

A. 22

A. 31.

0.1

FIG. 130

(TABLE XXV).

Signs

in

Similar Collocations with or without the Distinguishing Marks.

of sign-groups as divided into sections by dashes on both faces of the Disk, we arrive at the following results distinguishing
series
I
i,

Comparing now the

the
:

Parallelism
in

arrangefaces.

ment on the
two

(B)
7,

2,

3,

4
15,

5,

6
18,

8,

9
20,

10
21,

n, 1223,

13,

14,

16,
-

17,

19,

22,

24

25,

26,

27

28, 29, 30.

II (A)

i,

2,

3,

5,

6,

7,

8,

9
i

10
19,

n, 12

13, 14,

15-16
28
- -

17, 18,

20, 21, 22, 23,

24

25, 26, 27,

29, 30.

(--SO
a certain parallelism in the above two tables. Thus in the first line giving the sections up to 12 the first group of 4 and the The only difference is that last two groups of i and 2 respectively correspond.
It will

be seen at once that there

is

the second section of II (Nos. 5-9) is in I broken up into two sections (5, 6 and 7-9). In both cases, again, we have a break at the end of 24, that is, another series of 12,

002

290

SCRIPTA MINOA

divided again on both faces into two sets of six by the long descending line after No. 18. Another six sign-groups, divided into 3 and 3 in one case and 4 and 2 in the other,
brings us to 30, the concluding number, ex hypothesi, of the body of the inscription There are here, therefore, traces in both cases of on Face (II) as well as B (I). a division into two dozens and one half.

The

parallelism extends

moreover
it

in

some cases
first

to the disposition of particular

sign-groups.

Thus, for instance,

13-16 show a certain conformity.

may The

be noted that the sign-groups

1-4 and corresponds with the fourth in both

A. 2.

as
<->>
<^v-y>

\S

A.3

A.

13

A.
FIG. 131

15
in

(TABLE XXVI).

Examples of Parallel Disposition

Sign-groups.

Recurrent
sets of

and the same exceptionally long group appears in the third place. So, too, the respective groups of four and five signs, No. 10 in A and B, forming there a section by themselves, reappear as the first groups of the section that begins with No. 13 on both faces of the Disk. It appears, moreover, that on Face A two of the sections containing the same
series,

sign-

sign-groups are repeated in the

:

same
10

order.
---

Thus we see
18

groups perhaps
refrain.

u, 12
17,

16 --

t\ A.

10.

A.II

A.IZ

A 16
FIG. 132.

A.I/
Sets of Sign-groups repeated.
It
is

noteworthy that one of the sections thus repeated (A 10, 16) is composed of a single sign-group, which must therefore have stood as a single phrase by itself, such as an exclamation or religious cry of the kind so often met with in the Hebrew psalms.

Have we here

a kind of refrain ?

291

III.

6.

IN
The
that

THE INSCRIPTION POSSIBLY A RELIGIOUS CHAUNT HONOUR OF THE ANATOLIAN GREAT MOTHER
thus revealed
of

traces

of an

artificial

arrangement, to a certain

extent The
*

in-

identical in both halves

the

inscription, lead

most naturally

to

the

conclusion

" ^e| r a i

we have

There can be
well represent

here to do with a metrical composition divided into two equal staves, composi' little doubt that it follows the laws of a primitive music, and it may

some kind of chaunt or

incantation.
of

with the indications already noted of religious elements among the Symbols characters of the Disk. Its derivation, ex hypothesi, moreover, from a Lycian source, Goddess makes it highly probable that the female breast, so constantly recurring in this on Disk,

This

fits

in

composition, should be taken in

its

usual Anatolian sense as a symbol of the great

Mother-Goddess. This 'breast' sign coupled with the enigmatic figure, '/- 45> begins the whole inscription as arranged above and also occupies the first place in three further sections. Elsewhere we see it in juxtaposition or close connexion with the feline head which is This head in possibly that of a lioness the special guardian of the Great Mother. turn is in three cases coupled with the insect, perhaps to be interpreted as her sacred
'

fema i e breast.

In a recurring formula, 2 in which the 'breast' sign also appears, the group is concluded by the feline head preceded by the double pipes ', here taken to represent
bee.
'

a religious instrument. On B with the pagoda-like building.

6,

18,

21 one or
it,

Does

signs is coupled perhaps, actually delineate a shrine of the

'

more of these

Goddess
It is

?
'

possible that the frequently repeated hide (No. 27) itself really represents Ox-hides the skin of a sacrificed beast. It is, moreover, noteworthy in this connexion that

j^jrificiai"

14 this sign precedes the tiara (No. 9), which has a singularly sacerdotal aspect, and that on B 4 the same tiara is preceded by a head of a ram, an animal intimately connected with the cult of one or other form of the Asiatic Goddess.
' '

on

'

'

connexion.

worshipped a kindred The Nature-Goddess, the tradition of whom survived to later times as Rhea, Britomartis, Goddess of Artemis Dictynna, or Aphrodite Ariadne. This Minoan divinity, indeed, shows many of Crete the attributes of her Anatolian sisters. Like Kybele she was guarded by lions, and a catj^ Anatolian. like animal, apparently a lion's cub, appears on the head of one of her priestesses or votaries. Under the form of the Snake Goddess 3 she even wears a tiara of the same generic class as that on the Disk, and the female breast seems to have been her special 4 From the general associations of the figures on the Disk, however, their great symbol. divergence from Minoan hieroglyphic forms, and the pronounced non-Cretan character of some of the representations, it seems preferable none the less to trace the religious
It is

now well

ascertained that in

Minoan Crete there was

also

'

'

B B

2, 6,

28,

where the

feline

head

is

twice repeated.

5, 10, 13.

See Knossos Report, See above, p. 282.

'

',

1903, pp. 74 seqq.

and Fig. 54

292

SCRIPTA MINOA

elements that seem to be discernible on the Phaestos Disk to some Anatolian sanctuary of the Great Mother.

Was

there

a sacred

language ?

Crete, as in both the Orthodox Greek and the Roman Catholic Church at the present day, a sacred language representing an earlier stage of the vernacular was employed. Such a language, indeed, may well
It is,

moreover, at least conceivable that

in

Minoan

have corresponded with one that still survived in the old religious centres of the mainland side, where, as is generally agreed by philologists, the language, as well as
the religion,
Martial
It

was

allied to that of prehistoric Crete.

element on Disk per;

haps betokens

hymn

of

has been already remarked that several features among the characters of the Disk the helmeted head, for instance, and the round shield, the horn bow, the vessel with an arrow at its prow tend to show that the subject of the composition may have combined a martial element with the religious. Have we here, perhaps, an ancient

victory.

Disk not
to be re-

garded as
matrix.

chaunt of victory of the kind preserved in the Song of Deborah ? The suggestion has been made by Dr. Pernier that the Disk was itself a matrix for the reproduction of similar disks in clay or other materials with the mould or
l

Use of
stamps explained by need of greater
facility in

inscription in relief. Against the probability of this, however, may be set the minuteness of the details of many of the figures and the incised marks of division and distinction 2 more simple that certainly were not fitted for reproduction in an impression.

explanation of the method here adopted of forming the sign-groups by means of a series of punches is to be found in the great practical difficulty of applying the elaborate

reproducing hieroglyphic
signs.

The graffito attempts to hieroglyphic characters to documents of any length. render these often really artistic forms result in a very degenerate form of script, These summary such as we see on the clay tablets and labels of this class.
renderings were sufficient for the business ends served by the latter class of documents. But for a more solemn purpose they were altogether unworthy. It is probable, as already pointed out, that at the time when the Phaestos Disk was made the linear form When the evolution of script, at any rate of Class A, was already in vogue in Crete.
of the Art of Writing had reached this definite linear stage, documents of any length could be written in a good Court hand such as we see in the case of some of the
'

'

Knossian tablets without prejudice to the dignity of the subject. But how could the continued use of the monumental hieroglyphic type of script be reconciled with the desire to preserve longer records such as, in a linear form, no doubt by this time existed in Minoan Crete? It is obvious that the preparation of
a series of fine punches of ivory or metal, representing the different characters of the hieroglyphic signary used, afforded a ready mechanical means of grappling with the That the characters thus formed appear impressed on the Disk is itself in difficulty.
Dr. Pernier compares (loc. cit., Fig. 12 disk covered on one side with punched figures in the shape of small radiated circles, pellets, and a few barley grains, which bears the name of the wellOp.
at., p.
1

277.

terracotta disks covered with various religious or talis-

and note) a

flat

known Aretine

potter,

Marcus Perennius, and which was

Greek moulds
in

certainly a mould. 2 There exist certain late

the form of

manic symbols found in Southern Italy and especially at Taranto (cf.J.H.S. vii, pp. 44 seqq.), which were probably used for impressing sacred cakes. In this case, however, the sunken designs are of a bolder character, and there is no difficulty in recognizing the object of the disks as moulds or stamps.

INSCRIPTION POSSIBLY A RELIGIOUS CHAUNT

293

close agreement with the general usage of incising the signs on the clay tablets and does not of itself afford any presumption of the Disk having served as a stamp. One conclusion we may at any rate draw from the elaborate character of the Such
e aborate engraved punches here used. They J could hardly have been made for the two sides stamps cut Such beautiful type may well have been executed for the for more of the Disk alone. extensi e Y imprinting of a much more extensive literary composition. The Disk at present stands
j
'

'

two faces forming apparently two successive staves of equal There remains, however, length followed by a concluding word such as hallelujah Disk one of a that the itself was continuous series containing the possibility only further verses of a longer metrical composition, imprinted with stamps from the same The Disk would, in this view, represent but a single leaf from the beautiful fount. But in that case we should have lost Psalms, perhaps, of an old Anatolian religion. expected some visible signs of numeration whereby its place in such a series might
alone, the inscription
its
'

on

tions.

'.

be determined.

ANALYTICAL INDEX
PART
I

THE PRE-PHOENICIAN SCRIPTS OF CRETE. THEIR MEDITERRANEAN RELATIONS AND PLACE IN MINOAN STORY
PAGE
i.

PAGE
'

Antiquity and European Diffusion of the Pictographs and Linear Signs

:

Early Minoan

'

ossuaries
'

Primitive pictographic bead-seals

Evidence of writing absent from Schliemann's

discoveries
i i

.......
.

Signs on vase handles found by Tsuntas Negative conclusion of Perrot Contrary presumptions
Universality of early picture-writing

.... .....
.
.

Hieroglyphic 'signets Early graffiti on vases in advanced Linear Script Discovery of inscribed Libation Table in Dictaean Cave Sanctuary .
.
.

... .....
.
.

.12
12
12

12

-13
.

3
3 3 4 5 5

The Minoan Nature-Goddess and Infant Son Sacred stone or BA1TYAO2 of the cult
.

13
13

Linearized signs already in Reindeer Period Survivals of pictography in far North

.

In Scandinavia

.......
.

Table found in sacrificial stratum placed on BAITYAOS

Triple receptacle for libations

originally

....
linear
.
.

13
14

The

Iberic Peninsula

and N. Africa

Maritime Alps, &c Extension to Danube Valley Thrace and Asia Minor Dacian and Trojan signs

Such signs
letters

Early Chaldaean picture-writing

........ ...
...
:

.....

.... .....

6 6 6
6

Table Inscription on characters of Class

:

in

advanced

A
. .

Probably a dedication Destruction of antiquities during massacre at

.16
16

15

Candia

in

1898
facilitated
.

linear ideographs, not syllables or

7

The exploration of Knossos new regime in Crete

.

by the
.

.16
16
.

7 7

Pictorial survivals in Hittite script

Preliminary indications The hill of Kephala: signs on ancient blocks

16
17

Advance shown by cuneiform and hieroglyphic

writing
7

Enigmatic fragment Excavation at Knossos

.

17

Had
2.

Hittite system offshoots

beyond Aegean?

The

Palace of Minos

17
.

Discovery of the Successive Types of Minoan Writing

Discovery of inscribed tablets Evidences of successive types of script Knossian archives

. .

17
in

18
at

Characters like

Hittite on seal acquired Greece Reasons for regarding these as indigenous Further examples from Crete

........
in

Antiquity and duration of Art of Writing Knossos

8 9
9 9 10
10
3.

.......
of

18

....
.

The Hieroglyphic Archives

'
'

Knossos

Existence of hieroglyphic system ascertained in Crete

Early Middle Minoan Palace at Knossos Evidences in it of hieroglyphic writing

.

19 19 19

The

author's explorations in the island in 1894 Result in discovery of linear as well as hiero-

glyphic script 'Milk-stones'

Further explorations, 1895, &c.

....... ....... .11

. .
. .

Seal-impressions illustrating its earliest type (A) Important deposit of clay archives in West

Wing,

in

more advanced hieroglyphic

style

10

(type B)

Primitive linear ideography in Crete Inscribed whorl from deposit of Hagios

n
12

Chronological indications Earliest period of West Wing mainly

.....
'

19 19 19

Middle
20

Onu-

Minoan

III

'

phrios

Hieroglyphic deposit belongs to this period

ANALYTICAL INDEX
Circumstances of discovery Types of clay documents found Business documents
Hieroglyphic
tablet

295
PAGE

......
Museum
.

....
in

PAGE
20 20
21 21

Minoan influence in Melos Minoan Script used in Melos Indication that the same language was current
.
.

35 35
35 36

from Palace of Phaestos and

in Berlin

there

primitive example
Its

Personal names and suffixes

Third Middle Minoan Period

close

at Knossos marked by extensive catastrophe

21

Approximation

in

to hieroglyphic

Palace
4.

22
:

Comparisons between Classes

Contents of the inscriptions
Graffiti

The Hieroglyphic Disk from Phaestos

.
.

Hieroglyphic Disk from Phaestos Hieroglyphs stamped on Phaestos Disk

22 24 24
24 25

on walls Inscription on Dictaean Libation Table belongs

to this class

...... .... ...... .......

form of documents of Class

A
36 36 36 36 36 37
37

and

Compared

with Minoan

Great discrepancy observable Comparison of male figures with later Pulasati,

....

Change

in sphragistic

usage

hieroglyphic
.

in-

scriptions replaced by artistic designs Inscriptions on seals, replaced by graffiti on

&c Woman's

sealings

dress different from Minoan

Peculiar ship on Phaestos Disk

Pagoda-like building
Its

.....
civilization parallel
.

25 26

Lycian parallels Phaestos Disk reveals a high

with Minoan

26 26
2?

The Linear Script of Class B Class A superseded by B in Remodelled

6.
:

Palace
time of

38

Great deposits of tablets of this class

final

catastrophe

......
at

Signs of peaceful industry

2?
con-

This class as yet confined Relations between A and

to

Knossos
.

The Disk perhaps

nexion with Lycia

a record of peaceful

Two

27
later

classes to a certain extent parallel Language similar

......
'
.

Approximate date of Phaestos Disk not

than 1600 B.C

Characteristics of

Second Late Minoan Period

28

Architectonic

Earlier than the Egyptian records of maritime

descents on Delta
5.

......
A
:
. .

28

Palace Style Mass of clay archives L. M. II Bureaucratic methods

in

'

...

38 38 38 38 38 39

Great advance

The Linear Script of Class

Art of Writing
at

Syllabic values of signs

Discovery of clay documents with advanced linear script (Class A)

The Grammarian
28
29 29

work

Numerical system

Examples

in

Cups with
M. M.

Temple Repositories ink-written inscriptions

in

Forms of the
Their storage

tablets

.......
..... .... ....
.

..... ..... .... ......

.

39 39 39
39 39 40 40 40 40 40 41
4i

This class occurs

Ill

stratum marking close of

Preferably placed in upper chambers But also stored in basement rooms

Lid of alabastron with name of King Khyan

Question as to date of Khyan Date of deposit midway between Twelfth and

Eighteenth Dynasties

....

Remains of their cases

30
3

Deposit of the Chariot Tablets Cases secured by sealings

Deleterious effect of moisture

42 42

Countermarks and endorsements of sealings

Series of tablets found in original order
ferring to
:

Approximate epoch according The 'Era of Tanis' (Zoan) and the Hyksos conquest of Egypt Other Cretan finds of this linear class (A) Clay documents and artistic products of Royal Villa at Hagia Triada Deposit of Zakro

to Sothis dating

....

42 43 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 46 46 46

..... .....
in

re-

axes Hoard of the Arsenal Tablets enumerating stores of bows and arrows Cases of arrows found near
33

Tablet of Palaikastro

Of Gournia Of Papoura Wide extension

....... .......
of this form of script

Examples from Phylakopi

Melos

33 34 34 34 34

Arrow

Sealings on chests as countermark

.

Methodical arrangement Titles on back, like books

... ....
.

Seals with recurring formulas

Minoan method aids modern justice.

Pp

296

ANALYTICAL INDEX
PAGE PAGE
8.

Theft of tablets detected by its means Majority of tablets business records Pictorial representations of objects Different kinds of property enumerated
.
.

46 46 47
47

Minoan Influences on
Side:

the

Anatolian

Non-Greek forms
Hittites

in Anatolian alphabets

Large tablet with lists of men Other records Ink-written documents Broken sealings

Hittite influences considered

48 48
5

....
.
.

61

and Carians

62 62 63 63 63 63 64 64 64 64 64
65^

....
.

Hittite derivations of Anatolian letters not sub-

stantiated

Was

there a fuller literature ?

to

Monumental evidence

seek

50 50 50
.

Were
Some

these non-Greek forms of

in

Traces of Minoan settlement

Graffito inscriptions in Knossian Palace Bulk of tablets of latest Palace period (L.

5
II)

M.

of good period Traditions of Cretan settlement in Anatolia

.....
.

Minoan origin Asia Minor

Chronological data supplied by Egyptian evi-

dence

Kefts and their offerings Similar ingots. Ox -heads and vases on tablets

The

........ ....
III
.
.

51

Sarpedon in Lycia Evidence of local names

51
51 51

New
The

basis supplied for possible source of non. .

Age

of

Thothmes

-52
.

Final catastrophe of Palace at Knossos

52

in Anatolian alphabets Proetos to Lycian King Traditional letter of Sarpedon letter of

.

Greek elements

Approximate chronology supplied by Tell

Amarna.
Indigenous broken

....... ........
tradition
still

el-

Comparisons of Anatolian and Minoan signs

Minoan, Lycian, and Carian signs compared Value of correspondences considered
. .

52
53 53

in

the

main un-

65 66 66
67

Partial reoccupation and recovery L. M. Ill period of decline .

Primitive linear signs of Hissarlik, &c. Represent wholly different stage in evolution

-53
53

of writing
9.

.......
... ....
.
.

67

But no

real

break

Minoan Cyprus and the Insular Scripts :

later

Minoan colonization of Cyprus

7.

Survivals of the Art of Writing during the Decadence of the Minoan and Mycenaean Culture
:

The
^

Cypriote syllabary Early culture of Cyprus inferior to Cretan First high civilization reaches Cyprus from

68 68 68
68

Mainland Mycenaean influences Art of Writing still survives

L. M. Ill tablets in
'

... ....
Fetish Shrine
'

Minoan source
54 54 55
55
Colonial school of Cypro-Minoan art Inscribed balls from late Cypro-Minoan ceme.

69
70 70 70
72

House of

Minoan
Greece

survivals
.
'

in

Cyprus and Northern

tery of Enkomi Inscribed ring from Larnaka

....
... ...
.
.

The

Kadmeia Orchomenos

'

of Thebes and the Palace of

The

Boeotian traditions of

of alphabet Inscribed vase from Orchomenos:

character
Its signs
fit

.......
Kadmos
as inventor
its

56 56
57

Cypro-Minoan signs compared with Cretan Primitive linear signs in Cyprus Minoan and Cypro-Minoan signs compared
with the later Cypriote syllabary

72

indigenous
.
.

on to earlier Cretan systems on vases from Mycenae evidences Sign-group of Mainland type of script Break up of Minoan power Impulse from Mainland side Pressure due to Achaean invasions Akaiuasha-Achaeans their oversea enterprise and expansion
.

58

Problems suggested by Cypriote scripts Greek colonization of Cyprus precedes diffusion of Phoenician alphabet in Greece Archaic characteristics of Cypriote Greeks
.
. . .

73
73

73

.... .... ...

: . .

Were
58 59 60 60 60
61
61

the Cypro-Minoan settlers

Greek?

74
74

Cypriote syllabary originally non-Hellenic speech

devised for a
date for Greek
.
. .

Epic

tradition

favours

late
.

......
throughout

Colonizing movement ranean basin

Mediter-

colonization in Cyprus Greek foundation sagas Successive waves of Aegean immigration into Cyprus Conclusions main Greek settlement in Cyprus

-74
75

........
:

76 76

Was knowledge of Minoan .script thus diffused ?

at

beginning of Iron Age

....

ANALYTICAL INDEX
PAGE
But
partial settlement of Greeks in late times not excluded

297
PAGE

.....
Minoan
.

Pictorial reconstruction of Phoenician letters

76 76

Cypriote signs compared with Anatolian

10.

Cretan Philistines and the Phoenician

Alphabet

confirmed Necessary reservations Lacunas in the evidence Extent of correspondence between Phoenician and Minoan forms

.......

92 93 93 93 94

Minoan element
:

in Philistine settlement

77

Advanced Minoan

linear characters, word-signs

Coincident appearance of Phoenician alphabet Cherethim Cretans Kaphtor and Keftiu Date of Philistine conquests in Canaan Earlier evidences of Minoan commercial inter. .

......
.

77
77

78 78

as well as syllables or letters Such word-signs translated, or literally taken over

.
.

...
.

-94
94

Was
ii.

there a Keft nucleus to Phoenicians ?

course there
Philistines
in

78

Minoan Contact with Egypt,

Spain
:

Italy,

and

Canaan

civilizing

Aegean
79
.

element

Indications

Did they bring with them a Minoan

Mission of

script ?
B.C.

Wen Amon

to

Dor

c.

noo

Literary traditions among Takkaras Did the Philistines contribute to formation of

...
'
.

79 79
79

Egypt

...
of

Aegean

factories

in

Lower

-95
.

Phoenician alphabet ? Greek Phoinikes Aegean

' '

80
'

Red Men

.80
80
81
.

Unexplained supersession of cuneiform writing in Canaan The South Semitic alphabets Relation of Sabaean and Minaean alphabets to North Semitic
. . .

Minoan remains there Late Minoan traces in Italy and Sicily The Minoan tradition in Sicily Sardinia ingots with Minoan signs. Minoan connexions with Spain Minoan origin of Iberic vase decoration
Diffusion of Late
.
:

... ...
. .
. .

95 95 96 96

Long

persistence of Minoizing ceramic class

.

Radical divergences
to

...... .....

Minoan bronzes in Majorca and Spain Minoan influences on Iberic culture precede
Phoenician
. Iberic inscriptions on Minoizing pottery Phoenician neither of Iberic Elements scripts
.

96 96 97 97-98 98 98 98 99

81
81

.......
.

Both North and South Semitic forms go back

common

source

.82
.

nor Greek

natural distributing point to find source of Phoenician alphabet Attempts

Philistine

Gaza

82 82 83 83 84 85 85 86 86
87 87 88

May we
13.

here too trace Minoan influence?

cuneiform theory Babylonian element in Phoenician letter-names Phoenician order differs from Babylonian
.

De Rouge's

theory

Primitive linear signs in Canaan Source of Phoenician letters more advanced

Is
it to be found in the Minoan script? Un-Semitic names of letters
.

...... ...
.

Survival of Minoan Elements in Crete and the Tradition of the Native System of Writing
:

Depopulation of Crete on break up of sea-

power Legendary expedition of Minos

Gradual transformation Partial break of continuity
Survivals of
'

....
'

and the Minoan wheel sign Koph and the Minoan 'head sign Presumptions in favour of pictorial origin Antecedent stages of Phoenician letters supplied by Minoan scripts Names seen to correspond with origin House' signs belli and daleth Gate signs he and cheth Hand signs yod and kapk nun Fish,' or Water-snake'?
Tetli

theta

'

'

...
.

Minoan
'

culture
.

'Sub-Minoan' stage Sub-Minoan remains

..... .... .....

to Sicily
. .

100 100
100 100
101 101 101
101

at

Knossos

'

'

'

'

'

.... ... .... ....

.
.

88 88 88 90 90 90
91
91

Erganos Inscribed clay disk from Erganos Eteocretan survival in East and West Knossos and its abiding traditions Minos and Labyrinth Surviving elements of older cult at Knossos
. .

at

102 102 102

'

'

'

'

Eye' sign 'ain Mouth sign pe

'

......
letters

...

Crete outside scope of Iliad Dorian conquest gradual

..... .... .....

.

103 103
103

The Dorian

adoption of Minos Minoan traditions favour early revival in Crete

.

104
104

The complementary Greek

South Semitic analogies

....

and their
91

The Daedalid School

Did a knowledge of Minoan
script survive ?
.

104 104

P P 2

298

ANALYTICAL INDEX
PAGE
PAGE
.

Survival of old stock at Praesos and Polichna

105
105

Eteocretan inscriptions in Greek letters Praesian tradition

......
. . .
.

105 105 106

Absence of Minoan records on metal explained Egypto-Hittite treaty on silver plate Was the discovery of the Knossian tablets
anticipated ?

107 107

. Surviving records of old Cretan script Memorial festival of old stock near Knossos

.......
of
inscribed
tablets
at

108
108
1

Knossian account of invention of

letters

106

Dictys Cretensis's Chronicle of the Trojan Greek original of Dictys's work

War

08

Alleged
13.

discovery

Was

Knossos
the

Discovery

of

the

Minoan

109

The unknown
Chronicle

Writing anticipated by Classical Antiquity?

Classical records of discoveries of prehistoric
inscriptions

.......
script

interpreted

as

Dictys's

109

Story probably based on real exposure of

containing
tablets

cist

through earthquake

at

106
.

Knossos
Lead-lined cists confused with 'chests of tin'
.

109

Inscribed tablet found in tomb of Alkmfine

107

no

PART

II

THE HIEROGLYPHIC OR CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC SCRIPT OF CRETE, WITH ITS ANTECEDENTS AND AFFINITIES
I.

Primitive Linear Signs and Figures

.

2.

Protodynastic

Primitive picture-writing

Summary

linear figures

Linearized pictographs of the Reindeer Period Linear signs of arbitrary origin

.
.

in in in
112

Libyan
stones
Pictorial
:

Influences

Egyptian and Egyptoon Cretan Seal-

development on seals
'

The

Examples from Phylakopi Linearized pictographs Alphabetiform signs of great antiquity

.

.112 .112 .112

.

primitive pictographic class Seals from the early Cretan ossuary (holt Characteristic contents of early Minoan
.

'

.118 .118
.

119
119

os-

suaries
'

These primitive
sufficient to

linear signs, nevertheless, in-

generate a system of script

112
113

'

Idols' of Proto- Egyptian type Leg amulets like those of Sixth Dynasty
. .
'

.119
.

Their sporadic currency and variant derivation Advanced scripts evolved out of conventionalized pictography
.
. .
.

-113
113

Monkey pendant and ivories Hagios Onuphrios remains belong group

Seal types of early ossuaries
First
.

Derivation of

new

family of linear signs from

.... ....
to
.

119 120
120 120

same

hieroglyphic in

Egypt

These

linear signs occasionally nearer

.
.

more

115 primitive pictographic types . Survival of earlier class of linear signs in Egypt 115 'Craftsman's signs' in Egypt and Crete .115
.

.120 appearance of prism-seals Egypto-Libyan connexions supply a chrono121 logical terminus a quo

.....
....
. . .

Primitive linear signs in Crete

115
.

On

1 rude pendants, bead-seals, and whorls 15 Material for seals, &c., supplied by soapstone . .116 or steatite beds existing in Crete

Deposit of Hagios Onuphrios Whorl engraved with linear signs from Hagios

....
.

Egyptian cylinder seals Connexion with the Delta Class of cylinders presenting non-Egyptian elements Their Egypto-Libyan character . Cylinders from Egypt
' '

121 121

122
122

.....
.

122

117

Egyptian prism-seal
Chronological data

-123
.

Egypto-Libyan parallels on Minoan seals

123

Onuphrios

.118

124

ANALYTICAL INDEX
PAGE
Sixth Dynasty button-seals Cretan and early Italian analogies
. '

299

'

125
.

The maeander and

spiral

North Aegean origin of

'
'

spiral

..... ....
. .

125 126 126 126

Evolution of 'signet '-seal Twelfth Dynasty relations of an early

type Possible influence of metallic forms
.

....
'

PAGE
141

'

signet

142
.
.

142

Translation of spirals into maeanders The double sickle pattern. Taken over in
.
.

Special personal relation of signets

Appearance of
127
127

portrait types

...
.

142 142 143 143

143 143

Crete from Sixth Dynasty button-seals

Bulk of seals of Class

Chronological datum supplied by 'double sickle'

types Four-sided bead-seal from Egypt, Sixth Dynasty

Minoan period
129 129

Egypto-Libyan hemi-cylinders. ample

3.

........
Minoan
:
.

Naturalistic types Persistence of certain seal types of Class

ex-

Late Minoan age Considerable break nevertheless observable at

close of hieroglyphic series

...... ...... ......

B

B belong to Third Middle

into

The Early Prism-seals

Pictographic Designs

of Crete with

....
.

Change
times
:

in

sphragistic usage in Late absence of inscribed seals

Minoan
. .

144 144

Egypto-Libyan connexions of early Minoan Crete illustrated by appearance of prism-seals

Prism-seals of early pictographic class Forerunners of hieroglyphic types
Pictographic figures on early prism-seals References to potter's craft Allusions to various pursuits and industries
.

Evidence of great deposits of seal-impressions

130
6.

130

The Clay Documents

exhibiting Graffito

Inscriptions and Seal-impressions of

....

132

Class B found in the Hieroglyphic Deposit at Knossos

:

The Hieroglyphic Deposit

Classes of clay documents

4.

Seals and Sealings of the Conventionalized Pictographic or Hieroglyphic Type. Class A

:

Sealings

.... ........
at

Knossos

144
145

145
147 147

Clay labels

Clay bars
Tablets
J34
J

Evolution of hieroglyphs from primitive picto-

148

graphs Phonographic value of signs Elongated prism-seals Overlapping of earlier pictographic elements
.

Hieroglyphic seals of Class

.... ..... A ....

. .

34

7.

134
J

34 J 35
J

Catalogue of Conventionalized Pictographic (or Hieroglyphic) Inscriptions on Seals and Sealings

:

Class Class

A
B

149 152

Chronological indications supplied by seals of Class A

Relations with Twelfth Dynasty scarab types Amethyst scarab of Twelfth Dynasty type with

35
8.

136
136
!37 137

Minoan hieroglyphs
Class

Eleventh Dynasty of Class A from M. M. Seal-impressions

to

A goes back

posits at

Knossos

..... ......
.

Catalogue of Conventionalized Pictographic (or Hieroglyphic) Inscriptions on Clay Sealings, Tablets, Bars, and Labels
:

de-

Graffito inscriptions Graffito inscriptions

on clay sealings on clay labels

163 166

The new
logy
5.

evidence for Middle Minoan chrono. .

Seals exhibiting the Conventionalized Pictographic or Hieroglyphic Script of Class B

:

Four-sided clay bars with graffito inscriptions Three-sided clay bar with graffito inscriptions Clay tablets with graffito inscriptions
.

170 178 179

g.

Catalogue of Hieroglyphic Signs

figures

Hieroglyphic Use of hard stones

Seal types of Class

seal types of Class

Convoluted seals

Oblong bead-seals
'

...... ..... ......

B
.

138 !39 '39 140

140

Signet

'-seals

140

and their parts Arms, implements, and instruments Cult objects and religious symbols Buildings and accessories Utensils, stores, and treasure Ships and marine objects Animals and their parts
.

Human

.... ....
.

181

185 195
197

... ...
.

200
203 206

3 oo

ANALYTICAL INDEX

Insects

Plants and trees

..... ...
. .
.

PAGE 212
213
221

PAGE

Absence of most characteristic from Minoan series

.....
Hittite

signs

2 43

Sky and earth

Decorative elements on the signets
.
.

229

Inherent probability of remote connexion between primitive pictography of Crete and

Anatolia

.......
essentially of

243 243

10.

Analysis of the Hieroglyphic or Conventionalized Pictographic Signary

:

Minoan hieroglyphic system

growth
.

home

A
234 234 234
235

record of Minoan

arts, industries,

and com244

Synoptical tables of glyptic and graffito types Analysis of subjects

The new
forms

materials

... ...

merce
ii.

Characteristics
Script
:

of

the

Hieroglyphic
at-

Respective numbers of

glyptic and

graffito

How

far

was the phonographic

stage

Signs true hieroglyphs, not merely talismans or

symbols.

tained ?

245
2 45

Their

purposes
seals
.

....
.

application

for

business
.

A
235

few signs may be solely pictorial ideograms, but the bulk also phonograms
tions

Minoan hieroglyphic
.

script largely derived from

Combination of ideographic and phonetic func235

Isolated word-signs

-235
.
.

Contrast with early linear pictographs The conditions unfavourable for application of
early linear figures to purposes of advanced
script Pictorial transformation of the old linear picto.

245 245

Ideographic signs preceding phonographic in

official titles

236 236 236 236 237

With or without

graphs of Crete in the Middle Minoan

Age

Cumulative ideographic groups Expression of composite ideas by ideographic

conjunctions Determinatives at end of groups Evidences of the phonographic element
.

Due

to Egyptian

example
.

.... ....
dividing line
.
.

245 245 246

Extent of Egyptian influence on Minoan Crete from the early dynasties onwards Imitation of Egyptian hieroglyphic style by
.
.

Minoan dynasts
Transformation
of earlier
linear
. .

characters

under glyptic influences This process reactionary from alphabetic point of view Character of Egyptian influence on Minoan

237

Limited number of signs Law of diminution in numbers of signary as phonetic element increases Disparate character of many sign-groups incompatible with ideographic usage

246 24? 24? 247

247 247

.....
Palace
'

238 238 238 239 239 239 239 239 241

Numbers
Composite

of signs in groups compared with

figures
' '

Egyptian

....
sign

hieroglyphs

248 248

No servile imitation, as Common element in all

The ankh
'

Phoenician

Artificial modification of certain signs

hieroglyphic systems Egyptian signs borrowed in exceptional cases

Variations of crook

Alphabetic forms in hieroglyphic signary

12.

249 249 249

In-

sign Other suggestive coincidences

Egyptian

....
.

Arrangement of the Hieroglyphic

scriptions
:

Palmette tree sign

Complicated
scriptions

appearance

Tools and vessels

'

.241
.

....
.

of hieroglyphic

in-

250 250 250 250

25 1
251

Parallel usage of 'adze' and 'trowel' and adze and saw in Crete and Egypt Special class of Cretan signs derived from Egypt Were the Minoan and Hittite hieroglyphs
' ' ' .

241

241

Clues to' arrangement Evidence from clay bars Various directions of the inscriptions Inscriptions on clay labels

directly related ?

242
to Hittite

The

initial

'

' .

Minoan hieroglyphic records anterior

242 242 242 242

Difference in general arrangement and forms of Hittite characters

Parallels observable

....

Evidence of a boustrophcdon arrangement Comparative examples showing order of graffito inscriptions (diagrammatically drawn)
.

251

252

Lines of division
Horizontal lines

Metal seals

253 254

ANALYTICAL INDEX
PAGE
Sign-group occasionally carried on
ceeding line

301
PAGE

The Phaestos

Tablet
its

....... '.....
into

suc-

'

'

Canting badges

260
260 260
261 261

Investigation of

arrangement

Signs variously oriented Relation of objects to direction of inscription

.....
.

254 2 54 254
2 55

Official titles

common

to seals

and documents

Comparison of the same sign-groups and graffito form

Recurring groups
peculiar to graffiti

......
. .

in glyptic

255
255

Adherence

to fixed

order in sign-groups

Animate,

&c.,

forms generally face hieroglyphic

groups, as in Egypt

Intercalated signs in groups Instances of translocation of signs in groups

15.

....
. . .

262
263

13.

The Hieroglyphic Numeration

Evidences of

Official Titles,

Personal

Names, and Canting Badges on the

Difficulties attending hieroglyphic

numeration

Units

Sign for 'ten Signs for hundred

'

'

Fractions

Sums

Separate amounts mentioned of 100 and round numbers

Position of

........ ....
'

and

'

thousand

'

256 256 256 256 2 57 257 258 259

Hieroglyphic Signets
Egyptian
influences
.

on

Minoan

sphragistic

usage

263
.

numbers on
:

tablets

....
:

. Suggestions from royal cartouches Personal badges or cognornina on Cretan signets Family Tree of official formulas and personal
. '

264 264 265 267

'

devices

Defect of system

possible confusion of units

Recurring
259

official

formulas and their ideogra-

and hundreds
14.

Correlation of the Glyptic and Graffito Inscriptions Recurrent Sign-groups

:

phic signification Similar personal badges recurring in different generations Titles of priest-kings

.....
. . . .

Royal signet
Sign-groups

common

269 269 270 272

to seals

and documents

Certain signs peculiar to one or the other class

260 260

Signet impressions with portraits Portrait of priest-king and his son

.271
.

PART
Supplementary Remarks on the Discovery and General Characteristics of the Disk
:

III

THE PHAESTOS DISK

i.

The

Results of further study The Disk found in M.M. Ill stratum Disk found with linear tablet of Class

.....
A
.

cestus used in Minoan religious sports Female breast symbol of great Goddess Feline head in similar connexion
'
: .

281

'
.

282

273 273 274

Evidences of ideographic element But characters in part phonetic

in

sign-groups
.
.

283 283 283 284 284

Method of imprinting the characters Their numbers and arrangement Arrangement compared with Minoan
2.

274 274 274

Numerical analysis of sign-groups Comparisons with Minoan hieroglyphic groups

.

...

4.

Non-Minoan Character of the Hieroglyphic System represented on the

Disk:

TheHieroglyphicSignaryofthePhaestos
Disk:

Catalogue of signs on Disk

3.

....
:
.

Non-Cretan character of the Disk confirmed by

275
further examination

285 285 285 285

Analysis of the Sign-groups on the Disk

Objections to Dr.

Sign-groups on Face Martial elements

Sign-groups on Face

A
B

280
281 281

Minoan origin Absence of Minoan hieroglyphs of constant

occurrence

...... .......
a local Phaestian variety
.

Pernier's arguments for a

System on Disk not

302

ANALYTICAL INDEX
PAGE

PAGE
Parallelism in arrangement on the two faces Recurrent sets of sign-groups perhaps refrain
:
.

Hieroglyphic system of Phaestos the normal

Minoan
Disk belongs to time when the Linear Class A was rife in Crete System of Disk nevertheless parallel with

286

289 290

Minoan

........
:

......

286 286 286

287

6.

The

Inscription
:

possibly a

Religious

Chaunt in honour of the Anatolian Great Mother

Fashions seen on Disk the antithesis to Cretan

The

inscription a metrical composition

291
291

Disk product of closely allied culture, probably existing in SW. Anatolia

....

Symbols of Mother-Goddess on Disk, such as female breast

connexion The Mother-Goddess of Crete sister form
Ox-hides perhaps
the Anatolian
in sacrificial
.

291
291

5.

Evidences of Metrical Arrangement in the Inscriptions on the Disk

inscriptions carefully balanced and

...
;

to

Was
287 287 287 288

The two
adjusted

Copied from prototype

....... .....
. .

there a sacred language ? Martial element on Disk perhaps

292
betokens

hymn

of victory
. . .

Two

equal inscriptions with concluding word

to

Initial strokes, incised at intervals

These strokes not designed

mark ideographs
.

Strokes indicate beginning of sentences

288 288

Disk not to be regarded as matrix Use of stamps explained by need of greater facility in reproducing hieroglyphic signs Such elaborate stamps cut for more extensive
.

292 292 292 293

compositions

ERRATUM
Page 27 margin, for
industrial

connexion read peaceful connexion

PLATE

P.

L.5

P. L.

ENGRAVED SEALS, ETC. WITH PRIMITIVE LINEAR SIGNS

P. L.

SEALS WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC SCRIPT CLASS A

P.J

PLATE

v-^
P.

P.
P. P.

35

36

33

29
P.

8
3O

P.
P.

40

P.

41

38

P.

39

SEALS WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC SCRIPT CLASS A

P.

PLATE

III

P. 15 a P. 50 a

P. 51 a

P. 70 a

P.

71 a

P. 72 a
P. 73 a
P. 74 a

P. 75 a

CLAY SEALINGS FROM THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS

WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOCRAPHIC
(OR

HIEROGLYPHIC) SCRIPT

PLATE

IV

P. 51 b P. 50 b P. 15 b

P. 70 b

P. 72 b

CLAY LABELS FROM THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS

WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC <OK HIEROGLYPHIC-)

PLATE IVB

P.64c

P. 65 c P. 52 c

P.58c

P.70c

P. 61 c

P. 76 a P. 78 a

P. 77 a

P. 64 d

P. 76

50 c

P. 54 c

P. 53 a

P.77h

78 h

CLAY LABELS FROM THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS

WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC
(OR HIEROGLYPHIC)

SCRIPT

PLATE

VII

P. 103

a.

P. 105

a.

P. 106

a.

P. 102 P. 107
a.

a.

P. 108

a.

P.
P. 109
a.

Ill a.

P. HOa.

P.

18 a.

CLAY 'BARS' FROM THE PALACE OF KNOSS05

WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC <OR HIEROGLYPHIC) SCRIPT

PLATE

VIII

P. 107

P. 102
b.

b.

P. 108

b.

I
P.

P. Ill

b.

HOb.

II2b.

P. Il3b.

P. 114

b.

P. 115

P. 117

b.

P. Il9b.

P. 116

b.

P. 1IH

b.

CLAY 'BARS' FROM THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS

WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC (OK HIEROGLYPHIC) SCRIPT

PLATE

IX

100 c.

P.

101 c

103 c.

P.

105 c.

P. I06c.

P
107 c.

102 c.

P. 108

c.

P. Il6c.

P. 118 c.

CLAY "BARS' FROM THE PALACE OF KN05SOS

WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC (OR HIEROGLYPHIC) SCRIPT

PLATE X

P. 109

d.

P. P. l!0d.

II! d

'*#.

P. 113d.

P. Il6d.

P.

M8d.

CLAY BARS AND TABLET FROM THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS

WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC (OR HIEROGLYPHIC) SCRIPT

PLATE

XI

P. 121

P.

122

CLAY TABLETS WITH CONVENTIONALIZED PICTOGRAPHIC (OR HIEROGLYPHIC) SCRIPT

(P. 121

PHAESTOS,

P.

122

BERLIN MUS.)

PLATE

XII

THE PHAESTOS

DISK.

FACE A

PLATE

XIII

i*

c~^

<i

r^a

^"^ A

THE PHAESTOS

DISK.

FACE B

o.

741

0*1

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CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

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