Mandala and Mycenaean haiku: the sea, the circle of heaven, the sun:
I found this astonishingly beautiful mandala on the Twitter account of my friend, Marie Marshall, who is an accomplished poet. I decided to write my own haiku in Mycenaean Greek, archaic Greek, English and French to complement it. For those of you who cannot read Greek, this is how the Greek sounds, thalassa/kuklos ouranoyo/heilios. Beautiful eh? I am sure Marie will love it! … and so will you! I Know I do.
The Comprehensive Linear A Lexicon of 1030 New Minoan, pre-Greek substratum and Old Minoan vocabulary, with extensive commentaries, is now in its pre-publication phase:
Linear B tablet HT 118 (Haghia Triada), livestock on plots of land:
While this tablet does present some problems in the decipherment of the kinds of livestock on it, that does not mean we do not have a relatively reasonable picture of which ones they are. Beside madi, which appears to mean “pig” from the context, the other 3 are qaqaru, arisa and riruma. Now these 3 probably mean “cow”, “bull” and “ox” in turn. But if they must be permuted. In other words, if the first word, qaqaru, means “cow”, then the other two mean “bull” and “ox”, but in which order we cannot tell. Thus, it is necessary to permute all 3 words for all 3 kinds of livestock at each occurrence. The supersyllabogram KI almost certainly refers to “a plot of land”, because it is repeated twice, and after all, we do find livestock on plots of land.
I have now deciphered, in whole or in part, 17 tablets from Haghia Triada alone, and somewhere in the order of 35 altogether, regardless of provenance.
Preview of the most Complete Linear A Lexicon of 1029 words ever compiled in history soon to be published on academia.edu just uploaded:This Preview of the most Complete Linear A Lexicon of 1029 words ever compiled in history soon to be published on academia.edu.pdf is in and of itself a lengthy article (14 pages long), offering full insight into the massive extent and impact of the actual lexicon, Comprehensive Lexicon of 1029 New Minoan, pre-Greek substratum and Old Minoan words, with extensive commentaries, soon to be published on my academia.edu account (sometime in July 2017). The actual Lexicon will be at least 45 pages long, and will include all of the following elements: 1. An in-depth introduction, comparing this Lexicon, with its 1029 Linear A terms with the Linear A Reverse Lexicon of Prof. John G. Younger, containing 774 intact Linear A words. To date, Prof. Younger’ Lexicon has always been considered the de facto standard of Linear A lexicons; but it falls far short of the mark. From scanning through every last Linear A tablet on Prof. Younger’s site, Linear A texts in phonetic transcription, I discovered scores of Linear A words which he missed in his Reverse Lexicon. I have also spent the last two years ransacking the Internet for every last scrap of evidence of extant Linear A tablets, fragments, roundels, pendants and inscriptions on pottery, only to unearth even more Linear words entirely overlooked by Prof. Younger, to the extent that I uncovered a total of 1029 Linear A exograms, 225 more than he did. Thus, our Comprehensive Linear A Lexicon is 27.7 % larger than his. 2. The Lexicon itself, containing 1029 words, of which over 160 are Mycenaean-derived New Minoan, some 85 are either toponyms or eponyms, a few score fall within the pre-Greek substratum and at least 80 are Old Minoan words I have been able to decipher, more or less conclusively. As for the remainder of the Old Minoan substratum, i.e. the original pre-Greek Minoan language, I have been unable to decipher the rest of its vocabulary. But believe it or not, this factor is less of an impediment to the decipherment of Linear A than we might otherwise believe. I have been able to decipher at least 350 words out of a total of 1029, which is to say about 33 % of Linear A. 3. Each section of the final Comprehensive Lexicon, i.e. A: Mycenaean-derived New Minoan NM1 B: the pre-Greek substratum C: eponyms and toponyms D: Old Minoan vocabulary and E: ligatured logograms is accompanied by a detailed analysis and survey of its contents. 4. The final Lexicon contains a comprehensive bibliography of 84 items on every aspect I have detailed of the decipherment of Linear A as outlined in this preview.
Linear A tablet ZA 15 VERSO (Zakros), so little text, so information rich, all about wine, with yet another Old Minoan word conclusively deciphered!
If there is any Linear A tablet which conveys so much information in so few words, this has to be it. No one could be blamed for thinking that a tablet, whether or not it is inscribed in Linear A or Linear B, which contains only 2 words (qedi & kuro), 3 ideograms (wine) and one supersyllabogram would have little to say. But this is far from the case here. This tablet offers us the best of 3 worlds. First of all, the word kuro is Mycenaean-derived New Minoan; secondly, we are finally able to establish once and for all and beyond doubt that the Old Minoan word qedi actually means a flagon for wine. Since it appears on other Linear A tablets in conjunction with the same ideogram, wine, the meaning is indisputable; and thirdly, the supersyllabogram RA, as all supersyllabograms are, is information-rich. It can stand for only 1 of two possible Linear A words, rani or ratise, which are, believe it or not, practically synonymous. First we have rani, which means “anything sprinkled (as in a libation); rain drop”, and then ratise, which appears to be instrumental plural for “with drops of wine”. So the inscription reads the same way either way. I would like to point out as well that no linguist specializing in Linear A, not even Prof. John G. Younger, has drawn explicit attention to the supersyllabogram RA, which is critical to a proper reading of this tablet, since no Linear A, let alone Linear B, researchers have recognized supersyllabograms for what they are, until I myself deciphered all 36 of them in Linear B between 2014 and 2016, the results of my research consequently published in Archaeology and Science, Vol. 11 (2015) ISSN 1452-7448, pp. 73-108:
And not to be outdone, I have also already isolated the 27 supersyllabograms found in Linear A. It actually came as no surprise to me that Linear A has supersyllabograms.
As it so turns out, it was the Minoan Linear A scribes who invented supersyllabograms, not the Minoan-Mycenaean Linear B scribes. You will note that I have already been able to decipher 10 of the 27 SSYLS in Linear A, including that for RA, which in the pottery and vessels sector signifies “with drops of wine for a libation”. The enormous and far-reaching implications of supersyllabograms in both Linear A and Linear B cannot be stressed enough.
Minoan Linear A, Linear B, Knossos & Mycenae now has its own private domain name:
It is no longer evident from the domain name that this is a WordPress site. I have also cleaned up the Header to eliminate the annoying RSS Feed. Now you select any month/year the Monthly Archives right from the TOP of page.
Linear A vase rim inscription PE Zb 3 (Petras), terebinth trees:
The Linear A vase rim inscription PE Zb 3 (Petras) deals with terebinth trees, kitanasijase (instrumental plural), either surrounded by a (stone) enclosure or growing in a field. The inscription is entirely in Mycenaean-derived New Minoan. Since the Linear A word for terebinth tree, kitano (nominative masc. sing.) is all but identical to the Linear B word kitano, we can be quite certain that this tablet is inscribed in New Minoan.
On a passing note, I would like to point out that I have already deciphered over 60 Linear A tablets more or less accurately. That is far more than anyone has ever even attempted to decipher in the past.
RESEARCH paper: Supersyllabograms in the agricultural sector of the Mycenaean economy, by Rita Roberts academia.edu:
This essay constitutes Rita Robert’s first foray into major research in ancient Mycenaean linguistics on academia.edu. Rita has composed this highly scholarly article as the major component of her mid-term examination in her second year of university, exactly half way to her degree. Keeping up this pace, she is bound to perform outstandingly in her final essay of her second year, and in her third year thesis paper, which will be considerably more demanding than this study, and about twice as long.
I strongly recommend you to download this study here:
It makes for engaging reading in ancient linguistics research.
You can reach Rita’s academia.edu account here to view her other papers:
Linear A fragment PH 7 (Phaistos) which is definitely a religious incantation:
Linear A fragment PH 7 (Phaistos), entirely inscribed in Mycenaean-derived New Minoan, is definitely a religious incantation. It is fascinating to note that the incantation is highly reminiscent of the Christian mass or communion, call it what you will. The priestess pours water, udiriki (instr. sing.), from a cup, dipaja (gen. sing.) and offers jatimane or the blessed bread of healing to her suppliants, while the whole ceremony, apparently conducted in a small shrine, is illumined by a firebrand. What a lovely, intimate picture of a scared religious ceremony this draws!
Minoan Linear A decorated ceramic, kitina, Cf. Linear B kot0na = plot of land?
This Minoan Linear A decorated ceramic is inscribed with the single word, kitina, which looks very much like the Mycenaean Linear B word kotona or kotoina, which means “a plot of land”. If this is the case, it would appear that the ceramic is a personal token of the owner of a plot of land. It could also be a personal name, but this is less likely. What appears to ber the genitive singular, kitanasija, also appears in Linear A.
After 117 years, the Linear A vocabulary for 3 major grains (bran, wheat, barley) and for flax is conclusively deciphered:
Although decipherment of Linear A vocabulary for the primary Minoan grains has seemed beyond reach for the past 117 years, I believe that I may have actually cracked the vocabulary for at least 3 major Minoan grain crops, kireta2 (kiretai)/kiretana (attributive) = “barley”, dideru = “einkorn wheat”, kunisu = “emmer wheat” and for sara2 (sarai) = “flax”, while concurrently tackling 3 more grain crops, rumata(se), pa3ni (paini)/pa3nina (painina) (attributive), which I may or may not have managed to accurately identify. More on this below.
How did I manage to accomplish this feat? My first breakthrough came with the code-breaker, Linear A tablet HT 114 (Haghia Triada), on which appears the word kireta2 (kiretai). It just so happens that this is a match with the ancient Greek word, kritha(i) for “barley”, here Latinized:
Armed with this invaluable information, I then devised a procedure to extract the names of the other 2 major grains, dideru (Linear B equivalent, didero), and kunisu and for sara2 (sarai) from all of the Haghia Triada tablets. I selected the tablets from Haghia Triada because they mention grains far more often than any other extant Linear A tablets do, regardless of provenance, with the sole exception of Zakros ZA 20, which is a very close match with the many Linear A tablets from Haghia Triada dealing with grains.
The procedure I have adopted is tagged cross-comparative extrapolation (CCE). I scanned every last word related to grain on every last Linear A tablet from Haghia Triada, HT 1 – HT 154K on Prof. John G. Younger’s Linear A texts in phonetic transcription HT (Haghia Triada) for the recurrence and numerical frequency of each of these words. It strikes me as very odd that no one in the past 117 years since the first discovery of Linear A tablets at Knossos has ever thought of this or a similar cross-comparative procedure. While it is practically useless to try and extrapolate the meaning of each and every grain merely by examining them in context on any single Linear A tablet, regardless of provenance, because even in single tablet context, and even in the presence of other words apparently describing other type(s) of grain, we get absolutely nowhere, the outcome from cross-correlating every last one of these words on every last tablet from Haghia Triada paints an entirely different picture, a picture which is both comprehensive and all-embracing. Clear and unambiguous patterns emerge for each and every word, including the total incidence of all statistics for them all. The result is astonishing. The table below makes this transparently clear:
We see right off the top that all of the Haghia put together mention akaru, which means “field”, the equivalent of Linear B akoro, no fewer than 20 times! Additionally, the generic word for “wheat”, situ, corresponding to Linear B sito, surfaces 5 times. But this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Cross-comparative extrapolation of the next 4 grains has proven to be much more fruitful. The first of these is of course kireta2 (kiretai) ⁄ kiretana (attributive) for “barley”, which appears 149 times (!) on all of the Linear A tablets from Haghia Triada. I was definitely on to something big.
But the preliminary step I needed to take, before I actually attempted to identify the next 2 most common grains cultivated in the pre-Mycenaean and Mycenaean Minoan era, was to conduct a Google search on the 2 most common grains after barley grown in Minoan Crete. These are einkorn and emmer respectively. Returning to my cross-comparative extrapolative scan, I discovered the words dideru and kunisu recurring 40 times each. It just so happens that one previous researcher (whose name unfortunately escapes me for the time being, but whom I shall fully acknowledge when I publish my summary data on academia.edu) has accurately identified both of these types of wheat. As can be seen from the table above, these are dideru for “einkorn” and kunisu for “emmer” wheat respectively.
Moving on, fully realizing that sara2 (sarai) runs rampant on the Haghia Triada Linear A tablets, I discovered that this word recurs no less than 1321 times. Astonishing! But what does it mean? The answer was not long coming. The next most common crop the Minoans cultivated was flax, for the production of linen. Flax is not a grain, but is derived from flax flowers and seeds. This fully explains why sara2 (sarai) recurs with such astonishing frequency. Unlike the aforementioned grains, which would have been grown on a relatively restricted number of plots, in this case not exceeding 4o each, the number of flax flowers required to produce a sufficient flax harvest would have had to be very high… hence 1321. These stunning frescoes illustrate a male Minoan flax flower and a female flax seed gatherer:
Even from these 2 frescoes, we can easily see that the flax gatherers were kept busy picking what was required, a large flax crop, in this case running to 1321 flax seeds and flowers. No surprise here.
As a result of my exhaustive cross-comparative extrapolation of the first four Minoan crops, I have been able to define 3 of them for certain as grains, kireta2 (kiretai), dideru and kunisu, and one of them, sara2 (sarai) as flax. It is practically certain that all 4 definitions are correct. Hence, I have managed to isolate for the first time in 117 years the actual names of 4 major Minoan crops, barley, einkorn wheat, emmer wheat and flax.
However, when it comes to the next 5 crops, we run up against inescapable semiotic problems. What does each of these signifiers signify? There is no easy answer. On the other hand, I would have been remiss were I not to make a stab at extrapolating the names of these crops as well. It just so happens that the next most common grains after barley, einkorn and emmer cultivated by the Minoans were millet and spelt. And the next two words I extrapolated were rumata(se) and pa3ni (paini)/pa3nina/painina (attributive). But if one of them appears to be millet, the other is spelt, or vice versa. That is the conundrum. But the problem is compounded by the mystifying cumulative total statistics for each of these words, 1039 for rumata(se) and 1021 for pa3ni (paini)/pa3nina/painina (attributive). Why on earth are there so many recurrences of these 2 crops, when there are only 40 instances of dideru and kunisu? It does not seem to make any sense at all. Yet there is a possible explanation. While dideru and kunisu reference einkorn and emmer crops as crops per se, it would appear that rumata(se) and pa3ni (paini)/pa3nina/painina (attributive) refer to the seeds derived from the crops. It is the only way out of this impasse. However, it is not necessarily a satisfying answer, and so I have to reserve judgement on these definitions, which are interchangeable at any rate.
Next we have the ligatured logograms dare and kasaru, either of which might refer to the next most common crops, durum and lentils. But there is no way for us to corroborate this conclusion with any certainty. The verdict is out. Finally, the last word, kuzuni, might refer to 2 other, less common Minoan crops, either sesame or vetch for fodder. But once again, which one is which? Your guess is as good as mine.
Conclusions:
Nevertheless, one thing is certain. Every last one of these words identifies a Minoan crop. While most of them are grains, three of them are certainly not. One of them is clearly flax (sara2/sarai) The other two may or may not be lentils or sesame. But they probably are one or the other, if they are not on the other hand durum or vetch. In short, there several permutations and combinations for the last 5. Yet the circumstantial evidence for the first 4 appears quite solid enough to justify the definitions we have assigned, barley, einkorn, emmer and flax. So at least this constitutes a major breakthrough in the identification of these 4 for the first time in 117 years.
I shall eventually be publishing a much more comprehensive draft paper on this very subject on my academia.edu account, either this summer or autumn. I shall keep you posted.
Credible decipherment of several grains mentioned on of Linear A tablet HT 10 (Haghia Triada):After several abortive attempts at realizing a relatively convincing decipherment of Linear A tablet HT 10 (Haghia Triada), I believe I have finally managed to come through. This has to be one of the most challenging Linear A tablets I have ever been confronted with. Any credible decipherment eluded me for months on end, until it finally struck me that all I needed to do was to identify the grain crops most commonly cultivated in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Mediterranean. And this is precisely what I have just done. Neolithic and Bronze age grains cultivated in the Mediterranean during the Neolithic and Bronze Age eras (the most common italicized): barley (sara2/sarai?) * einkorn (dideru) * emmer (kunisu) * flax (sara2/sarai?) * freekeh (sara2/sarai?) * and bran (less common) bulgur (less common) groats (less common) lentils (less common) millet (dare -or- kasaru) spelt (dare -or- kasaru) vetch for fodder (less common) Now it strikes me that if we find any of these grains recurring on several Linear A tablets, and we do, these grains must be the most common cultivated then. As it so happens, the 3 grain crops most frequently referenced in Linear A tablets are dideru, kunisu and sarai2 (sarai). They appear over and over and in abundant quantities on several Linear A tablets from Haghia Triada (HT 8 HT 10 HT 28 HT 85-68 HT 91 HT 93 HT 95 HT 114 HT 121 & HT 133), on HM 570, on Khania KH 10, Kophinas KO Za 1 and on Zakros ZA 20. We now know for certain that dideru means “einkorn (wheat)” and kunisu “emmer (wheat)”. It is also highly likely that sara2 (sarai) references “barley”, “flax” or “freekah”. Which one we cannot be sure, but it almost certainly has to be one of these. In addition, we also find dare and kasaru on HT 10. It stands to reason that, by elimination, dare and kasaru are probably either “millet” or “spelt” or vice versa. I have eliminated bran, bulgur, groats, lentils and vetch, as these crops appear to have been relatively less common. Free translation of HT 10: emmer wheat on 4 hills + PA? + 16 1/2 bushel-like units of another type of grain (millet or spelt) *333? + RO + 6 *u325 + 14 bushel-like units of groats (?) + 2 1/2 of *301 (whatever that is), all stored in 8 vases, of which 2 are pithoi (very large) and also stored in 1 vessel of another type + 2 bushel-like units of bran, flax, millet or spelt & 16 young shoots of grain + 6 /12 of *312 TA ? & 6 bushel-like units of millet or spelt, of which 9 1/4 units were lost to death (i.e. never matured)... My preliminary research into the types of grains cultivated in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Mediterranean has clearly facilitated this plausible decipherment of HT 10, and has moreover confirmed my even more accurate translations of several other Linear A tablets dealing with grain, almost all of them co-incidentally from Haghia Triada.
A major advance in the decipherment of Linear A, the impact of 22 Linear A ligatured logograms, of which 12 are in Mycenaean-derived Greek:
Here we see 22 ligatured logograms in Linear B. By ligatured logograms we mean two or more Linear A syllabograms bound together as one unit. To date, no previous researcher, not even Andreas Zeke of the Minoan Language Blog, has isolated any more than 10 ligatured logograms. This comes as a great surprise to me, if not a real shock. Considering the huge impact these 22 ligatured logograms is bound to have on the decipherment of Linear A, why any ancient language linguist in the past 117 years since the discovery of the first Linear A tablets at Knossos would not account for all 22 of the ligatured logograms I have taken firmly into account is beyond me.
Since there are at least 2 syllabograms bound together, it is impossible to determine which syllabogram comes first. This means that in the case of 2 ligatured syllabograms, the word represented may be reversed. For instance, in the case of the first ligature in the table below, the ligature could be either aka or kae, although the first is more plausible in the second in this case. If the first ligature is indeed aka, then it is highly likely that it is the Linear A equivalent of the Greek word aska, which is the archaic accusative of askos (here Latinized), meaning “a leather bag or wine skin”, more likely the second than the first. In the case of the third, we have either kuwa, the exact Linear A equivalent of Linear B kowa, which deciphered means “girl”or if reversed, waku, which in ancient Greek is agu (Linear A orthography) or agos, meaning “any matter of religious awe/guilt/sacrifice”, of which the last definition is the most convincing.
12 Mycenaean-derived Greek ligatures:
When it comes to ligatures consisting of more than 2 syllabograms, the number of permutations and combinations rises dramatically. Whereas with 2 ligatured logograms there are only 2 possibilities, with 3 there are 9, and with 4 there are 16… at least theoretically. However, in practical terms, just one syllabogram, the first on the left, very likely certainly takes precedence, meaning that the number of permutations and combinations is probably no greater than 2 even in these cases. However, there is no way of knowing for certain. For instance, what are we to make of the eleventh ligature, which can read as either mesiki or sikime or kimesi, or as 6 additional permutations? As it so happens, 2 translations seem most plausible. The first is mesiki, which can be translated as Greek meseigu (Latinized), meaning “in the middle”, whereas the second is kimesi, which can be rendered as keimesi, instrumental plural of keimos, “with muzzles or halters for a horse”. Either translation is perfectly plausible; so we must account for both.
All in all, of the 22 ligatured logograms, 12 or over half are susceptible to translation into Greek. If anything, this illustrates the great impact of the Mycenaean-derived superstratum on Linear A. In this table, only 10 ligatures appear to be in Old Minoan, i.e. the original Minoan language, aka the Minoan substratum. Finally, with the addition of these 22 ligatured logograms and a few more words I have recently unearthed, the number of words in our Comprehensive Linear A Lexicon soars from 988 to an astonishing 1022, which means that the corpus of Linear A vocabulary now amounts to at least 20 % of that for Linear B. No previous Lexicon of Linear A even approaches this upper limit. Prof. John G. Younger’s Linear A Lexicon, the most thorough-going to date, contains only 774 intact Linear A terms, exclusive of broken words with some syllabograms missing, strings of greater than 15 syllabograms, and any words containing numeric syllabograms, which are utterly indecipherable at any rate. This means that our Lexicon is an astonishing 24.3 % larger than that of Prof. Younger. In addition, I have managed to decipher at least 30 % of Linear B, the highest amount ever. I shall be soon publishing our Lexicon on my academia.edu account, by mid-July at the latest, and it is bound to have a considerable impact on the ancient linguistics community.
Did the archaic nominative and/or genitive singular feminine ending in ja/ya in Mycenaean Greek derive from the Minoan language?In the glossary below of: A: masculine Mycenaean Linear B words ending in jo B: feminine Mycenaean Linear B words ending in ja C: Minoan Linear A words ending in ja These are the keys: nom. = nominative gen. = genitive All Linear B entries are drawn Latinized as is from Chris Tselentis’ Linear A Lexicon. A: Most Linear B nouns in jo are nominative: A-da-ra-ti-jo Adrastios nom. ai-ki-a2-ri-jo aigihalios = coastal, of the coast gen. a-ka-ta-jo Aktaios nom. a-ke-re-wi-jo Agrevios nom. akorajo= used for communal purposes + for the marketplace gen. a-mi-ni-si-jo Amnisos nom. a-pi-no-e-wi-jo ethnic name of Amphinoevioi gen. arejo = areios (divine epithet)nom. a-te-mi-ti-jo = Artemitios nom. da-ja-ro = Daiaros nom. da-mi-ni-jo = Damnios nom. da-ta-ja-ro = Dataiaros nom. da-wi-jo = ethnic name of Davios gen. de-u-ka-ri-jo = Deukalion nom. di-ka-ta-jo = Diktaios Cf. Linear A nom. di-u-jo + diwijo = belonging to Zeus gen. du-ni-jo = Dynios nom. dwo-jo = of two gen. e-to-ni-jo = etonion = free-hold nom. e-wi-ta-jo = ethnic name of Evitaios nom. kakijo = made of copper gen ku-te-se-jo = kyteseios = made from ebony gen. B: Most Linear words in ja are nominative: a-ko-ra-ja= used for communal purposes + for the marketplace gen. a-mo-te-wi-ja armothevia = description of a pot (gen. sing.?)gen. a-ne-moi-ere-ja = priestess of the winds nom. a-ni-ja = ania = reins (neut. pl.) nom. a-pa-ta-wa-ja = ethnic name of Aptarfaia nom. a-ra-ka-te-ja = alakateiai = weavers nom. a-ra-ru-ja = ararya = bound, equipped nom. a-re-ja = areia (divine epithet) nom. a-si-ja-ti-ja = Asiatiai nom. a-si-wi-ja = Asivia nom. a-te-re-wi-ja = Atreivia nom. da-wi-ja = ethnic name of Davia gen. de-di-ku-ja = dedikyia = being apprenticed adjectival di-pi-si-ja = ethnic name of Dipsia gen. di-u-ja = diyia = priestess of the god Zeus nom. e-qe-si-ja = related to a follower gen. e-ru-mi-ni-ja = elymniai = roof beams nom. e-sa-re-wi-ja = Esalevia nom. e-to-ki-ja = entoihia = fittings for insertion in walls nom. e-wi-ri-pi-ja = ethnic name of Evripia gen. i-je-re-ja = priestess nom. i-ni-ja = personal name = Inia nomm. i-pe-me-de-ja = personal name =Iphemedeia nom. ka-da-mi-ja = somee product related to garden cress nom. ka-ki-ja/ka-ke-ja = made of copper = khalkia gen. ka-pi-ni-ja = kapnia = chimney nom. ke-ra-me-ja = personal name = Kerameia nom. ke-ro-si-ja = geronsia = council of elders nom. + gen. ke-se-ne-wi-ja = xenwia adjectival ko-ki-re-ja = kolhireia = shell=shaped, spiral adjectival ko-no-si-ja = Knosia = ethnic name of Knossos gen. nu-wa-i-ja = numfaia = kind of textile of water-lily colour nom. + gen. pa-ta-ja = paltaia = arrow nom. po-si-da-e-ja = Posidaeia nom. pu-ka-ta-ri-ja = type of cloth nom. pu2-te-ri-ja = phuteria = planted, cultivated adjectival qe-ra-si-ja = Kerasia (name of goddess) nom. ra-e-ja = laheia = made of stone gen. ra-ja = Raia nom. ri-ne-ja = lineiai = flax workers nom. ro-u-si-je-wi-ja = Lousieveia = originating in/from Lousos gen. se-to-i-ja = Setoia nom. si-to-po-ti-ni-ja= sitopotnia = goddess of grain nom. + gen. te-o-po-ri-ja = Theophoria = religious feast nom. ti-ri-ja= tria = three nom. we-a-re-ja = vealeia = made of glass adjectival + gen. C: what are all the Minoan Linear A words below ending in ja supposed to represent? Are all or even some of them either nouns or adjectives? Just because they are in Mycenaean Linear B does not constitute proof that they are in Linear A. Nevertheless, they could be. NOTE that it is highly unusual, if not inexplicable, for there to be 57 words with the ultimate ja in Linear A, but none whatsoever ending in jo. This leads me to believe that it is extremely risky to assume that all of these Minoan words with ultimate ja are either nominative or genitive feminine singular. Just because they are in Mycenaean Linear B does not at all necessarily imply that they are so in Linear A. That would be jumping to conclusions. Nevertheless, there may be a case for assuming that Minoan Linear A words with ultimate ja may possibly be either nominative or genitive feminine singular, in which case it would appear that the Mycenaean nominative or genitive feminine singular words with the ultimate ja may possibly be derived from their Minoan precedents. But there is no way of proving this. C: 57/988 Minoan Linear A words with the ultimate ja: amaja aseja asuja dija Cf. LB di-u-ja = diyia = priestess of the god Zeus duja esija ija iruja itaja jadireja 10 jasaja jatoja kija kiraja koja kuja kupa3rija * kupaja masaja (of larger? L&S 426) masuja 20 mireja (belonging to a sheep? L&S 443) musajanemaruja namarasasaja nenaarasaja nemaruja nenaarasaja nukisikija * oteja pa3kija paja 30 pasarija * pija piwaja qapaja qeja radasija * raja rasasaja redamija * reduja 40 reja saja/sajea sejarapaja sidija * sija sudaja suja Sukirteija tija tikuja 50 tiraduja tuimaja Tukidija Tunija waja (land) wija zanwaija 57 These 57 Minoan Linear A words may be either: 1 the primordial nominative singular feminine OR 2 the primordial genitive singular feminine OR 3 neither The last scenario is just as probable as the first two.
Decipherment of Linear A tablet HT 14 (Haghia Triada) with John G. Younger’s errors corrected:
Rita Robert’s translation of an extremely challenging Linear B tablet, KN 903 D a 01:Linear B Latinized: Line 1: Watoakoraya + ideogram for “rams” 60 + ideo for “ewes” 270 + ideo for aiza = billy goat 49 Line 2: ideogram for “she goat” 130 + ideo for siaro = “boar” 17 + ideo for sow 41 + ideo for tauro -or- toro = “bull/ox” + ideo for “cow” 4 Decipherment: Line 1: From the market in Wato (or: from the town market), 60 rams and 270 ewes plus 49 billy goats Line 2: along with 130 she goats plus 17 boar plus 41 sows 2 bulls and 4 cows
Decipherment of the RECTO of Linear A tablet HT 86 (Haghia Triada):
It is possible to decipher this tablet and several others dealing with grain crops with a reasonable degree of accuracy and, in the case of some words, with complete accuracy. The Linear A word akaru is almost certainly the equivalent of akaro, and not of akareu, in Linear B, the latter interpretation of John G. Younger being utterly out of the question in context. The standard Old Minoan words for “emmer wheat” and “roasted einkorn” are kunisu and dideru. The second of these words, dideru, is equivalent to Linear B, didero, but neither word appears in any later ancient Greek dialect, leading me to draw the inference that dideru/didero is either archaic proto-Mycenaean Greek or that it falls within the pre-Greek substratum or alternatively that it is Old Minoan (OM). As for dame, it appears to be dative singular for damu (Linear A) or damo (Linear B), hence grains “for the village wheat”. Finally, minute would appear to signify “and for one month”, te being enclitic, meaning “and”, with the entire phrase derived from mini = “month”. The actual case structure for the ultimate u has yet to be determined for Old Minoan. Unfortunately, it will be some time before I can tackle Old Minoan grammar (declensions and conjugations), as I must first decipher as many Old Minoan, pre-Greek substratum and Mycenaean-derived words as I can in Linear A. And these run to at least 300 out of 988 Minoan words I have isolated.
Comprehensive Linear A lexicon of 988 words, with 214 more entries than in John G. Younger’s Reverse Linear A Lexicon:This lexicon comprises all of the intact words in John G. Younger’s Reverse Linear A Lexicon (which is far from comprehensive) plus every last intact word on every single tablet at his site, wherever any of the latter are not found in the former, along with additional Linear vocabulary which I have found on my own. By my count, there are 988 words, 214 more than in Prof. John G. Younger’s Reverse Linear A Lexicon, which has 774 entries, not counting numeric syllabograms, of which no one knows the phonetic values at any rate + long strings + broken series of syllabograms, though I may have made the occasional error in addition, since I had to subtract some repetitive words and add others from the tablets, which are not in the Reverse Linear A Lexicon. Words which are apparent variants of one another are listed under one entry, e.g. daka/daki/daku/dakuna dakusene(ti) japa/japadi/japaku kira/kiro/kirisi/kiru maru/maruku/maruri merasasaa/merasasaja nesa/nesaki/nesakimi piku/pikui/pikuzu reda/redamija/redana/redasi saro/saru/sarutu tami/tamia/tamisi zare/zaredu/zareki/zaresea The following entries have been deliberately omitted: 1 Words containing any syllabograms which are either partially or wholly numeric, since we do not know what the phonetic values of these syllabograms are, 2 Broken series of syllabograms & 3 Strings of syllabograms > than 15 characters. This is the raw Lexicon, without definitions. Definitions of Old Minoan (OM), pre-Greek substratum (PGS) and Mycenaean-derived New Minoan (NM) terms will soon be published in sub-Lexicons pursuant to this Lexicon on my academia.edu account. adai adakisika adara/adaro/adaru ade/adu Adunitana adureza aduza ajesa aju Akanu/Akanuzati = Archanes (Crete) = 10 aka akaru aki/akii = garlic akipiete(ne?) akumina ama amaja amawasi amidao/amidau amita = 20 ana ananusijase anatu anau anepiti aparane apaki apero api ara = 30 araju arako aranare/aranarai (sing.) arati aratiatu aratu arauda aredai Arenesidi aresana = 40 ari/arinita arisu arokaku arote aru/arudara aruma aruqaro arura asadaka asamune = 50 asara2 asasumaise ase/asi aseja asidatoi asijaka asikira asisupoa asona asuja = 60 Asupuwa atade atanate atare ati atika atiru atu aurete awapi = 70 azura daa dadai/dadana dadipatu dadumata dadumina/dadumine dai/daina daipita dajute daka/daki/daku/dakuna = 80 dakusene(ti) damate Cf. Linear B damate dame/dami/daminu danasi danekuti daqaqa daqera dare darida daropa = 90 darunete daserate dasi datapa datara/datare data2 datu dawa (Haghia Triada) CF LB dawo daweda dea = 100 deauwase dedi dejuku demirirema depa/depu deripa detaa dide/didi dideru didikase/didikaze = 110 dii dija/dije dika Dikate = Mount Dikte dikime dikise dima dimaru dimedu dinaro = 120 dinau dipa3a dipaja diqise dirasa diredina dirina diru disa disipita = 130 ditajaru ditamana = dittany du/dua/duja dumaina dumedi dumitatira2 (dumitatirai) dunawi dupa3na dupu3re dura2 = 140 durare duratiqe dureza/durezase dusi/dusini dusima dusu duti duwi duzu edamisa = 150 edu eka epa3 ero esija etanasu etori ezusiqe ia Ida/Idaa/Idada/Idapa3 = Mount Ida = 160 Idamate/idamete Idarea idunesi iduti ija ijadi ijapame ijate ika Ikesedesute = 170 Ikurina ikuta ima imeti inaimadu inajapaqa ipinama ira2 iruja isari = 180 ise itaja itaki itijukui itinisa Ititikuna Izurinita jaa jadi/jadikitu = 190 jadireja jadisi jadu jadurati jai jainwaza jaiterikisu jaitose jaja jakisikinu = 200 jako/jaku/jakute jamaa jamauti jami/jamidare januti japa/japadi/japaku japametu japanidami japarajase jara2qe = 210 jara/jare/jaremi jarepu2 jarete jari/jarina/jarinu jaripa3ku jarisapa jaru/jarui jasaja jasamu jasapai = 220 jasaraanane jasasarame jasidara jasea/jasepa jasie jasumatu jata/jatai/jatapi jate/jateo jatimane jatituku+ jatituku (repeated) = 230 jatoja jawi jedi jeka jemanata jetana jua judu juerupi juka = 240 juma/jumaku juraa jureku juresa jutiqa juu ka (extremely common) kada/kadasaa kadi kadumane = 250 kadusi kae kai/kaika kairo kaji/kaju kaki/kaku kakunete kami kana/kanatiti/kanau kanajami = 260 kanaka kanita kanuti kapa/kapaqe/kapi kaporu kapusi kaqa/kaqe kara karona karopa2 (karopai) = 270 karu karunau kasaru kasi kasidizuitanai Kasikidaa kasitero katanite kataro scarab (Egyptian) kati kaudeta = 280 keda keire kekiru kera/kero keta/kete ketesunata kezadidi kida/kidi kidapa kidaro = 290 kidata kidini kidiora kii/kiipa kija kika kikadi kikiraja kimu kina = 300 kinima kinite kipaa kipisi (fairly common) kiqa kira/kiro kireta2 kiretana kireza kiro/kirisi/kiru = 310 kiso kisusetu kitai/kitei kitanasija kitiqa kito koiru koja kopu koru = 320 Kosaiti kuda kuja kujude kuka kukudara kumaju kumapu kunisu kupa/kupi = 330 kupa3natu kupa3nu kupa3pa3 kupa3rija kupaja kupari Kupatikidadia kupazu kuqani kura/kuramu =340 kurasaqa kureda kureju kuro/kurotu kuto kuruku kuruma kutiti Kutaistos Cf. LB Kitaito kutukore kuzuni = 350 maa madadu madi mai/maimi majutu makaise makaita makarite makidete mana/manapi (common)= 360 maniki manirizu manuqa maru/maruku/maruri masa/masaja masi/masidu masuja masuri matapu mateti = 370 matiti matizaite matu maza/mazu meda medakidi mekidi mepajai mera merasasaa/merasasaja (very common) = 380 mesasa mesenurutu meto meturaa meza mia midai midani midamara2 (midamarai) midara = 390 midemidiu mie miima mijanika mijuke mikidua mikisena minaminapii minedu mini/miniduwa = 400 minumi minute (sing. minuta2 – minutai) mio/miowa mipa mireja miru mirutarare misimiri misuma mita = 410 miturea mizase mujatewi muko mupi murito muru musaja naa nadare = 420 nadi/nadiradi/nadiredi nadiwi nadu nadunapu2a naisizamikao naka nakiki nakininuta nakuda namarasasaja = 430 namatiti nami namikua/namikuda namine nanau nanipa3 napa3du narepirea naridi narinarikui = 440 narita naroka naru nasarea nasekimi nasi nasisea nataa/nataje natanidua natareki (common) = 450 nati nazuku/nazuru nea neakoa nedia nedira neka/nekisi nemaduka nemaruja nemiduda = 460 nemusaa Nenaarasaja neqa neramaa nerapa/nerapaa nere nesa/nesaki/nesakimi nesasawi nesekuda neta = 470 netapa netuqe nidapa nidiki/nidiwa niduti nijanu niku/nikutitii nimi nipa3 nira2 (nirai) -or- nita2 (nisai) = 480 niro/niru nisi nisudu nisupu niti nizuka nizuuka nua nude nuki/nukisikija = 490 numida/numideqe nupa3ku (extremely common) nupi nuqetu nuti/nutini Nutiuteranata nutu nuwi odami/odamia opi = 500 ora2dine (oraidine) osuqare otanize oteja pa (common)/paa padaru padasuti pade padupaa Paito = Phaistos = 510 pa3a/pa3ana pa3da pa3dipo pa3katari pa3kija pa3ku pa3ni/pa3nina/pa3niwi pa3pa3ku pa3qa pa3roka = 520 pa3sase pa3waja paja/pajai/pajare paka (very common)/paku (very common)/pakuka pamanuita panuqe para parane paria paroda = 530 parosu pasarija pase pasu pata/patada/pataqe/patu patane pia/pii pija/pijani/pijawa piku/pikui/pikuzu pimata pimento = 540 pimitatira2 (pimitatirai) pina/pini pirueju pisa pita/pitaja pitakase/pitakesi pitara piwaa piwaja piwi = 550 posa potokuro pu2juzu pu2su/pu2sutu pu3pi pu3tama puko punikaso puqe pura2 = 560 pusa/pusi pusuqe qara2wa qa2ra2wa qajo qaka qanuma qapa3 (qapai) qapaja/qapajanai qaqada = 570 qaqaru qareto Qaqisenuti qaro qasaraku qatidate qati/qatiki qatiju qedeminu qeja = 580 qeka qenamiku qenupa qepaka qepita qepu qequre qera2u/qera2wa qeri qero = 590 qerosa qesite qesizue qesupu qesusui qeta2e qeti/qetiradu qetune qisi qoroqa = 600 quqani raa rada/radaa/radakuku/radami radarua radasija radizu radu ra2i ra2ka ra2madami = 610 ra2miki ra2natipiwa ra2pu/ra2pu2 ra2ri (rairi) = lily ra2rore ra2ru ra2saa raja/raju rakaa raki/rakii/rakisi/raku = 620 ranatusu rani raodiki rapa/rapu rapu3ra raqeda rarasa rarua rasa/rasi rasamii = 630 rasasaa/rasasaja rata/ratapi ratada ratise (ritise?) razua rea reda (common)/redana/redasi redamija redise reduja = 640 reja/rejapa rekau rekotuku reku/rekuqa/rekuqe rema/rematuwa remi renara/renaraa renute repa Repu2dudatapa = 650 repu3du reqasuo reradu rera2tusi reratarumi rerora2 rese/resi/resu See sere retaa/retada retaka retata2 = 660 retema reza rezakeiteta ria (common) ridu rikata rima rimisi ripaku ripatu = 670 riqesa rira/riruma rirumate risa Risaipa3dai Risumasuri ritaje rite/ritepi ritoe rodaa/rodaki = 680 roika roke/roki/roku romaku romasa ronadi rore/roreka rosa = rose rosirasiro rotau roti = 690 rotwei rua rudedi ruiko ruja rujamime ruka/rukaa/ruki/rukike Rukito ruko rukue = 700 ruma/rumu/rumata/rumatase rupoka ruqa/ruqaqa (common) rusa (common/rusaka rusi rutari rutia ruzuna sadi saja/sajama/sajamana = 710 sajea saka sama/samaro samidae samuku sanitii sapo/sapi saqa saqeri sara2 (sarai)/sarara =720 sareju saro/saru/sarutu sasaja sasame = sesame sasupu sato sea/sei sedina sedire seikama = 730 Seimasusaa seitau sejarapaja sejasinataki sekadidi sekatapi sekidi Sekiriteseja sekutu semake = 740 semetu senu sepa sere sesapa3 Sesasinunaa Setamaru Seterimuajaku setira Setoija = 750 Sewaude sezami sezanitao sezaredu sezatimitu sia sidare/sidate sidi/sidija sii/siida/siisi siitau = 760 sija Sijanakarunau sika siketapi sikine Sikira/sikirita sima simara simita simito/simitu = mouse = 770 sina sinada sinae sinakanau (common) sinakase sinamiu sinatakira sinedui sipiki sipu3ka = 780 sire/siro/siru/sirute siriki Sirumarita2 Sitetu situ siwamaa sokanipu sokemase sudaja suja = 790 Sukirita/Sukiriteija = Sybrita suniku (common) supa3 (supai) supi/supu sure Suria suropa sutu/sutunara suu suzu = 800 taa tadaki/tadati tadeuka taikama Tainaro tainumapa Ta2merakodisi ta2re/ta2reki ta2riki Ta2rimarusi = 810 ta2tare ta2tite ta2u tajusu takaa/takari taki/taku/takui tamaduda tanamaje tanate/tanati Tanunikina = 820 tamaru tami/tamia/tamisi tani/taniria/tanirizu taniti tapa tapiida tapiqe tara/tarina tarasa tarawita = 830 tarejanai tarikisu taritama tasa/tasaja tasise tata/tati tateikezare tedasi/tedatiqa tedekima teepikia = 840 Teizatima tejai tejare tekare teke/teki tekidia temada/temadai temeku temirerawi tenamipi = 850 tenata/tenataa tenatunapa3ku tenekuka teneruda teniku tenitaki tenu/tenumi (common) tepi tera/tere/teri tera teraseda = 860 tereau tereza teri/teridu terikama tero/teroa terusi (extremely common) tesi/tesiqe Tesudesekei tetita2 tetu = 870 Tewirumati Tidama tidata tidiate tiditeqati tiduitii/tiisako tija tika tikiqa tikuja = 880 Tikuneda timaruri/timaruwite timasa timi timunuta tina Tinakarunau tinata (common)/tinita tinesekuda tininaka = 890 tinu/tinuka tinusekiqa tio tiqatediti tiqe/tiqeri/tiqeu tiraduja tira2 tirakapa3 tire tisa = 900 tisiritua tisudapa Tita titema titiku titima tiu tiumaja tizanukaa toipa = 910 tome toraka = Linear B toraka toreqa tuda tujuma tukidija tukuse tuma/tumi/tumitizase tunada/tunapa tunapa3ku = 920 Tunija tupadida tuqe turaa Turunuseme turusa tusi/tusu/tusupu2 tute/tutesi udami/udamia udimi = 930 udiriki uju uki Uminase unaa unadi (common) unakanasi unana unarukanasi/unarukanati upa = 940 uqeti urewi uro uso/usu uta/uta2 utaise utaro uti waduko waduna = 950 Wadunimi waja wanai wanaka wapusua wara2qa watepidu watumare wazudu wetujupitu = 960 widina widui wija Wijasumatiti Winadu winipa winu winumatari wiraremite wireu = 970 wirudu Wisasane witero zadeu/zadeujuraa zadua zama/zame zanwaija zapa zare/zaredu/zareki/zaresea zasata = 980 zirinima zudu zukupi zuma zupaku zusiza zusu zute = 988 VERSUS Younger = 774 ( – numeric syllabograms + long strings + broken series of syllabograms). Hence Younger’s lexicon amounts to 78.3 % of this one, i.e. this lexicon contains 214 more entries and is 21.7 % longer.
For the first time ever in history, a conjectural full restoration of an entire Linear A tablet, ZA 20 (Zakros):
In the previous post, I conjectured how the text of the missing top of Linear A tablet ZA 20 (Zakros) might have read. While we shall never know for certain, one thing is sure: we do know that the entire tablet dealt with grain crops. It therefore stands to reason that the missing text on the top must have inventoried grains. With this firmly in mind, I have endeavoured to reconstruct what I believe how the missing text may have read. It could very well have run something along these lines:
kireta2 (kiretai) 11 dideru 42 dideru 30 qerie 22 qerie 6
NOTE that kireta2 (kiretai) is the Minoan orthography for Greek krithai (Latinized), which of course is barley.
Translation: 11 bushel-like units of barley, 42 units of emmer wheat, 30 units of emmer wheat mixed with 22 units of roasted einkorn, and 6 units of pure roasted einkorn
for a total of 111
which when taken into account with total of 19 on the bottom half of the tablet yields a grand total of 130.
Hence the decipherment of the entire tablet with the top half restored as conjectured, reads as follows:
11 bushel-like units of barley, 42 units of emmer wheat, 30 units of emmer wheat mixed with 22 units of roasted einkorn, and 6 units of pure roasted einkorn + ro? with dry units of measurement (i.e. bushel-like units) + 4 units of mi? + ? + ? + along with 1 bushel-like unit of wheat 7 12 bushel-like units of te*123 (flax?) + 2 bushels of rumatase (spelt?) for a grand total of 130.
As you can readily see, this decipherment makes perfect sense, and in any case, even if the text of original tablet did not read quite this way, it must have read very much like this.
You will forgive my awful scribal hand. I cannot hope to be able to replicate the finer hand of the original scribe.
A solid decipherment of Linear A tablet ZA 20 (Zakros), which definitely deals with several types of crops:Even though at the very least the top half of Linear A tablet ZA 20 (Zakros) is missing, it definitely deals with several types of crops. This is abundantly clear from the extant text on the bottom half (or less) of the tablet, in which we find, not one but 2 references to wheat, and to another crop, rumatase, which remains undeciphered, but which in all probability means “flax”. This word could also be Mycenaean-derived New Minoan for luma (Latinized Greek) for “offscourings”, the process whereby impurities are removed from grain crops, in this case, the extraction of chaff from wheat. It makes perfect sense in context. Given that at least half of the top of this tablet is lost, the question is, what does it reference? It is apparent from the remaining extant text on the bottom of this tablet, which deals with wheat twice, that the missing upper part of the tablet should deal with grain crops. There are indeed several words in Linear A which are grain crop-specific. These are dideru = “emmer wheat”, qerie = “roasted einkorn” and sara2/sarai = “sharia wheat”. It is highly likely that the missing top portion of this tablet deals with at least one of these crops, or with 2 or even all 3 of them. In addition, mention may well have been made of either or both barley and flax crops.
In view of the fact that the sum total for all crops on this tablet = 130, whereas the totals for the crops on the bottom half = 19 only, we are left with 111 units of something unaccounted for... and what might be that something?... other grain crops, of course. Otherwise, how are we to account for the 111 missing units on the lost portion of this tablet? We cannot. These 111 units, which were definitely tallied on the missing top of the tablet, must have been standard units of dry measurement for grain crops, something akin to our modern bushels. Of course, bushels are merely a speculative approximation, since there is no way we can know what the standard units of dry measurement for crops were either in the Minoan or Mycenaean eras, historically remote as they are. All we can do is hazard an approximation. But at least bushels at least give us some idea of what we are dealing with here. Evidence for a substantive inventory of several grain crops on this tablet is further buttressed by the presence of the word durezase, in an oblique case of dureza, which I have (and I believe correctly) deciphered as one standard unit of dry measurement in Minoan, in other words one unit roughly approximating the modern bushel. So the accumulation of circumstantial evidence lends even further credence to our decipherment. Finally, the decipherment makes so much sense contextually that it is more likely than not correct.
Sappho, spelled (in the dialect spoken by the poet) Psappho, (born c. 610, Lesbos, Greece — died c. 570 BCE). A lyric poet greatly admired in all ages for the beauty of her writing style.
Her language contains elements from Aeolic vernacular and poetic tradition, with traces of epic vocabulary familiar to readers of Homer. She has the ability to judge critically her own ecstasies and grief, and her emotions lose nothing of their force by being recollected in tranquillity.
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