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Abstract The Cypriot syllabary was used in Cyprus between the 8th and 3rd c. BCE, together with the Greek and Phoenician alphabetic scripts. It recorded the Greek-Cypriot dialect and one more language, the so-called ‘Eteocypriot’. The script was used mainly in Cyprus, but…

Abstract The Phaistos Disc is a unique clay object that bears a text in an otherwise unknown script. It originates in the Minoan palace of Phaistos in Crete and dates with all probability to the 17th c. BCE. Despite many ambitious efforts, the writing system remains undeciphered. The Phaistos Disc is a thus far unique specimen of what is most likely a writing system (Greek Writing Systems), one of a number that are attested during the 2nd mill. BCE in the Aegean (Cretan Hieroglyphic Script; Linear A; Linear B). The Disc was discovered in 1908 in the Minoan palace of Phaistos situated in south-…

Abstract The Cretan Hieroglyphic is a script that was employed during the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE in Crete. It was mostly used for administrative purposes and is attested on clay documents and stone seals. Although undeciphered, it is believed that the majority of its signs stood for syllables, while others stood for whole words; it also denoted numbers and fractions. The Cretan Hieroglyphic script is one of three (possibly four) writing systems used on the island of Crete between 2000/1900 and 1700/1650 BCE (see: Phaistos Disc; Linear A; Linear B; Greek Writing Systems). It bears no demonstrable affiliation to any of the other so-called ‘Hieroglyphic’ writing systems (…