senryu = her ruff unruffled – imperturbable

senryu = her ruff unruffled – imperturbable

her ruff unruffled, 
Shadow fancies her basket –
dindin’s over



imperturbable,
Shadow retrouve son panier –
bien rassasiée

Richard Vallance

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Minoan Linear A tablet on figs, potentially confirming my decipherment of kireza as the standard unit of measurement for figs

Minoan Linear A tablet on figs, potentially confirming my decipherment of kireza as the standard unit of measurement for figs:



This typically tiny Minoan Linear A tablet on figs potentially confirms my decipherment of kireza as the standard unit of measurement for figs. At least so it appears.  The text is awfully difficult to read and some of the syllabograms or characters completely escape me. However, the image of the jar, stirrup jar, amphora (or whatever it is) is as clear as the nose on one’s face. In the presence of an ideogram which looks like that for “figs”, this tablet may (or may not) confirm my initial decipherment of kireza as the standard unit for the measurement of figs by the basket. Only time and further research will tell.

Stunning Minoan fresco, Akrotiri, figs & Linear A tablet Zakros ZA 1, kireza = measurement of figs by the basket

Stunning Minoan fresco, Akrotiri, figs & Linear A tablet Zakros ZA 1, kireza = measurement of figs by the basket:



This stunning fresco from Akrotiri, featuring the typical Minoan “blue monkey” motif, fanciful animals on a celestial backdrop of figs is truly amazing! It is one of my favourite Minoan-style frescoes by far.  Immediately below it we find Linear A tablet Zakros ZA 1, on which the word kireza is inscribed. This word is so strikingly similar to the standard Minoan Linear A units of measurement,

reza = standard unit of (linear) measurement
adureza = standard unit of dry measurement
tereza = standard unit of liquid measurement (e.g. Wine)

that it is rather difficult to imagine it could be anything but a unit of measurement. However, I have only seen it used in conjunction with figs on any Minoan Linear tablet, and in fact, this is the only Minoan Linear A tablet on which kireza appears. Now the question is, what is the base unit of measurement of figs kireza refers to?  Given that the number of kireza on this tablet is 42, it would appear that it is a relatively large standard unit of measurement. And the unit which leaped to my mind was (and is) a basket of figs, by which I mean a basket which can be carried on one’s shoulders.  Additionally, as can be inferred from the Akrotiri fresco, women were tasked with gathering figs.    

This is the fifty-sixth (56) word in Minoan Linear A I have deciphered more or less accurately.