This last lesson puts the two scripts of the course side by side. You have learned Linear B from its signs to its tablets, and Linear A from its corpus to How to Judge a Decipherment Claim. Here is what they share, what divides them and why one can be read.
Key idea
Linear A and Linear B share many sign shapes and the same numbers, but they write different languages: Linear B writes Greek, Linear A an unknown language. Linear B could be read because it had a known language, a large corpus and good tests; Linear A has none of these yet.
| Linear A | Linear B | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates (about) | 1800 to 1450 BC | 1450 to 1200 BC |
| Where | Crete and the Aegean islands | Knossos and Chania on Crete, the mainland palaces |
| Who used it | Minoans | Mycenaean Greeks |
| Language | Unknown | Greek |
| Size of corpus | About 1,400 short inscriptions | About 6,000 tablets and other texts |
| Signs | Shared shapes; values borrowed by convention | Values proved since 1952 |
| Numbers | Aegean numerals plus fraction signs | Aegean numerals plus measure signs |
| Can we read it? | No; only ku-ro, "total", is widely accepted | Yes |
Why it works
Why do the shared signs not make Linear A readable? Shapes can be borrowed while languages differ. The Latin alphabet writes English, French and Turkish; knowing the letters lets you sound out a Turkish sentence but not understand it. Linear A is in the same position, except that its sounds are themselves only a convention.
Common mistake
Thinking Linear A and Linear B are two languages written the same way, or the same language. They share signs, but Linear B writes Greek and Linear A an unknown language. Check: if a text is in Linear B, you can read it as Greek; if it is in Linear A, you can sound it out by convention but not read it.
Worked example: Which script?
A tablet from Pylos lists ti-ri-po with the tripod sign. Which script is it in?
- Pylos is a mainland palace.
- ti-ri-po is a Greek word.
Answer: Linear B.
Worked example: Which script?
A stone offering table from a Cretan peak sanctuary carries the words a-sa-sa-ra-me and i-pi-na-ma. Which script?
- Stone libation tables with this formula belong to Minoan Crete.
- These are words of the libation formula, read by convention.
Answer: Linear A.
Where next? Read whole tablets on Famous Tablets, practice the signs with the flashcards, or write your own name with the name writer.