Linear B

Sanctuaries in Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece appear to have property which they manage. This means that they are not merely ideological institutions, but also command financial power and resources, an important conclusion for the Greek prehistoric social economy.
This wealth amassed by the sanctuaries is result of dedications which can be seen as a form of storage, religious storage.

The recent surge in ancient scripts has resulted in huge image libraries of ancient texts. Data mining of the collected images enables the study of the evolution of these ancient scripts. In particular, the origin of the Indus Valley script is highly debated. We use convolu-tional neural networks to test which Phoenician alphabet letters and Brahmi symbols are closest to the Indus Valley script symbols. Surprisingly, our analysis shows that overall the Phoenician alphabet is much closer than the Brahmi script to the Indus Valley script symbols.

Les archives du roi Nestor offers scholars the long-awaited full scholarly edition of the Linear B documents found at Pylos from 1939 to date. For the first time—along with transliterations, information about size and number of fragments, find-spot, publication history and a critical apparatus—, each document is accompanied by drawings and colour photographs. The new analysis of the palaeography of the tablets has allowed considerable improvement of previously proposed transliterations and the suggestion of new readings. Moreover, it has enriched our knowledge of Mycenaean scribal practices by further clarifying the role of individual scribes in the administration chain of the Palace at Pylos. Finally, it has huge philological and historical implications. The following review article tries to discuss the main positions of the book, by contextualizing them in the field of research and by entering into more detailed discussion of some of them.

https://brill.com/view/journals/mnem/74/1/article-p161_11.xml?rskey=Nt9n3N&result=1

The assignment – selection problem used to find one-to- one match of given “Users” to “Laptops”, the main objective is to minimize the cost as per user requirement. This paper presents satisfactory solution for real assignment – Laptop selection problem using MATLAB coding.

A look at the puzzling lack of *dativus possessivus* forms in our corpus of Mycenaean Greek, with a possible pragmatic explanation for this phenomenon.

Presented at the Greek and Latin Linguistics panel of the 2016 SCS meeting in San Francisco.

This paper sets out to explore an idiosyncratic linguistic feature only attested on a number of Linear B documents from Pylos, namely the occurrence of sequences of particles in clause-initial, and sometimes also tablet-initial, position. These sequences are o-a2, o-da-a2 and o-de-qa-a2. In this paper, a contextual analysis of the form and function of these sequences will be carried out in order to arrive at a plausible, and convincing, interpretation of their usage. The examination of their occurrences will be conducted by placing the usage of these sequences of particles within the backdrop of recording procedures of the Mycenaean palatial administration.

The region of Triphylia in the western Peloponnese has only recently attracted new research in its history and archaeological remains. This coastal strip between the historical regions of Elis
and Messenia was defined by the river Alpheios in the north and the Neda River in the south, and was part of the territory of the Elean state in the Classical period. The study of finds and
sites of the Early Mycenaean period (LH I‒IIA) reveals that the region of Triphylia was connected to Messenia in the south on the level of cultural exchanges. This is the case for the distribution of Early Mycenaean pottery and tholos tombs as well as for the prestige items found in the tholos tombs of Kakovatos which is the most prominent Triphylian site during this period. Amber spacer plates, oriental star disk pendants of blue glass and gold jewelry in the shape of owls illustrate the connections among the elite burials of the early Mycenaean period of Messenia and the southern Greek Mainland.
Relations with Messenia appear to have been strong in the early Mycenaean period, and the palace of Pylos in Messenia may well have exercised some influence on the region of Triphylia
during the periods of LH IIIA‒B. The question of the northern boundary of the Pylos polity in respect to its administrative territory has been a matter of controversy. J. Chadwick and
J. Bennet suggested a boundary line along the Neda River or even further south, while others have argued for a larger area including part or all of Triphylia. Arguments depend on the interpretation of topographical names, and in fact a group of place names and ethnics in the Linear B-texts from Pylos appears to point to the geographical region of the Alpheios valley and its neighborhood. An analysis of the assessments of the nine districts of the Hither Province of Pylos may in fact suggest that the polity of Pylos was possibly larger and included at least parts of Triphylia. Rather than the Neda River the mountain ange of the Lapithos appears to have created something like a visible barrier.

The assignment – selection problem used to find one-to-one match of given " Users " to " Laptops " , the main objective is to minimize the cost as per user requirement. This paper presents satisfactory solution for real assignment – Laptop selection problem using MATLAB coding. KEYWORD Assignment problem, linear integer programming, Revised Ones Assignment Method (ROA), MATLAB programming 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 90-02,

ABSTRACT: This documentary response sheet contains a series of sequential questions drawn from the video, Acorn: The Minotaur's Island (shown in-class; also available online via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LZ6JzBcXjU [95 minutes]).  These sequential questions aim to maximize both student attention to various pertinent points made throughout the documentary and greater retention of the materials covered by the documentary.  In addition, the documentary has been vetted for overall content accuracy (albeit updated and/or corrected in-class), and selected to provide supplementary visual aids (e.g., images of regions, sites, finds, and other materials), additional specialist views (e.g., interviews), and other data to aid in student comprehension of the course lectures and readings from the textbooks.  REVISED: Feb., 2024.

Σκοπός του άρθρου αυτού είναι να εξεταστούν συγκριτικά οι πληροφορίες για τον κορυφαίο αξιωματούχο και επικεφαλής της διοικητικής οργάνωσης κάθε μυκηναϊκού βασιλείου, τον wa-na-ka, ἄνακτα. Παρουσιάζονται οι καταγραφές του τίτλου, αναλύεται η λειτουργία του σε κάθε περίπτωση και γίνεται προσπάθεια να εντοπιστούν ομοιότητες και διαφορές, αν υπάρχουν, στις αρμοδιότητες και στο ρόλο του σε κάθε μυκηναϊκό βασίλειο. Μια δεύτερη συγκριτική ματιά πέφτει πάνω στα κοινά στοιχεία και στις διαφορές μεταξύ των Μυκηναίων ανάκτων και των ομηρικών βασιλέων καθώς και των ανατολικών ηγεμόνων των σύγχρονων προς τον μυκηναϊκό κόσμο κρατών και πολιτισμών της Ανατολής.
The article presents the recordings of the title wa-na-ka, it analyses its function in every case and reveals similarities and differences, if existing, over his responsibilities and his role in each Mycenaean kingdom. A brief comparative view is also attempted of the common elements and the differences between the Mycenaean sovereigns on the one hand and the Homeric kings and the leaders of the eastern states and civilizations contemporary to the Mycenaean world on the other.

The book collects John Killen’s articles on the Mycenaean palace economy. The collection includes 73 items from a total of 120 published from 1962 to 2012 plus 2 unpublished articles and is divided into three volumes (I: 1962-1985, II: 1986-2003, III: 2004-2012). The third volume contains a concordance with the original publications as well as three indexes (Words, Ideograms and Texts).

This paper describes new approaches to the documentation and publication of texts in the Greek Bronze Age through discussion of the authors’ ongoing project to study and publish the Linear B documents from the ‘Palace of Nestor’ at Pylos in southwestern Greece. Recent developments move in two dis-tinct directions. The first, digitisation, involves the production of digital models to represent the texts, using both computational photography and three-dimensional modelling. The second, the study of the texts as material culture, involves examining the physical properties of the texts and associated uninscribed documents. Traditional print-based editions are limited in the amount of data they can present, and the use of static images and text requires the user to rely on the authority of the editor, the illustrator, and even the photographer. Digital models, on the other hand, provide a dynamic and interactive environment in which users can work with the texts at a level of resolution that approximates autopsy. That is, they place less emphasis on editorial interpretations and interventions and put more primary data directly into the hands of users. The digital models thus decentre editorial authority by easing scholarly access  to material.

The Greek peoples were not indigenous, but the Greek language arose through the mixture of a group of IE speakers with an earlier population. The theory by P. Kretschmer of their arrival in three successive waves has been rejected. Thus, the first inter-linguistic and intercultural contacts between these IE newcomers and the earlier Balkan and Mediterranean population had begun since the Middle Minoan Ia period (about 2000 B.C., or a little earlier 2100 B.C.). Moreover, the syncretism of IE cults with Balkan and Mediterranean cults began first, maybe between that of Zeus and Dionysus. These contacts and interferences became more intensive in the Mycenaean period when the subjugated Minoan population was absorbed by the conquerors (Mycenaean Greeks), and continued to live in symbiosis with them. However, from the Linear B records we can see that the competition for priority between Zeus and Dionysus, as well as between Di-wi-ja and E-ra, continued in Mycenaean times.

SUMMARY: Lecture 15 provides coverage on the art, architecture, state, administration, and economy of the Late Bronze Age Mycenaeans, and a discussion of the presumed Mycenaean takeover or domination of Crete (Minoans); the Minoan initially influenced mainland Greece, while the Mycenaeans later influenced Crete. This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I provide copies privately).  I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies.  For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the materials were extracted (see syllabus), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders).  The lecture summarizes the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), adding in other data, and furnishing numerous images to clarify information encountered within the textbook(s).  Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily).  I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years.  I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture alongside some of the key sources used for compiling the ppt.  Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture.  These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well.  My apologies for any errors I may have made, and my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources. REVISED: March 2024, new formatting, slides, and text, with some text modifications, also adding a Late Minoan IIIC (1200-1100 BCE) summary section at the end, and additional sources.

The book analyzes a passage from Sophocles ("Trachiniae", vv. 153-160) and another from Plutarch ("De genio Socratis", 5, 577 F) in which two tablets inscribed in "mysteric" characters are cited, in all probability documents, instead, written in Linear B, the syllabic Aegean writing used for the transcription of the (already Greek) Mycenaean dialect. Basing his research on the analysis of these two passages, the Author elaborates a new theory regarding the perception of the ancient Greeks about their past before the so-called 'Dark Ages'. The essay is, therefore, a contribution - in the field of Mycenaeology - to the study of the issue of the origins of Greek populations and it approaches for the first time, in this interpretive key, the two quoted passages. The book is accompanied by chronologies, by a set of illustrations, by a detailed and updated bibliography on the subject, and by maps.

THE ATTACHED FILE IS A SUMMARIZED VERSION OF A MORE EXTENDED WORK.

The subject of what has come to be described as "Minoan Goddess" is tackled by a number of scholars from several fields of study (Archaeology, Anthropology, Sociology, History of Religion, Political activism to name a few). Proposed interpretations are biased by the overexposure of selective icons and motivated by different stimuli, ignoring evidence that does not fit in the model of their preference.

In 1956, Ventris and Chadwick proposed that coriander may be derived from ko-ri-ja¬-do-no (koria(n)dnon), thought to be employed in the production of unguents.  Due to this poor phonetic approximation, a fresh proposal is overdue.  I propose, instead, that ko-ri-ja-do-no is a ‘convoluted’ reference to κρῑηδόν (krīêdon) as it pertains, generally, to shellfish and, particularly, to the elusive Mycenaean production of Tyrian purple and associated dyes.  Evidence for purple can be found not only in the attested po-pu-re[ (porphyra) but also in numerous references to po-ni-ki-jo (phoinikios) and related processes, primarily evident in the Ga series at Knossos. According to Pliny, “[H]uman ingenuity has even learned to mingle with [the Tyrian hues] the productions of the earth.”  The formulas for these associated dyes and pigments are primarily evident in the Ge series at Mycenae.  Nevertheless, while the apparent lack of shell evidence at Knossos may compel a dismissal of the epigraphic evidence, it is important to consider the secondary uses of shell refuse, particularly as shell lime in the production of the durable frescos of Knossos.  Moreover, it seems hardly reasonable that the Minoan record would be completely lacking in any references to the production of pigments.  Therefore, it is hoped that a fresh interpretation of old evidence will compel a reassessment of ko-ri-ja¬-do-no in favor of the historically important “shell-purple” industry.

The focus of this paper is the relationship between the two most important places mentioned in the Linear B tablets from Pylos: pu-ro (alphabetical Greek Πύλος) and pa-ki-ja-na/-ne (possibly *Σφαγιᾶνα/ες). The first is identified as the seat of the Mycenaean Palace, whose remains lie on the hill of Epano Englianos, while the second is generally assumed to be an important cult centre close to the Palace, perhaps in the vicinity of Chora Volimidia. However, the attempts made so far to identify pa-ki-ja-na/-ne on the ground have not provided any definitive result. This paper investigates the possibility of a sub-level territorial organisation in which one of these two place names was a district name (pa-ki-ja-ne), while the other (pu-ro) was the main settlement within such a district. Following this scenario, the hypothesis is put forward that the temple of Poseidon (po-si-da-i-jo), which is linked to both pu-ro and pa-ki-ja-ne (PY Tn 316), should be identified with the central megaron of the Palace, the religious role of which is well known. Poseidon indeed appears as the most prominent god of the Pylos kingdom, since religious offerings with a strong fiscal aspect were periodically delivered to him. As no proper sanctuary has been brought to light in the region, it seems likely that the main god of the state was worshipped at the Palace.

Ever since humankind first settled down in permanent settlements as the direct consequence of farming of grains and other crops and the raising of livestock in the Late Neolithic era, the territorial imperative has consistently dictated real or imagined threats from outsiders. Consequently, people always struggled to improve means of self defence, leading to the introduction of missiles such as sling stones, spears and arrows. In the Late Neolithic, humankind built enormous fortresses. This was soon followed by the emergence of the first chariots in Sumeria ca. 2,500 BCE. Cumbersome as they were, they represented a significant step forward in the early technology of warfare. The next millennium was to bring about the perfection of the chariot as a vehicle enabling much more efficient warfare. Chariots had become far lighter, more mobile and more battle-worthy than their much more ponderous Sumerian predecessors. All late Bronze Age chariots, including Egyptian and Mycenaean, had reached the zenith of perfection attainable for that era. The Linear B Lexicon for the Construction of Mycenaean Chariots, the only one of its kind, has been produced in partnership with Koryvantes, the Association of Historical Studies (Athens).

As opposed to the established tradition according to which Okeanos and Tethys were the parents of all rivers known to the Greeks and of all unknown mythical rivers to the end of the world and in the underworld, Homer refers to Oceanus and ‘mother’ Tethys as to parents of the gods. This concept can also be found in the Babylonian theogony epic Enuma Elish, from the II millennium BC,  where Oceanus, as a god, is the parent of the sweet waters, while Tethys is the goddess of the sea.  It is interesting that this appears in the epic related to the goddess Hera, as if they were her parents.  Also, the cult of Hera on the island of Samos distinguished from Argos. Undoubtedly, the process of transformation of the cult of Hera occurred in the Mycenaean period, only mere traces of that process remained in the historical period.

The Linear B records at Pylos point to large, multifaceted industries in both textile and perfumed oil production, with a large degree of specialization and a complex administrative system. It seems as though both value-added goods - textiles and perfumed oils - would be traded by the Mycenaean palace centers within the Greek mainland and abroad to consumers in the Aegean, Italy, Cyprus, Egypt, Syria and Levant. Perfumed oils and textiles were likely traded for foreign goods such as metal ores and luxury goods such as ostrich eggs and faience materials preferred for conspicuous consumption by the elite at the palace centers. This paper explores the processes, industries, distribution and possible trade of Mycenaean textiles and perfumed oils at the palatial center at Pylos.

The Late Minoan (LM) II period at Knossos, c. 1470-1420 BC, represented a pivotal point in the history of the Aegean Bronze Age, but the full extent to which it shaped the following centuries has yet to be fully appreciated or studied. During this period, Mycenaeans from the mainland gained control of the palace of Knossos, an administrative centre hitherto unparalleled in their world. From the necessity of maintaining political control over an often hostile island, these Mycenaean dynasts were thrust into new roles, rulers of a palatial administration for the first time. Thus LM II Knossos can be viewed in its neglected aspect as a period of Mycenaean history, and the foundational phenomenon of the florescent Late Helladic III period – the birth of the Mycenaean palaces – can be placed within its proper historical context. The first Mycenaean experiment in palatial administration at LM II Knossos provided the model followed shortly after by the mainland polities, who in following this path to power dominated the Aegean for the next 200 years.