Guillermo Carvajal writes for La Brújula Verde:
A team of archaeologists has discovered in Knossos, on the Greek island of Crete, the longest Linear A inscription found to date. The script appears on a circular ivory object with an attached handle, discovered in a context of clear religious significance within a Neopalatial building. Besides providing the longest inscription in this yet-to-be-deciphered system, the find offers new perspectives on the use of Minoan writing in ceremonial contexts.
The object was uncovered in one of the rooms of a Neopalatial-phase building (1700-1450 BCE) located in the Anetaki plot, an area of Knossos characterized by its religious use from the Protopalatial period through later times.
The inscription was found in the so-called Ivory Deposit, a semi-subterranean structure where fragments of pottery, bronze, and other offering-related items were also discovered. The ivory object, provisionally identified as a scepter or ritual staff, features an engraved inscription in the Linear A script on all its surfaces. According to specialists who have studied the find, the total length of the text reaches approximately 119 signs, surpassing in length all other known inscriptions in this writing system. […]
The text on the ring is distributed across four faces, each containing inscriptions carved with an unusually high degree of precision for Linear A writing. It is distinguished by its calligraphic refinement, which suggests a ceremonial rather than administrative use, unlike most clay tablets inscribed in this system. […]
A particularly significant aspect is the absence of numerals, a feature that distinguishes this inscription from administrative texts on clay tablets. This reinforces the hypothesis that Minoan writing was not limited to accounting but also played a role in religious and ceremonial contexts.
The paper is Kanta, A., Nakassis, D., Palaima, T. G., & Perna, M. (2025), “An archaeological and epigraphical overview of some inscriptions found in the Cult Center of the city of Knossos (Anetaki plot)” (Ariadne, 27–43, doi.org/10.26248/ariadne.vi.1841). Thanks, Trevor!
I wasn’t sure what “brújula” (in general, when not part of a proper name) might mean in Spanish, and when I looked it up I was cheered by the last sentence of this etymology: ‘From Italian bùssola (compare French boussole), from Vulgar Latin *buxula, a diminutive form of Late Latin buxis (“box”), from Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “boxwood box, box”), from πύξος (púxos, “boxwood”). Apparently influenced by Spanish bruja (“witch”).’
We discussed ‘compass’ back in 2007, and I mentioned the Vulgar Latin word and its offspring here — but not, sadly, the Spanish word.
Unfortunately, the paper says very little; it refers to a forthcoming paper. However, it says that the longest known inscription so far has 105 signs, of which 40% are numerals and separation signs, which are practically absent in the new one (the sign for 10 does show up once, at least). In other words, the new one is a text, not a spreadsheet as usual. That’s going to help.
According to that old thread, the specific Russian word derived (maybe via French) from that Vulg. Latin one was used only to mean “surveyor’s compass,” with different and etymologically unrelated Russian words referring other things all called “compass” in English. I wasn’t immediately sure why surveyors would use different compasses than anyone else for figuring out which way was north etc. but wikipedia advises me that “surveyor’s compass” in English refers or at least use to refer to a gizmo also known by the intriguing name of “circumferentor.” Which you don’t hear about very much these days because it was superseded in the 19th century by the improved gizmo known as the theodolite, which is a word I am vaguely aware of although kind of fuzzy on the details beyond “um, a sort of gizmo that surveyors use.” I assume the Spanish word has a wide enough semantic scope to cover anything that tells you which way north is? (And/or what any particular direction from where you are “is” as quantified in azimuth terms.)
I assume the Spanish word has a wide enough semantic scope to cover anything that tells you which way north is?
Not only that. There is a magnetic and calamitous synonym (the RAE up to its old tricks again). calamita or caramida from Greek via Arabic. A magnet affixed to a length of reed floating in water.
Too easy to confuse the compass “calamita” with the other “calamita” apparently meaning “small, green [female] toad with a yellow line along her back.”
One of the longest Gaulish inscriptions and then the longest in Linear A, in the course of a few months. That’s pretty amazing!
I was surprised to learn that an inscription of 119 signs would be set a new record. That’s a tough corpus to make progress on.
the other “calamita” apparently meaning “small, green [female] toad with a yellow line along her back.”
What do you mean, “other” ? They all line up facing north when they’re in heat.
“the specific Russian word”
And I guess Grin’s Ассоль
I love that novel!
I was surprised to learn that an inscription of 119 signs would be set a new record. That’s a tough corpus to make progress on.
Yes, but it’s a little less tough now. And the very specific context may be helpful.
Epidalea calamita is the natterjack toad.
Hence German Büchse “small box; (obsolete) gun”. The tree is Buchsbaum, so the ü does not come directly from the original y.
@LH, thanks! That’s informative: I read it when I was 7, forgot everything and did not know if it is good:)
“My brother went to Knossos and all I got was this stupid circular ivory object.”
Here is the scholarly journal that Brujula Verde based their article on:
https://ejournals.lib.uoc.gr/Ariadne/article/view/1841/1751
Though they do report 119 signs, they break it down as 84 “completely or partially preserved” and 35 “in small traces or probably present.” Less promising than it seemed. I’m not going to be able to digest this tonight, but a quick partial read also suggests that the text is more similar to previous Linear A texts than I expected from the magazine article. It may have a religious context, but it may still be a sort of listing of or mnemonic for the objects used in a ceremony, rather than a narrative sentence or something like that.
There is also a second, much shorter inscription on the handle of the object. This text does include numbers and seems to match more closely the common run of past Linear A finds.
I missed the Gaulish inscription news. Where is this discussed?
One place is here starting on March 10th. I had previously raised it on a thread here back in January but haven’t re-discovered that discussion yet.