Could the Phaistos Disc have been a board game? Constantinos Ragazas argues in a January 2026 paper that its manufacture and spiral layout support that interpretation. He draws a possible comparison with ancient Egypt’s spiral game Mehen—not “Mayhem”—and interprets the outward-facing outer signs, spiral-path inner signs and repeated sign groupings as evidence of play. His theory can be tested against the spatial logic of known board games, but no gaming pieces or close Minoan board-game analogue have been found. Some Phaistos signs resemble Minoan signs, though the script remains undeciphered and the board-game reading is unproven.
Constantinos Ragazas proposes the Phaistos Disc as a Bronze Age board game
Key facts
- The researcher’s name is Constantinos Ragazas, not Constantinos Ragaz.
- Ragazas’s 2026 paper argues that the Phaistos Disc may be a board game rather than an undeciphered text artifact.
- The ancient Egyptian spiral game is called Mehen, not “Mayhem”; it is a possible analogy, not proof of direct inspiration.
- Ragazas interprets the outward-facing outer signs, spiral-path inner signs and repeated sign groupings as evidence of gameplay. These remain theoretical interpretations.
- The proposal can be tested against the spatial logic and symbol clustering of known board games.
- No gaming pieces have been found with the disc, and no close Minoan board-game analogue is known.
- Some Phaistos Disc symbols resemble signs in Minoan writing, but the Phaistos script remains undeciphered.
Sources
metmuseum.org
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lawrenceville.academia.edu
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Phaistos disc Research Papersacademia.edu
by Constantinos Ragazas. 2026. This paper presents material evidence that argues the Minoan Phaistos Disk was a board game and not an undecifered text artifact.
(PDF) The Phaistos Disk as a Board Game: Evidence from ...researchgate.net
This paper discusses the contractual relations between British retailers and manufacturers of bread and women's hosiery during the late 1980s.
Phaistos Discen.wikipedia.org
The Phaistos Disc, or Phaistos Disk, is a disc of fired clay from the island of Crete, Greece, possibly from the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age
EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR A LEFT-TO-RIGHT ...maajournal.com
by PZ Revesz · 2022 · Cited by 15 — The paper gives a thorough analysis of six different aspects of the Phaistos Disk: (1) overstamped signs, (2) crowded signs, (3) bent dividing ...
The Phaistos Disk: The Undeciphered Message Nobody Can ...allthathistory.substack.com
In 1999, Jerome Eisenberg, a specialist in ancient art forgeries, published a paper arguing the disk was a modern fake possibly created by ...
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