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Linear A Script
Linear A script was used by the Minoan civilization centred on Crete during the Bronze Age. Used from around 1850 to around 1450 BCE, the script has never been deciphered. Artefacts bearing Linear A script, most commonly clay tablets, have...
Definition
Linear B Script
Linear B script was the writing system of the Mycenaean civilization of the Bronze Age Mediterranean. The syllabic script was used to write Mycenaean Greek from c. 1500 to c. 1200 BCE. It was deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952, and so...
Definition
Script
Script is the written expression of a language. Cuneiform, the first script, was invented in Sumer, Mesopotamia c. 3500 BCE, hieroglyphics sometime prior to the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt (c. 3150-2613 BCE), and Sanskrit in India during...
Definition
Phaistos Disk
The Phaistos disk is a fired clay disk, probably of Minoan origin, measuring some 16cm in diameter and impressed on both sides with 242 symbols set in a spiral arrangement. As yet, this unique archaeological find remains an undeciphered enigma...
Definition
Greek Alphabet
The Greek Alphabet developed from the Phoenician script at some point around the 8th century BCE. The earlier Mycenaean Linear B script, used primarily for lists and inventories, had been lost during the Greek Dark Age, and the technology...
Definition
Mycenaean Society
Mycenaean society was strictly hierarchical, valued family lineage, and awarded higher social status to those involved with religious or military activities and palatial administration. The lower classes contained craftsmen and artisans who...
Definition
Mycenaean Civilization
The Mycenaean civilization flourished in the Late Bronze Age (c. 1700-1100 BCE), peaking from the 15th to the 13th century BCE. The Mycenaeans extended their influence throughout the Peloponnese in Greece and across the Aegean from Crete...
Definition
Pylos
Pylos was a significant Mycenaean Bronze Age city located in the region of Messenia, Greece. The site is situated on the hill of Ano Englianos and during its Late Bronze Age occupation between c. 1600-1200 BCE it covered a maximum area of...
Definition
Minoan Civilization
The Minoan civilization flourished in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 - c. 1450 BCE) on the island of Crete located in the eastern Mediterranean. With their unique art and architecture, and the spread of their ideas through contact with other...
Definition
Phaistos
Located on the fertile Mesara plain in central Crete, Phaistos has been inhabited since the Final Neolithic period (c. 3600-3000 BCE). The settlements greatest period of influence was from the 20th to 15th century BCE, during which time it...