In 1952, Minoan Linear B was deciphered and shown to conceal an early form of the Greek language. This book tells the story of how Linear B was discovered, deciphered, and interpreted.

Linear B and Related Scripts (Reading the Past, Vol. 1)

History

Chadwick, John

Ancient Civilizations

University of California Press

The languages of the ancient world and the mysterious scripts, long undeciphered, in which they were encoded have represented one of the most intriguing problems of classical archaeology in modern times. This celebrated account of the decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris was written by his close collaborator in the momentous discovery. In revealing the secrets of Linear B it offers a valuable survey of late Minoan and Myceanean archaeology, uncovering fascinating details of the religion and economic history of an ancient civilisation.

The Decipherment of Linear B

Reference

Dictionaries & Thesauruses

Cambridge University Press

A plain text in transliteration of the Linear B tablets from Knossos. Since the first publication of these tablets in 1952, various scholars worked to improve the texts. The results of their researches were published in successive editions of The Knossos Tablets: A Transliteration. This 1971 fourth edition completely replaced the third of 1964. It contains the texts of many fragments previously discarded as unreadable, and several hundred improved texts resulting from joins between fragments. In addition, the original of every tablet has been closely scrutinised and numerous improvements in the readings have been made. The system of classification has been modified, and many more tablets are now assigned to series, and for the first time there was an attempt to reconstruct the original filing system of the archive. The scribal hand is noted where it can be identified. The book is indispensable for all scholars who wish to work directly on this material.

The Knossos Tablets

Killen, J. T.

Olivier, J. P.

Europe

The languages of the ancient world and the mysterious scripts, long undeciphered, in which they were encoded have represented one of the most intriguing problems of classical archaeology in modern times. This celebrated account of the decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris was written by his close collaborator in the momentous discovery. In revealing the secrets of Linear B it offers a valuable survey of late Minoan and Myceanean archaeology, uncovering fascinating details of the religion and economic history of an ancient civilisation.

World

In 1952 the decipherment of the Linear B script suddenly revealed the Greekness of Mycenaean Greece. Now, after new discoveries and more than 20 years of intensive work, scholars are able to interpret the written documents and reconstruct from them a vivid picture of life in this remote period, in a way which is impossible from archaeology alone. John Chadwick, who assisted Ventris in the original decipherment, has played a major part in these advances. He now summarizes the results of research and in so doing opens the door to a new world, Mycenaean Greece seen through the eyes of its inhabitants. The tablets may be only, as he describes them, 'the account books of anonymous clerks', but from these prosaic documents he shows how we can infer a bronze industry, foreign slave-women, or even human sacrifice. Not least important is the comparison of the newly available data with the Homeric account, much to the detriment of Homer's credibility as a witness.

The Mycenaean World

The Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos, to be completed in three or four volumes, constitutes the definitive publication by the world's major Mycenaean epigraphists of the Linear B tablets found by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in Crete. It includes all the fragments discarded by Evans and subsequently recovered from the Museums storerooms and elsewhere and represents the result of 30 years' work on reconstituting the documents. Each tablet or fragment is given as a photograph, drawing, and in transcription. The notes are purely textual. Volume I contains tablets 1-1063.

Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos: Volume 1, 1–1063

Godart, L.

Sacconi, A.

Sakellarakis, I. A.

This is the second volume of the definitive publication, by the world's major Mycenaean epigraphists, of the Linear B tablets found by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in Crete. It includes all the fragments discarded by Evans and subsequently recovered from the museum storerooms and elsewhere and represents the results of 30 years' work on reconstituting the documents. Each tablet or fragment is given as a photograph, a drawing and in transcription. The notes are purely textual.

Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos: Volume 2, 1064–4495

Foreign Language Study & Reference

This is the fourth and final volume of the definitive publication, by the world's major Mycenaean epigraphists, of the Linear B tablets found by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in Crete. It includes all the fragments discarded by Evans and subsequently recovered from the Museum storerooms and elsewhere, and represents the results of more than thirty years' work on reconstituting the documents. Each tablet or fragment is given as a photograph, a drawing and in transcription. The notes are purely textual. In addition to fragments 8000-9947 this volume contains an index to all four volumes.

Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos: Volume 4, 8000–9947 and Index to Volumes I-IV

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chadwick, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Chadwick, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chadwick, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Linear B and Related Scripts (Reading the Past, Vol. 1)

The Decipherment of Linear B

The Knossos Tablets

The Decipherment of Linear B

The Knossos Tablets

The Mycenaean World

The Mycenaean World

Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos: Volume 1, 1–1063

Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos: Volume 2, 1064–4495

Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos: Volume 4, 8000–9947 and Index to Volumes I-IV