The Phaistos Disk I

8/9/2019 The Phaistos Disk I

1/9

The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Near Eastern Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

The Phaistos DiskAuthor(s): Benjamin SchwartzSource: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 1959), pp. 105-112Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/543271Accessed: 17-03-2015 10:37 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of contentin a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

This content downloaded from 62. 204.192.85 on Tue, 17 Mar 201 5 10:37:31 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpresshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/543271http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/543271http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpresshttp://www.jstor.org/


2/9

JOURNAL OFN E R EASTERN STUDIES

Volume XVIII APRIL 1959 Number 2

THE PIHAISTOS DISK

BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ1

N THE fifty years since the discoveryof the Phaistos disk by Pernier, nu-merous interpretations and even de-

cipherments have been advanced by avaried assortment of scholars. Not oneof these, including especially the recent"Wege zu seiner Entzifferung" of ErnstSchertel,2 has made even a single contribu-tidn to the interpretation of the disk.The result, perhaps inevitably, is thatany attempt upon this unique documentis fraught with peril to the author's repu-tation, and it is with some diffidence thatthe present attempt is made. It mustbe conceded at the outset that, withoutfurther texts including possibly a bilin-gual, the hope of reading this text com-pletely is remote. Nonetheless, the Ven-

tris-Chadwick solution of Linear B lendsimpetus to a re-examination of the prob-lem.

The disk has been frequently de-scribed.3 It was found in 1908 by Pernierin a room of the Phaistos palace in aMiddle Minoan IIIb level. The finderclaims that the position of the disk indi-cates that it slipped down from a higherlevel.4 This will prove significant whenlinguistic affinities are discussed. Proveni-ence of the disk has ranged in speculationfrom Africa to the Caucasus. The factremains, however, that: (1) it was foundin Crete in association with a Minoanmilieu and tablets in a linear script; (2)it cannot be linked with any other knownspot in the ancient world; and (3) unlesswe are to make the highly unlikely as-sumption that the disk is a hoax, thepresumption of Cretan provenience must

first be disproved.Before venturing any further, it is nec-

essary to establish, once for all, the direc-tion of writing. Most scholars are agreedthat the text reads from the outer coilto the inner, right to left. Schertel insistsit is to be read from the inner coil out-ward. Apart from later circular inscrip-

1 Mr. J. N. Stonebraker of Washington, D.C., isresponsible for the draughtsmanship and some of thefrequency counts of this study. Without his willingand tireless assistance the work could scarcely havebeen brought to fruition at this time. A portion of thisstudy was informally presented at a seminar atBrandeis University during the summer of 1958. Criti-cisms and suggestions, notably by Cyrus Gordon andSara Immerwahr, are gratefully acknowledged.

SWairzburger Jahrbiicher fiir die Altertumswissen-

schaft, 3. Jahrg. (1948), pp. 334-65.

a Note especially Diringer, The Alphabet (NewYork, 1948), pp. 78-79 and Friedrich, Extinct Lan-guages (New York, 1958), pp. 166-67.

4 Ausonia, Anno III (1908), p. 261.

105

This content downloaded from 62.2 04.192.85 on Tue, 17 Mar 20 15 10:37:31 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/9

P.D. TEXT FACE A

AAA AI A3 A2 At

IKIasU IAU A B1A1>AS9

A3IA3oAZ9A23 A27 A2.

FACE B

mXaa

B7 -84 Z3 I312z I

\1o A25 18 5Z97B0 19 B 17 D5 14

I Yt I 44t 4ilv 1 0 L Ii

52 25B24 W23 22 2 12

32 ) 3?I t Z7we I~e ~ 831 q01 AZ ID7 90~2 A" Md\sso 33 8 28 2

LIST OF P.D. SIGNS IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE

? /~ 231 I , t z

zc 7 127I f17 2z 327 32 7 42

3 18i J5 Z 3 33 j38 4

4 ( 5 14 19j 0 34 31 4 7

a 2 s 44 46

FiG. 1




4/9

THE PHAISTOS ISK 107

tions, most of which do read from theouter to inner coils, the direction on thedisk is guaranteed by several instancesof

overcutting (Face A, Groups 5, 14,17) i.e., impression of part of a sign onpart of the preceding sign. The text is,therefore, to be read from right to left,outer coil to inner. Cretan scripts, indeedall Cypro-Minoan writing, read from leftto right; but since this is a die inscriptionimprinted with individual stamp dies (thefirst movable type ), it is quite possiblethat the disk itself was a matrix for im-

A significant feature of Cypro-Minoanwriting is that, while ideograms do occur,class determinatives are never used, as

e.g., the Mesopotamian-Egyptian deter-minatives for god, man, plant, bird, andthe like. This is vital for the interpretationof the very first sign on both Face Aand B. The crested warrior, whateverhis ultimate provenience, occurs 19 timesand always in initial position. Linear Ahas but one sign of high frequency ininitial position, while Linear B has thesame sign as Linear A, also, predominant-

TABLE 1PD I M F TOTAL PD I M F TOTAL PD I M F TOTAL

1. 19 0 0 19 16. 0 1 4 5 31. 0 4 0 42. 0 13 4 17 17. 2 2 0 4 32. 0 0 2 23. 2 3 1 6 18. 2 3 0 5 33. 0 2 0 24. 1 3 7 11 19. 0 3 3 6 34. 0 1 0 15. 0 7 5 12 20. 0 4 7 11 35. 0 2 0 26. 1 4 1 6 21. 0 2 0 2 36. 4 1 0 57. 0 5 1 6 22. 0 2 1 3 37. 0 0 1 18. 8 3 0 11 23. 0 3 0 3 38. 0 2 0 29. 1 5 0 6 24. 1 9 1 11 39. 2 0 0 2

10. 4 6 8 18 25. 0 1 3 4 40. 0 0 1 111. 0 2 1 3 26. 1 3 0 4 41. 1 0 0 112. 0 1 0 1 27. 0 0 1 1 42. 0 1 0 113. 2 1 3 6 28. 0 4 3 7 43. 0 4 0 414. 5 8 2 15 29. 2 2 0 4 44. 1 1 0 215. 0 1 0 1 30. 2 0 0 2 45. 0 1 0 1

printing its text, hence reversal of direc-tion.

The readable signs of the inscriptionnumber 241 (see Fig. 1). One rasura hasobliterated at least one complete sign.Groups of signs are separated by a verticaldivider into 61 groups, 31 on one side(Face A) and 30 on the other (Face B).Numbering the signs in their order ofoccurrence, with frequencies cited as ini-tial, medial, and final, we emerge with45 different signs (see Table 1). Too manyfor a true alphabet, and too few for aMesopotamian-Egyptian type syllabary,we can only be dealing with a Cypro-

Minoan syllabary of vowels and open(consonant plus vowel) syllables.

ly, in initial position. This is No. 8 inBennett's enumeration of the Linear B

signs.5 It will be noted that most of thevariants of this sign develop in linearform the salient feature of the disk picto-graph, the crest. It is, therefore, suggestedthat the linear sign does not derive fromthe double ax,6 but rather from our crestedwarrior. Direct development plus frequen-cy plus distribution guarantee the equa-tion

don

5 Cf. E. L.Bennett, Minoan Linear

BIndex

(NewHaven, 1953).8 Cf. e.g., Ventris-Chadwick, p. 33, Fig. 6.




5/9

108 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

PD 2=A91, B78

PD 40 = A 86, B 66 a

PD 9=A58, B76

PD 43 = A 60, B 30

PD 16 = A 100, B 52 (hand or cestus)

PD 18 = A 98, B 81 (the flying bird)

PD 25 = A 24

PD 6= A 75, B 54 (house or granary)

PD 26 = A 49, B 122

In any cryptanalytic problem a singlesure entry solves the problem. We nowhave one sure entry into the disk, butthis does not mean that we can proceedwith the reading of the text, nor eventhat the phonetic values of the two signsare the same. It does mean that a geneticrelationship exists between the writingof the disk and that of the linear scripts.

This relationship we must now proceedto test by further comparisons of lineardevelopment and/or frequencies.7

With so many sure identifications fol-lowing upon the heels of our sure entry,coincidence can safely be ruled out, even

if no further equations were established.Frequency considerations, however, dolead to further equations and to the grow-ing conviction that, even if the languagesof the disk and the linear inscriptions

7 Frequency counts for Linear B are based onBennett, loc. cit. Counts for Linear A are from thetables of Pope and Goold.

TABLE 2

LINEAR A LINEAR B PDna 4-13-28 =45 a 440-33-23 = 496 1. 19-0-0 =19da 24-12-9 =45 ro 12-189-271 = 472 10. 4-6-8 = 18

no 19-9-16 =44 yo 5-106-359=

470 2. 0-13-4 =17a 43-0-0 =43 ra 63-274-55 = 392 14. 5-8-2 =15ti 6-13-23 =42 e 276-73-39 = 388 5. 0-7-5 = 12re 5-12-22 =39 to 51-139-184 = 374 4. 1-3-7 =11ta 9-13-17 =39 te 63-221-75 = 359 8. 8-3-0 =11ra 4-14-20 =38 ta 62-196-185 =343 20. 0-4-7 =11ki 16-8-13 =37 ya 16-149-173 = 338 24. 1-9-1 =11ya 10-9-17 = 36 re 34-258-42 = 334 28. 0-4-3 = 7ka 23-6-6 =35 ko 110-133-82 =325 3. 2-3-1 = 6sa 21-5-8 = 34 u 40-152-119 = 311 6. 1-4-1 = 6ku 15-12-5 = 32 o 165-48-96 = 309 7. 0-5-1 = 6ru 8-9-16 = 33 ka 125-138-39 = 302 9. 1-5-0 = 6du 11-11-9 =31 ri 22-256-13 =291 13. 2-1-3 =6ma 13-6-10 = 29 ke 80-168-24 = 272 19. 0-3-3 = 6

ne 9-7-13 =29 we 32-126-109 = 267 36. 4-1-0 = 5tu 10-4-14 =28 no 8-85-151 = 244 16. 0-1-4 = 5di 11-8-9 = 28 i 83-103-35 = 223 18. 2-3-0 = 5




6/9

THE PHAISTOS DISK 109

differ, the phonetic values are constant,cf. e.g., the phonetic values of the signsof Linear A and B. Let us, therefore,compare the high frequencies of Linear

A and B and of the Phaistos disk.8It is obvious, at a glance, that the

signs of Linear A and B are used towrite different languages. Not only is therea wide discrepancy in the higher frequen-cies, but more significantly, a wide dis-

crepancy in distribution among initials,medials, and finals of signs having thesame phonetic values. Since the texts ofLinear A numbers are those of Carratelli.

COMPARISON OF P.D. & LINEAR B FREQUENCIES

r T A = Ro=YO

2o MI T7 1 F T M F T I M FT

S1 " -I d i

,I

300 /

00

,PeBs _ II I I I

-4 I

?PD 4= 1 - 0?- =i

PD=l 3?- =- 7 = "PD=1 -7- 511D=ZO - 13- 0 = I=

440 3 2- 13N o-

374 11=2-1g- 2-71-47Zi

o6--65- 9 470 13

-27 -7-,-39=3M

1F FI I I I I I I I I I -

TPD 14 - 11 = G PD-~- - = - TDD= I 44 -D M - =IS= 4 933 - 234=

4,

B12 - rB -3279 2 8= -Z(6 - 139 = 1 8 5-F- 8 - 331 =24

,FI t F : CT LEGE ND00

a4----,M=M

-I

T z TIN F AiL

FIG. 2




7/9


Linear A and B both deal largely with thesame subject matter, there can be nodoubt that the languages describing thissubject matter are different.' With which

of these is the language of the disk tobe associated? There is, of course, noimmediate compulsion to associate it withthe language of either. But equation ofthe B frequencies and phonetics with those

of the disk yield remarkable coincidences

(see Fig. 2).PD 10, the second highest frequency

sign, has a distribution of 4-6-8. It cannot

be equated with Linear B ro or yo becauseof their low initial frequencies. It cannotbe equated with ra or e because of dis-tribution. But to fits the distribution pat-tern and the total high frequency. Letus assume this value for PD 10.

PD 8 has a distribution of 8-3-0. OnFace A 4 of the disk we have initial

9 Cyrus Gordon in JNES, XVI (1958), 245--55 con-vincingly demonstrates that Linear A is Akkadian,a business Akkadian current in the Mediterraneanworld up to at least the fifteenth century B.c.

A E 1 0 U UNCERTAIN

V O W E L

Y

Mf

N

z __o:1_FIG. 3




8/9

THE PHAISTOSDISK 111

reduplication of the sign; on Face B 21and 26 the sign occurs in a sequence offour signs preceded by sign PD 36, whilethe same sequence occurs on Face B 18

without PD 36. It is thus safe to assumethat PD 36 is a syntactic or morphologicalelement and that, except for the instanceof initial reduplication, PD 8 stands onlyin initial position in our text. Its highfrequency and position guarantee its pho-netic nature to be a vowel. Equationof the sign with Linear B e yields areading on Face A 3 and B 20 of e-ra-to(plus thorn), one of the nine towns. This

reading receives solid support from FaceA 2, which reads wa-7-qe. The vocabularydeveloped by Ventris-Chadwick has onlyna and tu after wa-. The variations ofLinear B tu make it a more probablelinear development from PD 7. The twogroups can now be read as wa-tu-qe e-ra-to(plus thorn), "and the town Erato." FaceA 4 reads e-e-11. A form of the verb"to be" is indicated. Since we have two

subjects, the form should be the thirdplural, cf. Ventris-Chadwick e-e-si. It willbe noted that Linear B si does suggesta modification of PD 11. We thus gainthree additional phonetic values: PD 7tu; PD 8 e; and PD 11 si. It will alsobe noted that PD 2 qe is the familiarenclitic connective.

PD 4 has a distribution of 1-3-7. Ofthe top Linear B frequencies only ro meetsthe distribution

requirements (see Fig.2). It will again be noted that the linearsign could well be a modification of thepictograph. The same reasoning obtainsfor PD 14 = ka, PD 24 = ri, PD 16 =no, PD 6 = wa, and PD 43 = ni. Ofthese, PD 14 and 24 do not seem tobe continued in linear modifications.

Of the disk high-frequency signs onlyPD 5 and PD 20 are left, the former witha distribution of 0-7-5, the latter with0-4-7. Face A 2 reads wa-tu-qe, with whichFace B 10 wa-tu-20 is to be compared.

So, too, Face A 9 and 25, ku-we-20 besideku-we-qe; Face A 6 and B 2, ka-ra-to-qebeside ka-ra-to-20; and Face B 5 and13, where qe and 20 again alternate in

final position. It is clear that the twosigns are syntactically equivalent in thisposition. It is possible, of course, thatthe two signs are homophones of eachother, but the linear variants of te (noteparticularly Linear A 50) argue for alinear development from the pictograph.Furthermore, Mycenean has an enclitic-de (cf. Ventris-Chadwick, p. 47) which,with qe, is the only other enclitic thus

far found. The phonetic value te/de will,therefore, be assigned to PD 20.

This leaves PD 5 as the only high-frequency sign thus far unresolved. Thehighest Linear B frequency with whichit can be equated is yo. While at firstglance the final position frequencies ofthe PD and Linear B signs are at variance,it must be remembered that the lineartexts are almost exclusively inventories,

and these exhibit a disproportionatelyhigh incidence of names in the genitivesingular. Comparison of initial and medialfrequencies (see Fig. 2) and the totalfrequencies establish the equation of PD5 = yo.

The sequence a-qe occurs 13 times, 12times on Face A and once, at the verybeginning, on Face B. The "rules" of My-cenean spelling (Ventris-Chadwick, pp.

42-49) yield a large number of phoneticpossibilities. But a clue to the interpreta-tion of a-qe is furnished by the first threegroups of Face A, which read:

a-qe 3-ro-yo (plus thorn) wa-tu-qe e-ra-to (plus thorn). Groups 2 and 3 havealready been translated "and the townErato." Group 1 must, therefore, alsorefer to a place, and a-qe can be equatedwith Myc. a-ke-e, Gk. &yos, &yea, Lat.arx, or the like, and indicates the kindof place to which reference is made. Namesand/or parts of names familiar from at




9/9


least Mycenean tablet sources now beginto appear on both faces of the disk, andthe nature of the text of the disk alsobegins to emerge.

Face A 1 and A 26 suggest the familiarplace name ma-ro, yielding a value mafor PD 3. This matches the frequency-distribution spread of the Linear B value(PD 2-3-1 = 6 against 54-119-13 =

186); to test the value further, Face A30 ma-ro can easily be equated with Gk.gaXXoi, while Face B 19 e-no-ma readilysuggests Gk. i'voia. Face A 14, repeatedA 20, reads a-ka-28-29-ri-yo. The Myc.place name d-ka-d-ki-ri-yo leaps to the eyeand gives us two more values, PD 29 = ki,and for PD 28 the value (y)a. The lattervalue is assigned both to avoid homo-phones in the present state of the PDsyllabary, and because alternations of ya-and yo- with a- and o- occur frequentlyin the Linear B texts.

Early in the present study a grid wasestablished as soon as the first phoneticvalues were confirmed (see Fig. 3). Work-ing from grid to context and from gridto comparative frequencies, 18 PD signshave now been identified with fair cer-tainty. Three more signs (3, 28, 29) arehighly probable. PD 22 seems to be con-tinued in linear sa, but there are no goodreadings to confirm this value. PD 13(the fish) seems to alternate with PD 8 =e in at least Face B 5 and B 13, and prob-ably = (y)e, cf. Face B 15 e-e-ro, "temple"or "sacred." The ku-we in Face A 9,16, 19, 22, and 25 could well be the IErelative pronoun.

The thorn occurs 16 times, always infinal position. It must, therefore, be ofsyntactic or morphological rather thanphonological value; what that value is,must be left open for the present. Thetext now reads:

FACE A a-qe ma-ro-yo wa-tu-qe e-ra-to e-e-si a-qe 12-tu-(y)e

ka-ra- o-qe ka-15-no a-qe 17-yo-[x] ku-we-te a-qe 21-sa(?)-tero-21-tu-to a-qe 23-ri-25 26-27 a-ka-(y)a-ki-ri-yo 0-ro

a-qe ku-we a-qe ka-ka-te-31-32 y)e-ri a-qe ku-we a-ka-(y)a-ki-ri-yo30-ro a-qe ku-we a-qe ka-33-23-yo-ka 7-yo-34-sa(?) u-we-qe

a-qe ma-ro ri-sa(?)-te ki-35-25 a-qe ka-ka-te-31-32 ma-ro ki-35-35FACE B a-qe 36--tu-to ka-ra-to-te a-31-ri-37 6-(y)a-ka

(y)e-wa-38-qe 9-ri-yo-ta ma-ro-26-(y)e 1-te-ma-ro-yo 6-31-42-(y)ato-wa-tu-te a-we-ni-tu ka-(y)a-25-ro -wa-wa-38-te 9-33-yo

e-(y)e-ro 17-te-23-26-(y)e -44-ka-ro -ni-to-no e-no-ma e-ra-to36-e-ni-to-no a-si-ri-(y)a o-yo-te to-ra-to to-ri-yo-wa36-e-ni-to-no 4-45-26-yo-to -17-te-ri-to -si-ri-(y)a ra-to

We have here a list of places, presum-ably sacred, which may have served asa sort of routier for pilgrims. As the textnow stands, it certainly cannot be readin full and may never be read unlessmore textual material is brought to light.Some conclusions can, however, be drawn:

1. The Phaistos disk is Cretan.2. The writing and syllabary are geneti-

cally related to Cretan linear scripts.3. The language of the Phaistos disk is

Indo-European, probably the sameor similar to the Mycenean Greekof the Linear B texts.10

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PENNSYLVANIA

toAdditional critical identifications have been madesince this article went to press. A continuation of thestudy will appear in the next issue of the Journal.

This content downloaded from 62 2 04 192 85 on Tue 17 Mar 20 15 10:37:31 UTC
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

Documents

The Phaistos Disk I