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The Undeciphered Aegean Scripts

Linguistic Investigations into the Languages They Encode
Brief Description
The decipherment of Linear B, an early form of Greek used by the Myceneans, by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick has long been celebrated. But five other scripts from the Bronze-Age Aegean remain undeciphered. In this book, Brent Davis provides a thorough introduction to these scripts... Read More
Format: Hardback
$44700

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The decipherment of undeciphered scripts is a topic that fascinates a very wide range of people, but very few have ever had a chance to see it in action. In this book, readers are given a rare first-hand view of the kind of work involved in that process.

Constitutes a significant advance along the road to the decipherment of all five of the undeciphered Bronze Age Aegean scripts.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The decipherment of Linear B, an early form of Greek used by the Myceneans, by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick has long been celebrated. But five other scripts from the Bronze-Age Aegean remain undeciphered.

In this book, Brent Davis provides a thorough introduction to these scripts and uses statistical techniques drawn from linguistics to provide insights into the languages lying behind them. He deals most extensively with the script of the Minoan civilisation on Crete (β€œLinear A”), whose decipherment remains one of the Holy Grails of archaeology.

He discusses linguistic topics in clear language and explains linguistic terms in a comprehensive glossary. The book also includes all data on which the various analyses of the scripts are based. It will therefore be of great interest and use not just to experts in the undeciphered Aegean scripts, but to novices and aficionados of decipherment as well.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781009562348

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 02 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Cambridge University Press

Illustration: Worked examples or Exercises; 200 Tables, black and white; 5 Maps; 50 Line drawings, black and white

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Weight: 1143g

Pages: 530

About the Author

BRENT DAVIS is Associate Professor of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Melbourne. He has completed degrees in both linguistics and archaeology and has undertaken more than a dozen years of archaeological fieldwork in Israel. He was the 2019 recipient of University College London's prestigious Michael Ventris Award for Mycenaean Studies; Part II of this book is the direct result of the research he carried out under that award.

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