DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0418
768
INSCRIBED VOTIVE RAM: AMISOS
Votive
elay ram
from
Amisos
with Mi-
ll oan
graffito
inscrip-
tion of
linear
Class A.
K/Mmwjmjmmj)i
Fig. 749 a, I?. Votive Clay Ram from Samsoun
with Graffito Inscription answering to
linear Script B of Knossos. (§)
That direct Minoan contact with the Hittite world had hi fact b
actually established on the site of
Amisos may be taken to be estab-
lished by the occurrence there of
a curious inscribed relic. Some
years since Professor Sayce ob-
tained from Eski Samsoun what
appears to be a small figure of a
votive class, commonly associated
with Minoan sanctuaries, repre-
senting a ram, or horned sheep.1
It was formed of coarse clay, con-
taining numerous minute pebbles
(Fig. 749, a, b), and showed on its
back and side two lines of graffito
signs.'2 The object has since passed,
by his will, with the rest of his Collections,
into the possession of the Ashmolean
Museum, and a careful examination of the
graffiti has assured me that the bulk of
the signs represent recognizable form of
the Minoan linear Class A.3 Of its belong-
ing to any of the other available scripts
used in ancient Anatolia, such as Hittite,
Phoenician, Greek or the Lykian or kin-
dred alphabets, there is no question. F]G m f> Graffit0 lNSCRII,rl0N on,
The comparisons given in Fig. 750 Votive Figure (the O-like sign be-
of the graffito signs on the votive ram NEATH body). (J)
with typical forms of the Minoan linear Class A will be probably regarded
as conclusive. The 'cup' sign (2) and the 'yod'-like figure of the fore-
arm and hand (6) show slight variations in detail, and one or two signs,
perhaps ideograms—as notably No. 8—are not accounted for. But the
general correspondence is unmistakable. We seem to have here an offshoot
of this type of script in use amongst the Minoan traders—some of them
perhaps actual settlers—at the ancient Amisos.
1 The object is 13 cm. (4J- in.) long and s Obviously the votive figure had been
4-1- em. (if in.) high. acquired by Professor Sayce in pre-Minoan
- An O-like incision appears on the lower days. In his MS. description it appears as a
part of the animal's body (Fig. 749 c). 'graffito inscription in an unknown script'-
INSCRIBED VOTIVE RAM: AMISOS
Votive
elay ram
from
Amisos
with Mi-
ll oan
graffito
inscrip-
tion of
linear
Class A.
K/Mmwjmjmmj)i
Fig. 749 a, I?. Votive Clay Ram from Samsoun
with Graffito Inscription answering to
linear Script B of Knossos. (§)
That direct Minoan contact with the Hittite world had hi fact b
actually established on the site of
Amisos may be taken to be estab-
lished by the occurrence there of
a curious inscribed relic. Some
years since Professor Sayce ob-
tained from Eski Samsoun what
appears to be a small figure of a
votive class, commonly associated
with Minoan sanctuaries, repre-
senting a ram, or horned sheep.1
It was formed of coarse clay, con-
taining numerous minute pebbles
(Fig. 749, a, b), and showed on its
back and side two lines of graffito
signs.'2 The object has since passed,
by his will, with the rest of his Collections,
into the possession of the Ashmolean
Museum, and a careful examination of the
graffiti has assured me that the bulk of
the signs represent recognizable form of
the Minoan linear Class A.3 Of its belong-
ing to any of the other available scripts
used in ancient Anatolia, such as Hittite,
Phoenician, Greek or the Lykian or kin-
dred alphabets, there is no question. F]G m f> Graffit0 lNSCRII,rl0N on,
The comparisons given in Fig. 750 Votive Figure (the O-like sign be-
of the graffito signs on the votive ram NEATH body). (J)
with typical forms of the Minoan linear Class A will be probably regarded
as conclusive. The 'cup' sign (2) and the 'yod'-like figure of the fore-
arm and hand (6) show slight variations in detail, and one or two signs,
perhaps ideograms—as notably No. 8—are not accounted for. But the
general correspondence is unmistakable. We seem to have here an offshoot
of this type of script in use amongst the Minoan traders—some of them
perhaps actual settlers—at the ancient Amisos.
1 The object is 13 cm. (4J- in.) long and s Obviously the votive figure had been
4-1- em. (if in.) high. acquired by Professor Sayce in pre-Minoan
- An O-like incision appears on the lower days. In his MS. description it appears as a
part of the animal's body (Fig. 749 c). 'graffito inscription in an unknown script'-