Place names broke the code (The Breakthrough: Cretan Place Names), and they keep teaching us. The tablets name the towns, districts and harbors each palace ran. Read through the spelling rules of Mycenaean Words and Their Descendants, many match places known from later Greek.
Key idea
| Signs | Spelled | Later Greek | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 𐀒𐀜𐀰 | ko-no-so | Κνωσός Knosos | Knossos |
| 𐀞𐀂𐀵 | pa-i-to | Φαιστός Phaistos | Phaistos |
| 𐀀𐀖𐀛𐀰 | a-mi-ni-so | Ἀμνισός Amnisos | Amnisos, the port of Knossos |
| 𐀶𐀪𐀰 | tu-ri-so | Τύλισος Tylisos | Tylissos, a town near Knossos |
| 𐀓𐀈𐀛𐀊 | ku-do-ni-ja | Κυδωνία Kydonia | Kydonia (modern Chania) |
| 𐀢𐀫 | pu-ro | Πύλος Pylos | Pylos |
| 𐀳𐀣 | te-qa | Θῆβαι Thebai | Thebes |
Reading names through the rules
- ko-no-so: k-n split by an empty vowel; the double s written once; final s dropped.
- pa-i-to: ph written with p; the s before t dropped; the i of ai written as its own vowel.
- pu-ro: l written with r; final s dropped.
- ku-do-ni-ja: a j glide between i and a.
- te-qa: th written with t; q for an old gʷ that later became b (Thebai).
Why it works
Common mistake
Names we cannot place
Not every name can be found on a map. The Pylos tablets name more than a dozen districts of the kingdom, and the Knossos tablets name many places across Crete. Some match later names; many do not, because the towns were abandoned or renamed. Scholars place them roughly by the goods they send and the other places listed with them.
Worked example: Which place?
- pu-ro: p + u, r (for l) + o, final s dropped.
- Pulos, Pylos.
Answer: Pylos.
Worked example: Spell it
- Ku-do-ni-a, with a j glide between i and a.
Answer: ku-do-ni-ja
Worked example: Undo the rules
- t can be th: the.
- q is an old gʷ, which became b: ba.
- Add back the plural ending: Thebai.
Answer: Thebes (Thebai).
Some of these names appear in Linear A too, read with the borrowed values, which you will meet in Signs Shared with Linear B.