1. Linear B
The Mysterious Language
By Elizabeth, Kate and Zander

2. O.K. everyone, decode this Linear B tablet now.
Any luck yet? I have given you 15 seconds so you should have an
answer.
How are you going to do it?
What does it say?
Do you feel like a failure because you can't figure it out?
Well, that's how Alice Kober and Michael Ventris felt when they first
started deciphering.Without them, no one would know what
the tablet says today.
Let's not waste any more
time waiting for you to
figure it out and get on
with the lesson.

3. The Language..... Kate
n ancient Crete, there were three types of
writing, Pictures, Linear A and Linear B.
he pictures were used from 2,000-1,650 B.C. Only pictures of
hings.
inear A was used from
,750-1,450 B.C. Linear A was
mostly made up of lines.
(Linear A tablet)
Linear B was from 1,450-1,37
B.C. Linear B seemed to be
less complex form of Linear A

4. Why Linear B was Chosen to be
Deciphered..........Kate
The language that archaeologists chose to decipher
was Linear B, because it was the least confusing and
looked the most like words we use today. Linear B
has a syllable alphabet with a consonant to vowel or
just a vowel like a,e,i,o,u or ja,je,ji,jo,ju. when
they found Linear B, it was written on clay tablets
that were preserved by a fire.

5. Linear B Alphabet
............Kate
The next page is the Linear B alphabet.
You can find the syllables by using letters
in the columns and rows.
For example, if you want to
find ma, you would look on
the m row and the a column.

6. In linear B the alphabet also has
shapes/signs used to make words easier to
understand.

7. Where Linear B was found......Zander
Linear B tablets were mainly found in the colossal castle known
as Knossos. Linear B was also found in a castle on the south
of Crete. This castle was called "Phaistos." It was written on
disks there. The disks were perfectly formed and had perfect
etches in them. The tablets in Knossos were closely related
and looked almost exactly the same. It was still very odd
though that Linear B was found on a castle that was very far
away from Knossos. I think Phaistos was a completely different
civilization that was taught how to write by the Minoans and
then the Minoans conquered Phaistos and then the castle and
territory became part of Crete.

8. x
Phaistos

9. Phaistos disk
The Phaistos disk was very different from the
clay tablets. First of all, it was written on a
disk and not tablets. When I first saw the
Phaistos disk, I thought that it could be a
frisbee and the writing could be rewards for
the athlete. The Phaistos disk is probably a
heavy object and has a low probability of
being a frisbee.
(Phaistos) (Linear B Disk)

10. The Start of Deciphering Linear B
......Elizabeth
The decipherment of Linear B started when Sir Arthur Evans
ound some clay tablets with Linear B writing on them.Two
people together deciphered Linear B. Those people were Alice
Kober and Michal Ventris. Before they deciphered it, Linear B
was considered a language impossible to crack.
Knossos with Linear B tablets on it) (Sir Arthur Evans)

11. Alice Kober's Part in the Deciphering
..............................Elizabeth
Alice Kober started the deciphering by figuring out
that the alphabet of Linear B was made
of syllables, not letters.
Alice also figured out that
the syllables were made up of either
one vowel or one consonant
and then a vowel and also some
rules of the language.
(Alice Kober)

12. Alice Kober's Chart
This is Alice Kober's chart of
Linear B syllables. She made
this when she was just starting
to grasp the syllables in it.
It shows how Linear B words
can have different endings.
Without this chart, Linear B
might never have been
discovered.

13. Michal Ventris's Part in the Deciphering of
Linear B..........Elizabeth
Alice Kober died soon after she started the decipherment of
Linear B. However, Michal Ventris
was able to continue her work and
it was he who finished the decipherment.
Michal Ventris made new discoveries
about the language, like that there are
sometimes silent 'I's is the word has an
odd number of letter.
Eventually, Michal Ventris
deciphered a few words. His vocabulary
grew until he had it fully deciphered. Both
Alice Kober and Michal Ventris made it
possible for us to be able to read what
was on those tablets today.
(Michal Ventris)

14. This is a video about the finding and
the deciphering of Linear B
hh
b
v

15. Bibliography
Works Cited
" Google Image Result for http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/Images/LinearB.jpg." Google.
N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/Images/LinearB.jpg&i
mgrefurl=http://ww
w.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/LinearB.html&usg=
__p3bKP7_v5W60hEM0HiFBoajNZ4A=&h=350&w=277&sz=26&hl=en
&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=dr8_BpdQ9_soEM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=1>.
Lo, Lawrence . "Ancient Scripts: Linear B." Ancient Scripts: Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.
http://www.ancientscripts.com/linearb.html.
"Jan Mensing - Das Geheimnis von Linear B." Institut für Verteilte Systeme - Otto Von Guericke
University. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2011. <http://www-ivs.cs.uni-
magdeburg.de/bs/lehre/wise0102/progb/vortraege/jmensing/mensing2.html>.
London. Michal Ventris. 2010. University of London Institute of Classical Studies, London.
Institute of Classical Studies Awards and Prizes. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.
MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

16. Bibliography Continued
Works Cited
"Odyssey Online: Greece." Michael C. Carlos Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/GREECE/home.html.
Peach, Susan, and Anne Millard. The Greeks. Tulsa, Oklahoma: EDC PUBLISHING , 1990. Print.
Sacks, David, and Oswyn Murray. A dictionary of the ancient Greek world . New York: Oxford University
Press, 1995. Print.
Dintino, Theresa. "Amazons on Minoan Crete « ." Amazons on Minoan Crete. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Jan.
2011. http://www.ritualgoddess.com/the2012vortex/?p=696.
Singh, Simon. The code book: the science of secrecy from ancient Egypt to quantum cryptography. New
York: Anchor Books, 20001999. Print.
MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

17. Bibliography Continued 2
Works Cited
Howitt , Caitlin. Linear B tablet. 2001. The Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology Classroom, Pylos. Archaeologies of the Greek Past. Web. .
"Phaistos Disc (Phaistos Disk) Decipherment." History of Civilization - A Renaissance in Learning - LexiLine.com Index Page. N.p., n.d. Web
3 Jan. 2011. <http://www.lexiline.com/lexiline/lexi3.htm>.
Woods, Christopher. Linear A Script. 2009. Historic Connections-Interactive Archaeology & Ancient History, Chicago. HISTORY of
WRITING. Web. .
"BBC - h2g2 - The Decipherment of Linear B." BBC - Homepage. N.p., 26 Aug. 2005. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4596735>.
"On this day in 1900 | The Traveler's Steampunk Blog." Daily Steampunk - Das Webprojekt jetzt auch auf Deutsch. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Jan.
2011. <http://daily-steampunk.com/steampunk-blog/2010/03/16/on-this-day-in-1900/>.
Tiunchik, Oleg. "Knossos, a photo from Iraklion, Crete | TrekEarth." Learning about the world through photography | TrekEarth. N.p., n.d.
Web. 4 Jan. 2011. <http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Greece/photo389980.htm>.
MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

18. Credits!
Introduction........................................................................Zander
The Language....................................................................Kate
Why Linear B was Chosen to be Dechiphered..............Kate
Linear B Alphabet Page....................................................Kate
Where Linear B was Found..............................................Zander
Phaistos disk......................................................................Zander
The closing.........................................................................Zander
The start of Deciphering Linear B....................................Elizabeth
Alice Kober's Part in the Deciphering.............................Elizabeth
Michal's part in the Decipherement of Linear B.............Elizabeth
Alice Kober's Chart...........................................................Elizabeth
The Bibliography Page................................................Elizabeth
Editor for Grammer...................................................Elizabeth, Zander
Reading Material...............................................................Elizabeth
Pictures Found and Inserted......................Elizabeth, Zander and Kate
The video page and finder of video.................................Kate
Decorations........................................................................Kate