The mystery of Phaistos Disc has been “solved by 99 per
cent” says linguist, archaeologist and coordinator of the program ERASMUS of
Crete’s Technological Institute, Gareth Owens.
Astarte
Owens has devoted 30 years in trying to solve the
puzzle. The Minoan goddess of love
Astarte, who is linked to the Eastern goddess Ashtart is the key figure that unlocks
the mystery of the Phaistos disc, Owen argues.
The Phaistos Disc is a disc of fired clay from the Minoan
palace of Phaistos on the island of Crete, possibly dating to the Middle or
Late Bronze Age, during the 2nd millennium BC
This disc is about 15 cm (5.9 in) in diameter and covered on
both sides with a spiral of stamped symbols.
The language imprinted on this mysterious disk has never
been fully decoded and its symbols are part of no known alphabet, ancient or
modern.
Some symbols, however, do have a resemblance to those found in
Linea A and Linea B, which were the ancient languages of the Minoans. Linea A
has not been decoded.
Others are similar to hieroglyphics found in ancient
Anatolian sites. Although the vast
majority of scholars believe the Phaistos disc is authentic, a few
archaeologists are unconvinced by its authenticity.
Its purpose and meaning and even its original place of
manufacture remain disputed, making it one of the most famous mysteries of
archaeology. This unique object is now
on display at the archaeological museum of Heraklion.
Owens along with his team are using evidence and strategies
from linguistics and history to decode the mysterious disc.
“We are reading the Phaistos disc with the vocal values of
Linea B and with the help of comparative linguistics, ie comparing with other
relative languages from the Indo-European language family. Reading, however,
does not mean understanding.”
According to his data, the disc is a religious object. This is clear from a comparison made with
other religious words from other inscriptions from the holy mountains of
Crete. “We have words that exactly the
same,” Owens said.
“I suspect that the Phaistos Disc is a hymn before Astarte,
the goddess of love. Words such as those
found on the disc have been found on Minoan offerings,” the scholar continued.
“As with today’s offerings, people pray when they are in
trouble, because of health or personal reasons.
Man doesn’t change, after all.”
The archaeologist said he believes, moreover, that one side
of the Phaistos is dedicated to a pregnant mother goddess and the other to a
Minoan goddess.
On the importance of the figure, Owens noted that the Minoan
Astarte was the goddess of love, war, and the mountains and her origin lies in the
east. The goddess’s roots are “from
ancient Mesopotamia, located in today’s Turkey. Astarte went to Cyprus and
became Venus,” he said.
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