Phaistos disc
Sign in to saveAlso known as Phaistos disk, Phaestos disc, Festos disc
inscribed fired clay tablet found in Crete, covered on both sides with undeciphered spiral Minoan writing
Key facts
- Material
- Clay
- Created
- 2nd millennium BC
- Discovered
- July 3, 1908, Phaistos , Crete , Greece
- Discovered by
- Luigi Pernier
- Present location
- Heraklion Archaeological Museum , Crete , Greece
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 16
- Image
- PhaistosDiskLarge.jpg
- Height
- 2.1
Show 6 more facts
- Commons category
- Phaistos disk
- inventory number
- ΑΕ 1358
- time of discovery or invention
- 1908-00-00
- inscription
- ¦ 𐇑𐇛𐇥𐇷𐇖 | 𐇪𐇼𐇖𐇲 | 𐇑𐇴𐇦𐇔𐇽 | 𐇥𐇨𐇪 | 𐇰𐇧𐇣𐇛 | 𐇟𐇦𐇡𐇺𐇽 | 𐇜𐇐𐇶𐇰 | 𐇞𐇖𐇜𐇐𐇡 | 𐇥𐇴𐇹𐇨 | 𐇖𐇧𐇷𐇲 | 𐇑𐇩𐇳𐇷 | 𐇪𐇨𐇵𐇐 | 𐇬𐇧𐇧𐇣𐇲 | 𐇟𐇝𐇡 | 𐇬𐇰𐇐 | 𐇕𐇲𐇯𐇶𐇰 | 𐇑𐇘𐇪𐇐 | 𐇬𐇳𐇖𐇗𐇽 | 𐇬𐇗𐇜 | 𐇬𐇼𐇖𐇽 | 𐇥𐇬𐇳𐇖𐇗𐇽 | 𐇪𐇱𐇦𐇨 | 𐇖𐇡𐇲 | 𐇖𐇼𐇖𐇽 | 𐇖𐇦𐇡𐇧 | 𐇥𐇬𐇳𐇖𐇗𐇽 | 𐇘𐇭𐇶𐇡𐇖 | 𐇑𐇕𐇲𐇦𐇖 | 𐇬𐇱𐇦𐇨 | 𐇼𐇖𐇽 |
- described at URL
- heraklionmuseum.gr/?page_id=633
- inception
- 1400-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~30 min read
Article
Palace complex at Phaistos The Phaistos Disc, or Phaistos Disk, is a disc of fired clay from the island of Crete, Greece, possibly from the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age (second millennium BC), bearing a text in an unknown script and language. Its purpose and its original place of manufacture remain disputed. It is now on display at the archaeological museum of Heraklion. The name is sometimes spelled Phaestos or Festos.
The disc was discovered in 1908 by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier during the excavation of the Minoan palace of Phaistos. The disc is about 16 cm (6.3 in) in diameter and is covered on each side with a spiral text, consisting of a total of 241 occurrences of 45 distinct signs, which were created by pressing individual sign stamps onto the soft clay before firing. While its unique features initially led some scholars to suspect a forgery or hoax, the disc is now generally accepted by archaeologists as authentic.