The Phaistos Disk: An Account of Its Unresolved Mystery

by Thomas Balistier

Since it was discovered in 1908, the Phaistos Disk - one of the most important artifacts from Crete's minoan culture - has challenged scholars of diverse diciplines and captivated interests of amateurs. Its allure is primarily due to the fact that no one has been able to really solve its mystery. None of the numerous decipherments has found general acceptance or scientific approval. This book does not offer yet another attempt at deciphering the Disk. Rather, it is a short presentation of the various research efforts on the dating and origin, writing and language, as well as content and purpose of the Disk. This lively account of the most important aspects of a not-so-strictly-scholarly debate, which has gone on for decades, also includes a view of the putative solutions.

120 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Frederick Gault · Rating 4 out of 5]

To make a long story short, nobody really knows what the Phaistos Disk is, or what it says. Consequently it is subject to speculations both scholarly and amateur, the latter being most amusing at times. The ends with three of the better attempts to decipher the Disk, all three of which couldn't be more different!