Sharlene Moloon 09/28/2022

NAME ______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________ 9th A

Visual Literacy Activity netw rks

The Spread of Civilization

Phaistos Disk
For archaeologists, the simple questions “What is it?” and “What was it used for?” often
do not have clear-cut answers. A number of archaeological discoveries have remained
unsolved mysteries for many years. As you learn to think like a historian, you will
appreciate the many difficulties and uncertainties involved in interpreting the past.

Directions: The photograph shows the Phaistos Disk, one of the most important
artifacts of the Minoan civilization, a rich Bronze Age culture in ancient Crete. Look
closely at the image, analyze it, and answer the questions that follow.

Marie Mauzy / Art Resource, NY

The Phaistos Disk, made of terracotta
(baked clay), is only about 6 inches (15
cm) in diameter. An unidentified form of
writing fills both sides of the disk.

Forty-five different symbols, or

hieroglyphs, were impressed into the
clay with a stamp or seal. The Phaistos
Disk is often referred to as the world’s
first known example of typography, or

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
an arrangement of standard type
elements to form a printed work. The
repeated images—there are more than
240 impressions in all—include birds,
fish, weapons, limbs, plants, and a
running man.

There are 61 separate “sets” of

hieroglyphs; vertical lines demarcate
each set. The lines may indicate the
beginnings and ends of words. Some
hieroglyphs are marked with a
descending slanted line or tick mark.
These marks may indicate proper names
or names for numbers. Caption: Phaistos Disk (Side B), Minoan,
1800 B.C. Terracotta with hieroglyphs.

Background
From about 2700 to 1450 B.C., the Minoan civilization was the most advanced of the
Aegean civilizations. Two famous palaces existed in ancient Crete: a central palace at
Knossos and a smaller palace in the city-state of Phaistos, in the southern part of the
island. The first palace at Phaistos was destroyed by fire, perhaps the result of an
earthquake or volcanic eruption, sometime between 1700 and 1650 B.C. A new palace
was built over the ruins of the old, but it too was destroyed, this time during the
Mycenaean conquest of the mid-fifteenth century B.C. Archaeologists descended on Crete
in the 1880s to study the site, and from 1900 to 1904 Italian archaeologists conducted
excavations that yielded many ancient Minoan treasures, including the Phaistos Disk,
found in a lower floor of the ruins of the first, older palace.
NAME ______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________

Visual Literacy Activity Cont. netw rks

The Spread of Civilization

The Phaistos Disk, a small circular clay object, is one of history’s unsolved mysteries.
The disk’s hieroglyphs do not exactly match any language known from the time or from
Minoan culture. The fact that the disk was discovered near a tablet inscribed with a
well-known Cretan writing system called Linear A baffles archaeologists. Linear A,
a more abstract writing system, was far more advanced and sophisticated than the
hieroglyphs shown on the disk, which seem to represent an earlier stage of writing.
However, the two objects date from about the same era, making researchers wonder
why the Minoans would be using a more ancient form of writing alongside a much newer
script. Complicating the matter is that archaeologists had already discovered an earlier
form of Cretan writing called Cretan Hieroglyphic—and it did not match the hieroglyphic
writing on the Phaistos Disk. Though the hieroglyphs on the Phaistos Disk include
features reminiscent of written languages from both Aegean and Near Eastern cultures,
as well as elements that seem related to Linear A, they appear to be unique.

Although researchers have debated the purpose of the Phaistos Disk and the meaning of
its hieroglyphs for decades, no single theory has been conclusively proven. The writing
on the disk has been variously interpreted as an ancient Greek geometric proof, a spell
or curse against enemies, a schedule or calendar, an almanac, a game, a quest story,
a memorial to a famous king, a device for making astronomical calculations, a roster of
soldiers, a commemoration of the artists who decorated the palace temple, and a sacred
song or hymn. The repetition of certain hieroglyphs in the same order suggests a
repeated refrain or chorus, giving credence to the idea that the hieroglyphs may be the
words of a religious song or poem. However, that very repetition, and the resemblance

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
of some glyphs to certain kinds of Mesopotamian cuneiform used in inventories, has
prompted some researchers to believe that the disk simply records an inventory of
merchandise delivered to a temple, or a record of a business transaction. There is one
strong clue that the disk might have had a religious purpose: It shares some hieroglyphs
with inscriptions on a similarly ancient Cretan artifact called the Axe of Arkalochori,
a religious ritual object. The theories, both old and new, continue to be examined, and
researchers are still hard at work trying to decipher the mysterious, one-of-a-kind disk.

Practicing the Skill

1. Describing Look closely at the photograph and describe all the features of the
disk that you notice. If you were the archaeologist who had discovered the disk,
what might you think it was? What information would you need to be able to
determine the disk’s purpose?

__________________________________________________________________
I would think that ancient people used to communicate with the symbols in it.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
NAME ______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________

Visual Literacy Activity Cont. netw rks

The Spread of Civilization

2. Evaluating A final theory about the Phaistos Disk is that it is, simply, a fraud—an
early twentieth-century hoax. Do you think this theory has merit? Which theory about
the Phaistos Disk makes the most sense to you? Why?

______________________________________________________________________
I don't believe in that theory due to lack of proof, something the first theory doesn't.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Go a Step Further
3. Speculating Imagine the kinds of questions an archaeologist might have on finding an
unidentified artifact. Is a sharp metal implement a tool or a weapon? Is an oddly
shaped clay vessel something used in food preparation or a religious object used to
capture blood during an animal sacrifice? What are some of the ways in which one’s
assumptions and preconceptions could affect one’s interpretation of an unknown
ancient object?

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
______________________________________________________________________
We can try to figure out their purpose, which will make us create a theory.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________