Linear A words and ideograms for cereals + general Linear A ideograms

Linear A words and ideograms for cereals + general Linear A ideograms:

The chart above lists almost all of the Linear A words and ideograms for cereals + general Linear A ideograms. The Linear A Semitic words and ideograms for cereals are identical to those found on Linear A tablets HT 86 and HT 95 (Haghia Triada). Simply refer to the previous posts on these two highly significant Linear A tablets to confirm these interpretations. Also found in this chart are general Linear A ideograms, the majority of which are identical to their Linear B counterparts, which should come as no surprise to anyone, considering that the Linear B syllabary is merely a refinement of the Linear A syllabary.

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Translation of Linear B tablet KN 903 Da 01 by Rita Roberts

Translation of Linear B tablet KN 903 Da 01 by Rita Roberts:

Here we have Rita Roberts’ translation of Linear B B tablet KN 903 Da 01. In her own decipherment, Rita translated Watoakoraya as a personal name of a shepherd or herdsman, but this is clearly wrong, because akoraya is genitive singular and means “from the market” and Wato is archaic dative singular for Watos, which is a place name. So the proper translation is “from the market at Watos”. Otherwise, her translation is sound.

Translation of Linear B tablet KN 894 Do 04 by Rita Roberts

Translation of Linear B tablet KN 894 Do 04 by Rita Roberts:

Here we have Rita Roberts’ translation of Linear B B tablet KN 894 Do 04, which I find quite fascinating, even though it is so short. This is because of the supersyllabogram ZE, which literally means “yoked with a pair of” or as Rita Roberts puts it “a team of oxen”. In addition, we have the enclitic QE following the name Tomako, which means “and”, implying that there was another herdsman mentioned before Tomako; hence, the tablet is left-truncated as well as right-truncated.

Rita Roberts’ translation of Knossos Linear B tablet, KN 897 D a 11

Rita Roberts’ translation of Knossos Linear B tablet, KN 897 D a 11:

Rita Roberts’ translation of Knossos Linear B tablet, KN 897 D a 11 reveals a brilliant insight on her part. She surmises that the single syllabogram PO may actually be the first syllable of Linear B pome poimh/n, which means “shepherd” or “herdsman”, and taht is one brilliant insight! If she is correct — and I believe she is — PO is a brand new supersyllabogram which I have not as yet accounted for.

4-sided Cretan pictogram bar with end shown & interpretations of pictograms

4-sided Cretan pictogram bar with end shown & interpretations of pictograms:

 

Cretan pictograms – 24-29: livestock (possibly/probably/definitely) known

Cretan pictograms – 24-29: livestock (possibly/probably/definitely) known:

The Cretan pictograms in the livestock sector pretty much speak for themselves. The only definite one is that for rams. The rest are probable, and open to dispute.

Linear B tablet HT 118 (Haghia Triada), livestock on plots of land

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.

Rita Robert’s translation of an extremely challenging Linear B tablet, KN 903 D a 01

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

Beautiful photos of some of the magnificent frescoes at Knossos, taken by Richard while he was there on May 1 2012

Beautiful photos of some of the magnificent frescoes at Knossos, taken by Richard while he was there on May 1 2012:

3 impressive photos of the Bull Fresco Portico Knossos, taken by Richard while he was there on May 1 2012

3 impressive photos of the Bull Fresco Portico Knossos, taken by Richard while he was there on May 1 2012:

Knossos, Bull Portico photos, Third Palace, Late Minoan IIIb (ca. 1450 BCE) Post 2 of 2

Knossos, Bull Portico photos, Third Palace, Late Minoan IIIb (ca. 1450 BCE) Post 2 of 2:

 

 

Knossos, Bull Portico photos, Third Palace, Late Minoan IIIb (ca. 1450 BCE) Post 1 of 2

Knossos, Bull Portico photos, Third Palace, Late Minoan IIIb (ca. 1450 BCE) Post 1 of 2:

Here you see the first 3 photos of the Bull Portico photos, Third Palace, Knossos, Late Minoan IIIb (ca. 1450 BCE). The architecture is simple, but magnificent. The fresco of the bull is stunning. The bull was the standard symbol of almost all ancient Occidental civilizations, and that of Persia as well, until later into Antiquity. I wish to draw your attention specifically to the incredibly accurate circular designs on the frieze. As with all Greek architecture, the proportions are absolutely perfect, from one circle to the next.

Even the Parthenon of Athens was flanked by bulls at its entrance, as illustrated here:

 

 

Linear B tablets dealing with teams of bulls or oxen (Post 2): three more tablets

Linear B tablets dealing with teams of bulls or oxen (Post 2): three more tablets








Not much to say here. I said it all in the last post.

Linear B tablets dealing with teams of bulls or oxen (Post 1): two tablets

Linear B tablets dealing with teams of bulls or oxen (Post 1): two tablets





Unlike Linear B tablets on sheep, of which there are over 500, those dealing with teams of bulls or oxen are very rare, amounting to no more than 7 all told. Although this seems to defy common sense, it actually does not, since the raising of sheep was by far the most important activity of the Minoan/Mycenaean economy. In addition, the text on these tablets on bulls or oxen is so simple and so predictably repetitive that one wonders whether or not the scribes attached much importance to them. The mere fact that two of the tablets repeat the same name, Stomarchos, makes me wonder why any scribe would bother repeating text which is almost identical on two tablets, since this practice is almost unheard of on the tablets dealing with sheep, and on military, vessels and textiles tablets, which are the standard. The two tablets with his name on it do not appear here. Only one of them. But there you have it.