Linear A incised on tablets found in Akrotiri, Santorini.

Linear A incised on a vase, also found in Akrotiri.

Linear A is one of two linear scripts used in ancient Crete (a third script is Cretan Hieroglyphic). They were discovered and named by Arthur Evans. Linear B was deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris and was used to write Mycenaean Greek. Linear A is far from being totally deciphered but it is partially understood and it may be read through Linear B values. ISO 15924, Codes for the representation of names of scripts, defines two sets of codes for a number of writing systems (scripts). ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone meaning sound, voice) is the study of the sounds of human speech. ... Unicode is an industry standard designed to allow text and symbols from all of the writing systems of the world to be consistently represented and manipulated by computers. ... Download high resolution version (1280x859, 75 KB)filtered version of Portums version. ... Download high resolution version (1280x859, 75 KB)filtered version of Portums version. ... Santorini (Greek Σαντορίνη, IPA: ) is a small, circular group of volcanic islands located in southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km south-east from Greeces mainland. ... Download high resolution version (1024x768, 69 KB)Filtered version of Portums version. ... Download high resolution version (1024x768, 69 KB)Filtered version of Portums version. ... For the famous World War II battle, see: Battle of Crete For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ... Sir Arthur John Evans (July 8, 1851 – July 11, 1941) was an English archaeologist. ... This article is about the ancient syllabary. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... [[1]] Michael George Francis Ventris (July 12, 1922–September 6, 1956) was an English architect and classical scholar, who along with John Chadwick was responsible for the decipherment of Linear B. Michael Ventris was educated in Switzerland and at Stowe School, housed in a magnificent 18th century country house. ... This article is about the ancient syllabary. ...

Though the two scripts share many of the same symbols, using the syllables associated with Linear B in Linear A writings produces words that are unrelated to any known language. This language has been dubbed Minoan or Eteocretan, and corresponds to a period in Cretan history prior to a series of invasions by Mycenean Greeks around 1450 BC. A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... The Eteocretan (i. ... For the famous World War II battle, see: Battle of Crete For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ... The title page to The Historians History Of The World. ... This article is about the Greek archaeological site. ... (Redirected from 1450 BC) Centuries: 16th century BC - 15th century BC - 14th century BC Decades: 1500s BC 1490s BC 1480s BC 1470s BC 1460s BC - 1450s BC - 1440s BC 1430s BC 1420s BC 1410s BC 1400s BC Events and Trends According to some, 1456 BC was the year that Moses...

Theories of decipherment

As the Minoan language is lost to the modern day, it is hard to be certain whether or not a given decipherment is the correct decipherment. However, the simplest approach to decipherment may be to presume that the values of Linear A match more or less the values given to the fully translated Linear B script, used for Mycenean Greek. A site maintained by John Younger has a comprehensive list of known texts written in Linear A at [1]. This article is about the ancient syllabary. ...

In 1997, Gareth Alun Owens published a collection of essays entitled Kritika Daidalika, in which he suggested that Linear A might represent an archaic relative of Luwian. Owens based this assertion on the perceived Indo-European but non-Greek roots of a small number of words he was able to read by using the known Linear B or Cypriot sound values of certain Linear A signs. He does not claim a systematic decipherment of Linear A, and remarks in the book that he intended his Luwian hypothesis to provoke discussion, not to settle the issue. Gareth Alun Owens (born 1964) is a British-Greek academic, currently serving as Associate Director and «Erasmus/Socrates» Manager/Tutor of the International Relations Office, TEI of Crete and Associate Professor of Hellenic Culture - History, Language and Civilization. ... Luwian (sometimes spelled Luwiyan) is an Anatolian language known in three forms: (1) Cuneiform Luwian, (2) Hieroglyphic-Luwian and (3), the somewhat later Lycian. ...

In 2001, the journal Ugarit-Forschungen, Band 32 [2] [3] published the article "The First Inscription in Punic—Vowel Differences in Linear A and B" by Jan Best, claiming to demonstrate how and why Linear A notates an archaic form of Phoenician. This was a continuation of attempts by Cyrus Gordon in finding connections between Minoan and West Semitic languages. His methodology drew widespread criticism. While one or two terms may apparently be of Semitic origin (such as KU-RO, see below), there is yet not enough evidence to secure a connection between the language of Linear A and Semitic idioms. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Phoenician was a language originally spoken in the coastal region then called PÅ«t in Ancient Egyptian, Canaan in Phoenician, Hebrew and Aramaic, and Phoenicia in Greek and Latin. ... Cyrus Herzl Gordon (1908 - 2001), was an American scholar of Near Eastern cultures and a leading expert on ancient languages. ...

One of the very few understood words so far, the summarizing term KU-RO (aforementioned), though most likely meaning 'total' (vel. sim.), could be of both Indo-European *kwol- (o-grade form of *kwel- [4]), or Semitic (*kl 'whole') origin. This is representative of the current state of understanding of the language of Linear A: the known elements are too scarce to build up a safe hypothesis on the genetic affiliation of the Minoan language.

Nature of the texts

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A stone ladle from Troullos (TL Za 1) is a likely exemplar of a votive text: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

a-ta-i-*301-wa-ja o-su-qa-re ja-sa-sa-ra-me u-na-ka-na-si i-pi-na-ma si-ru-te

While the Haghia Triada tablet 13 (HT 13) is an example of an accounting text:

ka-u-de-ta [wine ideogram]. te. re-za 5½ te-ro2 56 te-ki 27½ ku-dzu-ni 18 da-si-*118 19 ?-su-?-si 5 ku-ro 130½

• ka-u-de-ta like above is probably a name. This is followed by an ideogram almost identical to one in Linear B meaning 'wine'. These are followed by a list of seven names each followed by a numeral.

(Cf Younger [5])

Short glossary of terms deciphered with some certainty

• (J)A-DI-KI-TE-TE- / JA-DI-KI-TU = words related to Mount Dikte ?
• DA-MA-TE : Already Proto-Greek *Dāmāter (cf. Linear B da-ma-te at Pylos = Cl. Dēmēter (Demeter)? This inscription is from Kythera.
• KU-RO : whole, total (vel. sim.) (< PIE *kwol- or Semitic *kul? or Etruscan churu).
• KI-RO : missing, debt (?).
• MA+RU (ligature of the two signs): wool, same as later Greek mallos. Possibly a Minoan loanword in Greek. Possibly related to Sumerian bar-lu best quality wool blend.
• PA-DE : a theonym (name for a god), appearing on Linear B tablets as well (as pa-de / pa-ze).
• PA-I-TO : place name, Phaistos. The same name is common on Linear B documents.
• PO-TO-KU-RO : grand(?) total(vel. sim.).
• RU+JA (the two signs joined together into a ligature): pomegranate, same as Classic Greek rhoia (?).
• SE-TO-I-JA : place name, which occurs in Linear B as well.
• SU-KI-RI-TA : *Sukrita, a place name which occurs in Linear B as well; the town survives today as Sybrita.
• SU-KI-RI-TE-I-JA : probably "Sukritaian" (with an adjectival suffixed derived from PIE *-iyo-?)

(Cf Younger [6]) Dikti (or Lassithiotika Ori) is a mountain range on the east of the island of Crete in the prefecture of Lassithi. ... Pylos (Greek Πύλος), formerly Navarino, is the name of a bay and a town on the west coast of the Peloponnese, in the district of Messenia in southern Greece. ... Ceres (Demeter), allegory of August: detail of a fresco by Cosimo Tura, Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, 1469-70. ... Kythira, also seen as Kythera, Cythera or Tsirigo, is an island, one of the Ionian Islands. ... Theonym is essentially classical Greek for the name of a god. ... Map of Minoan Crete Phaistos (Greek: Φαιστός, Mycenaean: PA-I-TO), also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Phaestus was an ancient city on the island of Crete. ...

Apart from these, there are a considerable number of onomastic elements occurring both in Linear A and Linear B - namely in the Mycenaean texts from Knossos. A portion of Arthur Evans reconstruction of the Minoan palace at Knossos. ...

Sites yielding Linear A inscriptions

• Apoudoulou
• Arkalochori
• Arkhanes
• Armenoi
• Gournia
• Hagia Triada has yielded the largest corpus of Linear A inscriptions
• Haghios Stephanos
• Kardamoutsa
• Kato Syme (also Kato Symi)
• Kea
• Khania
• Knossos
• Kophinas
• Larani
• Mallia (also Malia)
• Miletos (also Miletus)
• Melos
• Mochlos (also Mokhlos)
• Mount Juktas (also Iouktas)
• Mycenae
• Nerokourou
• Palaikastro
• Petras
• Petsophas
• Phaistos
• Platanos
• Poros Herakleiou
• Prassa
• Pseira
• Psychro (also Psykhro)
• Pyrgos
• Pyrgos Tylissos
• Samothrace
• Skhinia
• Sitia
• Skoteino Cave
• Tel Haror
• Thera
• Tiryns
• Traostalos
• Trullos (also Troullos)
• Vrysinas
• Zakros

Apoudoulou (also Apodoulou) is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan mansion or ceremonial building. ... Arkalochori (also Arkalokhori) is a modern city in Crete and the archaeological site of a Minoan sacred cave in eastern Crete. ... Armenoi (Greek:Αρμένοι) is a large village and municipality in Chania Prefecture on the island of Crete, Greece. ... Gournia is the site of a Minoan palace complex on the island of Crete, Greece, excavated in the early 20th century by the American archaeologist, Harriet Boyd-Hawes. ... Agia Triada (Holy Trinity) is a Minoan site in southern Crete, 4 km west of Phaistos, situated at the western end of the Mesara Plain. ... Kea, also known as Gia (Κέα / Τζια in Greek), Tzia and Keos (Ancient: Κέως), is an island of the Cyclades archipelago, in the Aegean sea, in Greece. ... Chania(IPA ) (also transliterated as Hania), older form and Italian Canea (Greek Χανιά) is the second city of Crete and the capital of the prefecture of the same name. ... A portion of Arthur Evans reconstruction of the Minoan palace at Knossos. ... Malia could refer to: Malia, a city in Crete Malia, a bird found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... In Greek mythology, Miletus was the founder of the city described below. ... Milos (formerly Melos, and before the Athenian genocide Malos) is a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea. ... Mochlos (also transliterated as Mokhlos or Mohlos) is a modern island in the Gulf of Mirabello in eastern Crete, and the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan settlement. ... Mount Juktas A mountain in North Central Crete, Mount Juktas (also spelled Iuktas, Iouktas, and a variety of others due to translation from Greek) was an important religious site for the Minoan Civilization. ... A clay tablet with writing in Linear B from Mycenae. ... Palaikastro is a modern village and the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan settlement on the eastern coast of Crete. ... Petras is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan town on northeastern Crete. ... Petsofas is the archeaological site of a Minoan peak sanctuary in eastern Crete. ... Map of Minoan Crete Phaistos (Greek: Φαιστός, Mycenaean: PA-I-TO), also transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Phaestus was an ancient city on the island of Crete. ... Plantain is the common name for two very different plants. ... Prassa (also Prassas) is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan settlement on Crete. ... Minoan Crete: Pseira lies off the coast northwest of Gournia. ... Pyschro, also associated with the Diktaean / Diktaian Cave credited with Zeus birth, is an ancient Minoan sacred cave in eastern Crete. ... For other places that have the same name, click Pyrgos (disambiguation) Pyrgos is an archaeological site of the Minoan civilization near Myrtos in the municipality of Ierapetra on the south coast of Crete. ... Tylissos (also Pyrgos Tylissos, Tylisos, Tylissus, Tilissos) is a modern town in central Crete and the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan peak sanctuary and Minoan town. ... Coordinates 40°29′ N 25°31′ E Country Greece Periphery East Macedonia and Thrace Prefecture Evros Population 2,723 source (2001) Area 178. ... View of Sitia with Kazarma fortress on top Sitias harbor The name Sitia (in Greek Σητεία) refers both to a port town, with 8,900 inhabitants (2001) and a municipality, with 14,400 inhabitants (2001) in the far east of Crete, in the prefecture of Lasithi. ... View from the top of Thira Santorini is a small, circular group of volcanic islands located in the Aegean Sea, 75 km south-east of the Greek mainland, (latitude: 35. ... Plan of Tiryns excavations Tiryns (in ancient Greek Τίρυνς and in modern Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archeological site in the Greek nomos of Argolis in the Peloponnese peninsula, some kilometres north of Nauplion. ... Traostalos is the archaeological site of a Minoan peak sanctuary in eastern Crete. ... Vrysinas is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan peak sanctuary. ... Zakros (Greek Ζάκρος) is a site on the eastern coast of the island of Crete (in modern-day Greece) containing ruins from the Minoan civilization. ...

References

• Some preliminary remarks on the decipherment of Linear A. By Jan G. P. Best, ISBN 90-256-0625-3
• Roger D. Woodard, Greek Writing from Knossos to Homer. New York: Oxford University Press (1997). ISBN 0-19-510520-6 (review)
• Younger, John G., Linear A Texts, available online at: [7]
• G.J.K. Campbell-Dunn, Who were the Minoans, an African Answer.USA: Authorhouse Press (2006).

See also

• Linear B
• Linear C
• Cretan hieroglyphs
• Phaistos Disc
• Minoan language
• Eteocretan language

This article is about the ancient syllabary. ... The Cypro-Minoan syllabary, also known as CM I or Linear C is the Late Bronze Age syllabary used on Minoan Cyprus (in use roughly from the 15th to the 12th centuries BC). ... Cretan hieroglyphs are found on artifacts of Bronze Age Minoan Crete (early to mid 2nd millennium BC, MM I to MM III, overlapping with Linear A from MM IIA at the earliest). ... The Phaistos Disc (Phaistos Disk, Phaestos Disc, Greek: Δίσκος της Φαιστού) is a curious archaeological find, likely dating to the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age. ... The Minoan language is a non-Hellenic language of Crete that was spoken before the invasion of Mycenaean armies. ... The Minoan language is a non-Hellenic language of Crete that was spoken before the invasion of Mycenaean armies. ...

External links

• DAIDALIKA - Scripts and Languages of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete
• Linear A Texts
• Bibliography
• Omniglot