Arkalochori Axe
The bronze Arkalochori Axe is a second millennium BC Minoan votive double axe excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in 1934 in the Arkalochori cave on Crete [1] which is believed to be part of a religious ritual.[2] It is inscribed with fifteen symbols. It has been suggested that these might be Linear A but Professor Glanville Price agrees with Louis Godart that "the characters on the axe are no more than a 'pseudo-inscription' engraved by an illiterate in uncomprehending imitation of authentic Linear A characters on other similar axes."[3] The axe and the Phaistos Disc are conserved in the Iraklion Archaeological Museum.
[edit] The Inscription
Of the fifteen signs, two appear to be unique. The suggestions for comparison with Linear A and Phaistos Disc glyphs are due to Torsten Timm (2004).[4]
Reading right to left, top to bottom, the symbols are as follows.
| № | Sign | Comment | Linear A | Phaistos Disc |
| 01 |  |
A 304  KA ?? |
||
| 02 |  |
AB28  I |
D39  |
|
| 03 |  |
AB01  DA |
||
| 04 |  |
D02  |
||
| 05 |  |
|||
| 06 |  |
AB05  TO ?? |
||
| 07 |  |
cf. 04 | D02 |
|
| 08 |  |
AB80  MA |
||
| 09 |  |
AB04  TE ? |
D35  |
|
| 10 |  |
cf. 04 | D02 |
|
| 11 |  |
AB31  SA ?? |
D19  |
|
| 12 | |
cf. 08 | AB80 MA |
|
| 13 |  |
AB06  NA ?? |
D23  |
|
| 14 |  |
Root? | ||
| 15 |  |
A338  ? |
[edit] References
- ^ Best, Jan G. P.; Woudhuizen, Fred (31 December 1989). Lost Languages from the Mediterranean. Brill. p. 97. ISBN 978-9004089341.
- ^ Whittaker, Helène (2005). "Social and Symbolic Aspects of Minoan writing". European Journal of Archaeology 8 (2): 157–181. doi:10.1177/1461957105058207.
- ^ Price, Glanville (2000). Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 384. ISBN 978-0631220398. http://books.google.com/books?id=29BAeKHwvuoC&pg=PA354&dq=Arkalochori+Axe+symbols&hl=en&ei=diJETPWlAciOjAfK0rlV&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Timm, Torsten (2004). "Der Diskos von Phaistos - Anmerkungen zur Deutung und Textstruktur". Indogermanische Forschungen (109): 204–231. (PDF 0.5 Mb)
