Unlocking the Mystery: The Phaistos Disc and the Goddess Astarte

For over a century, the Phaistos Disc has remained one of archaeology’s greatest enigmas—a spiraled clay tablet covered with strange symbols that defied decoding, resisted classification, and ignited imaginations around the world. But now, a stunning breakthrough has emerged. According to Dr. Gareth Owens, a linguist, archaeologist, and coordinator of the Erasmus program at Crete Technological Institute, the riddle is “99 percent solved.”

The Phaistos Disc, discovered in 1908 by Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier in the ruins of the Minoan palace at Phaistos, Crete, has fascinated and frustrated scholars for generations. The object itself is modest in size—just 15 centimeters in diameter, made of fired clay, and inscribed on both sides with a tight spiral of mysterious pictographic symbols. Yet its implications stretch far beyond its surface. Owens believes this unassuming disc hides a powerful and deeply spiritual message, one directed to a pregnant mother goddess, and more specifically, to Astarte, the Minoan goddess of love.

The Moment of Discovery

In 1908, funds for excavations at Phaistos were running low. Pernier was desperate. Other archaeologists had already made sensational finds—archives of Linear A and Linear B tablets at Knossos and Hagia Triada. Phaistos, by contrast, yielded no such riches. The magnificent palace, with its grand staircases and complex architecture, seemed almost insultingly silent.

Then came the disc.

Buried in a room that offered no further context—no duplicate, no accompanying texts—it was easy to overlook. And yet, Pernier knew instantly it was unique. The symbols stamped into its surface were unlike anything else ever found. Some vaguely resembled characters in Linear A, the still-undecoded Minoan script. Others hinted at links to Anatolian hieroglyphs. But the disc as a whole? Entirely without parallel.

The Goddess Behind the Symbols

Dr. Owens has spent thirty years studying the Phaistos Disc, and in recent years, a picture has begun to form—one not of commerce or conquest, but worship.

At the heart of his theory is Astarte, the Minoan goddess of love, war, fertility, and the mountains. Owens identifies Astarte as the key figure who unlocks the disc’s meaning. He links her to the Eastern goddess Ashtart, worshipped in ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia, whose cult later traveled to Cyprus, where she evolved into the goddess Venus.

“The Phaistos Disc is a hymn before Astarte,” Owens explains. “It is undoubtedly a religious text, based on comparative linguistics and parallels with other Minoan offerings.”

This, Owens believes, is no ordinary prayer—it is a plea to a pregnant goddess, a divine embodiment of fertility and protection. One side of the disc may be dedicated to this expectant mother figure, while the other honors Astarte directly, possibly linking fertility with divine love and the cycle of life.

Decoding the Spiral

The symbols on the disc—241 in total, arranged in a continuous spiral—have long mystified scholars. They include images of human figures, animals, tools, and geometric shapes, all imprinted using movable type stamps, a technique thousands of years ahead of its time.

Owens and his team now read the disc using the vocal values of Linear B, the script that was later used by Mycenaean Greeks and successfully deciphered in the 1950s. While Linear A (the earlier script) remains unreadable, Owens employs comparative linguistics, studying similar languages in the Indo-European family to extract phonetic clues and contextual meaning.

Still, as Owens cautions: “Reading something does not mean understanding it.”

Yet even without full comprehension, the repetition of specific phrases and symbol clusters indicates structured language—consistent with liturgical recitation or ritual prayer. Owens draws particular attention to words found on the disc that match known religious terms from other Cretan inscriptions, often found on offerings in sacred mountain shrines.

Echoes of Ancient Prayer

The idea that this disc might contain a hymn, a sacred text, or a plea for divine favor is compelling. Owens points out that throughout human history, religious texts—whether whispered in caves or carved into temple walls—often stem from moments of deep human vulnerability.

“As with today’s offerings,” he says, “people prayed when they were troubled—because of health problems, loss, or personal anguish. Man doesn’t change, after all.”

This connection between ancient devotion and modern emotion gives the disc a haunting power. It is not merely an archaeological puzzle—it may be a 3,500-year-old cry for help, a voice from the Bronze Age reaching out across the ages.

Controversy and Caution

Not everyone is convinced.

The Phaistos Disc remains a subject of debate and doubt. Some scholars have questioned its authenticity, proposing it might be a hoax or a modern invention (though these claims are in the minority). Others worry that assigning meaning to an undeciphered script risks over-interpretation. Still, most experts agree that Owens’ work represents the most comprehensive and rigorous attempt to understand the disc so far.

His cautious optimism—“99 percent solved”—reflects decades of dedication. His method, combining archaeology, linguistics, and historical context, offers a plausible narrative for what this artifact truly represents.

Astarte: The Goddess Across Time

Who was Astarte, really?

Known in various cultures as Ishtar, Ashtart, and later Aphrodite, Astarte was a figure of divine femininity, but also of power. She ruled not only love and fertility, but also warfare and the mountains—a complex deity for a complex civilization.

Her presence on the disc, if Owens is correct, may signal the blending of Eastern and Aegean religious traditions, underscoring the cosmopolitan spirit of the Minoans—a culture that traded across the Mediterranean and absorbed diverse beliefs.

In this light, the Phaistos Disc becomes more than just a linguistic riddle—it is a spiritual document, one that connects Crete to Mesopotamia, prayer to poetry, and ancient mystery to modern revelation.

On Display, Still Whispering

Today, the Phaistos Disc sits under glass at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, admired by thousands of visitors each year. Most will never read its message. But if Dr. Owens is right, they are gazing at one of the oldest recorded prayers to love and life ever known.

The spiral continues to spin, not just across clay, but across centuries. And perhaps, in that spiral, we hear something timeless:

A mother’s voice.
A lover’s plea.
A people’s faith.

And in the end, a reminder that even in the deepest layers of ancient earth, the human need to be heard, healed, and held has never changed.