The Arkalochori Axe is a 2nd millennium BC Minoan bronze votive double axe (labrys) excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in 1934 in the Arkalochori cave in Crete,[1] which is believed to have been used for religious rituals.[2] It is inscribed with fifteen symbols.

Arkalochori Axe
The central portion of the bronze labrys bears inscriptions
MaterialBronze
Createdc. 1650 BC
Discovered1934
Arkalochori, Crete, Greece
Discovered bySpyridon Marinatos
Present locationHeraklion, Crete, Greece

It has been suggested that these symbols might be Linear A, although some scholars disagree.[3]

The Arkalochori axe and the Phaistos Disc are exhibited at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum (Galleries V and VII, respectively). They share some symbols.

Inscription

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Of the fifteen signs, two appear to be unique. The following suggestions for comparison with Linear A and Phaistos Disc glyphs are attributed to Torsten Timm (2004).[4] Reading top to bottom, right to left, the symbols are:

Sign Comment Linear A Phaistos Disc
01   A 304   KA ??
02   AB28   I D39  
03   AB01   DA
04   D02  
05  
06   AB05   TO ??
07   cf. 04 D02  
08   AB80   MA
09   AB04   TE ? D35  
10   cf. 04 D02  
11   AB31   SA ?? D19  
12   cf. 08 AB80   MA
13   AB06   NA ?? D23  
14   Root?
15   A338   ?

Note that reading top to bottom, right to left after turning the inscription counterclockwise gives a different sequence and numbering of the glyphs.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Best, Jan G. P.; Woudhuizen, Fred (31 December 1989). Lost Languages from the Mediterranean. Brill. p. 97. ISBN 978-90-04-08934-1.
  2. ^ Whittaker, Helène (2005). "Social and Symbolic Aspects of Minoan writing". European Journal of Archaeology. 8 (2): 157–181. doi:10.1177/1461957105058207. S2CID 162881074.
  3. ^ Price, Glanville (2000). Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-631-22039-8.
  4. ^ Timm, Torsten (2004). "Der Diskos von Phaistos - Anmerkungen zur Deutung und Textstruktur". Indogermanische Forschungen (109): 204–231. doi:10.1515/16130405.204. S2CID 170325659. (PDF 0.5 Mb)

6. Flouda, Georgia (2015). "Materiality and script: constructing a narrative on the Minoan inscribed axe from the Arkalochori cave", SMEA Nuova Serie 1: 43-56.