Work / monument · artifact

Phaistos Disc

2nd millennium BCE · 1st century

The Phaistos Disc is a clay disc found by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier in the Minoan palace of Phaistos on Crete in 1908. Both sides bear a spiral of 241 signs, of 45 different types, pressed into the clay with stamps, an early example of printing with movable type. Its script and language are unknown and it has never been deciphered. It is kept in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum.

Phaistos Disc
Image: Gleb Simonov · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Palace State of Phaistos

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Phaistos Disc. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/phaistos-disc
MLA
“Phaistos Disc.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/phaistos-disc. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Phaistos Disc.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/phaistos-disc.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Phaistos Disc’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/phaistos-disc (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻