Discovered in Magliano, Tuscany of Italy, this enigmatic lead circular tablet contains the ritual or rules of sacrifice to the Etruscan deities: Maris, Tin, and Calu Canthas. This artifact dates to the 5th - 4th centuries BCE and despite all of that, it bears a very strong resemblence to the Phaistos Disc of the much earlier Minoan civilization on Crete (2nd millenium BCE). Is this a mere coincidence or is there more of a connection between the two civilization?
March 18, 2016, 5:09 pm
Carol Ann1
Interesting that the spiral form looks similar, but it is dated so much later than the Phaistos Disc using alphabet they got from the Greeks. Perhaps they saw the
design for the spiral writing on something which originated there and borrowed it from the Greeks? Here's the link I just read to educate myself a little bit about the Etruscan alphabet shown on the disc:
http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/language.html
With the amount of traveling going on back and forth in the Mediterranean at that time they would have had the opportunity to see new ideas and 'borrow' from other cultures quite a lot :-)
March 19, 2016, 12:40 pm
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Petros Koutoupis
www.petroskoutoupis.com
Carol Ann1,
The interesting part is that up until about 10th century BCE, Western Italy (and Sicily) was generally seen to be more primitive in technological and cultural evolvement when compared to the Eastern Mediterranean of the same period. Greece was finding itself in a Dark Era. The Levant and Anatolia were entirely reshaping their world around newfound religions and Iron based products.
Yes, there is such a huge gap between the Minoans of the 16th Century at Phaistos and the Etruscans of almost a millenium later. But sometimes archaeology has a tendency to hide traditions. We can only rely on what has been discovered and appropriately interpreted under the biased lens of the modern era.
Personally, I am under the belief that it is a mere coincidence that the two show such similarities. However, I will continue to keep an open mind to those who see it differently and can prove it so.
March 19, 2016, 7:39 pm
Carol Ann1
I agree with you. I like to discover similarities in art or architectural designs of cultures from different times and places and ponder if they could be directly related or just mere coincidence.
So we have that in common :-)
March 26, 2016, 12:09 pm
Carol Ann1
Awhile back I came across a link from the Huffington Post with an article about a couple of Oxford guys that spent six YEARS working on the Phaistos Disk to conclude that it was Minoan and they deciphered about 3 words they 'think' (grin)...here is the link in case you have not seen it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/28/ancient-cd-rom-phaistos-disk-co...
March 26, 2016, 3:48 pm
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Petros Koutoupis
www.petroskoutoupis.com
Carol Ann1,
I do recall stumbling upon this decipherment a little while back and truthfully, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Here is where I would suggest for you and all interested to pick up a copy of Nanno Marinatos' "Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern Koine." Dr. Marinatos spends a great deal of time attempting to decipher the religion and cult practices of the Minoans who lived on Crete, greatly emphasizing that it centered around the Solar Goddess (refer to the IQEPAJE or IQE-PHAE, which may mean “shining mother” or “goddess." of your article). Thank you for sharing this.