Phaistos Disk
A fired clay disk inscribed with symbols that have never been deciphered
The ancient Minoan civilization on the Mediterranean island of Crete
More than 3,000 years ago
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What it tells us about the past:
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civilization on the Greek mainland.
under his palace at Knossos on Crete, until the beast was killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. But experts think the Minoans lived on Crete between about 3100 and 1150 B.C. — probably centuries before Minos and Theseus might have lived in the 12th century B.C.
The disk was found in the ruins of a Minoan palace at Phaistos, an archaeological site the south coast of Crete. Measuring roughly 6 inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, it is inscribed with two spirals of symbols, one on each side, which most experts think is a script. But what the symbols say has never been determined, although there have been many attempts.
In total the disk has 241 occurrences of 45 symbols. Some symbols clearly portray people, while others depict animals, plants, weapons, tools and other objects. They are grouped into "words" by vertical strokes, but nothing is known about how the symbols sounded or functioned.
they formed a letter about a dispute over land written in the Luwian language of ancient Anatolia (modern Turkey).
Still others propose it was written in Hittite; or Egyptian; or that it was either a prayer to a goddess or a funeral hymn, but written in an unknown language.
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