Linear B
Linear B is a syllabic writing system used by Mycenaean Greeks to record an early form of Greek, chiefly on clay tablets.
Linear B syllabary: The set of signs used to write Linear B, including syllabic signs and ideograms. Its signs encode syllables and mark commodities, people, and quantities in tablet records.
Minoan civilization: The Bronze Age civilization centered on Crete, known for palaces, trade, and distinctive material culture. Minoan administrative practices and writing traditions formed the setting from which Linear B developed.
Michael Ventris: The English architect and linguist who deciphered Linear B in 1952. His decipherment established that the script records an early form of Greek.
Mycenaean palatial economy: The centrally administered production, storage, and distribution systems of Mycenaean palace states. Linear B tablets document the people, goods, and obligations managed by palace authorities.
Pylos tablets: The Linear B clay tablets excavated at the Palace of Nestor in Pylos. Their archive helped demonstrate how much the script can reveal about Mycenaean institutions.
Linear B ideograms: Signs that represent objects or categories directly rather than spelling spoken words. They identify goods and animals in records without writing their Greek names phonetically.
Knossos: A major Bronze Age palace center on Crete and the source of a large Linear B tablet archive. Its tablets provide the largest surviving body of evidence for early Linear B use.
John Chadwick: The British classicist and linguist who collaborated with Michael Ventris on interpreting Linear B. His expertise in Greek helped confirm and publish the decipherment.
Pylos Combat Agate: An engraved Bronze Age sealstone found in a tomb near Pylos, depicting a finely detailed combat scene. Its imagery contrasts with Linear B's mainly bureaucratic record-keeping, not narrative or artistic use.
Dendra panoply: A nearly complete bronze suit of armor from a Mycenaean chamber tomb at Dendra. Archaeological objects provide a material counterpart to the administrative world recorded by Linear B.