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- case #1 - the missing tablet
- of knossos
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- sgt. haskill took the call that came
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- into the huxley police station at 11:45
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- a.m., sunday, may 5th. dr. mervyn h.
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- bownes, chairman of the archaeology
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- department at huxley college (d), was
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- rambling incoherently about the theft of
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- the tablet of knossos from his office.
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- once sgt. haskill calmed him down, dr.
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- bownes explained.
-
- *
- two years earlier, bownes had led a
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- dig at knossos, the ancient center of
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- the minoan empire on the island of
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- crete. while excavating the site of a
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- mansion which had burned to the ground
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- in a fire over 3,000 years ago, bownes'
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- assistant, roland fournier, unearthed a
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- clay tablet.
-
- *
- the tablet was a very important find
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- because of the two languages inscribed
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- on it: egyptian, and the as-yet-
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- untranslated written language of the
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- earliest minoans, linear a. the later
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- minoan language, linear b, had been
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- deciphered in 1953 and was shown to have
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- much in common with the greek language
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- of its day.
-
- *
- using the egyptian characters as a
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- guide, it became clear that the earlier
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- linear a was related to babylonian. this
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- raised interesting possibilities about
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- the original inhabitants of crete.
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- fournier, who was working toward his
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- doctorate in epigraphy, the study of
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- written systems using durable materials,
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- was able to verify the authenticity of
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- the tablet.
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- *
- bownes' call was interrupted at this
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- point by another call from mayor
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- mchugh, who was trying to reach police
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- chief thomas sabellico. thaddeus bownes,
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- dr. bownes' father, had called mchugh.
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- the elder bownes is the leading citizen
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- of huxley, founded by his great-
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- grandfather, edgar huxley, in 1875.
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- thaddeus bownes is chairman of the board
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- of regents of huxley college, chairman
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- of the board of westron mall
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- corporation, and owns most of the town's
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- prime real estate.
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- *
- thaddeus bownes called to tell mayor
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- mchugh that he wants his son's missing
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- tablet found, and before the last train
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- leaves for new york at 5 p.m.
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- *
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- to win, you must:
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- 1. discover who stole the tablet.
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- 2. explain the motive for the theft.
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- 3. locate the tablet.
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- all players start at huxley college (d)
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- at 12:10 p.m.
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- @
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