The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-03
GREAT FIND AT CNOSSUS
HYcBNkAN CLAY TABLETS AND 4
ROYAL PALACE.

n CLAI TABLETS AVN =
ROYAL PALACE.
writing Six Handred Years Older Than tAs
Greek Alphabet Preserved In Many Speci.
msns = Palace Perhaps Bsilt for Kiag
Minos By Dedalus-Roomfuls Of Recorda
From the AhsNrrm. II
II Ia now six years since I as able TO announce
In the columns Of the Athenoum the existence
in Crete OF a system Of writing long anterior
TO that OF historic Greece. and at the came time
distinct alike from the Phenician and from,
the -Hittite- script Of Anatolia. The materials
upon which this conclusion was based were
chiefly supplied by Q series OF seal stoneA
presenting groups Of characters Of both the
Photographic and the linear class. Subsequent
researches In the island. continued from 1894
onward. greatly added to the data previously
collected and eliminated in the discovery in.
the Dict@an Cave Of Zeus Of part Of q steatits
libation table Of Mycenean date. containing
an inscription consisting Of nine similar char.
acters cut In the monumental style.
But II was to Cnossus, the city Of Minoe. aud
Dedalus. the traditional centre Of the early
Cretan civilization. that one thoughts naturally
turned as the spot where the fullest evidence OF
the existence OF this ancient system Of writing
would most naturally be forthcoming. Already
In 1904 ! had been able TO copy a three-sided
seal stone with linear characters from this sitA
and subsequently I obtained three further indi.
cations pointing the same way. Certain blockA
moreover. were visible on the hill Of Kephals
here With curious signs upon them. already
noted by Mr.. E. J. stillman In 1880. and which
" not actually taken from a current alphabet q
syllsbary, at least appeared TO be the work d
men acquainted with a form Of script.
Mycenean pottery had been known 10 occre
on this site. and various abortive attempts bad
been made by MIR. Stillmsn himself, by DR..
Schliemann and others to secure it for excavae
ton; but these had all failed, owing to the inn
possibility. Of coming 10 terms, with the pro-
prietors OF the soil. In 1890 ! obtained posses.
sion Of part Of the ground. which was in Joint
occupation ana after encounterinR dln1cuitles
weeks since. in securing the remaining part Of
the site. and aided by the Cretan Exploration
Fund and with the concurrence Of Prince
Georges Government at once proceeded to set
The results already obtained have more
than confirmed my most s~ansuine hopes. OF
say more than a few words. The building
itself rs certainly a PALACE Of Mycenean kings;
indeed. 1t may be conidentl, said that on the
whole site, so far as IL has been excavated,
hardfc; a scrap Of anything later than the great
days Of MycenR..or 10 give an approximate
chronology. the fourteenth century. B. e.
Ing and stone carving Of that period the re.
mains excel anything Of the time yet, found
9 on the maj mainland "a. cs of GTes sSso,a The ers royal Sf ~.
to pMi yceDr tiss}f' But Of even greater inter.
s : ,s sRsn these s, tb sr' cSsm Fsllss Of + IN, ine p slifsSsef{
clay taplets, generally more elongated in form.
but otherwise the perfect analogues OF the
With records in the Mycen@an script.
The tablets themselves are oblong slips OF
hand-moulded clay, fat on the engraved side.
with almost adze-like ends, but thickenins
in length from two TO nearly seven inches.
and in breadth from a half to three inches. A
ruled at intervals for the convenience Of the
| scribes, as one Of the largest examples Shove
eighteen OF these, a certain proportion Of them
Two lines, or even a single line q inscription
written from left TO right lengthwise along
the tablet, but some OF the broader tablets
have the lines arranged across their narrower
Owing to the great conhasraton. Of which
there are ever, where traces within the palace
| jority Of the tablets are found in a broken
condition, but in addition TO those that. 10
spite Of these causes have remained intact,
have now occurred in several chambers and
cGrridScT :. In . one e, case in 'h x. tablets a6Tm p sad b ben
In another room they seem to have been pre-
served 10 wooden Golfers. burned frss'
% rssher " Th their H STonxe so Rles e. 20 and .y s1
the clay seals with which thay were secured
still bearing the impressions Of engraved My
1t would be premature. while the discovery
is so new and while fresh material is daily accti-
mulatinR. 10 express any detailed views as "a
script. Several signs are clearly identical with
the linear forms already sporadically found on
Cretan seals and vases Of the same period.
themselves WITH forms Of the Cypriote sylia-
barry. as well as with Lycian and Carian charac:
tiers. II, is evident from their mere pictorial
are Geographic in character, while others are
unouestionably numerals. Many formulas arc
constantly repeating themselves, and these.
which they are discovered. From the repS-
tition Of nuneral forms and certain Photographic
signs that occur in association =, r. Win b, them: y
to stores and palace ACCOUNTS. Thus, in one
chamber occurred a whole series OF tablets
with figures Of Mycenaan war chariots. horses'
which had evident reference TO the arsenal,
Others show metal vases doubtless Of gold
long -stamened flower. perhaps productive of.a
dye or perfume. Ships, houses, several kinds
OF animals, and many other objects appear In
tablets have endorsements and additional IN.
soriptions on the back. Those with headinH
and intervals between these and the bulk Of
tne inscription give IHe upI~di hHCC VI CoITO.
spondence, containing, 10 may be, the titles a
Minoan princes and officers.
These palace archives Of Ny cen ran CnossuD
not only prove to demonstration that a system
OF writing existed on the soil Of Greece at least
six centuries before the Introduction there Of
the PhPnician alphabet. but they show that
already AT that remote date this indigenous
system had attained n most elaborate develop.
ment. These inscriptions are the work Of prsQ-
tised scribes, following conventional methods
and arrangements which point to Ions tradi-
tional usage. Yet this development has been
arrived at on independent lines; IL Is neither
Babylonian nor Egyptian. neither Hittite nor
Phrnician; II is the work on Cretan soil OF an
Egean people. II ia the fitting product Of .
country 10 which all later Greek tradition looked
back as having supplied the earliest model Of
civilized legislation, There is, indeed, an atmo.
sphere Of legal nicely about these documents
themselves. the effect OF which Is enhanced by
an interesting particular as 70 the method by
which they were originally secured, II was NOT
thought sufficient FOR the OFFICIAL concerned
with their safe keeping simply to impress with
his signet gem the clay seals that made sure the
Golfers containing the tablets. While the clay
was still moist both the impression OF the intasiQ
ITSELF and the back Of the seal we're In several
cases signed and countersigned with incised
characters in the same MycenTan SCRIPT.
ARTHUR J. EvAHu.