Some unusual Minoan clay nodules

Weingarten, Judith

doi:10.1515/kadmos-1986-0102

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For, if we want each part of the documentin its essence a utilitarian tool-to be meaningful, an appreciation of the three instances of the formula as somehow different is almost inescapable. 28 A holistic analysis of the crescents yields forty sealings from thirty-three unique seals, of which eighteen are hieroglyphic according to CHIC, and fifteen are supposedly 'non- 26 Four noduli - Weingarten's (1986) class of nodules that seemingly did not seal anythingwere found as part of the same assemblage as twelve medallions in room III 3b of Building A in Mallia, Quartier Mu. Each nodulus contained Cretan Hieroglyphic sealings, all depicting 'one or more animal heads', while 'similar signs were written (…) on six of the twelve medallions' (Weingarten 1995, 292).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cretan ‘Hieroglyphic’ and the nature of script

Decorte¹

2017

Understanding Relations Between Scripts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Roeland P-J. E. Decorte Cretan 'Hieroglyphic' and the Nature of Script 1 This paper deals with a problem that has been haunting the study of Cretan 'Hieroglyphic' for over a century, ever since the first publication of Cretan 'picture-writing' by Evans (1894a, 1894b, 1895). It is an issue that was purportedly solved by the publication, two decades ago, of the script's corpus (Olivier 1989), 2 but which in reality remains highly relevant and illdefined today. The problem is that of defining 'script' in relation to 'decoration' ('writing' in relation to 'art'), and the definitions we supply directly determine what we consider to constitute the 'Cretan Hieroglyphic' script. Since the publication of Corpus Hieroglyphicarum Inscriptionum Cretae (CHIC) by Olivier and Godart, reviews have criticised the omission of script signs in individual instances (Younger 1997, Karnava 1997 and Palaima 1998), while Jasink (2009) 3though still 'following, as much as possible, the suggested criteria of CHIC'has proposed the reinstatement to the syllabary of as many as 30 signs, maintaining even more elements as 'decorative'. It is testament to the tremendous influence of CHIC, however, and the strength of its argumentsfirst published as a series of articles by Olivier (1981, 1989, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2010)that scholarly response has limited itself to refining the corpus' approach: not a single serious redefinition of the interpretative framework for understanding Cretan Hieroglyphic has been suggested since its publication. It is exactly such a conflicting approach that will be developed here. Cretan Hieroglyphic, in active use on Crete between Middle Minoan I and the end of Middle Minoan III (roughly 2000 to 1600 B.C.), 4 is unique among the writing systems of the 1 This paper was first presented in March 2015, and a first draft was sent to the editor in April 2015. Thanks go out to Philippa Steele for the invitation to speak on Cretan Hieroglyphic at the URBS conference on Aegean scripts, leading to the publication of this volume. Further thanks go out to Cyprian Broodbank and the anonymous reviewer for their comments on the final draft of this paper. This work arises from a PhD thesis on Minoan iconography and the relationship between early writing and art, in preparation at the University of Cambridge (Christ's College). I am grateful to the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding this work. Abbreviations are listed at the top of the bibliography. CHIC conventions are used when referencing documents (preceded by #) and individual signs (001-309). 2 While preparing CHIC for publication, Olivier (1989, 48) argued that deciding which signs to understand as script, and which not, was 'not an easy decision to make (…) but it is now a resolved problem.' Olivier (2010, 287) more recently stated that 'en une trentaine d'années, on en est arrivé, grosso modo, à un certain consensus.' 3 Building upon groundwork already laid in this direction by Karnava (2000, unpublished PhD). 4 In this paper I follow traditional low dates establ...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cretan ‘Hieroglyphic’ and the nature of script

Decorte¹

2017

Understanding Relations Between Scripts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Their Minoan predecessors with one to three seal impressions may have documented the movement of goods between the central administration and external parties. The general lack of inscriptions or indications of quantities on these noduli and their association with storage contexts support their interpretation as ‘dockets, handed out in return for occasional work, to be later exchanged for rations or other payment’ (Weingarten 1986a, 18; Weingarten 2007, 135) 39 . Their seal impressions, then, must have symbolized the party recognizing the obligation.…”

Section: Pylian Noduli and Seal‐usersmentioning

confidence: 87%

Agency Matters: Seal-Users in Pylian Administration

Flouda¹

2010

Oxford Journal of Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aims to provide insights into the patterns discernible in the Pylian sealing practices with regard to the identity of the seal-owners involved. The focus is on reassessing the problem of the function of glyptic imagery and on testing the working hypothesis that differences in the subject matter of the seal devices used to produce the seal impressions may have reflected the hierarchical status of the Pylian seal-owners. On the basis of context, typology and iconography it is suggested that the heirloom signet rings impressed upon the direct object sealings and the combination nodules from the Archives Complex as well as upon a set of hanging nodules from the Northeastern Building designated offices within the Pylian administrative system. In the case of the open irregular string nodules from the Northeastern Building, the Wine Magazine and the Southwestern Building, it is argued that they mainly reflect a system of receipts. Last but not least, the example of a gold ring impression reproducing key palatial iconography is used to demonstrate that the seal devices should be interpreted as visual symbols that acquired their meaning through convention. One of the mechanisms through which the rings and the seals would have been differentiated and associated with individual offices or other institutions was possibly the way specific symbols were embedded within the composition of image.introduction: sealed documents as means for detecting agency in mycenaean administrationIn the Mycenaean polities of the Late Helladic III period ( Fig. 1) documents produced by impressing seals on lumps of clay have indicated standardized administrative acts such as the receipt of incoming goods in the palatial establishments, the securing of commodities and, possibly, the distribution of their contents. The premise underlying the perception of the Mycenaean sealed documents as an effective means of institutional control is that the seals impressed upon them had a representational value, and plausibly signified individuals or their offices as well as collective groups. The study of the clay seal impressions can, accordingly, give insights not only into the nature of the transactions of each polity with its periphery but also to OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 29(1) 57-88 2010 58 involved in the supervision of consignments to the palaces, which involved clay sealings and nodules as accounting and mnemonic devices.Nonetheless, the sealed documents recovered from the final destruction of the Ano Englianos palatial complex and from the early LM IIIA2 destruction deposit of the Knossian palace (object sealings, nodules, 2 noduli) imply the participation of a large number of persons in the sealing process (Fig. 2). If these clay documents are viewed as artefacts having semantic properties beyond the amuletic attributes of their seal devices, they can provide a new way to study agency. The morphology of the clay nodules, as well as the impressions of seals and/or gold signet rings that they bear, namely of objects with inherent social ...

show abstract

“…Class VIII which now has a ridged and 6). courage of this conviction in Weingarten 1986). Be that as it may, the Class VI/A triangular nodule is the obvious ancestor of the most common Mycenaean nodule shape.…”

Section: East Wing Depositsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…(a) a perfect though very small Class VI nodule (HM 159), a type well known in LM IB deposits, and (b) two noduli (HM 151 and AM 1938. Noduli are 'sealings that do not seal', i.e., without string holes or any other means of attachment; thus, they are not true sealings at all (Weingarten 1986 and1987b). A very few noduli are already known from Phaistos (Weingarten 1987b, A-1, A-2) but, as we shall see, they are much more common at MM Knossos.…”

Section: Middle Minoan Knossosmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sealing Structures of Minoan Crete: Mm Ii Phaistos to the Destruction of the Palace of Knossos.

Weingarten¹

1988

Oxford J Archaeology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary. Middle Minoan Knossos shares in the sealing evolution which we have seen elsewhere on the island (SSMC I): the earliest sealings are placed directly on objects, a practice which, in time, generally yields to nodules which hang on cords (first crescents, then prismatic types) and flat‐based nodules which were pressed over leather strips, presumably parchment documents. We have no LM IB sealings from Knossos, a site which might have been expected to have evolved its own local version of the Minoan sealing system. Sealings from the final destruction deposits at Knossos are at once closer to the earlier practices from Phaistos and to the later system known from the mainland. The mainland connection is seen in a reduction of sealing shapes (especially the disappearance of flat‐based nodule types) and in a non‐intensive, non‐elite pattern of seal use.

show abstract

Some unusual Minoan clay nodules

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Cretan ‘Hieroglyphic’ and the nature of script

Cretan ‘Hieroglyphic’ and the nature of script

Agency Matters: Seal-Users in Pylian Administration

The Sealing Structures of Minoan Crete: Mm Ii Phaistos to the Destruction of the Palace of Knossos.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About