The Tripod Tablet Confirms It

An announcement is not a proof. After Greek, 1952, the decisive test was a new text: one that Ventris had never seen, read with his values exactly as they stood. If the values were right, it would make sense. If they were wrong, it would be nonsense. That text came out of the ground at Pylos.

Key idea

On Pylos tablet Ta 641, cleaned and read in 1953, the words read with Ventris's values describe the pictured vessels: ti-ri-po beside a tripod, and cups described as having four, three or no handles beside cups with four, three or no handles.

Pylos tablet Ta 641. Use the buttons to reveal the reading one layer at a time: signs, transliteration, Greek, English. Tap any word, logogram or number.

Words that match pictures

Blegen's team found the tablet in June 1952, the season after the war. It was cleaned enough to read in the spring of 1953. On 16 May 1953 Blegen wrote to Ventris that the words matched the pictures, adding "All this seems too good to be true. Is coincidence excluded?" Here is why he was so struck.

Words and pictures on Ta 641.
Word	Greek	Meaning	Logogram beside it
ti-ri-po-de	tripode	two tripods	tripod, with the number 2
qe-to-ro-we	kwetrowes	with four handles	a cup with four handles
ti-ri-jo-we	triowes	with three handles	a cup with three handles
a-no-we	anowes	with no handles	a cup with no handles

Notice qe-to-ro-we. It begins with qe, the q row, which Ventris had read as a kʷ sound. "Four" in early Greek began with kʷ, like Latin quattuor. The handles on the picture confirm the q value, a value no one could have chosen to fit this tablet in advance.

Why it works

Why is this such strong evidence? The tablet carries two independent kinds of information: pictures, which anyone can see, and words, which need the sound values. Ventris fixed his values before the tablet was read. If the values were wrong, the words beside the four-handled cup would be gibberish. Instead they said "four-handled". The pictures acted as a built-in answer key.

Common mistake

Thinking everyone agreed at once. Most specialists were convinced within a few years, but some, such as the scholar Arthur Beattie, argued against the decipherment for a long time. The tripod tablet did much to persuade the doubters. Check: a decipherment wins acceptance by passing tests over years, not by one announcement.

Worked example: Read the handles

On Ta 641, ti-ri-jo-we stands beside a cup sign. How many handles should that cup have?

ti-ri- is "three", as in tripod.
-o-we is "eared", that is, "handled".

Answer: Three.

Worked example: Two tripods

The word ti-ri-po-de stands before the tripod sign. What number would you expect after the sign?

ti-ri-po-de is a dual, a Greek form for exactly two.
So the count should be 2, and it is.

Answer: 2

You can read the whole tablet sign by sign on Famous Tablets.

The Tripod Tablet Confirms It

Words that match pictures

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