Loading…

COUNTING THREADS. SAFFRON IN AEGEAN BRONZE AGE WRITING AND SOCIETY

Summary The ideogram for saffron has long been recognized on the Linear B tablets from Knossos. Close examination of this corpus allows a distinction in content to be made between the LM II–LM IIIA1 tablets of the Room of the Chariot Tablets and the later LM IIIA1–2 tablets from the North Entrance P...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oxford journal of archaeology 2011-11, Vol.30 (4), p.369-391
Main Author: DAY, JO
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary The ideogram for saffron has long been recognized on the Linear B tablets from Knossos. Close examination of this corpus allows a distinction in content to be made between the LM II–LM IIIA1 tablets of the Room of the Chariot Tablets and the later LM IIIA1–2 tablets from the North Entrance Passage. It is suggested here that the later material demonstrates an increasing control over saffron production by the palace, with a greater overall quantity of the spice recorded, larger individual contributions, potential supervisors in charge of collection, and pressure to reach targets. This increase in organization coincides with a dramatic decrease in crocus imagery in other media, and may indicate a deliberate Mycenaean rejection of the symbolic world of Minoan floral iconography, and an interest only in the commercial value of the precious spice. Possible antecedents of the saffron ideogram in Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic are also considered.
ISSN:0262-5253
1468-0092
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-0092.2011.00372.x