Scholars Manage to Crack Only Three Words from Mysterious 4,000-Year-Old Clay Disk With Unknown Script
Deciphering writing on artifacts is not an easy pursuit. Oftentimes, writings are created using scripts or implying contexts that are not understood in modern times. In 2014, a team of researchers stunned everyone when they managed to find out the meaning of three words on a very difficult-to-understand inscription, stated news.com.au. The archaeological community was pleased because the inscription was believed to be one of history’s greatest mysteries.
The inscription was on the Minoan Phaistos Disk, which was spotted in Crete around 1908. Examinations revealed that the artifact dates back to 1700 B.C. The 16 cm disk featured spiral cuneiform (picture) writing. The disk was divided into 241 portions, each exhibiting phrases that were made from combining 45 particular images. Dr. Gareth Owens and Professor John Coleman of Oxford University spent years trying to understand the meaning behind the illustrations. The team cross-referenced the inscriptions with hieroglyphics like Minoan Linear A and Mycenaean Linear B and built a phonetic translation of the entire writing. In this translation, the team was able to identify the meaning of three words.
The three words were IQE, meaning Mother goddess; IQEKURJA, meaning Pregnant mother goddess, and IQEPAJE, meaning Shining mother goddess. These meanings helped researchers understand the overall context of this writing.
The team claimed that the tablet was a holy object that displayed a prayer dedicated to an ancient Minoan fertility goddess. "There is no doubt that we’re talking about a religious text. This is clear from a comparison made with other religious words from other inscriptions from the holy mountains of Crete and other texts. We have words that are exactly the same," said Dr. Owens, Ancient Origins stated. "I suspect that the Phaistos Disc is a hymn before Astarte, the goddess of love," he added. Researchers believe that the two sides of the disc belong to two separate deities. One side is dedicated to a mother goddess, and the other side honors Astarte, an important figure for the Minoan people.
The team was ecstatic to uncover the meaning of these words because they knew how difficult it was to understand the whole inscription. "It goes without saying that the language of the disk is unknown, and thus the text remains beyond our reach. Nevertheless, this has not deterred many potential decipherers from offering their own interpretations. Indeed, more has been written about this Cretan inscription than about any other..." Linguistic researcher Dr. Owens said. The fact that the inscription is a prayer makes the whole thing more complex because it implies there are references to practices that are no longer in function.
Researchers stated that they managed to translate the script because of details they had regarding Linear B. "Thanks to Michael Ventris, who made the decipherment of Linear B, the writing system […] from the Mycenaean era, we can go further back in Minoan Crete and read Minoan inscriptions,” said Owen. Such new developments aid in solving centuries-old mysteries and get more knowledge about the times that have gone by.