Almost every Linear B line ends in a number, so reading numbers is the most useful skill on the tablets. Happily, the Aegean numbers are easy. Linear A uses the same system, so this lesson serves both scripts (Linear A's fractions come in Linear A Numbers and Fractions).
Key idea
Strokes for ones, bars for tens, circles for hundreds, circles with rays for thousands, and circles with rays and a bar for ten thousands. You add them up, like tally marks. Groups are written largest first, but the order does not change the value.
| Value | Mark | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | an upright stroke | 𐄉 = 3 |
| 10 | a level bar | 𐄑 = 20 |
| 100 | a circle | 𐄜 = 400 |
| 1,000 | a circle with rays | 𐄣 = 2,000 |
| 10,000 | a circle with rays and a bar | 𐄫 = 10,000 |
Reading a number
- Find each group of marks: rayed circles, circles, bars, strokes.
- Count each group.
- Multiply by the group's value and add.
Why it works
Why is this "additive" and not "place value" like our digits? In 352 written our way, the 3 means three hundreds only because of where it stands. In Aegean numbers each mark carries its own value wherever it is: a circle is always 100. So you never need a zero: 2,005 is just two rayed circles and five strokes. The cost is that big numbers take many marks.
Common mistake
Treating the numerals as place value, like our digits. Each mark has its own value and you add them, as with Roman numerals but with no subtraction (there is no "IV"-style rule). Check: count circles as hundreds and bars as tens wherever they stand; three bars is 30, not 3.
Totals use the same marks. A Linear B list often ends with a line beginning to-so (tosos, "so many"), followed by the sum of the lines above. Big totals show how large the palace operations were: flocks counted in thousands, grain in hundreds of units.
Worked example: A bigger number
What number is 𐄣𐄜𐄕𐄎?
- 2 rayed circles: 2,000.
- 4 circles: 400.
- 6 bars: 60.
- 8 strokes: 8.
Answer: 2,468
Worked example: Read it
What number is 𐄛𐄔𐄈?
- 3 circles: 300.
- 5 bars: 50.
- 2 strokes: 2.
- 300 + 50 + 2.
Answer: 352
Worked example: Write it
How many marks of each kind make 2,005?
- 2 thousands: two rayed circles.
- 0 hundreds and 0 tens: nothing.
- 5 ones: five strokes.
Answer: Two rayed circles and five strokes: 𐄣𐄋