Gareth Owens, linguist, archaeologist and Erasmus Program Coordinator at the Cretan Institute of Technology, has unveiled a new study that he estimates solves 99 percent of the mystery of the ancient Greek Phaistos disc.
The Greek Reporter briefly talks about the opening. It is reported that Gareth Owens has devoted 30 years to trying to unravel the mystery of one of the most mysterious artifacts in history.
This is the Phaistos disc, which was found in the ruins of the Minoan palace of Phaestos on the island of Crete. Now it is kept in the local archaeological museum and is one of its main exhibits. The artifact is made of clay. So far, it has only been possible to date it approximately. Experts believe that it was made in the second millennium BC.
Scientists call the Phaistos disc one of the greatest mysteries of archeology. The overwhelming majority of scientists consider it to be authentic, but there are those who doubt it. The diameter of the disc is about 15 centimeters, on both sides it is covered with mysterious symbols applied to the surface in a spiral.
For many years of research, scientists have not been able to decipher the language in which the mysterious inscriptions were executed. So far, it has only been established that its symbols are not part of any known alphabet, ancient or modern.
And now Gareth Owens announced that he was able to decipher the mysterious symbols. To do this, he and his team used the method of comparative linguistics, that is, they compared incomprehensible symbols with “related” languages from the Indo-European language family. As a result, scientists came to the conclusion that the disc contains a religious text dedicated to a certain “pregnant goddess” and goddess of love Astarte.
“This is undoubtedly a religious text,” says Owens. “This became clear after comparing it with other religious words from other inscriptions found in the sacred mountains of Crete. We found exactly the same words.”
Owens also suggests that the Phaistos disc is a hymn to Astarte, the goddess of love. Words similar to those found on the disc have previously been found on Minoan ritual objects that were used as offerings to the gods.
In addition, according to the archaeologist-linguist, the inscriptions on different sides of the disc are not a single whole. He suggests that a hymn to the Minoan goddess Astarte was written on one side, and a dedication to the pregnant mother goddess on the other.
Talking about the importance of the text, Owens reminds us that Astarte was not only the goddess of love. She was also revered as the goddess of war and mountains. It is interesting that she was “born” in the East. It is believed that her cult to Crete was brought from ancient Mesopotamia. Then Astarte went to Cyprus, where she gradually became Venus.
