Athena Review Image Archive ™
Hieroglyphic inscription from Petras
Detail of clay bar with hieroglyphic inscriptions from Petras (photo: Erik Hallager].
The
earliest Minoan writing is the Cretan hieroglyphic script used on
sealstones and clay accounting documents (Packard 1974). This early
syllabic script evolved by 1900 BC during the Middle Minoan period, and
was used through the destruction of the Minoan palaces ca.1450 BC.
At
Petras, in northeastern Crete, an archive of hieroglyphic documents has
been found dating from the Protopalatial period of MMIIA-MMIIB
(1900-1800 BC), along with numerous potters' marks which continue Early
Minoan practices. The Petras hieroglyphic deposit includes 2 four-sided
bar inscriptions such as the one illustrated here, along with 9 medallions, and impressions from 40 different
seals.
[Source: "Bronze Age Writing on Crete: Hieroglyphs, Linear A, and Linear B," in Athena Review, Vol.3, no.3, 2003 .]
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