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DBAS-HTC Database of sealings and writing symbols on Haghia Triada cretulae

Reference texts

The two repertoires collecting the Haghia Triada cretulae are:

• CMS II,6, referring to the sealing (impressed on cretulae)
• GORILA 2, referring to the written Linear A symbols (incised on cretulae)

Moreover, we remind:

• the first inclusive monograph by a very young Doro Levi during his first study years at the Archaeological Italian School at Athens: "Le cretule di Haghia Triada", in Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle missioni italiane in Oriente, VIII/IX (1925-26), pp. 71-156 (in our files the single numbers are referred to as AT heading)..
• The monograph by Erik Hallager in 1996 on roundels, which in Volume II offers also "lists of noduli and nodules according to site and Museum numbers" (pp. 209-295) and further concordance lists (pp. 299-336), among which Haghia Triada cretulae have a relevant role.

The Database structure

This Database, which acts on two diversified ad hoc created catalogues, the first on the sealings and the second on the incised symbols of HT cretulae, has the aim to add further joints, to be read as simply as possible, to to CMS II,6 and GORILA 2 repertoires, obviously having in mind also the successive numerous studies that already offer a very analytic panorama both on the seals impressed on cretulae and their owners/users and on the incised symbols and the relevance of this administrative system referred to the control of goods which were stored at Haghia Triada (see below, bibliography).

As we already forewarned, we have created two new catalogues:

1. The first - Cat. A - is a repertoire concerning the sealings on the cretulae: every motif is identified by a number, following the criteria of CMS II,6. As a consequences the No. of CMS II,6 is maintained as to numbers 1-148, but the novelty is the addition of references on the carved signs, which is a very important datum for the construction of the database. For the subsequent numbers, Cat. A differs from CMS: in Cat A. Numbers 149-154 correspond to CMS II,6 284-289 ("... sehr wahrscheinlich dem Herkunfsort Aj. Triada zugewiesen werden"), and Numbers 155-175 correspond to fragments which in CMS II,6 are only mentioned in the final Tables with the designation of "na" (= nicht aufgenommen);
2. The second - Cat. B - is a completely new catalogue - see a specific file for further details - based on the carved symbols: the text of reference is obviously GORILA 2, with the changes and the novelties proposed by Hallager. The single numbers (No. 1,2,3 ....) concern the whole of cretulae which have the same sign and the same sealing.

In both catalogues the cretulae object of MUSINT II (i.e. the sealed documents kept in the two Italian Museums) are obviously inserted and they may be accessed either from DBAS-HTC or from MUSINT II. For most of these object a 3/D model is offered.

These Catalogues and the related Database represent the starting point to enter new and diversified routes by means of distinct but connected queries, which try to answer as many questions as possible. For instance, starting from the image impressed on a seal (e.g. an animal - which may be distinguished according different typologies - or a human figure or a complex scene or a geometrical motif), the visitor can look for the possible comparison both inside the motifs themselves and in connection with the written symbols on the same cretula. The queries concern also the different shapes of the cretulae (we find identical shapes but with different sealings or different incised symbols, and different shapes with identical sealings and/or signs). Moreover, the same symbol may change according to the "scribal hand": a query identifies some of these "hands", even if this last answer, differently from the previous ones, is in part subjective). The crossed queries between the two catalogues are the major novelty, for the prompt answers they can supply. As conclusive data, tables with the percentages of all the considered elements, may furnish one of the most useful platforms for new researches.

Such a specific project on already amply analyzed materials has been conceived not as conclusive by itself, but with the aim to constitute a further useful element concerning the knowledge of the administrative system, the figurative arts and the daily life of Minoan people - at least of the inhabitants inside the entourage of the Haghia Triada Villa and of analogous institutions on the island during the Neopalatial period.

The Database system, taken as the summa of the whole of possible queries, allows to begin a new research from an advanced starting point. Moreover, since our database represents a work in progress, it is possible to make improvements and implementations and we would appreciate discussions and support, through an expressly dedicated forum.

We think useful, at least for non specialists, to offer three tables (TAB. 1, TAB. 2 and TAB. 3) on the treated objects and a selected bibliography.

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