You have now met three Cretan scripts (Cretan Hieroglyphs, Linear A and Linear B). They belong to a family, and the family reaches as far as Cyprus. Knowing who borrowed from whom explains why Linear B can be read and why its relatives help with Linear A.
Key idea
The family tree
| Script | Where and when (about) | Language | Read? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cretan hieroglyphs | Crete, 2100 or 1900 to 1700 BC | Unknown | No |
| Linear A | Crete and islands, 1800 to 1450 BC | Unknown (Minoan) | No; values borrowed by convention |
| Linear B | Knossos and the mainland, 1450 to 1200 BC | Greek | Yes, since 1952 |
| Cypro-Minoan | Cyprus, 1550 to 1050 BC | Unknown | No |
| Cypriot syllabary | Cyprus, 11th to 4th century BC | Greek (also one other local language) | Yes, since the 1870s |
Linear A and Linear B share many sign shapes; you can see that in Signs Shared with Linear B. The Mycenaeans kept the signs, dropped some, added some, and used them for Greek. On Cyprus the line ran separately: Cypro-Minoan, then the Cypriot syllabary, used for Greek well into Classical times. That syllabary was read in the 1870s, with the help of an inscription from Idalion written in both Phoenician and Cypriot Greek.
Why it works
Common mistake
Worked example: Which writes Greek?
- Linear B writes Mycenaean Greek.
- The Cypriot syllabary writes the Greek of Cyprus.
- Linear A and Cypro-Minoan write unknown languages.
Answer: Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary.
Worked example: Parent and child
- Linear B shares many sign shapes with Linear A, which is older.
- The Mycenaeans adapted the Minoan script to write Greek.
Answer: Linear A.