Arkalochori Axe

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 ^[1] which is believed to be part of a religious ritual.^[2] It is inscribed with fifteen symbols. It has been suggested that these might be Linear A but Professor Glanville Price agrees with Louis Godart that "the characters on the axe are no more than a 'pseudo-inscription' engraved by an illiterate in uncomprehending imitation of authentic Linear A characters on other similar axes."^[3] The axe and the Phaistos Disc are conserved in the Iraklion Archaeological Museum.

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 (2004).^[4]

Reading right to left, top to bottom, the symbols are as follows.

№	Sign	Comment	Linear A	Phaistos Disc
01			A 304 KA ??
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		Root?
15			A338  ?

References