The New Documents in Mycenaean Greek: Volume 1, Introductory Essays

An authoritative survey of recent developments in the study of the Linear B tablets deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952.

John Killen (Edited by)

9780521838122, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 February 2024

438 pages
26 x 18.5 x 2.6 cm, 0.95 kg

In 1952 Michael Ventris deciphered the script found on the Linear B tablets from Crete and the Greek mainland, therefore revealing the earliest known form of Greek. In 1956 he and John Chadwick published Documents in Mycenaean Greek, which gave an account of the decipherment, of the language of the tablets, of the society and economy revealed by the documents and a series of chapters giving texts, translations and commentary of the most important tablets. Though partially updated in 1973, Documents is now very much outdated: there has been a vast accrual of bibliography on the subject since 1973, and discoveries of tablets at new sites. This new survey, written by fourteen of the world's leading experts, will bring the reader fully up-to-date with developments in all aspects of Mycenaean studies, concluding with a new, full glossary of all the most recently discovered words.

Preface
Note on marginal annotations
Note on the bibliographies
Note on consistency
Note on absolute values of the symbols for weight and volume
Note on translations
List of abbreviations
Part I. History, Script, Language and Culture
1. The Archaeological and Historical Context John Bennet
2. Discovery and Decipherment Michael Ventris
3. Syllabic Scripts in The Aegean and Cyprus in The Second and First Millennia Jean-Pierre Olivier
4.1-5. The Mycenaean Writing System Rupert Thompson And Torsten Meißner
4.6. The Absolute Values of the Symbols for Weight Pia De Fidio
4.7. The Absolute Values of the Symbols for Volume Pia De Fidio
5. The Linear B Documents Maurizio Del Freo
6. The Mycenaean Language Rupert Thompson
7. Geography John Bennet
8. Economy Pia De Fidio
9. Mycenaean Society and Political Systems Cynthia Shelmerdine
10.1. Mycenaean Religion John Killen
10.2. Mycenaean and Classical Greek Religion Robert Parker
Part II. Drawings of Selected Tablets.

Subject Areas: Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Language: history & general works [CBX]