X 522

KN X 522 was found in deposit F8, in the area of the so-called West Magazines and, more specifically, in storeroom IX (https://damos.hf.uio.no/4323, Del Freo 2016, 185-186).

This is a palm-leaf document, preserved only on the left-hand side. It records the place-name pa-i-to (Festòs) in larger signs, which is followed by the syllabogram e, preserved at the broken right edge and forming the initial part of a word that has been lost.

There would seem to be two possible ways of integrating the document. Firstly, the text of KN X 522 could be completed with the word e-ne-re-ja (Melena 1975, 83-94), since, despite its fragmentary nature, what is left of the tablet has allowed to establish a parallel with documents as KN Ak(1) 638 and Ai(2) 762+. In the first, the entry appears in association with the place of Amnisos (a-mi-ni-so), in the second with that of ra-ma-na, an unidentified place-name, attested in the allative case (ra-ma-na-de) in KN Fh 353 in which 9.6 litres of oil are recorded (DMic s.v.).

KN Ak(1) 638 (H 103)

.A                          ‘e-ne-re-ja[‘

.B                                  ko-wa[

.C        a-mi-ni-so  /  ko-wo[

KN Ai (2) 762+ (H 227)

]ra-ma-na  , / e-ne-ra     MUL[

The term has been interpreted as an office name connected to the textile industry: literally, e-ne-re-ja (gr. ἐνέρεια) should be considered as workers engaged in the production and/or processing of e-ne-ra (nom./acc. plur. neutral of e-ne-ro) (DMic s.v.); unfortunately, the nature of this product is still debated today. In fact, given its proximity to the Homeric ἔνεροι, literally ‘those who are below’, the noun e-ne-ro/e-ne-ra has been alternatively interpreted as an ‘undergarment’ (Björk 1954, 275 e Docs. 318 apud Melena 1975, 88-89) or a ‘mourning dress’ (Chantraine 1963, 18 apud Melena 1975, 89), as well as, more plausibly, as the ‘yarn for the warp’, as opposed to o-nu-ka (gr. *ὄνυχα, nom./acc. Plur. of o-nu, gr. *ὄνυξ), the ‘yarn for the weft’ (DMic s.v., Melena 1975, 90-91; Lujàn 1999, 347-349; for more readings of o-nu/o-nu-ka see also Firth-Nosch 2001-2002 and Del Freo et alii 2010, 345).

Another possible integration of e[, although less plausible, is to read e[ta-wo-ne-u. The word could be as much an anthroponym as an office name connected, again, to the textile industry, because it is possible that this man was employed in the production/processing of e-ne-ra and o-nu-ka. Indeed, according to Melena, e-ta-wo-ne-u would be a person whose job was to anoint the wool fibres before weaving (DMic s.v.; Melena 1975, 90-93); in contrast, Killen (Killen 1979, 159ff and n.17) proposes to consider him as a worker engaged in the finishing stages of weaving (perhaps a fuller).

In any case, regardless of how one decides to integrate the fracture e[, both entries appear to be closely related to the locality of Phaistos and the production/treatment of textiles: if Melena’s reading (e[-ne-re-ja) is correct, we should also consider that a specialised production centre of e-ne-ra existed in pa-i-to; on the other hand, even if we were to integrate e[ with e[-ta-wo-ne-wo, the link between pa-i-to the e-ne-re-ja and e-ta-wo-ne-u would still remain plausible.

pa-i-to  , / e[

(At) Phaistos …

pa-i-to: toponym, in the locative (/nominative of rubric). This is a place name of pre-Greek origin, generally interpreted as /Phaistos/ (: Φαιστόϛ). The geographical localization in the plain of the Mesara, to the south of river Ieropotamos, is unanimously accepted.

e[: The first syllabogram of a lost word, perhaps to be integrated with the noun e-ne-re-ja, to designate a group of female textile workers employed in the production/processing of e-ne-ra, a textile product whose nature is still uncertain and alternatively understood as an ‘undergarment’, a ‘mourning dress’, or, more plausibly, the ‘yarn for warping’ (DMic s.v.; Björk 1954, 275; Docs. 318 apud Melena 1975, 88-89; Chantraine 1963, 18 apud Melena 1975, 89; Melena 1975, 90-91; Lujàn 1999, 347-349); another possibility is to complete KN X 522 with the term e-ta-wo-ne-u, considered either as an anthroponym or as an office name designating a worker in the textile industry, perhaps an oiler of wool threads (Melena 1975, 90-93) or a finisher involved in the processing of e-ne-ra and o-nu-ka (Killen 1979, 159 ff.).

Pa-i-to: toponym, in the locative (/ nominative of rubric). This is a place name, generally interpreted as /Phaistos/ (: Φαιστόϛ). The geographical localization in the plain of the Mesara, to the south of river Ieropotamos, is unanimously accepted.

a-nu-to-jo: masculine anthroponym a-nu-to in the singular genitive case.
Etymon: Prob. /Anutos/, Ἂνυτος, cf. ἄνυμι “to bring to an end, to accomplish.

⇒ Further information on LiBER

KN X 522 is the left side of a palm leaf-shaped tablet. The fragment measures 37.3 mm in length, 29.2 mm in height and 11.2 mm in thickness.

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