DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0325
WRITING IN MYCENAEAN GREECE
273
with open palms. A human leg with bent knee. A i
and double axe. A dagger. A club or sceptre, variety of
An arrow-head and other uncertain -instruments. symbols
A spouted vase and another with a high beak. Trellis-
work or fence. A door or gate. A ship. A primitive
lyre, apparently developed from a horn bow. The head of
a wolf with his tongue hanging out. Deer-horns. The
head of a bull, of a goat and, apparently, of a bird. A
pig and a kid. Birds. Fish, perhaps tunny. The jaw of
an animal. Stars of four, eight, and revolving rays. A
double crescent. Two concentric circles with central dot.
An S-shaped symbol. Floral and vegetable forms derived
from lily, etc. Loop and knot-like symbols, crosses and
other geometrical designs."
from Eastern Crete {Evans, 24)
Mr. Evans gives various reasons (pp. 300 f.) which con-
vince him that these different symbols are not simply idle
figures carved at random, but actual pictographs. Thus,
some of these signs are found exclusively at the beginning
or the end of a line, while others occur on different stones
in the same collocation. Certain it is that such odd symbols
as two arms crossed with open palms, or a bent arm with
expanded fingers, or a leg with bent knee, would not have
been engraved so repeatedly and in such collocations unless
for some significant purpose.
273
with open palms. A human leg with bent knee. A i
and double axe. A dagger. A club or sceptre, variety of
An arrow-head and other uncertain -instruments. symbols
A spouted vase and another with a high beak. Trellis-
work or fence. A door or gate. A ship. A primitive
lyre, apparently developed from a horn bow. The head of
a wolf with his tongue hanging out. Deer-horns. The
head of a bull, of a goat and, apparently, of a bird. A
pig and a kid. Birds. Fish, perhaps tunny. The jaw of
an animal. Stars of four, eight, and revolving rays. A
double crescent. Two concentric circles with central dot.
An S-shaped symbol. Floral and vegetable forms derived
from lily, etc. Loop and knot-like symbols, crosses and
other geometrical designs."
from Eastern Crete {Evans, 24)
Mr. Evans gives various reasons (pp. 300 f.) which con-
vince him that these different symbols are not simply idle
figures carved at random, but actual pictographs. Thus,
some of these signs are found exclusively at the beginning
or the end of a line, while others occur on different stones
in the same collocation. Certain it is that such odd symbols
as two arms crossed with open palms, or a bent arm with
expanded fingers, or a leg with bent knee, would not have
been engraved so repeatedly and in such collocations unless
for some significant purpose.