The Arkalochori Axe is a 2nd millennium BC Minoan bronze votive double axe (labrys) excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in 1934 in the Arkalochori cave in Crete,[1] which is believed to have been used for religious rituals.[2] It is inscribed with fifteen symbols.
| Arkalochori Axe | |
|---|---|
 The central portion of the bronze labrys bears inscriptions | |
| Material | Bronze |
| Created | c. 1650 BC |
| Discovered | 1934 Arkalochori, Crete, Greece |
| Discovered by | Spyridon Marinatos |
| Present location | Heraklion, Crete, Greece |
It has been suggested that these symbols might be Linear A, although some scholars disagree.[3]
The Arkalochori axe and the Phaistos Disc are exhibited at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum (Galleries V and VII, respectively). They share some symbols.
Inscription
editOf the fifteen signs, two appear to be unique. The following suggestions for comparison with Linear A and Phaistos Disc glyphs are attributed to Torsten Timm (2004).[4] Reading top to bottom, right to left, the symbols are:
| № | Sign | Comment | Linear A | Phaistos Disc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 
|
A 304  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  ?
|
Note that reading top to bottom, right to left after turning the inscription counterclockwise gives a different sequence and numbering of the glyphs.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Best, Jan G. P.; Woudhuizen, Fred (31 December 1989). Lost Languages from the Mediterranean. Brill. p. 97. ISBN 978-90-04-08934-1.
- ^ Whittaker, Helène (2005). "Social and Symbolic Aspects of Minoan writing". European Journal of Archaeology. 8 (2): 157–181. doi:10.1177/1461957105058207. S2CID 162881074.
- ^ Price, Glanville (2000). Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-631-22039-8.
- ^ Timm, Torsten (2004). "Der Diskos von Phaistos - Anmerkungen zur Deutung und Textstruktur". Indogermanische Forschungen (109): 204–231. doi:10.1515/16130405.204. S2CID 170325659. (PDF 0.5 Mb)