Libation Formula
The Libation Formula is an incantation that occurs on some 40 stone objects ("Libation Tables").[1] found primarily in sanctuaries atop mountains, at Peak Sanctuaries.[2] The Formula in its usual form uses a dot (•) as a punctuation sign. The Libation formula follows the general consensus sequence:[3]
A-TA-I-*301-WA-JA • A-DI-KI-TE-TE • JA-SA-SA-RA-ME • U-NA-KA-NA-SI • I-PI-NA-MA • SI-RU-TE • I-NA-JA-PA-QA
The Libation formula uses the Linear A syllabary script [4], of the Minoan civilization, spoken in Crete from approximately 1800 to 1450 BCE.
Decipherment
Recently, a paper by A. Olivier Samson using multiple sequence alignment of Libation Formula has suggested Linear A is Minoan Greek[5], and influenced by west-Semitic divinities.
The paper provides the following translation of the Libation Formula:
Notably, libations were common in ceremonies of ancient Greece, and olive oil was a common ingredient. The Libation formula has been associated with olive oil[7]
Interestingly, the divinity SA-RA-ME corresponds to the Semitic goddess, the Asherah pole (Hebrew, singular: As'era [אשרה], plural: As'erime [אשרים]). The divinity is sometimes referred to as I-DA-MI (Greek: δαίμων).
Other attempts of decipherment
Overview
Several attempts have been made to decipher Linear A, and the Libation Formula, based on the decipherment of Linear B by James Chadwick,[8] using syllable similarity.[9] Most of these attempts would not have been possible without the transliterations of John Younger,[10] based on Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier[11] Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A (GORILA), based on E.L Bennett's standard numeration of the signs of Linear B, who introduced a joint numeration of the Linear A and B signs; help of J.P. Olivier,[12]
Cornelius J. Crowley seemed to favour the influence of Semitic in some of the Linear A sacral vocabulary.[13]
Individual sequences
Ernst Grumach[14] and Brent Davis[15] interpreted sequence A-DI-KI-TE to be a geographical location, like Mount Diktos.
A. van den Kerkhof has also proposed oil to be included in the libations.[16]
Another view is by Andras Zeke, who has proposed a Greek translation. For example, TAN (or TA) has been suggested to mean "this" (or "the").[17]
Sequence A-SA-SA-RA-ME
The sequence (J)A-SA-SA-RA-ME (and variations), which appears in some of the libation objects,[18][19] was previously interpreted to mean a Minoan goddess named "Asasara", but this interpretation was dismissed by M. Pope.[20]
Paul Faure agreed that the sequence must have meant something related to consecration, but argued for its having a Mediterranean origin, with possible cognates in other languages, e.g., Oscan aisusis and Paelignian aisis.[21]
Brent Davis furnishes the meaning of offering to the sequence.[22]
Dutch comparative philologist Jan Best defends the idea that the sequence refers to the ancient Semitic goddess Asherah, or to a Phoenician pillar cult.[23]
Hagia Triada Sarcophagus
The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus is a late Minoan limestone sarcophagus, dated to about 1400 BC, excavated from a chamber tomb at Hagia Triada, Crete in 1903. It is coated in plaster and painted in fresco on all faces[24]. Interestingly, the sarcophagus depicts the process of libations. On the left, a woman can be seen pouring a votive offering into an amphora on the ground.
See also
References
- ↑ Ferrara, Silvia, Barbara Montecchi, and Miguel Valério. “WHAT IS THE ‘ARCHANES FORMULA’? DECONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING THE EARLIEST ATTESTATION OF WRITING IN THE AEGEAN”. In: The Annual of the British School at Athens 116 (2021): 47. doi:10.1017/S0068245420000155.
- ↑ Flouda, Georgia. “Materiality of Minoan Writing: Modes of Display and Perception”. In: Writing as Material Practice: Substance, Surface and Medium. Edited by Kathryn E. Piquette and Ruth D. Whitehouse, Ubiquity Press, 2013, p. 164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3t5r28.13.
- ↑ "Linear a Texts: Religious Texts".
- ↑ "Linear a Texts: Homepage".
- ↑ Samson, A. Olivier (19 August 2021). "Multiple Sequence Alignment of Libation Formulae Suggest Linear a is Minoan-Greek". SSRN 3907913 Check
|ssrn=value (help). - ↑ Palaima, Thomas G. (1997) [1989]. "Cypro-Minoan Scripts: Problems of Historical Context". In: Duhoux, Yves; Palaima, Thomas G.; Bennet, John (eds.). Problems in Decipherment. Louvain-La-Neuve: Peeters. pp. 121–188. ISBN 978-90-6831-177-8.
- ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316285128_On_sacred_vocabulary_and_religious_dedications_the_Minoan_'libation_formula'
- ↑ Chadwick, John (1967). The Decipherment of Linear B. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-39830-5.
- ↑ Salgarella, Ester (2020). Aegean Linear Script(s): Rethinking the Relationship between Linear A and Linear B. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108479387 Search this book on
..
- ↑ "Linear a Texts: Homepage". Archived from the original on 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
- ↑ Olivier, J.P. (1986). "Cretan Writing in the Second Millennium B.C." World Archaeology. 17 (3): 377–389. doi:10.1080/00438243.1986.9979977.
- ↑ Thomas, Helena. Understanding the transition from Linear A to Linear B script. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Supervisor: Professor John Bennet. Thesis (D. Phil.). University of Oxford, 2003. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 311–338).
- ↑ CROWLEY, CORNELIUS J.. "ON THE SEMITE ORIGIN OF LINEAR A JA-SA-SA-RA-MA-NA AND A-SA-SA-RA-ME". In: Linguistics: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences 3, no. 16 (1965): 30-31. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1965.3.16.28
- ↑ Grumach, Ernst. "The Minoan libation formula – again" Kadmos, vol. 7, no. 1, 1968, pp. 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1515/kadmos-1968-0103
- ↑ Davis, Brent. “Syntax in Linear A: The Word-Order of the ‘Libation Formula’.” (2013).
- ↑ http://www.minoa.nl
- ↑ "Minoan language blog: Cracking the libation formula - Part I". 21 September 2009.
- ↑ CROWLEY, CORNELIUS J.. "ON THE SEMITE ORIGIN OF LINEAR A JA-SA-SA-RA-MA-NA AND A-SA-SA-RA-ME". In: Linguistics: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences 3, no. 16 (1965): 28-29. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1965.3.16.28
- ↑ Ferrara, Silvia, Barbara Montecchi, and Miguel Valério. “WHAT IS THE ‘ARCHANES FORMULA’? DECONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING THE EARLIEST ATTESTATION OF WRITING IN THE AEGEAN”. In: The Annual of the British School at Athens 116 (2021): 48. doi:10.1017/S0068245420000155.
- ↑ Pope, M. “THE MINOAN GODDESS ASASARA - AN OBITUARY”. In: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, no. 8 (1961): 29–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43646039.
- ↑ Faure, Paul. "Le sens des cachets et des scellés crétois". In: Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé: Lettres d'humanité, n°32, décembre 1973. pp. 421-422 (footnote nr. 3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/bude.1973.3502; www.persee.fr/doc/bude_1247-6862_1973_num_32_4_3502
- ↑ Davis, Brent. "Syntax in Linear A: The Word-Order of the ‘Libation Formula’". In: Kadmos 52, no. 1-2 (2013): 40-43. https://doi.org/10.1515/kadmos-2013-0003
- ↑ Best, Jan. "Linguistic Evidence for a Phoenician Pillar Cult in Crete". In: Best, Jan G. P.; Woudhuizen, Fred. [1]. Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill, 1989. pp. 18-24. ISBN 9789004089341 Search this book on ..
- ↑ German; J.A.Sakellarakis, "Herakleion Museum. Illustrated guide to the Museum" pp. 113,114. Ekdotike Athinon. Athens 1987
- ↑ LEVI, DORO. “THE SARCOPHAGUS OF HAGIA TRIADA RESTORED.” Archaeology, vol. 9, no. 3, 1956, pp. 192–99
- ↑ NAUERT, JEAN PORTER. “THE HAGIA TRIADA SARCOPHAGUS AN ICONOGRAPHICAL STUDY.” Antike Kunst, vol. 8, no. 2, 1965, pp. 91–98
Further reading
- Best, Jan G. P. (1981). "YAŠŠARAM!". Supplementum Epigraphicum Mediterraneum and Talanta, Proceedings of the Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society (13): 17–21.
- Brice, W. C., & Henle, J. E. (1965). "Studies in the structure of some ancient scripts IV and V. In: Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 48 (1): 56-80.
- Grumach, Ernst. "The Minoan libation formula – again". In: Kadmos 7, no. 1 (1968): 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1515/kadmos-1968-0103
- Karnava, Artemis (2014). "On sacred vocabulary and religious dedications: the Minoan ‘libation formula’". In: E. ALRAM-STERN, F. BLAKOLMER, S. DEGER-JALKOTZY, R. LAFFINEUR & J. WEILHARTNER (EDS.). Metaphysis. Ritual, myth and symbolism in the Aegean Bronze Age. Aegaeum 39. Leuven-Liège: 2016. pp. 345-355, pl. CVI-CVIII.
- Thomas, Rose. "Some reflections on morphology in the language of the Linear A libation formula". In: Kadmos 59, no. 1-2 (2020): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1515/kadmos-2020-0001
- Woudhuizen, Fred C. (2008). "Various Versions of the Linear A Libation Formula, again, but now in their entirety". Ugarit-Forschungen (40): 571–585.
- Zadka, Małgorzata. "Minojska formuła libacyjna w świetle stu lat badań" [The Minoan libation formula in the light of a century of research]. In: Wratislaviensium Studia Classica olim Classica Wratislaviensia I (XXXII). Wroclaw, 2012. pp. 181-188. doi:10.23734/WSC.2012.1.181.188 (In Polish)
This article "Libation Formula" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Libation Formula. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
