The Phaistos Disc, c. 1700 BC, clay, Archaeological Museum, Herakleion, Crete
The Phaistos Disc was found inside a room at the palace of Phaistos and approximately dates to 1700 BC. It is a circular clay object -almost 15 cm in diameter- stamped with the signs of writing (over 100 types 45 of which are repeated). The signs that are organized in groups and separated by lines form a spiral and they are divided from each other in sections. The text has not been deciphered yet and this has given rise to a lot of disputes regarding its meaning and purpose. Its script differs from other scripts and Linear A. For this reason some say that the disc is an import. Nevertheless, the evidence of the same type of script found in Arkalochori in Crete suggests that it might have co-existed with the Linear A perhaps for specific religious purposes or even used for keeping accounts.
Today's artwork is a generous contribution of Eleftheria Pavli, BA, MA
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