FURTHER DISCUSSION OF PASARO ON PYLOS TA 716: INSIGHTS FROM THE AGIA TRIADA SARCOPHAGUS

Abstract

di Nicholas G. Blackwell, !omas G. Palaima

Summary
!e Linear B word unit pa-sa-ro is a confounding hapax that appears as the "rst word on tablet Ta 716 from the
Palace of Nestor at Pylos. We argue that the Linear B term is related to !"#$ in later Greek. !e use of !"#$ in
the historical era suggests an open, U-shaped item – akin to a headstall or cavesson – for controlling an animal’s
head, typically a horse. !e pair of pa-sa-ro on Pylos Ta 716 are ritual instruments necessary for leading and con-
trolling sacri"cial victims (the identity of which is not recorded) to slaughter. !e pa-sa-ro are listed "rst followed
by pairs of two other ceremonial implements, wa-o ‘hammer axes’ and qi-si-pe-e ‘sacri"cial’ knives. Palaima and
Blackwell (2020) translate pa-sa-ro as a “bridle device.” Here, we increase our understanding by probing the precise
form of the Mycenaean object through an unexpected source: fourteenth-century BCE iconography from Crete.
An overlooked feature on the well-known bull sacri"ce painting on the Agia Triada sarcophagus can plausibly be
interpreted as an image of a pa-sa-ro. !is identi"cation also signals the type of animal likely intended for slaughter
at Pylos using the equipment recorded on Ta 716. It adds another temporal marker to the sequence of ritual actions
that led to the moment of sacri"cial slaughter on the Agia Triada sarcophagus.