A monumental inscription

This inscription is found on a block in the northwest corner of the palace at Malia.

MA scribe unknown

.1  qe.si.te

1. qe.si.te | 貸手 (kashite) | a lender
1. qe.si.te | † 貨仕 (kashite) | † a freight official

Notes:  Since there is no evidence of a monetary system in Minoan Crete, then qe.si.te 貸手  “a lender” is less likely than the concantenated 貨仕 “a property official”, which is consistent with the context of the storage magazine that extends from north to south on the west side of the palace. Owens [1990:369] has compared qe.si.te to ka.si.a.te [(KN Ze 45], but the inclusion of the second /a/ in the latter distinguishes these words in both pronunciation and meaning.

See HT Wa 1032-1121 for a possible related meaning.

Entry added on 20 May 2012
Updated on 12 Sep 2015