'The characters themselves have a European
aspect. They are of upright habit, and of a simple and definite
outline, which throws into sharp relief the cumbrous and obscure
cuneiform system of Babylonia. Although not so cursive in form
as the Hieratic or Demotic types of Egyptian writing, there is
here a much more limited selection of types. It would seem that
the characters stood for syllables or even letters, though they
could in most cases also be used as words.... The spaces and lines
between the words, the _espacement_ into distinct paragraphs, and
the variation in the size of the characters on the same tablet,
according to the relative importance of the text, show a striving
after clearness and method such as can by no means be said to be
a characteristic of Classical Greek inscriptions.'[*] A decimal
system of numbers was in use, the highest single amount referred
to being 19,000, and percentages were evidently well understood,
as a whole series of tablets is devoted to them.
[Footnote *: 'Scripta Minoa,' pp. 39, 40.]
The tablets themselves were originally of unburnt, but sun-dried,
clay, and their preservation, as we have seen, is probably due to
the excessive heat to which they were exposed during the great
fire which destroyed the palace. 'Fire itself, so fatal to other
libraries, has thus insured the preservation of the archives of
Minoan Knossos.
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