It is, in fact, a printed
inscription.'[*] One of the hieroglyphs, frequently repeated, is
the representation of the head of a warrior wearing a feathered
headdress which remarkably resembles the crested helmets of the
Pulosathu, or Philistines, on the reliefs of Ramses III. at Medinet
Habu. From his analysis of the various signs Dr. Evans has concluded
that the inscription is not Cretan, but may represent a script,
perhaps Lycian, in use in the coast-lands of Asia Minor. No
interpretation of the writing can yet be given, but Dr. Evans has
pointed out evidences of a metrical arrangement among the signs,
and has suggested that the inscription may conceivably be a hymn
in honour of the Anatolian Great Mother, a goddess who corresponded
to the Nature Goddess worshipped in Minoan Crete, whose traditions
have survived under the titles of Rhea, Britomartis, Aphrodite
Ariadne, and Artemis Dictynna. The pottery in connection with which
it was found dates it to at least 1600, perhaps to 1800, B.C.[**]
[Footnote *: A. J. Evans, 'Scripta Minoa,' p. 24.]
[Footnote **: See Appendix, p. 264.]
The hill of Hagia Triada, about two miles to the north-west of
Phaestos, proved sufficiently fruitful to compensate the Italian
explorers for the incomprehensible barrenness of Phaestos. Here
stand the ruins of the Venetian church of St.
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