This most
famous example of Minoan pictographic script, unique in its kind, was
discovered inside a small room of the Phaistos palace. It dates to the early
Neopalatial period and is preserved intact. Both sides of the disc have signs
impressed in a single spiraling line beginning at the edge and ending in the
centre. The inscription uses forty-five different signs, which are repeated and
grouped together to form words separated by vertical incisions. The signs were
impressed on the unbaked clay using seals and for this reason the disc is
considered as the earliest known example of typography. Until now several
different interpretations of the text have been suggested, none of which is
entirely convincing. Modern scholars believe it to be a religious text or hymn.
It is noteworthy that several signs of this inscription appear on an axe from
Arkalochori.
No comments:
Post a Comment