Linear A Texts
in phonetic transcription

Introduction

inaugural date: 26 November 2000; last update: 7 September 2008

For recent changes & updates, click here.


Comments, corrections, questions: John Younger (jyounger@ku.edu)


For the Linear A texts from Haghia Triada (Ayia Triada)

For other Linear A texts

For Linear A religious texts grouped separately

Bibliography from 1980 (with select works prior)

FONTS
The following fonts are available for Macintosh OS 9 (NOT OS X) (courtesy Jean-Pierre Olivier):
  • Phaistos Disc - "Phaistos 12.hqx", "Phaistos 48.hqx"
  • Cretan Hieroglyphic - "Mobile 18.hqx" (for clay texts), "Malia-thick 18.hqx" (for sealstones)
  • Linear A - "Knossos 18.hqx"
  • Linear B - "Mycenae 12.hqx", "Mycenae 18.hqx"
  • Linear B Ideograms "ID. B 18.hqx"

    The following fonts are now available (7 Sep 08) for Macintosh OS X (courtesy Jean-Pierre Olivier):

  • Cretan Hieroglyphic for MAC OS X
    Malia-Maigre for inscriptions
    Malia-Gros for sealstones and seal impressions


    • For Windows, David Willem Borgdorff has designed a Linear A font: "LA.ttf.hqx"

    • The fonts have been stored in binhex mode; after you download them (ignore all warnings), they must be "unstuffed" (for a free "Unstuffit" program; quit all programs, install the fonts in your Macintosh/Windows Harddrive/Systems/Fonts folder, and then restart your word-processing package.

    Grids for Linear A & B.

    Grid for Cretan Hieroglyphic.


    For the Linear A and B grids, click here.

    The phonetic transcriptions use Linear B values for Linear A signs assumed to be the same (Louis Godart, "Du Lineaire A au Lineaire B," Aux origines de l'hellénisme: La Crète et la Grèce. Hommage à Henri van Effenterre [Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, Histoire Ancienne et Médiévale 15, 1984], 121-128). Also see below, "Phonetic values of the signs."

    List of words appearing in both Linear A and Linear B
    DA-I-PI-TA (ZA 8.5, 10a.4-5; KN B 799.1)
    I-JA-TE (PH Zb 4; PY Eq 146.9)
    I-TA-JA (HT 28a.6; KN Ap 769.2, Xe 537.2)
    KI-DA-RO (HT 47a.4, 117a.9, 122a.2-3?; KN E 842.3), A-KI-DA-RO (KH Wa 1001a+g)
    PA-I-TO (HT 97a.3, 120.6; KN 59 occurrences)
    SE-TO-I-JA (PR Za 1b; KN 22 occurrences)
    SU-KI-RI-TA (PH Wa 32; KN 9 occurrences), SU-KI-RI-TE-I-JA (HT Zb 158b)
    possibly A-RA-KO (KO? Zf 2; KN 5 occurrences)

    The transcribed texts are based on a transnumeration and phonetic normalization finished 22 March 1994 by John G. Younger; Jean-Pierre Olivier checked this document against GORILA (see below) vols. I-V and a ms. of VI, and put in tabular form in January and February 1997. Since then, there have been continual updates.

    GORILA = Louis Godart and Jean-Pierre Olivier, Recueil des inscriptions en Linéaire A. Études Crétoises 21, vols. 1-5. (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1976-1985, now out of print; but de Boccard [below] has copies).

  • Volume 1: Tablettes éditées avant 1970 (EtCret 21:1; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1976) ISBN X16534
  • Volume 2: Nodules, scellés et rondelles édités avant 1970 (EtCret 21:2; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1976) ISBN X16435
  • Volume 3: Tablettes, nodules et rondelles édités en 1975 et 1976 (EtCret 21:3; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1976) ISBN X16436
  • Volume 4: Autres documents (EtCret 21:4; Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner 1982) ISBN X16437
  • Volume 5: Addenda, corigenda, concordances, index et planches des signes (EtCret 21:4; Paris: Libraire Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris 1985) ISBN X16433


    GORILA, NOW (Nov. 2002) available from Diffusion de Boccard for Euros 76 per volume:
    11 rue de Médicis
    75006 Paris FRANCE
    T: (33) 1-432-60037
    F: (33) 1-435-48583
    http://www.deboccard.com/anglais/Rub/cata.htm


    • Bibliographical Abbreviation


    Epigraphical Conventions

    SIGN[ = text broken off at left
    ]SIGN = text broken off at right
    SIGN = the reading of SIGN is doubtful
    • (i.e., • flanked by spaces) = word-divider
    -• or •- or -•- = unidentified sign
    [[ SIGN ]] = erased but legible sign
    <TEXT> = TEXT once extant, now lost


    Types of Supports (the objects that receive writing)
    category = tablet
    Wa = nodules/noduli
    Wb = sealing
    Wc = roundel
    Za = stone vessel
    Zb = pot
    Zc = inked inscription
    Zd = graffito
    Ze = architecture
    Zf = metal object
    Zg = stone object

    There are some 1427 documents with a total occurrence of 7147 signs (contrast: Hieroglyphic: some 360 documents [including seals and the 23 unpublished documents from Petras] with fewer than a total occurrence of 1000 signs; Linear B: some 4600+ documents with over 72,000 signs).,


    My Goals for Establishing This Website

    I have three major goals for this website.

    The first is to make available the results of GORILA to the wider public. This website is not a substitute for GORILA since it "normalizes" and phonetically transcribes GORILA's edited versions of the Linear A documents.

    My second goal is to work publicly on the Minoan administrative process, how commodities were assessed, collected, and distributed.

    My third goal is to tease, from an understanding of the administrative process, the administrative vocabulary (e.g., the terms for "total" and for "deficit") and its grammar and syntax.

    I am NOT interested in producing a decipherment of Linear A -- please see "Decipherments," below.


    What Is Known about Linear A


    Chronology
    Hieroglyphic is probably the first script to appear; seals dating from primarily MM I contexts (MM IA or IB) include CMS II.1 nos. 391, 393, and 394 from Archanes Phournoi. Hieroglyphic documents come from four main deposits in Crete: Malia, Quartier Mu (MM II late); Petras (MM IIB); Malia Palace (MM [IIB-]III); and the Knossos Hieroglyphic Deposit (an assemblage of material from the end of the Long Corridor in the West Wing and surrounding area. Since the sealstones that impressed the KN sealings were all hard stone seals, the impressed sealings at least should date to MM IIB-III. No Hieroglyphic document can be dated later than MM III.

    Linear A documents appear soon after the first appearance of Hieroglyphic writing, the earliest may be KN 49 from Knossos, South House, MM IIA context (its inscription is a badly legible fraction; it could be Hieroglyphic). From MM II contexts come ARKH Zf 9; and PH 6-19, 22, 24-28, 30 [Haghia Photini], Wb 33-36, Wc 37-41, 43, 44, 46, 52, 55, Wg 45, and Wy 42. Another tablet from somewhere in the palace at Phaistos is assigned to Hieroglyphic (CHIC #122).

    The bulk of datable Linear A documents come from contexts dated MM III (Kea, Knossos, Malia, Phaistos), to LM IA (Gournia?, Thera), and to LM IB (Arkhanes, Haghia Triada, Kea, Khania, Petras, Pseira, Pyrgos, Zakros).

    Note: Hieroglyphic and Linear A were therefore being written more or less contemporaneously from MM II to MM III at Knossos (MM II and III) and Malia (Palace, MM III), and possibly at Phaistos (MM II).

    A few Linear A inscriptions come from Final Palatial contexts. Three occur on objects that probably were made earlier but were found in later contexts: ARM sealstone, KH 94 and Wc 2117 & 2118 (all from fills), and MM III pithos KN Zb 35 (LM II context). Three others, however, were probably all written after the LM Ib destructions: the LM II pithoid jar KN Zb 40, the inscribed block KN Ze 16 on the Kephala tholos (LM II?), and the painted inscription on PO Zg 1, a terracotta statuette from Poros (LM III A:1-2 by style and context). It is therefore possible that Linear A survived the LM Ib destructions, though barely .

    In the Neopalatial period, and probably as early as LM IA, Linear A was developing in such a way as to produce Cypro-Minoan and, eventually, Linear B. The earliest Cypro-Minoan document, the "Grand" tablet from Enkomi comes from a 16th century context. The earliest Linear B documents seem to be those from the Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos (LM II or possibly LM III A1). This would be the time Palaima 1988 would assign for the creation of Linear B, when, on the Mainland, major Mycenaean centers had major administrative buildings on their heights, the larger tholoi were being constructed, and trade was expanding. According to Palaima, Linear B was created probably at a single moment, either "from above" (a directive) or "within the close confines of palatially oreinted bureaucracies whch then sanctioned the invetnion and continued to apply it to narrow record-keeping tasks." (1988: 341)

    Some Hieroglyphic signs, not Linear A signs, are the prototypes for Linear B signs (e.g., CHIC sign 40 for Linear B ro2 and 78 for Linear B du); it is possible that Linear B was developing earlier than LM/LH II and incorporating more than one source.

    Other linear scripts may have similarly developed from Linear A farther east: see the inscription from Lachish (Finkelberg 1996).


    Decipherment
    My own aim in producing these webfiles has NOT been to decipher Linear A.

    There are, however, two approaches that I don't believe work: the "acrophonic" principle, and using vocabulary to identify a language.

    The acrophonic process
    Decipherments based on reading the signs as pictograms, then identifying what the object is termed in some language, and then identifying the phonetic value of the sign as the initial sound or first phoneme (the acrophonic principle) -- this process does not seem to work for Linear A for two major reasons.

    1, the identifying term for the "pictogram" cannot be proved in advance of deciphering the script.

    2, it can be demonstrated that, for several signs, the acrophonic princple did not operate. Hieroglyphic *012 , a bull-head, becomes Linear AB 23 MU and Hiero *060 , a cat face, Linear AB 80 MA. My guess is that the phonetic value of these signs reflect the sound the animal makes, "moo" and "miaow" (in English). And there are other examples where the sound of the object seemingly relates to its phonetic value (e.g., Hiero *057 , a key sistrum, becomes AB 67 KI [the clinking sound of a metal rattle]).

    Using vocabulary to identify a language
    For me, vocabulary does not necessarily identify a language (English, for instance, has a large German, French and Classical Greek and Latin vocabulary); grammar seems to identify a specific language more securely. Thus, I am not immediately swayed by the process of identifying words in another language as Linear A words (e.g., KU-NI-SU in Linear A as the Semitic term for emmer wheat) -- this is not to say that I don't find such correspondences impressive and interesting. Compare Nakassis and Pluta 2003: 335: "A number of scholars have attempted to decipher Linear A, identifying it with known languages such as Semitic, Luwian, and even Greek. These studies begin by attempting to etymologize a small number of individual words, largely ignoring overall context."

    My own method has been strictly internal, to examine the texts as accounting documents, and to identify transaction terms and patterns in vocabulary, paying special attention to vocabulary variations especially in prefixes and suffixes, in order to tease out a grammar.

    Whatever language Linear A turns out to be (Semitic, Indo-Hittite, Greek, or Martian), will be fine with me; I have no set predisposition.


    Language
    Linear A has not yet been demonstrably linked to any known language family.

    "The languages which have been used for comparison are of two families: Indo-European, especially an Anatolian language such as Luwian (Palmer, Meriggi [and Ed Brown of UNC-CH]); Semitic (Gordon, Best, and others)... First no inflexional forms such as characterize Indo-European or Semitic languages can be clearly demonstrated, hence the identifications depend largely on vocabulary, which is notoriously easily borrowed. Secondly, the Semitic comparisons are mainly with triconsonantal roots -- yet if the vowels are ignored we are leaving out half the information presented by the script, and thus much decreasing the chances of success. Thirdly, if the languge of Linear A does not belong to a well-known family, then the chances of identifiying it are virtually nil. This is not to say that Linear A remains undecipherable; as more documents are found and published, we shall understand more of it. But I doubt very much if speculation at this stage can help; I feel strongly that is likely to belong to an unfamiliar type." (Chadwick 1975: 147)

    Since Crete appears to have been deliberately colonized in developed Neolithic, probably from SW Anatolia, it would seem logical to assume that the Minoan language was related to one of the Indo-Hittite dialects, most probably Luvian.

    It is possible to direct our search for the Minoan language more concretely: the few recognizable verbs (see below) seem to use -SI and -TI (vel sim.) as alternating forms, perhaps as singular and plural respectively.


    Phonetic values of the signs (Godart 1984, amplifying Olivier's previous list)
    certain: DA, I, JA, KI, PA, PI, RO, RI, SE, SU, TA, O

    possible: TE, A, KO, RA

    possible recent identifications:

  • *56=PA3 (see SMID 1981, p. 61)
  • *65=JU (see SMID 1981, p. 61)

  • *304 = KA; *306 = A; *318 = DI
    compare
    HT Wc 3017HT 94
    *304+PAa.1: KA-PA
    DI-*306a.4: *318-*306
    QA-KU-REb.2: KE-KI-RU

    *304 = KA 
    JA-*304[ (PH 14a)cf. A-SI-JA-KA (HT 28a.1, 28b.1-2)
    ]*304+PA-DA-*047-KU[ 
    *304+PA (lots)KA-PA (HT 6a.1; HT 8b.4; HT 94a.1; HT 102.1; HT 140.5)
    *304+PA+*316+D3 (HT Wa <1021bis>) 
    *304+PA-KU-PA (HT We 1020a) 

    *306 = A 
    ]*306-JA-PI (ARKH 3b.1)WA-JA-PI-[ ] (HT 9b.1)
    ]*306-KI-TA2 (HT 122b.2)A-*301-KI-TA-A (TY Zb 4)
    ]*306-QE-DU[ (KH 21.3) 
    ]-*306-TI-KA-A-RE[ (HT 4.1)A-TI-KA (ZA Wc.a1-2)
    *306-TU-JA (HT 115b.3)cf. JA-TO-JA[ (ZA 4a.2-3)

  • *314 = PU2
    Valério independently; Owens 1999 & Facchetti 1999 identify the value as BU; so as not to start a new consonant "row," I conform the sign to PU2

  • *348 (hapax legomenon) = SI
    compare *348 CYP KL2 with SI CYP KL2 (KH 11.3-4, 6 respectively)
  • *363 (and *364?) = SO
    so Valério; I concur (the sign derives from Hiero *043, from which B12 so derives); see Hiero #039 and parallel LinA tablet HT 9.


    Arrangement of the tablets and texts

  • Most administrative documents consist of short lists written left to right (there are few examples of sinistroverse or boustrophedon writing), the signgroups separated by a dot or short stroke. The longest texts are HT 93a & b, HT 117a & b).

  • The lists are preceded by a short heading of no more than 2 words (3 words on HT 96a, HT 117a), followed by a single sign (AB 04, AB 28, A 307 =? AB 39), which may be a transaction abbreviation. There may be subheadings to sections of the document: HT 93a.3-4 and 4-5; HT 120.3-4; KH 7a.3; HT 27a.4-5. PH 6 is unusual in that it presents 5 signgroups over 4 lines with ideograms or fractions.

  • Longer, non-transaction, prose-like statements are rare; these constitute the presumed religious inscriptions, ZA Zb 3 (5 signgroups, 1 logogram), and KN Zf 31, a silver hairpin (10 signgroups, no logograms).

  • Commodities are almost always listed either by ideograms or by sign-groups, rarely the two together, "as constantly happens in Linear B" (Hooker 1975)

  • Most words seem to be names (person- , place-) (Hooker 1975)

  • "A number of Linear A sign-groups recur in Linear B, often with different endings" (Hooker 1975)

  • A noticeable characteristic about Linear A is its compression: short (usually 1 word) statements followed by a logogram followed by numbers. Often the logogram is a ligature (a further abbreviation); there are 137 (Linear B has only 56; Hieroglyphic has none). A few ligatures are common to Linear A and B: AB 54+81 = TELA+KU, and AB 54+A312 =? TELA+ZO?.

  • The administrative documents with logograms seem chiefly to concern agricultural products (AB 30 NI figs, AB 120 GRA grain/wheat, AB 122 OLIV olives, AB 131 VIN wine, A 302 = B *130 OLE olive oil), sometimes persons A 100/102 = B *100 VIR man [might A 352 be the equivalent of B *102 MUL woman?]), and even less frequently livestock (AB 21 OVIS sheep, AB 22 CAP goats, AB 23 BOS cattle, AB 85 SUS pigs), cloth (A 54 [occurring as a logogram 5 times] =? B *159), and vessels (A 400VAS-A 418VAS). Other ideograms are rare (A 308-A 371), most occurring only 1 or 2 times. Linear A does not have logograms for arms and armor (except AB 191 GAL helmet), spices (AB 123 = *123 AROM is only a phoneme in A [Hiero *157 occurs on seals #291 and CMS II 3.23 as a logogram]), or metals (unless A 327 [; HT 97a, HT 119] = B *140 AES bronze/copper).

    See the section on logograms, above.


    Vocabulary

    Transaction Terms

  • A-DU = "assessment"?: HT 95.b1 (and elsewhere)
  • DA-DU-MA-TA GRA = "grain contributions"?: HT 95.a1

    Heading A-DU (probably derived from Hieroglyphic A-DE; see Notes to Signgroups X)

    From the examples below, Linear A's A-DU usually functions alone and as a primary heading to a tablet; it may be modified by logograms (e.g., VIR, TE, GRA, OLE).

    As a prefix, it usually is followed by -RE-ZA (which may be a word by itself [HT 88.1-2]); here again it is usually a primary heading, but in one abbreviated form it is simply an item in a list (PK 1.2). The abbreviation DU-RE-ZA occurs at least once (and supplemented with an addition suffix -SE), and as an item in a list. A-DU also occurs as prefix to another word, KU-MI-NA, which exists by itself (KU-MI-NA-QE [HT 54a.2 & HT Wc 3014a-b]) as well as, on the same document as A-DU-KU-MI-NA, again as another item in the list, prefixed simply by A- two lines above (ZA 10a.1-2).

    As part of longer words, A-DU may be prefixed by WI-N, possibly as a variation on the common prefix I-NA- (e.g., I-NA-TA-I-*79-DI-SI-KA [IO Za 5], I-NA-I-DA-[ [IO Za 11], I-NA-JA-PA-QA [PK Za 11d], I-NA-WA [PH 6.1]).

    Two documents, HT 95 & HT 86, give further clues for understanding the meaning of A-DU; each records two lists, probably of place names. In the heading on the recto, DA-DU-MA-TA • GRA (HT 95a.1) is juxtaposed to the secondary heading on the verso, A-DU (HT 95b.1); HT 86 juxtaposes the heading A-KA-RU on the recto with A-DU on the verso (cf. KA-RU [HT 97a.1]). See the discussion of these two documents below: the words A-DU, A-KA-RU, and DA-DU-MA-TA, KA-RU seem to be transaction terms; I suggest something like "assessable", "payable" and "assessments", "payments". Uchitel, A., and M. Finkelberg, "Some Possible Identifications in the Headings of the Linear A Archives," SMEA 36 (1995) 29-36, suggest "let them do" for A-DU.

    A-DU as primary heading
    A-DUHT 88.1; HT 86a.4; HT 95b.1; HT 99a.1; KH 23.1
    A-DU *638 VIRHT 85a.1
    A-DU • TE GRA+DAHT 133.1-2
    TE • A-DU • GRAHT 92.1-2
    A-DA-KI-SI-KA • A-RA-U-DAKH 5.1-2
    A-DU[KH 23.1

    A-DU as heading
    A-TI-KA A-DU KOZA Wc 2
    A-DA OLE+UTY 3a.5

    A-DU-RE-ZA
    A-DU-RE[primary heading: KH 4.1
    A-DU-[•]-ZA CYPprimary heading: KH 11.1
    A-DU-ZAitem in list: PK 1.2
    JA-DU-RA-TIprimary heading: KN 1b.1-2
    A-DU-[••] OLE+KIheading: TY 3a.3
    DU-RE-ZA-SEitem in list (ZA 10a.5 & b.1-2)
    ]DU-RE-ZA-SE-[?heading: ZA *20.1-2
    ]DU-RE-ZA item in list (KH 20.4)
    RE-ZAitem in list (HT 88.1-2)
    ]ZA-*321 OLE+KIprimary heading: TY 3a.1

    A-DU as part of other words
    A-DU-KU-MI-NAitem in list (ZA 10a.3-4)
    DA-DU-MA-TA • GRAprimary heading: HT 95
    WI-NA-DUitem in list: KH 5.3
    ]KO-A-DU-WA OLE+[item in list: TY 3a.6


     HT 95 (GORILA I: 154-155)   HT 86 (GORILA I: 134-125) 
    a.1DA-DU-MA-TA • GRA  a.1A-KA-RU 
    a.2DA-ME10    
    a.2MI-NU-TE10    
    a.3SA-RU20 a.2SA-RU20
    a.3-4KU-NI-SU10 a.1-2KU-NI-SU GRA+K+L220
    a.4DI-DE-RU10 a.3DI-DE-RU20
    a.4-5QE-RA2-U7 a.3QA-RA2-WA10
           
    b.1A-DU  a.4A-DU 
    b.1SA-RU10    
    b.2[•]     
    b.2DA-ME10 a.4DA-ME GRA+B20
    b.2-3MI-NU-TE10 a.5MI-NU-TE20
    b.3-4KU-NI-SU10    
    b.4DI-DE-RU10    
    b.4-5QE-RA2-U10    

    HT 86 assigns 20 commodities to names (places?) in two lists headed by A-KA-RU and by A-DU.

    On HT 95 these same names occur in each of two lists, headed by DA-DU-MA-TA and again by A-DU; in each list, however, most of the names have 10 commodities -- except: SA-RU has 20 in the DA-DU-MA-TA list and an additional 10 in the A-DU list, and QA-RA2-WA, for which 10 commodities are recorded on HT 86, is recorded (and spelled apparently the more common way, QE-RA2-U [cf. HT 1.1-2-]), with 7 in the DA-DU-MA-TA list and 10 in the A-DU list. For this odd number 7, cf. QE-RA2-U 197 (HT 1.1-2).

    By allocating the names to separate lists, HT 86 looks like it is dividing the names into some kind of mutually distinct groups (e.g., by geography); HT 95, however, by recording all names in both lists, appears to be recording transactions (e.g., payment and non-payment or income and reallocation).

    If DA-DU-MA-TA and A-DU are related (e.g., "contributions" and "not paid"), then compare A-KA-RU with A-KA-RU 20 (HT 2.1, the total of the next two numbers), and with KA-RO[ (HT 71.1) and KA-RO (HT 97.1) -- on this last document, KA-RO 82 may record a total of the numbers recorded against place names: *327 33, KA-NU-TI 25, PA-I-TO 6, DI 4, NA-TI 4, MA-DI 5, TA-TI 2, DE-[•] 3.

    These words, A-DU, A-KA-RU, and DA-DU-MA-TA, KA-RU, seem to be transaction terms; I suggest something like "assessable", "payable" and "assessments", "payments".



  • DA-I = "total"?: HT 12.6; cf. DA-I-PI-TA, ZA 8.5
  • E-*82 = "assessment" or "paid"; ZA 4
  • KA-I-RO = "balance": ZA 8.6
  • KA-PA = "summary account" vel sim.; cf. HT 6.1 & 4-5, 94.1, 102.1; cf. KU-PA (see below)
  • KI-RA = "balance"?, a transaction term on HT 103.5 (Schoep 1994-5, 71, n. 60); cf. ZA 8.1


  • KI =
  • KI-RA: HT 49a.8
  • KI-RO? (Raison & Pope1978: 47-48); cf. HT 118; and mentioned on HT 49a.7&8
    •

  • KI-RO = "owed", "deficit" (Younger 2003)
  • "balance": HT 1
  • "itemized payments/debts": HT 88.4, 93b.1, 94b.1
  • "owed" (Hooker 1975; Duhoux 1989, 79): HT 30.4, 123a; HT 118; cf. HT 49: a.1-7 totals 10; if KI<-RO> 1, then 9, which is what a.8 records (5+4), with the KI<-RO> 1 repeated
  • KI-RO is also mentioned: HT 88.4, 124

    verbal forms of KI-RO; also see below, "Transaction Verbs"

  • KI-RI-SI -- 3rd singular (TY 3b.1)
  • KI-RI-TA2 -- 3rd plural (HT 114a.1)
    •


  • KU = KU-RO: HT 40.4
  • KU-PA, possibly a transaction term on ZA 11a.5 (Schoep 1994-5, 67, n. 47); cf. HT 110.2

  • KU-RO = "total" (Younger 2003)
  • secure: HT 9.a & b, 11.b, 13, 25.b2-4, 85.a, 88.4-6, 89.4, 94.a3 & b1-4, 104, 117.a1-6, HT 118 (with 5 having been omitted), 122?, 123.a, 127.b4-7; ZA 1?, 15, 17; cf. HT 116.
  • with restorations: HT 27a.1-7, 100, 102
  • rounded off: HT 119
  • also mentioned: HT 39.5, 40.3, 46a.2
    Perhaps the word is related to Semitic kl. "whole". (see Hooker 1975) or the Greek 'kolon', with the often Linear A 'u' substrituting for Linear B 'o', and thus meaning 'sum')
    •

  • PO-TO-KU-RO = "grand total" (Palmer 1995): HT 122.b6 (off by one?), 131.4 (with restoration) [JGY: if KU-RO is Greek {see above}, could PO-TO-KU-RO be some kind of "power total"?]

  • SI (HT 30.1) or SA (HT 114b.1) = paid: HT 30.1

  • TE, a common sign on 21 HT texts in headings or sub-headings [HT 67, 96] and relating to agricultural commodities: AB 30, AB 120, AB 122, AB 131, A 302

  • TU = redistribution: HT 49a.8
  • U-MI-NA-SI = "owed": HT 28b.1
  • WI = "not included" vel sim; HT 102.4
    •


    Other Words

  • TA-JA =? "five" (Olivier 1992)
  • DA-WO =? Ayia Triada (Palaima 1994)
  • DI-KA-TA =? Mt Ioukhtas (Owens 1993), Mt Dikte
  • I-DA = Mt Ida
  • KI-KI-NA (HT 88.2) = "figs" (fresh or dried, green or black)
  • KU-NI-SU = likely a place-name (not "grain"; Hooker 1975); Knossos??
  • PU-KO = "bronze"?; see the commentary to HT 31
  • SE-TO-I-JA = Arkhanes (Owens 1993)


    • Ideograms/Logograms

  • Linear A Ideograms: a folder giving the common, identified ideograms and their signs, and copies of GORILA's sign charts and palaeographic sign charts

  • *21 (QI)/OVIS = probably sheep (Palmer 1995)
  • *22/CAP (B *107) = probably goats (Palmer 1995; Duhoux 1984: 61 n. 38 suggests a phonetic value of MI?)
  • *23 (MU)/BOS = probably cattle (Palmer 1995)
  • *30 (NI)/FIC = figs (Palmer 1995)
    HT 88.2 presents the only occasion when the word for a logogram is spelled out (the word appearing after the logogram): FIC • KI-KI-NA 7. This is odd, since NI may be the acrophonic symbol for "nikuleon," an old word (Minoan?) attested by Hesychius for "figs" (G. Neumann, "Nikuleon," Glotta 40 (1962) 51-54). Perhaps KI-KI-NA distinguishes fresh from dried or green from black figs, meaning one or the other, depending upon which would be otherwise automatically assumed.
  • *54 (WA)/TELA = cloth (ligatured, as in Linear B: *54+81 TELA+KU, *54+A312, TELA+? [Bennett 1975: 61, & Melena 1975: 108-10 both give TELA+ZO?; Younger {in 2005} identifies A312 also as KU])
  • *85 (AU)/SUS = pigs (Palmer 1995)
  • *100/VIR = man (Palmer 1995)
  • *102/MUL = woman
  • *120/GRA = barley (Palmer 1995)
  • *122/OLIV = olives (Palmer 1995)
  • *123/AROM; on Linear A clay documents this sign is a phoneme of unknown value; on Hieroglyphic seals, it is a commodity
  • *131/VIN = wine (Palmer 1995)
  • *191/GAL = helmet (Palaima 1988: 325)
  • *302 = olive oil (Palmer 1995)
  • *303 = grain (Palmer 1995), CYP ?
  • *327 = B *140 AES? (Palaima 1988: 326), on HT 97a.1-2, HT 119.1
  • *400-418 = vessels
  • *559 = wool. Younger 2005 demonstrated that Hiero sign *084 , which resembles an animal (sheep?) head, corresponds to 3 subunits of *051 , which looks like a small dagger. Linear A *312 also looks like a small dagger and appears as an adjunct to Linear A *54 TELA (HT 38.3: TELA+*312; cf. TELA+KU on HT 38.3 (same line); and KU-TA[ on HT 115b.4 with *312+TA on HT 10b.2). In Linear A there is no separate logogram for LANA, but there is the ligature *559 , *80+*26 , that appears on a few documents (HT 12.4-5, HT 24a.1-5, KH 43.1, PH 3a.3; cf. the word MA-RU on HT 117a.3 and ]MA-RU-A on TY Zg 1; MA-RU does not seem to appear in Hieroglyphic). Linear B LANA *145 further pictorializes the Linear A ligature, perhaps being influenced by the pictorial Hieroglyphic sign *084 . The classical Greek word "mallós" may thus be a loan-word from Linear A (and Hieroglyphic?).


    Grammar
    Inflections

    DA-KU-SE-NE => DA-KU-SE-NE-TI (Hooker 1975)
    PA-DA-SU => PA-DA-SU-TI (Hooker 1975)

    From the varied spellings in the Libation Formula (see below), JGY sees the following possible inflections
    Normal case (Nom?)JA-SA-SA-RA*I-PI-NAI-DA
    Oblique case IJA-SA-SA-RA-MEI-PI-NA-MA I-DA-MI
    Oblique case II
    variant
    		JA-SA-SA-RA-MA-NA
    JA-SA-RA-A-NA-NE    		I-PI-NA-MI-NA 
    Locative? ]-PI-MI-NA-TEI-DA-MA-TE
    Vocative?  DA-MA-TE

    Normal case (Nom?)KA-*65
    Oblique case IKA-*65
    Oblique case II
    variant
    		 
    DA-DU-MI-NE    		KE-*65-MI
    Locative?DA-DU-MA-TAKA-*65
    Normal case (Nom?)KA-65

    Adjectives?
    F ?     M ?
    A-TA-I-301-WA-JATA-N A-I-301-U-TI-NU
    JA-TA-I-301-U-JA 

    Articles ?
    A/JA
    J/A-DI-KI-TE-TE
    J/A-SA-SA-RA-ME
    J/A-TA-I-301-WA/U-JA

    Prefixes
    A-TA-I-301-WA-JA
    A-NA-TI-301-WA-JA
    I-NA-TA-I-79-DI-SI-KA
    TA-N A-I-301-U-TI-NU
    TA-N A-I-301-TI<-NU>
    TA-N U-NI-KI-NA

    Verbs
    form 1 = 3rd pers. sing.?form 2 = 3rd pers. plu.?
    U-NA-KA-NA-SI  
    U-NA-RU-KA[ ]JA-SIU-NA-RE-KA-NA-TI on PK Za 11, with 2 personal names in third position (see below)
     A-KA-NU-ZA-TI on KN Zc 7 with 2 names in second position
    DI-DI-KA-SEDI-DI-KA-TI

    Transaction Verbs
    form 1 = 3rd pers. sing.?form 2 = 3rd pers. plu.?
    KI-RI-SIKI-RI-TA2
    U-MI-NA-SIMI-NU-TE

    The Libation Formula appears in part on various inscribed objects; the words, however, follow a strict sequence, which every inscribed object adheres to but may leave out certain words (especially the three last ones) or may substitute variations on the first word; the third word is always different from object to object.

    Example
    IO Za 2 (HM 3557) (GORILA V: 18-19), stone libation table

    .1: A-TA-I-*301-WA-JA • JA-DI-KI-RA • JA-SA-SA-RA[-ME • U-NA-KA-NA-]SI [•] I-PI-NA-MA •

    .2: SI-RU-TE • TA-NA-RA-TE-U-TI-NU • I-DA-[

    T/A-TA-I-301-etc   toponymn   person's name?   J/A-SA-SA-RA   U-NA-KA-NA-SI    I-PI-NA-MA   SI-RU-TE   I-NA-JA-PA-QA

    From this sequence, I deduce

  • if J/A-SA-SA-RA is a divinity, as often assumed, T/A-TA-I-301 (etc.), which has many variations, may mean something like "this dedication"
  • the second word is apparently a place-name: DI-KI-TE [perhaps a Dikte], I-DA [perhaps an Ida], SE-TO-I-JA [Owens: Arkhanes], TU-RI-SA [JGY: Tylissos?], JA-TI
  • the third, always-varying word is the name of the dedicant (on PK Za 11, there are two "dedicants" PI-TE-RI and A-KO-A-NE; the fifth word thus changes from U-NA-RU-KA-NA-SI [always with a single word in third position] to U-NA-RU-KA-NA-TI as if to imply the shift to the plural; cf. A-KA-NU-ZA-TI in KN Zc 7, with 2 names in 2nd place)
  • the fifth word might be a verb
  • the -QA ending on the last word looks like an enclitic, perhaps related to -te/que, "and"


    Balance Ledger Tablets

    Balance Ledger tablets are transaction documents that record what appear to be contributions and disbursements (somewhat like "income" and "expenses"). They can be recognized by the fact that they present two lists of mostly the same names. Original assessments can be deduced by totaling the contribution and the disbursement.

    Here are two examples, HT 28 and HT 114.

    HT 28

    Since sides a & b carry most of the same names, it is likely that this tablet is in the form of a "Balance Ledger", with side a recording contributions and side b recording debits -- if so, then b.1: U-MI-NA-SI probably means "owes" (vel. sim.; cf. HT 117a.1-2: MA-KA-RI-TE KI-RO U-MI-NA-SI. KI-RI-SI [TY 3b.1] & KI-RI-TA2 [HT 114a.1] seem to be verbal variations on KI-RO, "debit" [vel. sim.]).
    namea: contributionb: U-MI-NA-SIassessment
    A-SI-JA-KAGRA+QE 5  5
    JA-QIfOLE+U
       OLE+KI 2
       OLE+MI   L2
       OLE+TU 1    		 2
     VINa 6 6
    SA-RA2OLE+DI 1OLE+DI 56
     NI 2NI 24
     VINa 3VINa 47
      GRA 2020
     VIR+KA VINa 6 6
    A-RU-DA-RAGRA 5 5
     *304 2 2
     OLE+DI 3 3
    I-TA-JAOLE+DI 10 10
    PU-RA2 NI 66
    WI-DI-NA OLE+DI 33
      VINa 3 E3 E

    Another arrangement, by commodity, reveals the proportion of rations:

    commoditynamecontributionU-MI-NA-SItotal
    VINaVIR+KA
    SA-RA2
    WI-DI-NA
    JA-QIf    		6
    3    		 
    4
    3 E
    6    		22 E
    OLE+DISA-RA2
    A-RU-DA-RA
    I-TA-JA
    WI-DI-NA    		1
    3
    10    		5
     
     
    3    		22
    GRAA-SI-JA-KA
    A-RU-DA-RA
    SA-RA2    		5
    5    		 
     
    20    		30
    NISA-RA2
    PU-RA2    		22
    6    		10
    OLE+?JA-QIf3 J L2 3 J L2
    *304A-RU-DA-RA2 2

    The rations seem to be as follows:

    VINa+OLE = 44E
    GRA+NI+OLE?+*304 = 45 J L2
    or: VINa+OLE =? GRA+whatever


    HT 114 can also be rearranged as a Balance Ledger -- here, KI-RI-TA2 is a likely variant on KI-RO (cf. KI-RI-SI on TY 3b.1), perhaps a 3rd plural of a verbal form. If so, then side a lists what is owed, and side b lists what has been contributed (SA)

    namea: KI-RI-TA2 (owed)b: SA (paid?)assessment
    SA-RA2a: GRA 10 10
     a: VINa 1b: SA (paid?) VINa 910
     a: OLE 7
       NI 1
       BOSm 3    		 11

    Again, the rations appear to be similar in proportion to those in HT 28:

    GRA = 10, VINa = 10, OLE+NI+BOSm = 11
    or: VINa:GRA:OLE+BOSm = 1:1


    Fractions (and what used to be called fractions [D, DD, see below]) (see Hallager 1996: 29; Pope 1960)

    Bennett 1999 notes the "aliquot" system of Linear A fractions (i.e., 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.); that Egyptian Hieroglyphic 1/2 and 1/4 are the same in Hieratic, but the rest of the fractions differ in the two scripts; that Egyptian fractions are also aliquot with six signs for 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 plus a monogram of 1/2+1/4 for 3/4 (the values of Linear A's fractions seem to be almost identical); and that Egyptian Hieroglyphic 1/2 is very line Linear A 'J', and 1/4 is roughly like Linear A E.

    Fractions with known or surmisable values

  • Since ABB occurs (KH 86), is seems logical that A is greater than BB; if B is 1/3, A may be 56
  • B. Since EB occurs (KH 9.2), B is less than 1/4; since B occurs singly and in pairs (ZA 8.2-3, 6, ZAa.2), it may be 1/3. EB also occurs, however (KH 9.2), and there it occurs after K (1/16?). If this set of fractions is to be read retrograde (BEK), then a descending sequence is maintained (1/3, 1/4, 1/16).

  • E (A704) = 1/4 (Pope 1960) occurs 52 times, 2nd most common fraction (Hallager 1995); see HT 9.a
  • F (A705) = 1/8 (Pope 1960); HT 8; see HT 93
  • H (A706) = 1/10 (prob.): HT 6; HT 100; prob. HT 94
  • J (A 707) = 1/2 (Pope 1960), occurs 93 times, the most common fraction (Hallager 1995); see PE 1, ZA 4a.4, HT 9.b, HT 104
  • JE (A732; A707+A704; Brice 1961: 7-8, table 2) = 3/4, occurs 25 times, 3rd most common fraction (Hallager 1995)
  • K (A708) = 1/16 (Pope 1960)
  • W (A710) -- KH 12


    Summmary
    For most of the fractions (A, B, E, F, J, K, W), we can identify with more or less certainty the following values:


    The horizontal lines at bottom point out "family" resemblances between signs with related values: 1/2 series (1/4 being inverted 1/2; 1/8 being a "crossed" 1/4; 3/4 being a monogram [as Bennett noted] of 1/2+1/4; perhaps 1/10 and 1/16 are related formally); 1/3 series (1/6 being a double "crossed" 1/3; 2/3 being two 1/3's).


    Fractions with values still unknown
  • L2 (A7092) =? 1/2 (HT 28a.2-3; see rearrangement of the tablet as a "Balance Ledger", above). Subfractions of L occur ( L2, L4, L6) and these occur in combination with other fractions: EL2 (KH 9.5, KH 13.3), KL2 (KH 11.2, KH 16.1), EL4 (KH 26.2, KH 75.2), and BL6 (KH 7a.6) and EL6 (KH 76.1). The set may be special to Khania.
  • X (A711), occurs on HT 91.1, 123a.2, 4, 5; and KH 9.6 -- the occurrences do not suggest a value. Formally, the sign looks related to 709 W "2/3"; it may represent a doubling of that ("4/3" or "1 1/3"), or a double 701 A "1/6", perhaps "1/12" rather than 2 * 1/6 = "1/3."
  • Y (A712), occurs only at PH (PH 9a, 26). Formally, the sign might be related to the 1/2 series.
  • Ω (A713), occurs only once at MA (MA 10b.1), as an adjunct to A405VAS.


    D = mina, DD = double mina
  • D = single mina (see DD)
  • DD is the Double Mina (The following argument is presented in detail in my article "Cretan Hieroglyphhic Wool Unites (LANA, double mina)," in the forthcoming festschrift for Enrica Fiandra 2005) 1. Side b of Hieroglyphic document CHIC #089.b reads:
    /
    034-041/*163 084 / 051-051-051 041/*163
    "TA+CLOTH LANA = 3 double minas CLOTH"
    2. Hiero sign 041 is probably the predecessor to AB 54 WA and ideogram A *54 and B *159 TELA, cloth.
    3. Hieroglyphic sign 034, if rotated clockwise 90 degrees (a situation that happens frequently when Hiero signs evolve into Linear A signs), is probably the predecessor of AB 59 TA.
    4. In Linear B, te modifies TELA, and the word that it abbreviates is te-pa, a type of cloth whose name is apparently non-Greek and possibly therefore Minoan.
    5. In Linear A, TE-PA does not occur, but the heading for HT 104 is TA-PA *505; TA-PA. If this has anything to do with cloth, and if it is the Minoan equivalent for Mycenaean te-pa, then Hiero TA+TELA might stand for TA-PA CLOTH.
    6. In the second half of the line, Hiero sign 051 (a dagger?) occurs rarely in Hieroglyphic, but at least twice it is a logogram.
    #039.b2: * 057-023-051 120
    #090.a-b: 016-038-007-051 7000
    7. On Hiero document #089, the triplication of 051 seems to mimic numbers.
    8. Compare the three Linear A appearances of TELA:
    HT 38.3TELA+KU (*535) 2
    HT 38.3TELA+*312 (*536) 1
    HT Wc 3019TELA3 3 E
    9. Logogram *312 resembles a dagger, and thus is probably the Linear A version of Hiero 051.
    10. TELA+KU might transcribe TELA+#312; sign *312 appears as a syllabogram only as *312-TA (HT 10b.2), *312-TE-TE (HT 26a.1), and *312-TA2 (ZA 6b.2-3) - these may be spelling variants: compare KU-TA[ (HT 115b.4), I-KU-TA (HT 35.1-2), JA-NA-KI-TE-TE- (PK Za 8.a), and A-DI-KI-TE-TE- (PK Za 11.a-b). It is thus likely that the consonantal value for Linear A *312 is Kv, possibly KU.
    11. On the roundel HT Wc 3019 (which contains the third occurrence of TELA), the number 3 comes from the three seal impressions of CMS II.6 no. 33. Since the fraction E can be demonstrated to be 1/4, the number 3 E probably means 3 and 1/4.
    12. In both Hieroglyphic document #089.b and on two Linear A documents HT 38 and HT Wc 3019, TELA apparently comes in three (sub)units (Hieroglyphic sign 051, Linear A *312/KU). In Linear B, the standard unit of weight for wool is represented by the special sign *145 LANA ("wool") consisting of three double-minas (M), each of which weighs ca. 946 gr; the wool-unit LANA therefore weighs ca. 2.8 kg. This large unit represents the wool gathered from four sheep.
    13. If the second half of #089.b reads 051-051-051 041/*163 = TELA 3 double-minas, the first half of the statement (034-041/*163 084) may specify TA-TELA LANA.
    14. Hiero sign 084 looks very like a sheep face (it is a hapax here). Linear B LANA *145 is derived from a ligature of ma+ru (looking very like an animal face topped by horns); the word itself is not attested in Linear B. The same ligature MA+RU is found in Linear A (sign *559 [and signs *558 and *560-562]) and this must be the predecessor to Linear B *145. Since both Hiero sign 084 and AB MA+RU look like animal faces, it is likely that Linear A MA+RU depends on Hieroglyphic 084 for the shape (a sheep face), but cleverly spells out the word, apparently the Minoan predecessor to Greek "mallós", wool.
    15. In Linear A the wool-unit MA+RU appears in at least two texts, possibly four. HT 12 presents a list of commodities (including oil and figs) from apparently three sites; QE-TU-NE also contributes MA+RU TALENT 5, presumably 50 wool-units (at 10 LANA = 1 TALENT). HT 24 presents MA+RU from three places and further qualifies MA+RU with MU (i.e., MA+RU-MU) perhaps in all entries; the units are between 6 and 10 (wool-units). PH 3 lists MA+RU (along with MA+A and MA+MA) and gives its amount at D D, the equivalent to Linear B M (Mycenaean double mina). Thus Linear A DD is the Minoan double mina, used for measuring wool and other commodities, representing the weight 1/3 LANA or ca. 0.9 kg or ca. 315 gr.


    Metrology

    Minoan dry unit to equal the Mycenaean (96 liters) (Palaima 1994)

    Liquid units: The pithos ZA Zb 3 records "VIN 32," probably the volume, 32 units; if these are Mycenaean units (1 unit = ca. 28.8 liters), the volume of the pithos would have been 921.6 l. Since the pithos stands about 170 cm high, its maximum capacity (as calculated from its profile by the computer program "Vase" by Gregory Christiana, copyright 1994) would have been slightly over 1000 liters. It is possible, therefore, that the Minoan unit of liquid measure was also the Mycenaean unit.


    Works Cited

    Bibliography from 1980 (with select works prior) (for bibliography prior to 1980, see J.T. Hooker, Linear B: an Introduction [Bristol: Bristol Classical Press], pp. 17-18)


    Comments, corrections, questions: John Younger: jyounger@ku.edu

    For the Linear A texts from Haghia Triada (Ayia Triada)

    For other Linear A texts

    For Linear A religious texts grouped separately

    Bibliography from 1980