Linear A
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox writing system
Linear A is a writing system that was used by the Minoans of Crete from 1800 BC to 1450 BC. Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. It evolved into Linear B, which was used by the Mycenaeans to write an early form of Greek. It was discovered by the archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans in 1900. No texts in Linear A have yet been deciphered. Evans named the script "Linear" because its characters consisted simply of lines inscribed in clay, in contrast to the more pictographic characters in Cretan hieroglyphs – likewise undeciphered – that were used during the same period.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Linear A belongs to a group of scripts that evolved independently of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian systems. During the second millennium BC, there were four major branches: Linear A, Linear B, Cypro-Minoan, and Cretan hieroglyphic.<ref name="Packard-MLA-C1" /> In the 1950s, Linear B was deciphered and found to have an underlying language of Mycenaean Greek. Linear A shares many glyphs and alloglyphs with Linear B, and the syllabic glyphs are thought to notate similar syllabic values, but none of the proposed readings lead to a language that scholars can understand.
ScriptEdit
Linear A consists of over 300 signs including regional variants and ones which occur only once. Among these, a core group of 90 occur with some frequency throughout the script's geographic and chronological extent.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="TomasHandbook">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
As a logosyllabic writing system, Linear A includes signs which stand for syllables as well as others standing for words or concepts. Linear A's signs could be combined via ligature to form complex signs. Complex signs usually behave as ideograms and most are hapax legomena, occurring only once in the surviving corpus. Thus, Linear A signs are divided into four categories:<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview"/><ref name="TomasHandbook"/>
- syllabic signs
- ligatures and composite signs
- ideograms
- numerals and metrical signs
Linear A was usually written left-to-right, but a handful of documents were written right-to-left or boustrophedon.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview"/>
SignaryEdit
Special signsEdit
Furthermore, the following ‘supplementary’ syllabograms for more complex syllables can be identified (where in some cases the exact pronunciation is or used to be unknown even for Linear B, hence the use of subscript numbers):
| Special signs | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | 𐘒File:Linear A Sign A022.svg | 𐙄File:Linear A Sign A085.svg | 𐘩 | 𐘰File:Linear A Sign A056.svg | 𐘜 File:Linear A Sign A029.svg | 𐘽 File:Linear A Sign A123.svg | 𐘷 File:Linear A Sign A066.svg | 𐙆File:Linear A Sign A087.svg |
| Transcription | pi2 | au | nwa | pa2 | pu2 | ra2 (rya) | ta2 (tya) | twe |
| Bennett's number | *22 | *85 | *48 | *56 | *29 | *76 | *66 | *87 |
IdeogramsEdit
The following list contains some frequent ideograms/logograms whose meaning is known and uncontroversial and almost all of which are preserved in Linear B.<ref>Younger, John. Linear A. 11. Ideograms/Logograms. Archived from the original</ref><ref>Linear A. Range: 10600–1077F. The Unicode Standard, Version 15.1</ref> The meaning of many others is debated. Note that some of the ideograms are also used as syllabograms; in such cases, the sound value is indicated in the table before the Bennett number.
| Glyph | Code point | Bennett | Conventional Latin name | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People and animals | ||||
| 𐙇File:Linear A Sign A100.svg | U+10647 | *100/102 | VIR
vir |
person, man |
| 𐘏File:Linear A Sign A021.svg | U+1060F | QI
*21 |
OVIS
ovis |
sheep |
| 𐘐File:Linear A Sign A021f.svg | U+10610 | *21F | OVISf | ewe |
| 𐘑File:Linear A Sign A021m.svg | U+10611 | *21M | OVISm | ram |
| 𐘒File:Linear A Sign A022.svg | U+10612 | PI2
*22 |
CAP
capra |
goat |
| 𐘓File:Linear A Sign A022f.svg | U+10613 | *22F | CAPf | she-goat |
| 𐘔File:Linear A Sign A022m.svg | U+10614 | *22M | CAPm | he-goat |
| 𐙄File:Linear A Sign A085.svg | U+10644 | AU
*85 |
SUS
sūs |
pig |
| 𐘕File:Linear A Sign A023.svg | U+10615 | MU
*23 |
BOS
bōs |
bovine |
| 𐘖File:Linear A Sign A023m.svg | U+10616 | *23M | BOSm | ox/bull |
| Dry products | ||||
| 𐙉File:Linear A Sign A120.svg | U+10649 | *120 | GRA
grānum |
wheat |
| 𐙊File:Linear A Sign A120b.svg | U+1064A | *120B | GRA
grānum |
wheat |
| 𐙋File:Linear A Sign A122.svg | U+1064B | *122 | OLIV
olīva |
olives |
| 𐘝File:Linear A Sign A030.svg | U+1061D | NI
*30 |
FIC
fīcus |
figs |
| 𐙗File:Linear A Sign A303.svg | U+10657 | *303 | CYP | cyperus |
| 𐘮File:Linear A Sign A054.svg | U+1062E | WA
*54 |
TELA
tēla |
cloth |
| Liquids | ||||
| 𐙖File:Linear A Sign A302.svg | U+10095 | *302 | OLE
ŏlĕum |
oil |
| 𐙍File:Linear A Sign A131a.svg | U+1064D | *131A | VIN
vīnum |
wine |
| 𐙎File:Linear A Sign A131b.svg | U+1064E | *131B | VIN
vīnum |
wine |
| 𐙏File:Linear A Sign A131c.svg | U+1064F | *131C | VIN
vīnum |
wine |
| Vessels | ||||
| 𐚠 | U+106A0 | *400-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚡 | U+106A1 | *401-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚢 | U+106A2 | *402-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚣 | U+106A3 | *403-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚤 | U+106A4 | *404-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚥 | U+106A5 | *405-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚦 | U+106A6 | *406-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚧 | U+106A7 | *407-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚨 | U+106A8 | *408-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚩 | U+106A9 | *409-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚪 | U+106AA | *410-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚫 | U+106AB | *411-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚬 | U+106AC | *412-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚭 | U+106AD | *413-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚮 | U+106AE | *414-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚯 | U+106AF | *415-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚰 | U+106B0 | *416-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚱 | U+106B1 | *417-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| 𐚲 | U+106B2 | *418-VAS | VAS
vās |
– |
| Other | ||||
| 𐙔File:Linear A Sign A191.svg | U+10654 | *191 | GAL
galea |
helmet |
NumeralsEdit
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These numerals follow a decimal system: units are represented by vertical dashes, tens by horizontal dashes, hundreds by circles, and thousands by circles with rays. There are special symbols to indicate fractions and weights. Specific signs that coincide with numerals are regarded as fractions;<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> these sign combinations are known as klasmatograms.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Integers can be read and the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are quite straightforward, similarly to Roman numerals.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 |
| 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 |
FractionsEdit
There is a lack of scholarly agreement about signs, generally called klasmatograms, for Linear A fractions.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Giulio Facchetti, "Linear A metrograms", Kadmos, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 142–148, 1994</ref> In 2021 Corazza et al. proposed the following values, most of which had been previously suggested:<ref name="Corazza">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Other fractions are composed by addition: the common JE and DD are Template:Frac and Template:Frac (Template:Frac), BB = Template:Frac, EF = Template:Frac, etc. (and indeed B Template:Frac looks like it might derive from KK Template:Frac). L, Y, and Ω are hapax legomena (only occur once) and it has been proposed that glyph L is spurious.<ref name="Corazza" />
Several of these values are supported by Linear B. Although Linear B used a different numbering system, several of the Linear A fractions were adopted as fractional units of measurement. For example, Linear B DD and (presumably AA) are Template:Frac and Template:Frac of a lana, while K is Template:Frac of the main unit for dry weight.<ref name=Corazza/>
CorpusEdit
Linear A has been found chiefly on Crete, but also at other sites in Greece, as well as Turkey and Israel. The extant corpus, comprising some 1,427 specimens totals 7,362 to 7,396 signs. Linear A has been written on various media, such as stone offering tables and vessels, gold and silver hairpins, roundels, and ceramics.<ref name="Winterstein2015" >Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Brent Davis, Minoan Stone Vessels with Linear A Inscriptions. AEGAEUM, 36. Leuven; Liège: Peeters, 2014. xxiv, 421. Template:ISBN</ref> The earliest inscriptions of Linear A come from Phaistos, in a layer dated at the end of the Middle Minoan II period: that is, no later than c. 1700 BC.<ref>Hutchinson R.W., "Prehistoric Crete", London, 1962</ref><ref>Pugliese Carratelli G, "Nouve epigrafi minoiche da Festo", Annuario della Scuola Archaeologica di Atene 35-36[n.s. 19-20(1957-1958)], pp. 363-388, 1958</ref> Linear A inscriptions have been found throughout the island of Crete and also on some Aegean islands (Kythera, Kea, Thera, Melos, Samothrace), in mainland Greece (Ayos Stephanos), on the west coast of Asia Minor (Miletus, Troy), and in the Levant (Tel Haror, Tel Lachish).<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Cacciafoco">Template:Cite report</ref><ref>[1] Sampson, Adamantios, "Symbols of Minoan Hieroglyphic Script and Linear A in Melos from the Middle of 3rd Millennium BC", Annals of Archaeology 5.1, pp. 1–10, 2023</ref><ref>[2] Woudhuizen, Fred C., "Minoan and Mycenaean Oversea‟ s Contacts: The Epigraphic Evidence", ÉTUDES 53, pp. 5–11, 2009</ref>
The first comprehensive compendium of Linear A inscriptions (sometimes referred to as GORILA) was produced by Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier in multiple columns between 1976 and 1985.<ref>Godart, L. and Olivier, J.-P., "Recueil des inscriptions en lineaire A, vol. 1: Tablettes editees avant 1970", Paris, 1976</ref><ref>Godart, L. and Olivier, J.-P., "Recueil des inscriptions en lineaire A, vol. 2: Nodules, scelles et rondelles edites avant 1970", Paris, 1979</ref><ref>Godart, L. and Olivier, J.-P., "Recueil des inscriptions en lineaire A, vol. 3: Tablettes, nodules et rondelles edites en 1975 et 1976", Paris, 1976</ref><ref>Godart, L. and Olivier, J.-P., "Recueil des inscriptions en lineaire A, vol. 4: Autres documents", Paris, 1982</ref><ref>Godart, L. and Olivier, J.-P., "Recueil des inscriptions en lineaire A, vol. 5: Addenda, corrigenda, concordances, index et planches des signes", Paris, 1985</ref> In 2011 work began on a supplement to that compendium.<ref>[3] Del Freo M. and Zurbach J., "La préparation d’un supplément au Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A. Observations à partir d’un travail en cours", BCH 135.1, pp. 73–97, 2011</ref> In 2020 a project was begun, called SigLA, to put all the known Linear A inscriptions online at a single site.<ref>[4] Ester Salgarella and Simon Castellan, "SigLA The Signs of Linear A: a palæographical database", August 20, 2020</ref>
TabletsEdit
Almost all Linear A tablets, most in a fragmentary condition, have been found on the island of Crete, dated to the Neopalatial Period. At that time Crete was divided by mountains and other geographic features into a number of polities, each with its own urban center.<ref>E Kyriakidis, "Undeciphered tablets and undeciphered territories: A comparison of late minoan IB archives", Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, no. 49, pp. 118–29, 2003,</ref> These tablets have been found at Hagia Triada (147 tablets), Petras, Phaistos (26 tablets), Knossos (6 tablets), Petsophas, Archanes (7 tablets), Myrtos Pyrgos (2 tablets), Zakros (31 tablets), Tylissos (2 tablets), Malia (6 tablets), Gournia (1 tablet), and Khania (99 tablets).<ref>Gallimore, S., and K.T. Glowacki. “Stratigraphic Excavations within the Gournia Palace 2011-2014.” [Abstract]. Archaeological Institute of America 119th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America Volume 41 (2017), 345. Boston: Archaeological Institute of America</ref><ref name="Salgarella2019">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Sfn<ref>Anna Morpurgo-Davies, Gerald Cadogan, "A second Linear A tablet from Pyrgos" Kadmos, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 7–9, 1977</ref> One Linear A tablet was found on Kea in the Cyclades.<ref name="Finkelberg">Template:Harvnb.</ref> Three tablet fragments were found on the island of Santorini (Thera).<ref name="Bennett1999" >Bennett, Simon M. and Owens, Gareth A., "The Dating of the Linear A Inscriptions from Thera", Kadmos, vol. 38, no. 1–2, pp. 12–18, 1999</ref> The handful of known Cretan Hieroglyphs tablets (with relatively few signs) were also found on Crete at Malia and Kato Symi.<ref>A. Lembessi, P. Muhly, and J.-P. Olivier, "An Inscription in the Hieroglyphic Script from the Syme Sanctuary, Crete (Sy Hf 01)" Kadmos, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 63–77, 1995</ref>
Sealed documentsEdit
Seals and clay sealings served the same role of inventory control and ownership as in the ancient Near East and Egypt. Large numbers of sealings have been found, primarily on Crete and in the Late Minoan IB period. The primary sources of sealed documents come from Haghia Triada (1103), Zakros (560), Khania (210), Knossos (125), Phaistos (35), Malia (6), and Tylissos (5).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Weingarten, Judith, "Seal-use at LM IΒ Ayia Triada: a Minoan elite in action I. Administrative considerations", Kadmos 26.1, pp. 1–43, 1987</ref><ref>Massimo Perna, "The Roundels of Haghia Triada", Kadmos, 33, pp. 93–141 1994</ref> It is not clear what was commonly used to impress the sealing as only a few Linear A inscribed "seal stones" have been found. In other regions cylinder seals and stamp seals fulfilled this role.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Sealed documents are divided by archaeologists into four classes:<ref name="Salgarella2019" />
- Roundels – disks of clay with sealing on the edges<ref>Erik Hallager, The Minoan Roundel and Other Sealed Documents in the Neopalatial Linear A Administration, Peeters Publishers, 31 Dec 1996 Template:ISBN</ref>
- Hanging nodules – sealed lumps of clay originally attached to string<ref>[5] Tsipopoulou, Metaxia, and Erik Hallager, "The nodules and their types-definitions and discussions", Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens (MoDIA) 9, pp. 182–194, 2010</ref>
- Parcel nodules – lumps of clay with sealing on back
- Noduli – clay lumps like hanging nodules but not formerly string attached
Libation tablesEdit
A group of Minoan finds, usually from sanctuaries, have traditionally been called libation tables. They come in full sized and miniature versions, usually of stone. Because of the findspots, at cultic sites like Mount Juktas, they are usually assumed to be religious in nature though that is not certain.<ref>Metaxa-Muhly, Polymnia, "Linear A inscriptions from the Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Kato Syme", Kadmos, vol. 23, no. 1–2, pp. 124–135, 1984</ref> So far about 1000 libation tables have been recovered at 27 different sites on Crete, of which 41 have Linear A inscriptions.<ref name="Monti2022" >Monti, Orazio, "Some observations on the language of Linear A", Kadmos, vol. 61, no. 1–2, pp. 107–116, 2022</ref><ref>Driessen, Jan, "A fragmentary linear a inscription from petsophas, palaikastro (pk za 20)", Kadmos, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 149–152, 1994</ref><ref>C. Davaras and W. C. Brice, "A Fragment of a Libation Table Inscribed in Linear A from Vrysinas", Kadmos, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 5–6, 1977</ref> These inscriptions follow a standardized "libation formula", a formula also found on a few other objects, primarily vessels.<ref>Platon, Nikolas, "Inscribed libation vessel from a Minoan house at Prassa, Heraklion", Minoica: Festschrift zum 80. Geburtstag von Johannes Sundwall, edited by Ernst Grumach, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 305–318, 1958</ref><ref>Davaras, Costis, "Three New Linear A Libation Vessel Fragments from Petsophas", Kadmos, vol. 20, no. 1–2, 1981, pp. 1–6, 1981</ref><ref>Stylianos Alexiou, W. Brice, "A Silver Pin from Platanos with an inscription in Linear A: Her. Mus. 498". Kadmos, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 18–27, 1976</ref><ref>Leinwand, Nancy Westneat, "A Ladle from Shaft Grave III at Mycenae", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 84, no. 4, pp. 519–21, 1980</ref>
The "libation formula" has been much studied.<ref>W. C. Brice, "The Minoan “Libation Formula”", Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 48.1 (1965)</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A similar construct in Cretan Hieroglyphs, the "Archanes Formula", is the main proposed link to Linear A.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Other sourcesEdit
While most of the recovered Linear A signs have come from tablets, libation tables and related ritual objects, and sealed documents, a number of very short Linear A inscriptions have been found in the Minoan area of operation, primarily in the form of potmarks and mason's marks.<ref>Militello P.M., "Management, power and non-literate communication in Prepalatial and Palatial Messara", in A. M. Jasink – J. Weingarten – S. Ferrara (a cura di), Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronze Age Aegean and Surrounding Areas. The semantics of a-literate and proto-literate media, Firenze, pp. 55–72, 2017</ref> A problem is that it can be difficult to tell if a single-sign (or even doubleton) is Linear A, Linear B, or Cretan Hieroglyphs because of the overlap in sign use.<ref>[6] Santamaria, Andrea, "From images to signs: Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A in context." (2023, Dissertation, Università di Bologna, 2023</ref><ref>Owens, Gareth A., "The Common Origin of Cretan Hieroglyphs and Linear A", Kadmos, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 105–110, 1996</ref> Vessel sherds were found at Traostalos, bearing three signs in total.<ref>Davaras, Costis, "Three sherds inscribed in Linear A, from Traostalos", Kadmos, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 167–168, 1974</ref> Four vase sherds were found at Thera with signs, as well as a ostrakon with one sign.<ref name="Bennett1999" /> A vessel fragment was found at Miletus.<ref>Niemeier, Wolf-Dietrich, "A Linear A Inscription from Miletus (MIL Zb 1)", Kadmos, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 87–99, 1996</ref> Two pithoi with very fragmentary inscriptions were found at Pseira.<ref>Floyd, Cheryl R., "Fragments from two pithoi with Linear A inscriptions from Pseira", Kadmos, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 39–48, 1995</ref> Graffiti has been found at places like Hagia Triada.<ref>Cameron, Mark A. S., "Four Fragments of Wall Paintings with Linear A Inscriptions", Kadmos, vol. 4, no. 1, 1965, pp. 7–15</ref> A small clay ball with three Linear A signs was found at Mikro Vouni on the island of Samothrace.<ref>D. Matsas, "Samothrace and the Northeastern Aegean: The Minoan Connection", Studia Troica 1, pp. 159–179, 1991</ref> A small stone tab with two signs was excavated in Hagios Stephanos, Laconia.<ref>R. Janko, "The Linear A Inscription", in Ayios Stephanos: Excavations at a Bronze Age and Medieval Settlement in Southern Laconia, The British School at Athens. Supplementary Volumes, no. 44, pp. 441–443, 2008</ref> A silver hair pin and a gold ring, both with fairly long Linear A inscriptions, were found at Mavro Spelio in Knossos.<ref>Alexiou Stylianos and Brice William C., "A Silver Pin from Mavro Spelio with an Inscription in Linear A: Her. Mus. 540", Kadmos, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 113–124, 1972</ref><ref name="Cacciafoco" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
A Linear A inscription was said to have been found in southeast Bulgaria.<ref>Fol, Alexander, Schmitt, Sofia and Schmitt, Rüdiger. "A Linear A Text on a Clay Reel from Drama, South-East Bulgaria?", Praehistorische Zeitschrift, vol. 75, no. 1, 2000, pp. 56–62</ref> Another, somewhat more solid, find was at Tel Lachish.<ref>Finkelberg et al. 1996: M. Finkelberg/A. Uchitel/D. Ussishkin, A Linear A Inscription from Tel Lachish (LACH Za 1). TelAviv 23, 1996, 195–207</ref> A Minoan graffito found at Tel Haror on a vessel fragment is either Linear A or Cretan hieroglyphs.<ref>Olivier, Jean-Pierre. "A Minoan graffito from Tel Haror (Negev, Israel)." Cretan studies 5 (1996): 98–109</ref>
Several tablets inscribed in signs similar to Linear A were found at Troy in northwestern Anatolia. While their status is disputed, they may be imports, as there is no evidence of Minoan presence in the Troad. Classification of these signs as a unique Trojan script (proposed by contemporary Russian linguist Nikolai Kazansky) is not accepted by other linguists.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Two Linear A inscribed clay spindle whorls were also found at Troy.<ref>L. Godart, La scrittura di Troia. Rendicontidella Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche dell'Ac-cademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Ser. IX, 5, 1994, pp. 457–460, 1994</ref>
ChronologyEdit
Template:See also The earliest attestation of Linear A begins around 1800 BC (Middle Minoan IB) during the Protopalatial period. It became prominent around 1625 BC (Middle Minoan IIIB) and went out of use around 1450 BC (Late Minoan I) during the Neopalatial period. It was contemporary with and possibly derived from Cretan hieroglyphs, and may be an ancestor of Linear B. The Cypro-Minoan syllabary, used between Cyprus and its trading partners around the Mediterranean, was also in use during this period.<ref>Valério, Miguel, "Linear A du and Cypriot su: a Case of Diachronic Acrophony?", Kadmos, vol. 47, no. 1–2, pp. 57–66, 2009</ref> The sequence and the geographical spread of Cretan hieroglyphs, Linear A, and Linear B, the three overlapping but distinct writing systems on Bronze Age Crete and the Greek mainland, can be summarized as follows:<ref name="Olivier">Template:Harvnb</ref>
| Writing system | Geographical area | Time span |
|---|---|---|
| Cretan Hieroglyphic | Crete, Samothrace | Template:Nowrap |
| Linear A | Crete, Aegean islands (Kea, Kythera, Melos, Thera), and Greek mainland (Laconia) | Template:Nowrap |
| Cypro-Minoan | Cyprus and trading partners, Ugarit | Template:Nowrap |
| Linear B | Crete (Knossos), and mainland (Pylos, Mycenae, Thebes, Tiryns) | Template:Nowrap |
DeciphermentEdit
Linear A has not been fully deciphered. However, researchers are reasonably confident in the approximate sound values of most syllabic signs and are able to make inferences about the meanings of some texts.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /><ref name="TomasHandbook"/><ref name="SalgAeonQuote">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Challenges to deciphermentEdit
One major barrier to its decipherment is the limited surviving corpus. Only around 1400 Linear A inscriptions survive, in contrast to the 6000 available for Linear B. As a result, researchers are stuck with limited sample sizes, making it difficult to reliably detect patterns.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /><ref name="TomasHandbook"/><ref name="SalgAeon">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Similarly, Linear A inscriptions are often fragmentary, damaged, or otherwise hard to read. It can be difficult to individuate particular signs and to distinguish separate signs from handwriting variants.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /><ref name="TomasHandbook"/><ref name="SalgAeon" /> Finally, Linear A inscriptions tend to be brief and repetitive. Rather than complete sentences, many are lists where each entry consists of a toponym or personal name followed by a logogram and then a numeral. Thus, the surviving corpus contains few spelled-out words and limited evidence of the grammatical structure.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /><ref name="TomasHandbook"/><ref name="Winterstein2015" />
A second barrier is the scarcity of external evidence. No bilingual inscriptions have been found, preventing the script from being deciphered in the manner that Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered using the Rosetta Stone.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /><ref name="TomasHandbook"/> The underlying language of Linear A has not been determined, and it is not clear that the same language was used for its entire period of use. The grammatical evidence that can be gleaned from the surviving corpus suggests that it was not a close relative of any known language.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview"/><ref name="TomasHandbook"/>
Phonetic valuesEdit
For most of Linear A's syllabic signs, approximate sound values can be inferred based on the values of homomorphic signs in Linear B. These sound values are widely accepted by current researchers, though they are not considered incontrovertible and many details remain up for debate. This does not amount to a complete decipherment since it results in words that are uninterpretable.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview"/><ref name="TomasHandbook"/><ref>[7] Meissner, T., & Steele, P., "Linear A and Linear B: Structural and contextual concerns", Edizioni Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 2017</ref><ref name="SalgAeonQuote" />
These values are based on the homomorphy-homophony principle which states that in related writing systems, signs with similar forms will generally have similar phonetic values. Although this principle is not reliable across the board, there are a number of strong reasons why scholars have concluded that it does generally hold in Linear A.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> One reason is that is already known to hold in many cases between Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, another script which descends from Linear A. This fact suggests that these signs were inherited by both scripts along with their Linear A phonetic values.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A second reason is that the resulting Linear A sound values provide readings of words which match what contextual analysis would lead us to expect. For instance, words which contextual analysis suggests to be placenames are read as such when assuming Linear B values. Notably, the Linear A word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} would be read as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, corresponding to the placename Phaistos attested in the Linear B corpus as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview"/><ref name="TomasHandbook" /><ref>Hooker, J. T. "Problems and Methods in the Decipherment of Linear A.", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 2, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1975, pp. 164–72</ref><ref name="Younger-10C">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
However, in particular cases scholars have identified reasons to expect divergence in pronunciation. Some scholars have argued that Minoan did not really have a vowel phoneme /o/, that it may not have had the labialised velars that the q-signs express in Mycenaean, and that the only apparent voiced stop, d, was really a dental fricative in Minoan.<ref name=":2" />
The following table shows signs that are known to be syllabograms and for which provisional and approximate sound values are assumed primarily based on the known pronunciations of identical or similar signs in Linear B.<ref name=":2">Davis, Brent. 2010. Introduction to Aegean pre-Alphabetic Scripts. Kubaba 1, pp. 38–61.. P. 51–54.</ref><ref>Fang, X.M., Perono Cacciafoco, F., and Cavallaro, F.P. (2021). Some Remarks on Grammatological and Morphological Aspects of Linear A Documents: An Internal Analysis Approach. Annals of the University of Craiova: Series Philology, Linguistics, 43(1), pp. 316-338. P.319.</ref><ref>van Soesbergen, Peter George. 2016. Minoan Linear A – volume I. Hurrians and Hurrian in Minoan Crete. Part 1: text. P.3-10.</ref>
While many of those assumed to be syllabic signs are similar to ones in Linear B, approximately 80% of Linear A's logograms are unique;<ref name="Younger-7B">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Packard-MLA-C1">Template:Harvnb.</ref> the difference in sound values between Linear A and Linear B signs ranges from 9% to 13%.Template:Sfn
Underlying languageEdit
Linear A does not appear to encode any known language. The placeholder term Minoan language is often used, though it is not certain that the texts are all in the same language.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /><ref>Chadwick J., "Introduction to the problems of ‘Minoan Linear A’", JRAS 2, pp. 143–147, 1975</ref> Minoan appears to be agglutinative, making copious use of prefixes and suffixes. It likely had a three vowel system, since it shares Linear B's /{{#invoke:IPA|main}}/, /{{#invoke:IPA|main}}/, and /{{#invoke:IPA|main}}/ series, but not Linear B's /{{#invoke:IPA|main}}/ series and not all of its /{{#invoke:IPA|main}}/ series.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /> Based on regularities in the Linear A Libation Formulas, it has been argued that its word order was Verb Subject Object.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>How do you crack the code to a lost ancient script? - Andrew Trounson, University of Melbourne – 5 November 2019</ref><ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" />
Scholars have noted a number of potential parallels between Minoan and Anatolian languages such as Luwian and Lycian, as well as with Semitic languages such as Phoenician and Ugaritic. However, even if these connections are not coincidental, it is unclear whether Minoan is related to one of these languages or if the parallels arose through language contact.<ref name = "SalgarellaOverview" /><ref>Jan Best, "The First Inscription in Punic. Vowel Differences between Linear A and B, Ugarit-Forschungen 32, pp. 27–35, 2000</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Finkelberg"/>
UnicodeEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Linear A alphabet (U+10600–U+1077F) was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0. Current as of the latest Unicode version, 15.1.<ref>[8] Michael Everson, "N3973: Revised proposal for encoding the Linear A script in the SMP of the UCS", Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2, 2010-12-28</ref>Template:Unicode chart Linear A
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Works citedEdit
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Further readingEdit
- John Bennet, "Now You See It; Now You Don’t! The disappearance of the Linear A script on Crete", In: The Disappearance of Writing Sys- tems:Perspectives on Literacy and Communication. Ed. by John Baines, John Bennet, and Stephen Houston. London and Oakville, pp. 1–29, 2008
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- [9] Braović, Maja, et al., "A Systematic Review of Computational Approaches to Deciphering Bronze Age Aegean and Cypriot Scripts", Computational Linguistics, pp. 1–54, 2024
- Brice, William C., "Notes on Linear A". Kadmos, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 81–106, 1983
- Brice, William C., "Some observations on the linear A inscriptions", Kadmos, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 42–48, 1962
- G.P. Carratelli, "Le epigraphi di Haghia Triada in lineare A", Salamanca, 1963
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- Giorgi, Lavinia, "Writing in Crete: a comparison between Cretan hieroglyphic and Linear A", Appunti romani di filologia: studi e comunicazioni di filologia, linguistica e letteratura greca e latina: XXVI, pp. 75–90, 2024
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- Gordon, Cyrus H., "Further Notes on the Hagia Triada Tablet no. 31", Kadmos, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 28–30, 1976
- Gordon, Cyrus H., "The Language of the Hagia Triada Tablets", Klio, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 63–68, 1960
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- Kvashilava, Gia (2019). On Decipherment of the Inscriptions of Linear A in the Common Kartvelian Language: ku-ro and ki-ro [10]
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- Militello, Pietro, "Ayia Triada tablets, findspots and scribes. A reappraisal", Pasiphae, vol. 000, no. 005, pp. 59–69, 2011
- P. Militello, "Riconsiderazioni preliminari sulla documentazione in Lineare A da Haghia Triadaî", Sileno, 14, pp. 233–261, 1988
- Montecchi, Barbara, "Linear a Banqueting Lists?", Kadmos, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 1–26, 2012
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- Notti, Erika, "Writing in Late Bronze Age Thera. Further Observations on the Theran Corpus of Linear A", Pasiphae, vol. 000, no. 015, 2021 ISSN: 2037-738X
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- [11]Salgarella, Ester, and Anna P. Judson, "Signs of the times? Testing the chronological significance of Linear A and B palaeography", Ariadne, pp. 359-379, 2025
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- [12] Tomas, Helena, "The Administration of Haghia Triada", Opvscvla archaeologica 25.1, pp. 39–57, 2001
- Template:Cite thesis Unpublished PhD dissertation. Supervisor: Professor John Bennet. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 311–338).
- Was, Daniël A., "The land-tenure texts from Hagia Triada", Kadmos, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 91–101, 1978
- Was, Daniel A., "The land-tenure texts from Hagia Triada", Kadmos, vol. 20, no. 1–2, pp. 7–25, 1981
External linksEdit
- Cracking the Cretan code Ester Salgarella AEON 2022
- The mathematical values of Linear A fraction signs – Science Daily – September 8, 2020
- Interactive database of Linear A inscriptions Description
- Mnamon: Antiche Scritture del Mediterraneo (Antique Writings of the Mediterranean)
- GORILA Volume 1
- Linear A Explorer