Re: Linear A tablet Hagia Triada 95

From: Franz Gnaedinger (frgn_at_bluemail.ch)
Date: 07/27/04 

Date: 26 Jul 2004 23:56:37 -0700

frgn@bluemail.ch (Franz Gnaedinger) wrote in message news:<2bf25455.0407252256.677eaa5f@posting.google.com>...

o8TY: thank you for your reply. I'll take my time and reply
tomorrow. Here is a prepared follow up to my yesterday's post.

The hieroglyphic medaillon HM 1278 from Knossos forms roughly
an oval topped by a triangle. Left of the perforation is
a cross, below the cross a double axe followed by a bull's
head and an S-rune evoking a bull leaper similar to the ivory
figurine from Knossos, although much simpler. Bull and leaper
yield MI-NU, as in the case of the Linear A tablet Hagia Triada
95, and may be an abbreviation of mi-nu-te or minuthe or minuth
or Minos. The Linear B version of a double axe is shown on
a pole and has the phonetic value A. If also the hieroglyphic
precursor of the double axe meant A, it could be an abbreviation
of ADU or Haddu or Baal. The blades are down, the handle points
upward, going parallel with the bull's front. A double axe in
such a position (and this combination is frequent on hieroglyphic
tablets and medaillons) evokes a sacrifice and makes me think of
Baal who died every seventh year, and when he was born again
a joyous festival was held. The cross may be a dedication,
meaning: for Baal, ruler of the four heavenly directions;
or, as an oblique cross: for Baal who makes the weather in the
four heavenly quadrants N-E E-S S-W W-N. All four signs may now
be read as follows:

   x (for) A(DU of New) MINU(th in Crete)

   for Addu Haddu Baal of New mu-nu-ti-um mnt Minnith

     mi-nu-te minuthe minuth Minos in Crete

The small medaillon might have been put on a bag of wheat from
mu-nu-ti-um or Ebla in Syria and been destined for a meal in honor
of reborn Baal.

The hieroglyphic script, mainly from Knossos and Mallia,
is older than Linear A, mainly from Hagia Triada in southern
Crete and Kato Zakros on eastern Crete, so the first hypothetical
Syrian "colonizers" who might have arrived in around 3000 BC
would have settled on the northern shore, in the region of
Knossos and Mallia.

Walther Hinz called Linear A "a miserable botched-up script."
I find the first signs in Linear A and its hieroglyphic
precursor that I believe to fully understand elegant, witty
and meaningful, on a par with the Minoan genius in the fine
arts and in palace building.

Regards Franz Gnaedinger

> o8TY: you asked whether Ebla might have been a Cretan colony.
> No, that was surely not the case. Ebla was a fairly big and
> powerful kingdom around the crossings of various important
> trading routes, however, situated in the wide open Syrian
> plain, it had no natural protection, and so it was attacked
> and finally absorbed by the Accadians.
>
> Ebla's western neighbour was Ugarit on the Aegaean shore.
> The Ugaritic tablets from the Amarna time, 15th century BC,
> tell about gods and kings, heroes and fools from Ugarit,
> and perhaps from the greater Syrian area as well. A god and
> king by the name of Kret had payed for his bride, beautiful
> Hurray, daughter of Pebel, king of Udn. When Pebel changed
> his mind and was no longer willing to give Hurray to Kret,
> this one supplied his large army with provisions for half
> a year and set off toward Udn, which they reached in three
> days' time. Peble, soundly sleeping, didn't hear the sound
> of three million men marching, but he was eventually waked
> by his braying donkey, his lawing ploughing-ox, his barking
> dog, and by his clown grapheus. El got a headache from all
> that noise. He reached out from his heavenly abode, seized
> grapheus, and told him ... (here the tablet is damaged).
> Baal, son of El, supported Kret, who finally won his bride
> and married her. Later years of his kingship were marked
> by droughts and famines. Yasib, a rebellious son of Kret,
> aspired to take over his father's throne, but Kret cursed
> him with a malediction, and later on restored his country
> into well-being. As a god or a god-like king, Kret may
> commemorate an early ruler, perhaps from Ebla, which, in
> 2300 BC, needed 11'700 employees alone for its state affairs
> (archive of Tell Mardikh, King's House G). What if Kret
> founded a colony in the fertile Mesara plain in Crete,
> where he would have found what he missed at home, namely
> access to the sea, and protecting mountains? If so, he would
> have given his name to the island: Kret - Crete.
>
> Kothar-and-Hasis was "the Vulcan of the Ugaritic gods,
> the craftsman and artificer who fashioned everything from
> beautiful jewellery to palaces fit for the gods" (Cyrus H.
> Gordon). Now this god resided in Kephtiu, and Kephtiu was
> the Egyptian name of Crete. Note well: a Syrian god resided
> in Crete, not a Cretan god in Syria. Moreover, Baal mated
> with a cow, and a bull calf was born to him. All elements
> are there.

 
> > Ladies and Gentlemen, here you are with the name of Minos
> > in Linear A, as appearing on both sides of the tablet Hagia
> > Triada 95, and, with a slight modification of the first sign,
> > on another tablet, and perhaps on several more of the some
> > 300 surviving Linear A tablets:
> >
> > o
> > o o ooooooo
> > o o o o
> > o o o o ooooooo
> > o o o o o o o
> > o o o o o ooooooo
> > o o o o o o o
> > o o o o o
> > o o o o o o
> > o o o
> >
> >
> > Cyrus H. Gordon, Jan Best, Richard Stieglitz and Walther Hinz
> > believed in a northwestern Asian Minor origin of Linear A.
> > Walther Hinz read the above signs as mi-nu-te, meaning Ebla
> > in Syria, Tell Mardikh 40 kilometers south of Aleppo or Halab
> > or perhaps Khalab. Ebla was known as mu-nu-ti-um in Eblaite
> > around 2300 BC, as mnt in Ugaritic, and as Minnith in the
> > Bible, Ezekiel 27 17. If minute was pronounced something like
> > minuthe or minuth, it would be close to Minos. The first sign
> > evokes the head of a bull, also in the modified version on
> > the other tablet mentioned above. May there also be a Minoan
> > correspondence for the second sign? Yes, the acrobat jumping
> > over the bull. You see him standing on his feet, rising his
> > arms high above the head, next time you see him standing on
> > his hands, legs and feet raised high, then again on his feet.
> > So this would be a witty sign, making use of the mind's
> > ability of swiftly switching between to interpretations of
> > the same graph. Now for the third sign. It reminds of the
> > Tree of Life, widespread in Asia Minor and in Crete as well,
> > see for example the Middle Minoan seal from the Idean cave,
> > where Cretan Zeus was born.
> >
> > May the Minoans have come from Ebla munutium mnt Minnith
> > minute minuthe minuth and founded a New Minos in the fertile
> > Mesara plain in southern Crete? as the pilgrims from York
> > in England founded a New York in America?

> > > As I said before, there is only one way to "prove" a decipherment
> > > and translation, namely by demonstrating that it leads further
> > > and opens a window on the past. Well, the work of Cyrus H. Gordon,
> > > Jan Best, Richard Stieglitz, and Walther Hinz does lead further.
> > > Here is a new idea, from this morning, just a couple of hours old.
> > >
> > > Da-du-ma-ta on Linear A tablet Hagia Triada 95 has to be read
> > > and pronounced as Dadumatha (th as in English that). The name
> > > of Ebla in 2300 BC was mu-nu-ti-um, which may accordingly have
> > > been pronounced munuthium, or perhpas munuzium. The Linear A
> > > name on HT 95 is mi-nu-te. If it was pronounced like minuthe
> > > there would be a fascinating consequence:
> > >
> > > mi-nu-te mi-nu-the minuthe minos Minos
> > >
> > > One words glides over in the next one, and mi-nu-te ends up
> > > in Minos. And it comes even better: the sign for mi on HT 95
> > > (appearing on both sides) reminds of a bull-head, resembling
> > > much the Phoenician sign for aleph, that was derived from
> > > the head of a cow or a bull. So the name mi-nu-te for Ebla
> > > contains the Bull of Minos.
> > >
> > > Ain't that a nice surprise for a rainy Samday morning?
> >
> > Saturday, of coarse; I was so taken with mi-nu-te and Minos
> > that my English lost pace.
> >
> > > We still don't know where the Minoans come from. Perhaps
> > > from Ebla, 40 km south of Aleppo?
> > >
> > > Regards Franz Gnaedinger www.seshat.ch