Book contents
- Mycenaean Civilization
- Classical Scholarship In Translation
- Mycenaean Civilization
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Bronze Age Civilization of Greece
- 2 The Late Helladic I Period
- 3 The Late Helladic II Period
- 4 The Late Helladic III Period
- 5 Pottery
- 6 Writing
- 7 Religion
- 8 The Mycenaean World
- 9 The End of Mycenaean Civilization
- 10 Mycenaean Greece in Homer
- Chronological Chart
- Abbreviations
- Further Reading
- Figures and Sources of Photographs
- Index
6 - Writing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 December 2025
Book contents
- Mycenaean Civilization
- Classical Scholarship In Translation
- Mycenaean Civilization
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Bronze Age Civilization of Greece
- 2 The Late Helladic I Period
- 3 The Late Helladic II Period
- 4 The Late Helladic III Period
- 5 Pottery
- 6 Writing
- 7 Religion
- 8 The Mycenaean World
- 9 The End of Mycenaean Civilization
- 10 Mycenaean Greece in Homer
- Chronological Chart
- Abbreviations
- Further Reading
- Figures and Sources of Photographs
- Index
Summary
The first Linear B tablets were found by Evans in Knossos, many more by Blegen in Pylos in 1939 and progressively in all Mycenaean centres. Crete had three writing types Hieroglyphic, Linear A being more widespread, still undeciphered, and Linear B which descends from Linear A and appeared in mainland Greece around 1400 BC. After many endeavours, it has been deciphered in 1952 revealing a syllabic script for an early stage of Greek language. The debate of concordance between the Knossos and the Pylos tablets followed and is still alive. The inscribed clay tablets, simply dried, were baked by the fires that destroyed the palaces and thus preserved. They are administrative documents mostly inventory or tax statements teaching us a lot about Mycenaean life, palatial system, social hierarchy but no literature or history.
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- Mycenaean Civilization , pp. 474 - 487Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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