DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0690
644
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC
Ideo-
graphic
Element
in new
Linear
System.
Fre-
quency
of Com-
pound
Signs.
Barred
Signs.
The linear reduction of the single axe sign given under D affords
a very interesting parallel to the evolution of the linearized representatives
of the Double-Axe sign (E), and strongly corroborates the view already
expressed as to their origin.
It is evident that, apart from those characters, already referred to, which
only appear before numbers, and which represent material possessions, there
was still a large ideographic element in the new linearized script. As in the
case of the parallel Class B, almost any sign of the Linear Class A can
on occasion stand alone, and must thus have been capable of expressing
a single word or idea. But the combinations of the signs in groups afford at
the same time sufficient indication that they were also used with a purely
phonetic value as syllables or possibly even in individual cases as letters.
That a certain proportion of the characters put together in the Tables
possessed exclusively a pictorial signification is a fair conclusion. If, how-
ever, we may deduct a score of types as belonging to this category we should
still have left some seventy signs which might well have been susceptible of
a syllabic usage. In that case we should have to deal with a syllabary
slightly larger than the later Cypriote.
It must also be borne in mind that in the case of personal names—
which at any rate on the clay documents of Class B seem to play such
a conspicuous role—signs ot a pictorial character may often take their place
in groups otherwise syllabic in their nature. The ship sign, No. 83, for
instance, which appears occasionally in such a position, may well, among-
a maritime people, have formed part of a name such as NavKparrj^ or NavaiKXrjs^
of a kind so common in the later nomenclature of Greece.
A characteristic feature of the inscriptions of this class is the frequent
occurrence of compound signs. This practice was, in fact, of very old
inheritance in Crete, and is illustrated by the conjunctions of masons' marks
on the Early Palace blocks.
An example, in which the hand sign forms a part, has already been
given in the case of a Knossian tablet1 and on many of the later clay docu-
ments. These combinations are very methodically applied, especially in
connexion with the hand and arm sign. It will be seen that it is linked
thirteen times with other characters among the examples given in Fig. 478.
Another interesting feature—even more marked in the Linear Class B—
is the differentiation of certain signs by means of one or more cross bars.
Examples of these will be seen in No. 10 d, Fig. 47(3.
A certain connexion with the older system of numeration 2 is traceable
1 See above, p. 619, Fig. 455, a. 2 See above, p. 279, Fig. 211.
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC
Ideo-
graphic
Element
in new
Linear
System.
Fre-
quency
of Com-
pound
Signs.
Barred
Signs.
The linear reduction of the single axe sign given under D affords
a very interesting parallel to the evolution of the linearized representatives
of the Double-Axe sign (E), and strongly corroborates the view already
expressed as to their origin.
It is evident that, apart from those characters, already referred to, which
only appear before numbers, and which represent material possessions, there
was still a large ideographic element in the new linearized script. As in the
case of the parallel Class B, almost any sign of the Linear Class A can
on occasion stand alone, and must thus have been capable of expressing
a single word or idea. But the combinations of the signs in groups afford at
the same time sufficient indication that they were also used with a purely
phonetic value as syllables or possibly even in individual cases as letters.
That a certain proportion of the characters put together in the Tables
possessed exclusively a pictorial signification is a fair conclusion. If, how-
ever, we may deduct a score of types as belonging to this category we should
still have left some seventy signs which might well have been susceptible of
a syllabic usage. In that case we should have to deal with a syllabary
slightly larger than the later Cypriote.
It must also be borne in mind that in the case of personal names—
which at any rate on the clay documents of Class B seem to play such
a conspicuous role—signs ot a pictorial character may often take their place
in groups otherwise syllabic in their nature. The ship sign, No. 83, for
instance, which appears occasionally in such a position, may well, among-
a maritime people, have formed part of a name such as NavKparrj^ or NavaiKXrjs^
of a kind so common in the later nomenclature of Greece.
A characteristic feature of the inscriptions of this class is the frequent
occurrence of compound signs. This practice was, in fact, of very old
inheritance in Crete, and is illustrated by the conjunctions of masons' marks
on the Early Palace blocks.
An example, in which the hand sign forms a part, has already been
given in the case of a Knossian tablet1 and on many of the later clay docu-
ments. These combinations are very methodically applied, especially in
connexion with the hand and arm sign. It will be seen that it is linked
thirteen times with other characters among the examples given in Fig. 478.
Another interesting feature—even more marked in the Linear Class B—
is the differentiation of certain signs by means of one or more cross bars.
Examples of these will be seen in No. 10 d, Fig. 47(3.
A certain connexion with the older system of numeration 2 is traceable
1 See above, p. 619, Fig. 455, a. 2 See above, p. 279, Fig. 211.