Linear B inscriptions

E36867

archaeological artifact inscription corpus primary historical source

Linear B inscriptions are ancient clay tablet writings using the Linear B script that record administrative and economic activities in Mycenaean Greek palatial centers.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (9)

Label	Occurrences
Linear B tablets	5
Documents in Mycenaean Greek	2
Linear B inscriptions canonical	2
Linear B script	2
Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos	1
Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Pylos	1
Knossos Linear B tablets	1
Linear B archives	1
Mycenaean inscriptions	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T282175 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Linear B inscriptions
Context triple: [Mycenae and Tiryns, hasMaterialCulture, Linear B inscriptions]

A. Pyrgi Tablets
The Pyrgi Tablets are a set of ancient gold inscriptions from the 5th century BCE bearing parallel texts in Etruscan and Phoenician, making them a key source for understanding the Etruscan language and its cultural contacts.
B. Ugaritic alphabet
The Ugaritic alphabet is an ancient cuneiform script used in the city of Ugarit to write the Ugaritic language, notable as one of the earliest known alphabetic writing systems.
C. Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is an ancient consonantal writing system developed by the Phoenician civilization that became the ancestor of most major modern alphabets, including Greek, Latin, and Arabic.
D. Lepontic alphabet
The Lepontic alphabet is an ancient writing system used by the Lepontic Celts in the Alpine region, derived from and closely related to the Old Italic scripts.
E. Ogham script
Ogham script is an early medieval alphabet primarily used to write the early Irish language, consisting of linear strokes carved along the edges of stones and wood.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Linear B inscriptions
Target entity description: Linear B inscriptions are ancient clay tablet writings using the Linear B script that record administrative and economic activities in Mycenaean Greek palatial centers.

A. Pyrgi Tablets
The Pyrgi Tablets are a set of ancient gold inscriptions from the 5th century BCE bearing parallel texts in Etruscan and Phoenician, making them a key source for understanding the Etruscan language and its cultural contacts.
B. Ugaritic alphabet
The Ugaritic alphabet is an ancient cuneiform script used in the city of Ugarit to write the Ugaritic language, notable as one of the earliest known alphabetic writing systems.
C. Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is an ancient consonantal writing system developed by the Phoenician civilization that became the ancestor of most major modern alphabets, including Greek, Latin, and Arabic.
D. Lepontic alphabet
The Lepontic alphabet is an ancient writing system used by the Lepontic Celts in the Alpine region, derived from and closely related to the Old Italic scripts.
E. Ogham script
Ogham script is an early medieval alphabet primarily used to write the early Irish language, consisting of linear strokes carved along the edges of stones and wood.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	archaeological artifact ⓘ inscription corpus ⓘ primary historical source ⓘ
associatedWithCulture	Mycenaean civilization ⓘ
cataloguedIn	Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos ⓘ linked to: Linear B inscriptions Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Pylos ⓘ linked to: Linear B inscriptions
chronology	Late Bronze Age ⓘ
coDecipherer	John Chadwick ⓘ
contentType	landholding records ⓘ lists of commodities ⓘ offerings to deities ⓘ personnel rosters ⓘ ration allocations ⓘ
dateFrom	circa 1450 BCE ⓘ
dateTo	circa 1200 BCE ⓘ
decipheredBy	Michael Ventris ⓘ
deciphermentDate	1952 ⓘ
discoveredBy	archaeologists ⓘ
earliestGreekWriting	true ⓘ
foundAtSite	Chania (Kydonia, Crete) ⓘ linked to: Chania Knossos ⓘ Mycenae ⓘ linked to: Mycenae and Tiryns Pylos ⓘ Thebes (Boeotia) ⓘ linked to: Thebes Tiryns ⓘ linked to: Mycenae and Tiryns
foundInCountry	Greece ⓘ
function	palatial bureaucracy management ⓘ redistributive economy administration ⓘ
influenceOnField	study of Mycenaean economy ⓘ study of early Greek language ⓘ
language	Mycenaean Greek ⓘ
material	clay ⓘ
medium	clay tablets ⓘ
notableDiscoverer	Arthur Evans ⓘ
preservationMethod	accidental firing in palace destructions ⓘ
region	Aegean ⓘ linked to: Aegean Sea
relatedScript	Linear A ⓘ
scriptDirection	left-to-right ⓘ
scriptFamily	Aegean scripts ⓘ
scriptType	syllabic script ⓘ
use	accounting document ⓘ administrative record ⓘ economic record ⓘ
writingSystemFeature	logographic signs ⓘ numerical signs ⓘ syllabograms ⓘ
writingTool	stylus ⓘ
writtenInScript	Linear B script ⓘ linked to: Linear B

How these facts were elicited