DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0327
SYNOPSIS OF SIGNARYOF CLASS A
679
that exclusively distinguish Class A has already received some notice in this
work. It is of special interest as.presenting certain recurring formulas,
like BYT2J' t'lat are seemlngly dedications.1 It is clear that a sacral
element is also at times present in the case of the clay tablets. The
'sistrum' signs, Fig. 661, very fully rendered in No. 9, on a tablet from
Tylissos, may well point to an orgiastic aspect of the cult, such as that
illustrated by the Hagia Triada ' rhyton '. Symbols of divine protection,
already illustrated by the Goddess as Mistress of the Sea, also make their
appearance. The primitive ' anchor ' type is combined in No. 1"- with what
may be best interpreted as a single-bladed axe, so prominent in the later
cult. Here they are incorporated in a female impersonation, and a male
presentment of the kind is also known.3 In one case the ' ship ' is coupled
with the ' throne ' sign of this Class.
The conclusion that the flat oblong or squarish type of clay tablet
that comes in early in this Class was due to Oriental example, commands
general acceptance. But the comparatively small field offered by this
form of tablet gave little room for the scribe who in any case had to eke
out his incomplete methods of actual writing with pictorial illustrations of
the objects referred to. It was doubtless on account of this that from the
Smaller
squarish
A tablets
ofOriental
tradition.
Cramped
inscrip-
tions.
ummmHm
A B C D E F C. H J___ J K L M N 0 P
Q RS Tyvw X YZA? 82
Fig. GG2. Component Characters of Class A.
first there was a tendency to save space by fitting together two or sometimes
three separate characters into a simple compound form. Of such ligatures
a considerable list may be made out, but it is sufficient to reproduce here
in Fig. 662 a selection already made/ largely concerning the 'hand and
forearm' sign ^.
1 P. of M., i, pp, 630, 631.
- Seeoj>. a'/., ii, Pt. I, p. 249, Fig. 146.
3 In Ibid., ii, Pt. I, pp. 248, 249, and Fig.
145 (wrongly described as ' winged' figures in
underline of Figure). The Axe thus vitalized
should not, as in he. clt, i, 249, be con-
nected with the Double Axe, but rather with
the single bladed kind.
' P. ofM., i, p. 645, Fig. 478.
679
that exclusively distinguish Class A has already received some notice in this
work. It is of special interest as.presenting certain recurring formulas,
like BYT2J' t'lat are seemlngly dedications.1 It is clear that a sacral
element is also at times present in the case of the clay tablets. The
'sistrum' signs, Fig. 661, very fully rendered in No. 9, on a tablet from
Tylissos, may well point to an orgiastic aspect of the cult, such as that
illustrated by the Hagia Triada ' rhyton '. Symbols of divine protection,
already illustrated by the Goddess as Mistress of the Sea, also make their
appearance. The primitive ' anchor ' type is combined in No. 1"- with what
may be best interpreted as a single-bladed axe, so prominent in the later
cult. Here they are incorporated in a female impersonation, and a male
presentment of the kind is also known.3 In one case the ' ship ' is coupled
with the ' throne ' sign of this Class.
The conclusion that the flat oblong or squarish type of clay tablet
that comes in early in this Class was due to Oriental example, commands
general acceptance. But the comparatively small field offered by this
form of tablet gave little room for the scribe who in any case had to eke
out his incomplete methods of actual writing with pictorial illustrations of
the objects referred to. It was doubtless on account of this that from the
Smaller
squarish
A tablets
ofOriental
tradition.
Cramped
inscrip-
tions.
ummmHm
A B C D E F C. H J___ J K L M N 0 P
Q RS Tyvw X YZA? 82
Fig. GG2. Component Characters of Class A.
first there was a tendency to save space by fitting together two or sometimes
three separate characters into a simple compound form. Of such ligatures
a considerable list may be made out, but it is sufficient to reproduce here
in Fig. 662 a selection already made/ largely concerning the 'hand and
forearm' sign ^.
1 P. of M., i, pp, 630, 631.
- Seeoj>. a'/., ii, Pt. I, p. 249, Fig. 146.
3 In Ibid., ii, Pt. I, pp. 248, 249, and Fig.
145 (wrongly described as ' winged' figures in
underline of Figure). The Axe thus vitalized
should not, as in he. clt, i, 249, be con-
nected with the Double Axe, but rather with
the single bladed kind.
' P. ofM., i, p. 645, Fig. 478.