Chadwick: Reading the Past: Linear B and Related Scripts. 5th impression. Paperback 
0714180688

• Reading the Past: Linear B and Related Scripts. Paperback
• by John Chadwick
• 64 pages, with illustrations, fifth impression 2004. Long before Homer a script was in use in Greece which is quite unrelated to the alphabet ....

Long before Homer a script was in use in Greece which is quite unrelated to the alphabet. The kings of Mycenaean Greece kept their accounts on clay tablets written in a script now known as Minoan Linear B. In 1952 this was deciphered and shown to conceal an earlier form of the Greek language. This book tells the story of how Linear B was discovered, deciphered and interpreted, so that we can now read the administrative documents of these small prehistoric states. Two related scripts are also discussed: Linear A, a forerunner of Linear B. but used for a language which is still unknown, and a Cypriot script which, borrowed from Linear A, is equally enigmatic. Many interpretations have been put forward for these scripts but until more tablets are discovered their mystery will remain unsolved.