LET’S GO!

We’re really excited to share with you the results of our efforts in the Phaistos/pa-i-to Project. This is the official announcement of today’s launch of our website, where you’ll be able to find the digital reproductions of a selection of Mycenaean tablets dealing with our beloved Phaistos – pa-i-to in Mycenaean script – as it is gradually updated over the coming weeks.

The Linear B pa-i-to Epigraphic Project is an epigraphic and philological programme (https://www.paitoproject.it/en/pa-i-to-project-2/) which sets out to analyse the fascinating Linear B documents concerning Phaistos.

Our team, directed by Alessandro Greco (associate professor at the University of Rome, La Sapienza) and Georgia Flouda (director of the Department of Prehistoric and Minoan Antiquities of the Heraklion Archaeological Museum) (https://www.paitoproject.it/en/team-2), has conducted several missions to the Heraklion museum over the years in the course of our research. Here, with the valuable collaboration of the director of the Museum, Stella Manadalaki, and her staff, we were able to complete the digital acquisition of the documents using RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) and 3D Laser Scanning techniques (https://www.paitoproject.it/en/missions-2).

This project was backed both financially and scientifically by the Department of Humanities of IULM University (Milan), under the aegis of the programme “The ‘From Tablet to Tablet’ Project. Exploring the Practical Applications of Imaging Techniques in Epigraphy and the Cultural Heritage” coordinated by Erika Notti, Giovanna Rocca and Mario Negri.

Updating will continue a little at a time, until all of the 94 Linear B tablets bearing the name of Phaistos are finally published on the site.

We aim to publish other collections of documents as well, ranging from the Linear A tablets and cretulae discovered at Ayia Triada and currently housed at the Pigorini Museum to written evidence from more distant regions such as Mesopotamia, taken from the collection of the “Barracco Museum” in Rome.

These intriguing documents will appear on a weekly basis – we’ll keep you posted on our social pages!

As a starter today, here’s a glimpse of a small fragment bearing the name which our fantastic website was named after: pa-i-to.

Check it out!

https://www.paitoproject.it/en/x-7629-2/

We’ll keep you posted on updates as they come in!

Alessandro Greco