What people get wrong about Linear B.

Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language.

Oct 25, 2026
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Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language.

Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examples dating to around 1450 BC. It is adapted from the earlier Linear A, an undeciphered script, perhaps used for writing the Minoan language, as is the later Cypriot syllabary, which also recorded Greek. Linear B, found mainly in the palace archives at Knossos, Kydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae, disappeared with the fall of the Mycenaean civilization during the Late Bronze Age collapse. The succeeding period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, provides no conclusive evidence of the use of writing.

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B
  2. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190102
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