The Minoan Roundel and Other Sealed Documents in the Neopalatial Linear A Administration (Paperback)

At the very beginning of the 20th century, British and Italian archaeologists unearthed at Knossos, Zakro and Hagia Triada ca. 4/5 of all sealed documents known from the Minoan Neopalatial Linear A administration. With few exceptions none of these documents are yet fully published. In this book the corpus of the Minoan roundels is presented together with lists of the 2.120 known sealed documents from the Neopalatial Linear A administration in Crete with museum numbers, seal numbers etc. The sealed documents are divided into four main categories: roundels, noduli (divided into disk- and dome-shaped), flat-based nodules (with four sub-groups) and hanging nodules (divided into two-hole and single-hole hanging nodules, the last of which exist in five types). In the book it is argued that the roundel functioned as a receipt within the local administration, while the uninscribed flat-based nodules were stamped by important officials and sealed documents written on parchment and that the single-hole hanging nodules were also attached to (perhaps legal) documents, possibly written on papyrus. The book is an indispensable reference work for any future study of the Minoan Linear A administration.