Here is where you need an imagination; Visualise yourself surrounded by the inhabitants of Crete thousands of years ago. The Priesthood is a well respected, but insular society. They have a monopoly which they naturally wish to protect, but they want to expand to embrace the common people.
Simple, get them to write their prayers or requests and post them to heaven, at the temple. For the requests to be sincere they had to be submitted personally in writing, by the hand of the supplicant.
Unfortunately most of the people attending the temple did not know how to write. The priests therefore devised simplified seals to allow them to express themselves.
The printed characters seal sets were easily mass producable and acronymic, so the majority of the illiterate populace could create them.
(If they could recognise them, with a bit of research, and luck, so should I!)
And here lies my obvious conclusion, to complete the prayer and send it to God, the plate had to be smashed! (Why do some Greeks still do the traditional plate smashing dance?).
The small number of imprinting seals required, were probably under the returnable ownership of the Temple, (for a small deposit/fee). The original seals, as a language to God, were jealously guarded or hidden in times of invasion, and may perhaps be discovered some day.

Why has it survived? There are at least two imperfections in the pressing of the symbols, (or subsequent firing/drying process) at critical points in the text, thus making the request ambiguous. (One of them was at the request for an heir or son). It was probably returned to the priests, who had a problem, (what do you do with scrap prayers), this disc came from a powerful noble or leader and they couldn't break it; thus completing the prayer. They probably put it into storage, hoping time would resolve their dillema, then future generations preserved or hid it, as an important or holy relic.

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