Editing Linear A (section)

==Corpus==
[[Image:Linear A tablets filt.jpg|thumb|right|Linear&nbsp;A incised on tablets found in [[Akrotiri (prehistoric city)|Akrotiri]], Santorini]]
[[File:0726 La Canée musée linéaire A.JPG|thumb|Linear&nbsp;A tablet, [[Chania Archaeological Museum]]]]

Linear&nbsp;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&nbsp;A has been written on various media, such as stone offering tables and vessels, gold and silver hairpins, roundels, and ceramics.<ref name="Winterstein2015" >{{cite journal |last1=Winterstein |first1=Gregoire |last2=Cacciafoco |first2=Francesco Perono |last3=Petrolito |first3=Ruggero |last4=Petrolito |first4=Tommaso |title=Minoan linguistic resources: The Linear&nbsp;A digital corpus |url=https://www.academia.edu/14641910 |journal=Proceedings of the 9th&nbsp;SIGHUM Workshop on Language Technology for Cultural Heritage, Social Sciences, and Humanities (LaTeCH) |year=2015 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref><ref>Brent Davis, Minoan Stone Vessels with Linear A Inscriptions. AEGAEUM, 36. Leuven; Liège: Peeters, 2014. xxiv, 421. {{ISBN|9789042930971}}</ref> The earliest inscriptions of Linear&nbsp;A come from Phaistos, in a layer dated at the end of the Middle Minoan&nbsp;II period: that is, no later than c.&nbsp;1700&nbsp;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&nbsp;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">{{cite book |last=Woudhuizen |first=Fred C. |title=Documents in Minoan Luwian, Semitic, and Pelasgian |publisher=Nederlands Archeologisch Historisch Genootschap |location=Amsterdam |year=2016 |oclc=1027956786 |isbn=9789072067197}}</ref><ref name="Cacciafoco">{{cite report |type=slides |last1=Cacciafoco |first1=Francesco Perono |title=Linear&nbsp;A and Minoan. The riddle of unknown origins |journal=Linear a and Minoan. The Riddle of Unknown Origins |date=January 2014 |url=https://www.academia.edu/8107092 |access-date=13 July 2020 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref><ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369818082_Citation_Symbols_of_Minoan_Hieroglyphic_Script_and_Linear_A_in_Melos_from_the_Middle_of_3rd_Millennium_BC] 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>[https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=8993dee3c85994b51a3ba3acf0f111e9564d74eb] 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>[https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_2011_num_135_1_7827] 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>[https://sigla.phis.me/paper.pdf] Ester Salgarella and Simon Castellan, "SigLA The Signs of Linear A: a palæographical database", August 20, 2020</ref>

===Tablets===
[[File:Sitia Museum Linear A 02.jpg|thumb|Linear&nbsp;A tablet from the palace of [[Zakros]], Archeological Museum of [[Sitia]]]]
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 (archaeological site)|Malia]] (6 tablets), [[Gournia]] (1 tablet), and [[Kydonia|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">{{Cite journal |last=Salgarella |first=Ester |date=2019-04-01 |title=Drawing lines: The palaeography of Linear A and Linear B |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/kadmos-2019-0004/html |journal=Kadmos |language=en |volume=58 |issue=1–2 |pages=61–92 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2019-0004 |issn=1613-0723|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hallager |first1=Erik |last2=Andreadaki-Vlazaki |first2=Maria |title=Some unpublished Linear A documents from Khania |journal=Kadmos |date=1 July 2018 |volume=57 |issue=1–2 |pages=33–44 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2018-0004 |s2cid=204963634 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/kadmos-2018-0004/html |access-date= |language=  | issn=0022-7498|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{sfn|Schoep|1999|pp=201–221}}<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&nbsp;A tablet was found on [[Kea (island)|Kea]] in the [[Cyclades]].<ref name="Finkelberg">{{harvnb|Finkelberg|1998|pp=265–272}}.</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 Simi|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 documents===
[[File:Minoan inscriptions, Linear A script, Phaistos, 1850-1450 BC, AMH, 144885.jpg|thumb|Minoan inscriptions, Linear A script, Phaistos]]
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 (archaeological site)|Malia]] (6), and Tylissos (5).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schoep |first=Ilse |title=Tablets and Territories? Reconstructing Late Minoan IB Political Geography through Undeciphered Documents |journal=[[American Journal of Archaeology]] |volume=103 |number=2 |pages=201–221 |year=1999 |jstor=506745 |doi=10.2307/506745|s2cid=155632843 | issn=0002-9114  }}</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 "[[Stamp seal|seal stones]]" have been found. In other regions cylinder seals and stamp seals fulfilled this role.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Civitillo |first1=Matilde |title=Comparing Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A seal stones: a preliminary assessment of forms, materials, sequences, uses |journal=Ariadne Supplement Series |date=2023 |url=https://iris.unicampania.it/handle/11591/490030 |access-date= |issn=2623-4726}}</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 {{ISBN|9789042924130}}</ref>
*Hanging nodules – sealed lumps of clay originally attached to string<ref>[https://tidsskrift.dk/MoDIA/article/download/127043/173380] 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 tables===
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>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Rose |title=Some reflections on morphology in the language of the Linear A libation formula |journal=Kadmos |date=1 December 2020 |volume=59 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2020-0001 |s2cid=235451899 |url=https://www.finnishsyntax.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/01/Reflections_on_Morphology_in_the_Language_of_the_Linear_A_Libation_Formula.pdf |access-date= | issn=0022-7498 }}</ref> A similar construct in [[Cretan Hieroglyphs]], the "Archanes Formula", is the main proposed link to Linear&nbsp;A.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ferrara |first1=Silvia |last2=Montecchi |first2=Barbara |last3=Valério |first3=Miguel |title=What is the 'Archanes Formula'? Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Earliest Attestation of Writing in the Aegean |journal=Annual of the British School at Athens |date=December 2021 |volume=116 |pages=43–62 |doi=10.1017/S0068245420000155 |hdl=11585/833390 |s2cid=236307210 |url=https://flore.unifi.it/handle/2158/1265257 |access-date= |language=en |issn=0068-2454|hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Other sources===
[[File:Prähistorisches Museum Thira Linearschrift A 06.jpg|thumb|Prähistorisches Museum Thira Linearschrift A 06]]
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 mark]]s.<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>[https://amsdottorato.unibo.it/11010/1/Santamaria_Andrea_Tesi.pdf] 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>{{cite journal |last=Pullen |first=Daniel J. |title=[Review of] W.D. Taylour & R. Janko, ''Ayios Stephanos: Excavations at a Bronze Age and Medieval Settlement in Southern Laconia''. British School at Athens, 2008 |url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009.09.08/|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |year=2009}}</ref>

A Linear&nbsp;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 (archaeology)|graffito]] found at [[Tel Haror]] on a vessel fragment is either Linear&nbsp;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&nbsp;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>{{Cite book |last1=Schliemann |first1=Heinrich |url=http://archive.org/details/troyitsremainsna00schl |title=Troy and its remains; a narrative of researches and discoveries made on the site of Ilium, and in the Trojan plain |last2=Smith |first2=Philip |last3=Schmitz |first3=L. Dora |date=1875 |publisher=London, J. Murray |others=Princeton Theological Seminary Library |pages=23–24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1984 |url=http://www.kladina.narod.ru/kazanskiy/kazanskiy.htm |last=Kazansky |first=NN. |editor-last=Bernstein |editor-first=S.B. |language=ru |script-title=ru:Троянское письмо: к постановке вопроса |editor2-last=Gindin |editor2-first=L.A. |editor3-last=Golubtsova |editor3-first=E.S. |editor4-last=I.A. |editor5-last=Orel |editor5-first=V.E.)}}</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>