It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
originally posted by: 123rednaxela123
a reply to: theantediluvian
The Minoans worshiped the moon!
The Minoans seem to have worshiped primarily goddesses
originally posted by: theantediluvian
I saw this a couple days ago and I completely forgot I was going to start a thread about it. I'm certain a great many of you reading this are familiar with the Phaistos Disk as it's been an object of considerable interest since its discovery over a hundred years ago. For those who are not, a brief introduction:
Side A of the Phaistos Disc, image from Wikipedia
The Phaistos Disc (or Disk) was discovered in 1908 by Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier in a basement chamber at the site of the Minoan palace of Phaistos, on the Greek island of Crete. It's a fired clay disc, about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter with 241 characters, composed of 45 unique symbols, that appear to have been pressed into it as with a set of seals. On both faces of the disc, the symbols are arranged in a sequence that spirals clockwise to the center.
The precise date of its creation is unknown though most estimates range from about 1850 BC to 1400 BC. Though it is almost universally accepted as a genuine artifact, there have been scholars who questioned its authenticity in the past and as recently as 2008. In addition to years of rigorous study and Pernier's excavation records, the finds of two Minoan artifacts with similar features have supported both its authenticity and a Minoan origin: The Mavro Spilio ring (1926) and the Arkalochori Axe, which was discovered in a cave on Crete in the 1930's and shares a home with the Phaistos Disc at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
Several things make the Phaistos Disc unique: the pressing of the symbols resembling an ancient typesetting, the spiral arrangement of the symbols and most importantly, the script itself is completely unknown outside of this single specimen. Some scholars have associated it to Linear A and Linear B while others have linked it to Anatolian hieroglyphs.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, on to the current development! Dr. Gareth Owens, of the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, is claiming that he has determined the meaning of several of the symbols and has been able to extract the gist of the disc's message.
From Discovery News (find related at Obscuragator):
Owens argues that the disk -- about 6 inches in diameter -- contains a prayer to the mother goddess of the Minoan era.
"The most stable word and value is 'mother,' and in particular the mother goddess of the Minoan era," said Owens, according to Archaeology News Network.
Using specific groups of symbols Owens says one side of the disk contains the translated wording "great lady of importance" while the other uses the expression "pregnant mother." One side, Owens says, is dedicated to a pregnant woman and the other to a woman giving birth.
Owens spent six years working on the code with a colleague at Oxford University and says about 90 percent of one side of the disk can now be deciphered. In a talk, he jokingly referred to it as the first Minoan "CD-ROM" for its shape and hard-coded data.
and from The Archaeology News Network:
He says there is one complex of signs found in three parts of one side of the disk spelling I-QE-KU-RJA, with I-QE meaning “great lady of importance” while a key word appears to be AKKA, or “pregnant mother,” according to the researcher.
One final source of information for the really curious is the TEI website.
As a lay person, to me his findings seem roughly as likely to be valid as many of the others so I'll be keeping an eye out to see how his work is received by other experts.
The Minoans seem to have worshiped primarily goddesses
originally posted by: 123rednaxela123
The Minoans seem to have worshiped primarily goddesses
en.wikipedia.org...
Next
originally posted by: Marduk
originally posted by: 123rednaxela123
The Minoans seem to have worshiped primarily goddesses
en.wikipedia.org...
Next
The ancient peoples had, usually, several gods and goddesses at the same time.
originally posted by: [post=18576245]theantediluvian[/postOn both faces of the disc, the symbols are arranged in a sequence that spirals clockwise to the center.
originally posted by: 123rednaxela123
For you it's just a plate with lunch, and for me - an artifact with a syllabic letter.
originally posted by: djz3ro
I'm glad they're able to start working out what this says, things like this fascinate me/ One thing though, how can they be sure they symbols spiral out towards the centre, I mean can they be sure it's not spiraling away from it? Rhetorical question really, I don't expect you to actually know.
originally posted by: [post=18576245]theantediluvian[/postOn both faces of the disc, the symbols are arranged in a sequence that spirals clockwise to the center.
Thanks for bringing this to us...
originally posted by: paracelsus
The Phaistos Disc appears to be an astronomical instrument like a planisphere.
Here are some archeoastronomy animations that show the Phaistos Disc as a planisphere in rotation:
Archeoastronomy Animations: Phaistos Disc Side A
youtu.be...
Archeoastronomy Animations: Phaistos Disc Side B and Dispilio Tablet
youtu.be...