labrys

listen to the pronunciation of labrys
German - Turkish
and Hdt.1.171-173
labyrinth, a labrys is a double axe, a frequent Minoan symbol. It is found in many forms, from minature golden versions to rough inscriptions on pillars (purpose of the latter unknown, one of a number of inscriptional signs which lead Sir A. Evans to theorize a "pillar cult" in the Minoan world {now largely dismissed}). Here are some pictured on the Hagia Triada sacropagus. The non-Greek suffix -nthos is thought to mean "the place of," hence the word labyrinth (which has come to mean a maze) originally may have meant "the place of the double axe." Labrys was also a non-Greek word. It has been suggested that it comes from Lydian (?) and is related to the weapon of Zeus Labraundeus worshipped at Labraundea in Caria (cf. Plutarch, Quaest. Graec
English - English
a double-headed ax in Minoan mythology