The Phaistos Disk

The Phaistos Disk PDF Author: Thomas Balistier
Publisher: Verlag Dr Thomas Balister
ISBN: 9783980616805
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
Since it was discovered in 1908, the Phaistos Disk - one of the most important artifacts from Crete's minoan culture - has challenged scholars of diverse diciplines and captivated interests of amateurs. Its allure is primarily due to the fact that no one has been able to really solve its mystery. None of the numerous decipherments has found general acceptance or scientific approval. This book does not offer yet another attempt at deciphering the Disk. Rather, it is a short presentation of the various research efforts on the dating and origin, writing and language, as well as content and purpose of the Disk. This lively account of the most important aspects of a not-so-strictly-scholarly debate, which has gone on for decades, also includes a view of the putative solutions.

The Phaistos Disk

The Phaistos Disk PDF Author: Thomas Balistier
Publisher: Verlag Dr Thomas Balister
ISBN: 9783980616805
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
Since it was discovered in 1908, the Phaistos Disk - one of the most important artifacts from Crete's minoan culture - has challenged scholars of diverse diciplines and captivated interests of amateurs. Its allure is primarily due to the fact that no one has been able to really solve its mystery. None of the numerous decipherments has found general acceptance or scientific approval. This book does not offer yet another attempt at deciphering the Disk. Rather, it is a short presentation of the various research efforts on the dating and origin, writing and language, as well as content and purpose of the Disk. This lively account of the most important aspects of a not-so-strictly-scholarly debate, which has gone on for decades, also includes a view of the putative solutions.

The Phaistos Disc

The Phaistos Disc PDF Author: Leon Pomerance
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description


The Decipherment of Linear B

The Decipherment of Linear B PDF Author: John Chadwick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139953028
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
The languages of the ancient world and the mysterious scripts, long undeciphered, in which they were encoded have represented one of the most intriguing problems of classical archaeology in modern times. This celebrated account of the decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris was written by his close collaborator in the momentous discovery. In revealing the secrets of Linear B it offers a valuable survey of late Minoan and Mycenaean archaeology, uncovering fascinating details of the religion and economic history of an ancient civilisation.

Glyph-Breaker

Glyph-Breaker PDF Author: Steven R. Fischer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461222982
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
After successfully deciphering the Rongorongo script of Easter Island, Steven Roger Fischer gained a unique place in the pantheon of glyphbreakers: he is the only person to have deciphered not one but two ancient scripts. Both of these scripts yield clues of great historical importance. Fischers previous decipherment, of a Cretan artefact called the Phaistos Disk, provided the key to the ancient Minoan language and showed it to be closely related to Mycenaean Greek. Fischer's decipherment of Rongorongo shows that it was not merely a mnemonic device for recalling memorised texts, but was actually read and used for creative composition. This is the exciting story of these two decipherments, by the man who now must rank as the greatest glyphbreaker of all time.

The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean

The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean PDF Author: Eric H. Cline
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019024075X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 968

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Book Description
The Greek Bronze Age, roughly 3000 to 1000 BCE, witnessed the flourishing of the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations, the earliest expansion of trade in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean Sea, the development of artistic techniques in a variety of media, and the evolution of early Greek religious practices and mythology. The period also witnessed a violent conflict in Asia Minor between warring peoples in the region, a conflict commonly believed to be the historical basis for Homer's Trojan War. The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean provides a detailed survey of these fascinating aspects of the period, and many others, in sixty-six newly commissioned articles. Divided into four sections, the handbook begins with Background and Definitions, which contains articles establishing the discipline in its historical, geographical, and chronological settings and in its relation to other disciplines. The second section, Chronology and Geography, contains articles examining the Bronze Age Aegean by chronological period (Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age). Each of the periods are further subdivided geographically, so that individual articles are concerned with Mainland Greece during the Early Bronze Age, Crete during the Early Bronze Age, the Cycladic Islands during the Early Bronze Age, and the same for the Middle Bronze Age, followed by the Late Bronze Age. The third section, Thematic and Specific Topics, includes articles examining thematic topics that cannot be done justice in a strictly chronological/geographical treatment, including religion, state and society, trade, warfare, pottery, writing, and burial customs, as well as specific events, such as the eruption of Santorini and the Trojan War. The fourth section, Specific Sites and Areas, contains articles examining the most important regions and sites in the Bronze Age Aegean, including Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Knossos, Kommos, Rhodes, the northern Aegean, and the Uluburun shipwreck, as well as adjacent areas such as the Levant, Egypt, and the western Mediterranean. Containing new work by an international team of experts, The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean represents the most comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date single-volume survey of the field. It will be indispensable for scholars and advanced students alike.

Hidden History

Hidden History PDF Author: Brian Haughton
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser
ISBN: 1601639686
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
An archaeologist explores history’s most fascinating enigmas, from the ancient Druids to the mysteries of the Mayan calendar and the lost city of Atlantis. Across thousands of years of history, so-called lost civilizations still speak to us through their artifacts and architecture. In Hidden History, archaeologist Brian Haughton fills the gap between archaeology and alternative history using the latest available data and a common sense, open-minded approach. Divided into three sections, this expertly researched volume shares the secrets of Mysterious Places, Unexplained Artifacts, and Enigmatic People. Haughton introduces readers to the greatest mysteries of the ancient world, from the labyrinthine palace of Knossos on Crete to the pyramids of Egypt, the remote jungle temples of Peru, and the megalithic mystery of Stonehenge. But he also goes further to explore historical puzzles like the Coso Artifact, the possibility of ancient flight, and the Voynich Manuscript, as well as mysterious peoples from the Magi and the Druids to the Knights Templar and the Green Children. With more than 50 photographs and illustrations, this is the ideal reference work for those interested in the archaeology of these great enigmas.

Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World

Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World PDF Author: Marta Ameri
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108173519
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
Studies of seals and sealing practices have traditionally investigated aspects of social, political, economic, and ideological systems in ancient societies throughout the Old World. Previously, scholarship has focused on description and documentation, chronology and dynastic histories, administrative function, iconography, and style. More recent studies have emphasized context, production and use, and increasingly, identity, gender, and the social lives of seals, their users, and the artisans who produced them. Using several methodological and theoretical perspectives, this volume presents up-to-date research on seals that is comparative in scope and focus. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach advances our understanding of the significance of an important class of material culture of the ancient world. The volume will serve as an essential resource for scholars, students, and others interested in glyptic studies, seal production and use, and sealing practices in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Ancient South Asia and the Aegean during the 4th-2nd Millennia BCE.

The Phaistos Disc

The Phaistos Disc PDF Author: Andis Kaulins
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Parallels (Geometry)
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description


The Greatest Invention

The Greatest Invention PDF Author: Silvia Ferrara
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374601631
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
In this exhilarating celebration of human ingenuity and perseverance—published all around the world—a trailblazing Italian scholar sifts through our cultural and social behavior in search of the origins of our greatest invention: writing. The L where a tabletop meets the legs, the T between double doors, the D of an armchair’s oval backrest—all around us is an alphabet in things. But how did these shapes make it onto the page, never mind form complex structures such as this sentence? In The Greatest Invention, Silvia Ferrara takes a profound look at how—and how many times—human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language, traveling back and forth in time and all across the globe to Mesopotamia, Crete, China, Egypt, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond. With Ferrara as our guide, we examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts, including famous cases like the Phaistos Disk and the Voynich Manuscript; we touch the knotted, colored strings of the Inca quipu; we study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions; we watch in awe as Sequoyah single-handedly invents a script for the Cherokee language; and we venture to the cutting edge of decipherment, in which high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer’s eye. A code-cracking tour around the globe, The Greatest Invention chronicles a previously uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and a faint, fleeting glimpse of writing’s future.

Lore of the Ghost

Lore of the Ghost PDF Author: Brian Haughton
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser
ISBN: 1601639600
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Lore of the Ghost is an original and thought-provoking exploration of the numerous categories of ghosts and hauntings throughout the world. It discusses the possible motives for each type of haunting? from phantom white ladies and spectral black dogs to haunted highways and ghostly vehicles—what they represent, why they occur, and their possible functions.