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Notwithstanding the fact that Cretan hieroglyphic is basically
related to Luwian hieroglyphic, there are a number of
cases in which Egyptian hieroglyphic provides the closest
comparative evidence. This concerns first of all the beesign,
which – apart from a singular occurrence – goes unrepresented
among the Luwian hieroglyphic repertoire.
Like in Egyptian, the latter sign turns up in combination
with a floral motif, to indicate the king of Lower and Upper
Egypt. This royal title is also attested for Middle
Bronze Age inscriptions from Byblos, which was subject
to strong Egyptian influences at the time. 629 In Crete, the
bee-sign undergoes a typical local treatment in the sense
that, apart from its regular depiction from the side (CHIC
no. 20), it also tends to be represented from the top (CHIC
no. 21). 630 Besides the bee-sign, the symbol of royalty in
form of a winged sun-disc, mentioned among the Luwian
correspondences, ultimately originates from Egyptian hieroglyphic
as well, but its ductus in Crete betrays Anatolian
influences in the fact that the sun-disc is represented
as a rosette. The same holds good for the ankh-sign, which,
like it is the case in Anatolia, in Crete is characterized by
two side stems (note, however, that in Anatolia the central
stem is lost, whereas in Crete this is preserved). Apparently,
these two signs, belonging to the oldest layer of Luwian
hieroglyphic during the Middle Bronze Age, 631
reached Crete via an Anatolian intermediary.
The indirect route for signs originating from Egyptian
hieroglyphic may further be illustrated by the trowel-sign
(CHIC no. 040). In ductus this is closest to a Byblian parallel;
it also receives a value based on the translation of its
Egyptian meaning, d “to give”, into Luwian, hence pi as
acrophonically derived from piya- “to give”. 632 A similar
adaptation of the value can be observed for the wine ideogram
(CHIC *156), representing Semitic wainu instead of
Egyptian rp, the tablet-sign (Evans no. 31), 633 rendering
the syllabic value du as acrophonically derived from Se-
629 Best & Woudhuizen 1988: 8, fig. 7.
630 Woudhuizen 1997.
631 Woudhuizen, forthc. 2.
632 Woudhuizen 2002b.
633 Best & Woudhuizen 1988: 8, fig. 8; 13, fig. 17; 15-6.
126
mitic tuppu “tablet”, 634 and the palace-sign (CHIC no. 41),
of which the acrophonic value wa6 can only be explained
in terms of a mixing-up with its Luwian hieroglyphic lookalike
wana “stele, altar” (LH *267). Although direct contact
between Egypt and Crete cannot be excluded, the
given evidence is conducive to the conclusion that Egyptian
signs reached Crete through the intermediary of the
Levant and/or Anatolia. Or, at the very least, the handling
of this category of signs in Crete is “more loose” than the
one received by the category of signs originating from
Luwian hieroglyphic.
In table 5 I present a list of correspondences between
Cretan hieroglyphic and Egyptian hieroglyphic for signs
which occur in a reasonably clear context. 635
A third source for signs from Cretan hieroglyphic is
formed by Cretan Linear A (= CL). It is a general misconception
that Cretan hieroglyphic constitutes a forerunner of
Linear A: this is particularly true in case of the libation
formula, which develops in the course of time into its Linear
A descendant as attested for wash-hand stone-basins
from peak-sanctuaries the destruction of which is usually
assigned to the Middle Minoan III/Late Minoan I transitional
period (c. 1600 BC). 636 In most other instances,
however, the representation of Linear A signs among Cretan
hieroglyphic results from a merger between the two
scripts, which started from the time of the earliest attestation
of Linear A in Middle Minoan II (c. 1800-1700 BC)
onwards, thus providing us with a terminus post quem for
seals showing Linear A influences other than the libation
formula. 637
Table 6 below presents correspondences between Cretan
hieroglyphic and Cretan Linear (A) for signs which occur
in a reasonably clear context. 638
634 Friedrich 1946: Wörterverzeichnisse III, s.v.
635 Numbering of the Egyptian hieroglyphic signs according to
Gardiner 1994.
636 Woudhuizen 2001b: 608.
637 Vandenabeele 1985: 18.
638 Cf. Woudhuizen 1992c: Pl. XXIV; numbering of the Linear A
signs according to Meijer 1982: 38-47.