science

Phaistos Disc decipherment claims

Phaistos Disc decipherment claims is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Phaistos Disc decipherment claims rather than just read about it. In short: Many people have claimed to have deciphered the Phaistos Disc. The claims may be categorized into linguistic decipherments, identifying the language of the inscription, and non-linguistic decipherments.

Key takeaways

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Reproduce the core statement of Phaistos Disc decipherment claims from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Many people have claimed to have deciphered the Phaistos Disc. The claims may be categorized into linguistic decipherments, identifying the language of the inscription, and non-linguistic decipherments. A purely ideographical reading is semantic but not linguistic in the strict sense: While a semantic decipherment may reveal the intended meaning of the symbols in the inscription, it would not allow us to identify the underlying words or their language. A large part of the claims are clearly pseudoscientific, if not bordering on the esoteric. Linguists are doubtful whether the inscription is sufficiently long to be unambiguously interpreted. Mainstream consensus tends towards the assumption of a syllabic script, possibly mixed with ideogram, like the known scripts of the epoch (Egyptian hieroglyphs, Anatolian hieroglyphs, Linear B). Some approaches attempt to establish a connection with known scripts, either the roughly contemporary Cretan hieroglyphs or Linear A native to Crete, or Egyptian or Anatolian hieroglyphics. Solutions postulating an independent Aegean script have also been proposed.

Linguistic interpretations

Greek George Hempl (1911) (interpretation as Ionic Greek, syllabic writing) side A first; reading inwards; side A begins Ἀποσῦλ’ ἂρ... Hempls readings of side A: A-po-su-la-r ke-si-po e-pe-t e-e-se a-po-le-is-tu te-pe-ta-po. (Lo, Xipho the prophetess dedicates spoils from a spoiler of the prophetess.) Te-u-s, a-po-ku-ra. (Zeus guard us.) Vi-ka-na a-po-ri-pi-na la-ri-si-ta a-po-ko-me-nu so-to. (In silence put aside the most dainty portions of the still unroasted animal.) A-te-ne-Mi-me-ra pu-l. (Athene Minerva, be gracious.) A-po-vi-k. (Silence!) A-po-te-te-na-ni-si tu-me. (The victims have been put to death.) A-po-vi-k. (Silence!)

F.M. Stawell (1911) (interpretation as Homeric Greek, syllabic writing); side B first; reading inward: side A begins ἄνασσα κῶθί ῥα· ... Not Ionic; B30 is non-sigmatic ἄνασσ' ἰά λῦται; B6 is τᾶ, Μαρὰ, δᾶ–, with four long alphas. Steven R. Fischer (1988) (interpretation as a Greek dialect, syllabic writing); side A first; reading inwards; 02-12 reads E-qe 'hear ye'.[See book Glyph Breaker (1997) for full account] D. Ohlenroth (1996) (interpretation as a Greek dialect, alphabetic writing); side A first; reading outwards; numerous homophonic signs B. Schwarz (1959) (interpretation as Mycenean Greek, syllabic writing) side A first; reading inwards. comparison with Linear B as starting point. A. Martin (2000) (interpretation as a Greek-Minoan bilingual text, alphabetic writing) reading outwards; reads only side A as Greek and says side B is Minoan K. & K. Massey (1998) (partial decipherment - interpretation as a Greek dialect, syllabic writing) reading outwards suggest, based on comparisons with Linear B, and a suggestion by linguist Miguel Carrasquer Vidal, that the words marked by slashes are numbers spelled out, so the disk would be a form of receipt for goods, designed to be easily destroyed M.G. Corsini (2008, 2010) (interpretation as proto-Ionic language, syllabic writing); side A first; reading outwards; (Italian) 1348 a.C. Apoteosi di Radamanto.

Unknown language G. Owens & J. Coleman (2014) (based on Cretan hieroglyphics, Minoan Linear A and Mycenaean Linear B); possibly prayer to a Minoan goddess.

"Proto-Ionic" J. Faucounau (1975) considers the script as the original invention of a Cycladic and maritime Aegean people, the proto-Ionians, who had picked up the idea of a syllabic acrophonic script from Egypt at the time of the VIth Dynasty. He interprets the text as "proto-Ionic" Greek in syllabic writing. Reading side A first, inwards, he deciphers a (funerary) hymn to one Arion, child of Argos, destroyer of Iasos. The language is a Greek dialect, written with considerable phonological ambiguities, comparable to the writing of Mycenean Greek in Linear B, hand-crafted by Faucounau to suit his reading, among other things postulating change of digamma to y and loss of labiovelars, but retention of Indo-European -sy- (in the genitive singular -osyo, Homeric -oio). Faucounau has gathered evidence, which he asserts shows the existence of proto-Ionians as early as the Early Bronze Age and of a proto-Ionic language with the required characteristics during the Late Bronze Age. He has presented this evidence in several papers and summarized it in two books. The text begins

ka-s (a)r-ko-syo / pa-yi-s / a-ri-o / a-a-mo / ka-s læ-yi-to / te-ri-o-s / te-tmæ-næ kas Argoio payis Arion ahamos. kas læi(s)ton dærios tetmænai "Arion, the son of Argos, is without equal. He has distributed the spoil of battle." Faucounau's solution was critically reviewed by Duhoux (2000), who in particular was sceptical about the consonantal sign s (D12) in the otherwise syllabic script, which appears word-finally in the sentence particle kas, but not in nominatives like ahamos. Most syllabaries would either omit s in both places, or use a syllable beginning with s in both places.

Luwian Achterberg et al. (2004) interpreted the text as Anatolian hieroglyphic, reading inwards, side A first. The research group proposes a 14th century date, based on a dating of tablet PH 1, the associated Linear A tablet. The group reads the oblique stylus-drawn strokes at the end of some words as a 46th glyph, and identify it with the Luwian personal name determinative symbol 'r(a/i)', but assign it the value '-ti'. Phaistos glyph 01 is compared to the logogram 'SARU', a walking man or walking legs in Luwian. 02 is compared to word-initial 'a2', a head with a crown in Luwian. The "bow" 11 is identified as the logogram 'sol suus', the winged sun known from Luwian royal seals. Sign 12 (SHIELD) is compared to the near identical Luwian logogram 'TURPI' "bread" and assigned the value 'tu'. Phaistos glyph 39 is read as the "thunderbolt", logogram of the god Tarhunt, in Luwian a W-shaped hieroglyph. With these and other hypotheses, they arrive at a proposed translation of the text. It would be a Luwian document of land ownership, addressed to one na-sa-tu ("Nestor"; Dative na-sa-ti) of hi-ya-wa (Ahhiyawa). Toponyms read are pa-ya-tu (Phaistos), ra-su-ta (Lasithi), mi-SARU (Mesara), ku-na-sa (Knossos), sa3-har-wa (Scheria), ri-ti-na (Rhytion). Another personal name read is i-du-ma-na ("Idomeneus"), governor of Mesara. The text begins

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Phaistos Disc decipherment claims

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Phaistos Disc decipherment claims claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Phaistos Disc decipherment claims before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Phaistos Disc decipherment claims ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Phaistos Disc decipherment claims

In research: Phaistos Disc decipherment claims appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Phaistos Disc decipherment claims in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Phaistos Disc decipherment claims is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Inscriptions in undeciphered writing systems, Languages of Greece, Minoan archaeology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Phaistos Disc decipherment claims outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Phaistos Disc decipherment claims in simple terms?

Why does Phaistos Disc decipherment claims matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Phaistos Disc decipherment claims?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

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It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Phaistos Disc decipherment claims.