What language was written in Linear B?
Quick answer
Linear B was used to write Mycenaean Greek, the oldest known written form of the Greek language, from about 1450 to 1200 BC. It was a syllabic script, with signs for syllables like ka or po. English architect Michael Ventris deciphered it in 1952, proving the language was Greek.
Key facts
- Language
- Mycenaean Greek
- Period
- About 1450–1200 BC
- Type
- Syllabary plus word signs (ideograms)
- Deciphered
- 1952, Michael Ventris
Where it was found
Archaeologist Arthur Evans discovered thousands of clay tablets while excavating Knossos on Crete from 1900. More tablets came from Pylos, Mycenae and Thebes on mainland Greece. Evans named the script “Linear” because its signs were made of lines, unlike Egyptian picture-writing.
Ironically, the tablets survived because the palaces burned down: the fires baked the unfired clay hard.
How it was cracked
| Who | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Alice Kober | Showed in the 1940s that words changed endings, like an inflected language |
| Michael Ventris | Built grids of sign relationships and tested place names such as Knossos and Amnisos |
| John Chadwick | A Cambridge philologist who confirmed the Greek and co-wrote the key 1953 paper |
Most experts had assumed the language was not Greek, so Ventris’s result was a surprise. He was just 30 years old.
What the tablets say
No poems or stories, just palace records:
- Lists of sheep, wool, wheat, olive oil and wine
- Weapons, chariots and armor
- Workers, slaves and payments
- Offerings to gods, including early names of Zeus, Hera and Poseidon
Linear A: still a mystery
Linear A, the older script of the Minoan civilization on Crete, uses many similar signs but writes an unknown language. It has not been deciphered.
The Minoan palace of Knossos is also tied to the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. For the very first writing, see the first writing system.
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