DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0705
THE PHAESTOS DISK
659
regard the whole composition as a record of quite recent events. The picto- Picto-
graphic method here exhibited is in fact a much simpler matter than that |r^phfs
with which we are confronted in the more elaborate hieroglyphic systems, ancient
where the phonographic element is clearly discernible beside the ideographic, tion, but
On the Disk, indeed, the purely pictorial element is very marked. from"
The way in which many of the picture signs on the Disk succeed tem-
one another with a complementary meaning—as when the warrior's hfjf^
head and shield are followed by a captive—itself suggests very direct
interpretation. In such cases the groups of signs can hardly, as is so
largely the case in advanced hieroglyphic systems, represent mere phono-
grams or syllables.
That there was a distinct phonographic element in the inscription may, Phono-
incleed, be fairly assumed. A great number of dual groups1 are perceptible on Elements
the Disk, and from the incongruous character often perceptible in the pictorial dual
. , . groups.
signs thus coupled it is possible that here at least we have to deal with
words or parts of words phonographically expressed by means of signs
representing syllables open or closed. Sometimes a two-sign group of this
incongruous nature stands alone, such as the saffron-flower and bow (A. 18)
or the ox's foot and marching figure (A. 15), sometimes it is preceded or
succeeded by a single sign, sometimes it is followed by another dual group.
Even in these cases, however, it must be constantly borne in mind that
a fuller knowledge of the meaning of the signs might show that they were
not really incongruous but that they supplement one another in the expres-
sion of a single idea.
On the other hand we must realize that we are dealing with a system Prepon-
of writing much simpler in its composition than that of Egypt, and f^™"1
where the relative importance of ideographic characters strikes the eye. graphy.
There is reason for believing that the individual sign-groups themselves
ought not to be rigorously interpreted as representing single words, but
rather in many cases as concepts of somewhat wider extension.
It will be found, indeed, that in the case of some seventeen signs, or over strong
a third of the total number represented on the Disk, a strong- presumption Ideo".
. . . graphic
arises of an exclusively ideographic application. These signs occupy no less Element,
than 123 out of 244 places in the inscription, or over half the total number,
occurring as initials, medians, and terminals. There is every reason to
1 This feature of the inscription has been due segni.' To this nucleus may be added,
qualified by Dr. Delia Seta {pp. cit., p. 67) as as he points out, a ' monosematic' prefix or
' disematism ': 'La scrittura del disco ha a sua suffix, or it can be united to other ' disematic '
base il disematismo, cioe il nucleo essenziale di groups.
U tl 2
659
regard the whole composition as a record of quite recent events. The picto- Picto-
graphic method here exhibited is in fact a much simpler matter than that |r^phfs
with which we are confronted in the more elaborate hieroglyphic systems, ancient
where the phonographic element is clearly discernible beside the ideographic, tion, but
On the Disk, indeed, the purely pictorial element is very marked. from"
The way in which many of the picture signs on the Disk succeed tem-
one another with a complementary meaning—as when the warrior's hfjf^
head and shield are followed by a captive—itself suggests very direct
interpretation. In such cases the groups of signs can hardly, as is so
largely the case in advanced hieroglyphic systems, represent mere phono-
grams or syllables.
That there was a distinct phonographic element in the inscription may, Phono-
incleed, be fairly assumed. A great number of dual groups1 are perceptible on Elements
the Disk, and from the incongruous character often perceptible in the pictorial dual
. , . groups.
signs thus coupled it is possible that here at least we have to deal with
words or parts of words phonographically expressed by means of signs
representing syllables open or closed. Sometimes a two-sign group of this
incongruous nature stands alone, such as the saffron-flower and bow (A. 18)
or the ox's foot and marching figure (A. 15), sometimes it is preceded or
succeeded by a single sign, sometimes it is followed by another dual group.
Even in these cases, however, it must be constantly borne in mind that
a fuller knowledge of the meaning of the signs might show that they were
not really incongruous but that they supplement one another in the expres-
sion of a single idea.
On the other hand we must realize that we are dealing with a system Prepon-
of writing much simpler in its composition than that of Egypt, and f^™"1
where the relative importance of ideographic characters strikes the eye. graphy.
There is reason for believing that the individual sign-groups themselves
ought not to be rigorously interpreted as representing single words, but
rather in many cases as concepts of somewhat wider extension.
It will be found, indeed, that in the case of some seventeen signs, or over strong
a third of the total number represented on the Disk, a strong- presumption Ideo".
. . . graphic
arises of an exclusively ideographic application. These signs occupy no less Element,
than 123 out of 244 places in the inscription, or over half the total number,
occurring as initials, medians, and terminals. There is every reason to
1 This feature of the inscription has been due segni.' To this nucleus may be added,
qualified by Dr. Delia Seta {pp. cit., p. 67) as as he points out, a ' monosematic' prefix or
' disematism ': 'La scrittura del disco ha a sua suffix, or it can be united to other ' disematic '
base il disematismo, cioe il nucleo essenziale di groups.
U tl 2