Editing Phaistos Disc (section)

== Signs ==
<!-- Redundant images?
{| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[File:Δίσκος της Φαιστού πλευρά Α 6380.JPG|thumb|200px|Side A (Original)]]
| style="vertical-align: top;" | [[File:Δίσκος της Φαιστού πλευρά B 6381.JPG|thumb|200px|Side B (Original)]]
|}-->

[[File:Diskos.von.Phaistos Detail.1 11-Aug-2004 asb PICT3372.JPG|thumb|right]]
[[File:Diskos.von.Phaistos Detail.2 11-Aug-2004 asb PICT3373.JPG|thumb|right]]
[[File:Diskos.von.Phaistos Detail.3 11-Aug-2004 asb PICT3374.JPG|thumb|right]]
[[File:Diskos.von.Phaistos Detail.4 11-Aug-2004 asb PICT3375.JPG|thumb|right]]

=== Sign list and counts ===
There are 45 distinct signs on the disc, occurring a total of 242 times—123 on side A and 119 on side B.  In addition to these, a small diagonal line was incised with a stylus (not stamped) underneath some signs, a total of 18 times. The 45 symbols were numbered by Sir [[Arthur Evans]] from 01 to 45,<ref name="evans1909">{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Arthur J. |title=Scripta Minoa, the written documents of Minoan Crete, with special reference to the archives of Knossos |url=https://archive.org/details/scriptaminoawrit02evanuoft|publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1909 |isbn= |location=Oxford |language=en-gb |ol=7128491M |author-link=Arthur Evans}}</ref> and this numbering has been adopted by most researchers.

The signs were added to the [[Unicode]] universal computer character (UCS) set in 2008, after a 2006 proposal by [[Michael Everson]] and John H. Jenkins.<ref name=ever2006>Michael Everson and John H. Jenkins (1997): "[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06095-n3066-phaistos.pdf Proposal for encoding the Phaistos Disc characters in the SMP of the UCS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205221546/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06095-n3066-phaistos.pdf |date=2022-12-05  }}", ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2  Working Group Document N3066R (L2/06-095R), 2006-04-01.</ref> In the following table, the '''No.''' column is the Evans number of each sign; the '''Glyph''' column is a modern drawing of the symbol; and the '''Font''' column uses the UCS font available in the browser.  The assigned Unicode names are PHAISTOS DISC SIGN followed by the names shown under '''Name''' in the table below, taken from a 1995 book by [[Louis Godart]].<ref name=goda1995>Louis Godart (1995): ''The Phaistos Disc: the enigma of an Aegean script''. translated by Alexandra Doumas. Éditions Itanos. {{isbn|960-7549-02-3}}</ref>

One sign occurrence on side A is too damaged to identify. According to Godart, it may be sign 03 (TATTOOED HEAD) or 20 (DOLIUM); or less probably 08 (GAUNTLET) or 44 (SMALL AXE).<ref name=goda1995/>{{rp|p.101}}  Theoretically, it could also be a 46th distinct sign.

The sign images below are reversed left-to-right relative to their appearance on the disc, reflecting their presentation in most Western books and articles.<ref name=ever2011>Michael Everson (2011): "[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11166-phaistos-response.pdf Response to L2/11‐126 'Phaistos Disc Errata'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727192128/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11166-phaistos-response.pdf |date=2023-07-27  }}" ISO Working Group Document L2/11-166, 2011-05-06.</ref>

Also, some signs occur in the disc in two or more orientations, rotated by 90 or 180 degrees.  It is generally assumed that the rotation has no semantic or linguistic value, so the rotated copies are still the same symbol. Therefore, the "normal" orientation of those signs is not known, and might have been left to the scribe's discretion.<ref name=ever2006/><ref name=ever2011/>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="4" | Sign
! colspan="3" | Frequency
|-
!No.
!class="unsortable"| Glyph
!class="unsortable"| Font
!class="unsortable"| Name
!A
!B
!A+B
|-
|01
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 01.svg|01]] || <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇐</div>
|PEDESTRIAN
|  6
|  5
| 11
|-
|02
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 02.svg|02]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇑</div>
|PLUMED&nbsp;HEAD
| 14
|  5
| 19
|-
|03
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 03.svg|03]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇒</div>
|TATTOOED&nbsp;HEAD
|  2
|  0
|  2
|-
|04
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 04.svg|04]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇓</div>
|CAPTIVE
|  1
|  0
|  1
|-
|05
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 05.svg|05]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇔</div>
|CHILD
|  0
|  1
|  1
|-
|06
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 06.svg|06]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇕</div>
|WOMAN
|  2
|  2
|  4
|-
|07
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 07.svg|07]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇖</div>
|HELMET
|  3
| 15
| 18
|-
|08
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 08.svg|08]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇗</div>
|GAUNTLET
|  1
|  4
|  5
|-
|09
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 09.svg|09]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇘</div>
|TIARA
|  0
|  2
|  2
|-
|10
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 10.svg|10]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇙</div>
|ARROW
|  4
|  0
|  4
|-
|11
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 11.svg|11]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇚</div>
|BOW
|  1
|  0
|  1
|-
|12
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 12.svg|12]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇛</div>
|SHIELD
| 15
|  2
| 17
|-
|13
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 13.svg|13]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇜</div>
|CLUB
|  3
|  3
|  6
|-
|14
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 14.svg|14]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇝</div>
|MANACLES
|  1
|  1
|  2
|-
|15
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 15.svg|15]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇞</div>
|MATTOCK
|  0
|  1
|  1
|-
|16
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 16.svg|16]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇟</div>
|SAW
|  0
|  2
|  2
|-
|17
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 17.svg|17]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇠</div>
|LID
|  1
|  0
|  1
|-
|18
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 18.svg|18]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇡</div>
|BOOMERANG
|  6
|  6
| 12
|-
|19
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 19.svg|19]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇢</div>
|CARPENTRY&nbsp;PLANE
|  3
|  0
|  3
|-
|20
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 20.svg|20]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇣</div>
|DOLIUM
|  0
|  2
|  2
|-
|21
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 21.svg|21]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇤</div>
|COMB
|  2
|  0
|  2
|-
|22
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 22.svg|22]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇥</div>
|SLING
|  0
|  5
|  5
|-
|23
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 23.svg|23]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇦</div>
|COLUMN
|  5
|  6
| 11
|-
|24
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 24.svg|24]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇧</div>
|BEEHIVE
|  1
|  5
|  6
|-
|25
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 25.svg|25]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇨</div>
|SHIP
|  2
|  5
|  7
|-
|26
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 26.svg|26]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇩</div>
|HORN
|  5
|  1
|  6
|-
|27
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 27.svg|27]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇪</div>
|HIDE
| 10
|  5
| 15
|-
|28
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 28.svg|28]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇫</div>
|BULLS&nbsp;LEG
|  2
|  0
|  2
|-
|29
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 29.svg|29]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇬</div>
|CAT
|  3
|  8
| 11
|-
|30
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 30.svg|30]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇭</div>
|RAM
|  0
|  1
|  1
|-
|31
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 31.svg|31]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇮</div>
|EAGLE
|  5
|  0
|  5
|-
|32
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 32.svg|32]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇯</div>
|DOVE
|  2
|  1
|  3
|-
|33
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 33.svg|33]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇰</div>
|[[Thunnus thynnus|TUNNY]]
|  2
|  4
|  6
|-
|34
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 34.svg|34]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇱</div>
|BEE
|  1
|  2
|  3
|-
|35
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 35.svg|35]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇲</div>
|[[Platanus orientalis|PLANE&nbsp;TREE]]
|  5
|  6
| 11
|-
|36
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 36.svg|36]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇳</div>
|VINE
|  0
|  4
|  4
|-
|37
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 37.svg|37]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇴</div>
|[[Papyrus|PAPYRUS]]
|  2
|  2
|  4
|-
|38
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 38.svg|38]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇵</div>
|ROSETTE
|  3
|  1
|  4
|-
|39
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 39.svg|39]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇶</div>
|LILY
|  1
|  3
|  4
|-
|40
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 40.svg|40]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇷</div>
|OX BACK
|  3
|  3
|  6
|-
|41
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 41.svg|41]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇸</div>
|FLUTE
|  2
|  0
|  2
|-
|42
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 42.svg|42]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇹</div>
|GRATER
|  0
|  1
|  1
|-
|43
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 43.svg|43]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇺</div>
|STRAINER
|  0
|  1
|  1
|-
|44
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 44.svg|44]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇻</div>
|SMALL&nbsp;AXE
|  1
|  0
|  1
|-
|45
|[[File:Phaistos glyph 45.svg|45]]|| <div style="font-size:2em;">𐇼</div>
|WAVY&nbsp;BAND
|  2
|  4
|  6
|}

=== Nature of depicted objects ===
Many of the signs are depictions of concrete objects with a recognizable general nature (such as humans, birds, plants, a boat), or parts thereof (heads, hides, flowers). However, in most cases the precise nature of objects depicted is still unknown (as of 2023). The sign names assigned by scholars, in particular by Godart<ref name=goda1995/> and the Unicode consortium,<ref name=ever2006/> were rather arbitrary, often based on the slightest shape similarity.

Symbol 21 (Godart's "COMB") was once conjectured to be a palace floorplan.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ancient-greece.org/map/knossos-plan.html | title = Knossos Plan | access-date = 4 Oct 2012 | author = Ancient-Greece.org | archive-date = 2020-11-27  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201127013554/https://ancient-greece.org/map/knossos-plan.html | url-status = live }}</ref> However, this hypothesis was cast in doubt by the discovery of a vase with a nearly identical symbol incised  on the bottom, believed to be a potter's mark.<ref name=bald2021/>

[[File:Marine ritual triton. Phaistos, 3600–3000 BC, AMH, 144493.jpg|thumb|right|Ritual sea snail ([[charonia|triton]]) conch, decorated with red paint. Phaistos, 3600–3000 BC.]]
Symbol 20 ("DOLIUM") was assumed to be the conch of a large sea snail, such as ''[[Tonna dolium]]'' or some ''[[Eudolium]]'' or ''[[Charonia]]'' species. One such conch was found at Phaistos and is believed to have been used as a musical instrument for ritual uses.

=== Sign distribution ===
The distribution of symbols is highly non-random, and quite different between the two sides.  Evans's symbol 02 (PLUMED HEAD) is the most frequent one, occurring 19 times—14 of them on side A. The next most frequent signs are 07 (HELMET), with 18 occurrences, mostly on side B; 12 (SHIELD), with 17, mostly on side A; and 27 (HIDE), with 15, of which 10 on side A.

Still, 26 of the 45 symbols occur on both sides, at least once on each.  The most common signs that occur on only one side are 31 (EAGLE), on side A, and 22 (SLING), on side B; both with five occurrences each.

The following table shows how many distinct signs ('''Sign count''') have the same number of occurrences ('''Frequency''').  The third number in each column is the product of the two numbers above, that is, the total number of occurrences ('''Token count''') of those signs:

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|- align="center"
! Frequency
| width="20" | 19 || width="20" | 18 || width="20" | 17 || width="20" | 16 || width="20" | 15 || width="20" | 14 || width="20" | 13 || width="20" | 12 || width="20" | 11 || width="20" | 10 || width="20" | 9 || width="20" | 8 || width="20" | 7 || width="20" | 6  || width="20" |  5 || width="20" |  4 || width="20" | 3 || width="20" | 2 || width="20" | 1
|- align="center"
! Sign count
|  1 ||  1 ||  1 ||    ||  1 ||    ||    ||  1 ||  4 ||    ||   ||   || 1 || 6  ||  3 ||  6 || 3 || 8 || 9  || align="left" | Total = 45 signs
|- align="center"
! Token count
| 19 || 18 || 17 ||    || 15 ||    ||    || 12 || 44 ||    ||   ||   || 7 || 36 || 15 || 24 || 9 || 16 || 9  || align="left" | Total = 241 tokens
|}

The nine ''[[hapax]]es'' (symbols occurring just once) are 04 (A5), 05 (B3), 11 (A13), 15 (B8), 17 (A24), 30 (B27), 42 (B9), 43 (B4), 44 (A7). Of the eight twice-occurring symbols, four (03, 21, 28, 41) occur on side A only, three (09, 16, 20) on side B only, and only one (14) occurs on both sides.

=== Sign correlations ===

The distribution of symbol pairs too is highly non-uniform.  For example, of the 17 occurrences of sign 12 (SHIELD), thirteen follow immediately sign 02 (PLUMED HEAD).