Arkalochori Axe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The bronze Arkalochori Axe is a second millennium BC Minoan votive double axe excavated by Spyridon Marinatos in 1934 in the Arkalochori cave on Crete. It is notable for being engraved with an inscription of fifteen symbols. Some of the symbols may be identified as Linear A characters, while others are reminiscent of those found on the Phaistos Disc. In particular, the "Mohican" glyph (D02), which is the most frequent character of the Phaistos Disc, appears on the axe inscription three times. The axe and the Phaistos disk are conserved in the Iraklion Archaeological Museum.
[edit] The Inscription
Of the fifteen signs, two appear to be unique. The suggestions for comparison with Linear A and Phaistos Disc glyphs are due to Torsten Timm (2005).[1]
Reading right to left, top to bottom, the symbols are as follows.
| № | Sign | Comment | Linear A | Phaistos Disc |
| 01 |  |
A 304  ? |
||
| 02 |  |
AB28  I |
D39  |
|
| 03 |  |
AB01  DA |
||
| 04 |  |
D02  |
||
| 05 |  |
|||
| 06 |  |
AB05  TO ? |
||
| 07 |  |
cf. 04 | D02 |
|
| 08 |  |
AB80  MA |
||
| 09 |  |
AB04  TE |
D35  |
|
| 10 |  |
cf. 04 | D02 |
|
| 11 |  |
AB31  SA |
D19  |
|
| 12 | |
cf. 08 | AB80 MA |
|
| 13 |  |
AB06  NA |
D23  |
|
| 14 |  |
|||
| 15 |  |
A338  ? |
