In Scribes (p. 125), Olivier postulated that there was a bureau concerned with aromatics, spices,... more In Scribes (p. 125), Olivier postulated that there was a bureau concerned with aromatics, spices, honey and offerings in the area above the Long Corridor of the West Wing at Knossos. He associated the scribal hands 103, 135, 136, 140, 220, 223 with this activity. However, he noted the possibility that hands 138, 139 and 141 might also be involved, extending the range of bureau to include the Room of the Clay Chest and the Room of the Column Bases. Godart (1968) went further and suggested that the Fh series (of hand 141) was strongly linked to the Ga and Gg series of the bureau because they both included a number of references to ku-pi-ri-jo who, according to Godart, was an unguent boiler (Godart 1969, p. 52). Foster (1977) took this another stage further and proposed that the bureau was an administrative department concerned with perfumery and offerings. This has remained the conventional view to date, although Bendall (2007, p. 12) notes that it would be desirable to make a fuller ...
Iris Tzachili has provided an excellent account of the clay cylinders found at Akrotiri.1 The des... more Iris Tzachili has provided an excellent account of the clay cylinders found at Akrotiri.1 The description of the cylinders found in Room Δ17 is particularly intriguing because they each have markings of numerous impressed circles and, thus, have the appearance of being devices used for counting. Although Tzachili does speculate on the possible use of these cylinders, it is judged that her suggestions are not compelling. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to explore an alternative suggestion: that the clay cylinders are the remains of tally-sticks. All mycenologists will surely be familiar with the painting by Henry Hankey which is used on the front cover (and in Fig. 9) of John Chadwick’s book, The Mycenaean World (1976). This painting is Chadwick and Hankey’s representation of the Archive Room at Pylos. In addition to the scribe and a young tablet-maker, the painting includes a jovial man holding a tally-stick. Chadwick writes (p. 20): “Next to him [the scribe] stands an offici...
Thoughts on the Knossos Ra Series » P. CARLIER, Réflexions sur les relations internationales dans... more Thoughts on the Knossos Ra Series » P. CARLIER, Réflexions sur les relations internationales dans le monde Mycénien : y-at -il eu des hégémonies? » M. CIVITILLO, Il sillabogramma *19: status quaestionis e proposte di lettura » 131 C. CONSANI, Aspects and Problems in Mycenaean and Cypriot Syllabification » P. DE FIDIO, Miceneo ki-ti-ta e me-ta-ki-ti-ta » S. DEGER-JALKOTZY, A-mu-ta-wo, Ku-ru-me-no und Pu 2-ke-qi-ri: drei "mykenische Karrieren" » M. DEL FREO, Rapport 2001-2005 sur les textes en écriture hiéroglyphique crétoise, en linéaire A et en linéaire B » 199 R. DUEV, Zeus and Dionysus in the Light of Linear B Records » Y. DUHOUX, Animaux ou humains ? Réflexions sur les tablettes Aravantinos de Thèbes » M. EGETMEYER, Epilukos / opilukos: un titolo greco di origine indoeuropea » G. FACCHETTI, La questione della scrittura "geroglifica cretese" dopo la recente edizione del corpus dei testi » R. J. FIRTH, J. L. MELENA, The Knossos Linear B Tablets: Genesis of the Listing of the Later Fragments » A. FRANCESCHETTI, Musici e strumenti musicali alle corti micenee » X S O M M A R I O J. L. GARCÍA RAMÓN, Mykenische Personennamen und griechische Dichtung und Phraseologie: i-su-ku-wo-do-to und are me -ne, are -i°-me-ne » N. GUILLEUX, Archaïsmes et innovations en grec mycénien : une évaluation critique » J. GULIZIO, Mycenaean Religion at Knossos » 351 E. HALLAGER, Some Unpublished Linear A Inscriptions » 359 M. IODICE, Miceneo a-pu-wa » M. JANDA, Il nome miceneo *Aiguptos: linguistica e ricostruzione culturale » A. M. JASINK, The "Scroll" and Its varIants: from a Decorative Symbol to a Writing Sign » 377 A. KARNAVA, La minoicizzazione » N. N. KAZANSKY, Greek Poetry in the Mycenaean Time » 407 VOLUME II SOMMARIO » IX J. T. KILLEN, The Commodities on the Pylos Ma Tablets » E. KYRIAKIDIS, Who's Who: The Shepherds in the Cn Series at Pylos » M. LINDGREN, Use of the Cypriot Syllabary in a Multicultural Surrounding » 461 S. LUPACK, The Northeast Building of Pylos and An 1281 » M. MARAZZI, Il "sistema" Argolide: l'organizzazione territoriale del golfo argolideo » M. MEIER-BRÜGGER, Une lecture en langue mycénienne des textes de la série Ta de Pylos » T. MEISSNER, Notes on Mycenaean Spelling » A. MICHAILIDOU, Late Bronze Age Economy: Copper / Bronze in Linear B Script and Material Evidence » C. MILANI, Al di là delle varianti grafiche: la lingua di scribi tebani » 541 D. NAKASSIS, Named Individuals and the Mycenaean State at Pylos » M. NEGRI, I criteri di distribuzione delle razioni nella Creta del II millennio » G. NIGHTINGALE, A-ko-so-ta and the Economy of Pylos » S. NIKOLOUDIS, The Role of the ra-wake -ta. Insights from PY Un 718 » M.-L. B. NOSCH, Administrative Practices in Mycenaean Palace Administration and Economy » J.-P. OLIVIER, Les syllabaires chypriotes des deuxième et premier millénaires avant notre ère. État des questions » R. PALMER, Wheat and Barley in Mycenaean Society 15 Years Later » 621 O. PANAGL, Die etymologische Erforschung des mykenischen Wortschatzes. Ein kritischer Rückblick » A. PANAYOTOU-TRIANTAPHYLLOPOULOU, Les écritures chypriotes et la présence mycénienne a Chypre » 651 S O M M A R I O XI M. PERNA, A proposito di alcuni documenti "fiscali" in lineare B » F. ROUGEMONT, Les enregistrements d'huile de la série Fh de Cnossos. Essai d'interprétation et de comparaison avec les données du bureau de l'huile à Mari » A. SACCONI, Riflessioni sul significato del termine o-pa nei testi micenei » E. SCAFA, Palace Politics and Social Results » S. SHARYPKIN, Irrelevant Phonetic Features and the Rules of the Linear B Script » R. J. E. THOMPSON, Mycenaean Non-Assibilation and its Significance for the Prehistory of the Greek Dialects » H. TOMAS, Comparing Linear A and Linear B Administrative Systems: The Case of the Roundel and the Elongated Tablet » C. VARIAS GARCÍA, Observations on the Mycenaean Vocabulary of Furniture and Vessels » F. WAANDERS, The Syntax and Co-occurrence of Case Functions in Mycenaean Texts » J. WEILHARTNER, Zu den Opfertieren innerhalb der Linear B-Texte: Mögliche Hinweise für Brand-und Schlachtopfer » J. ZURBACH, Pylos, Tirynthe, Cnossos: problèmes fonciers et diversité administrative » RELAZIONI » Comité International Permanent des Études Mycéniennes (C.I.P.E.M.) » Comité sur les signes du linéaire B et des autres écritures égéennes » Committee on Information Technology Applied to Mycenology » Comité pour les éditions et les instruments de travail » INDICI » Indice dei testi » Indice delle parole »
In his influential work, Les Scribes de Cnossos (Scribes), Olivier identified 41 major scribes an... more In his influential work, Les Scribes de Cnossos (Scribes), Olivier identified 41 major scribes and 25 secondary scribes on the Linear B tablets. The aim of this paper is to re-consider the secondary scribes of Knossos. It is hoped that the contents of this paper will form part of the basis for a new study of the Scribes of Knossos. However, it should be emphasised that this paper has been written at a time when it is not possible to gain access to examine the Knossos tablets. It follows that all the conclusions here should be regarded as preliminary and they will require confirmation when the tablets become available again. Nevertheless, this paper gathers together the discussions concerning the secondary scribes which are currently scattered throughout the published literature. It also takes this opportunity to set down some hitherto unpublished suggestions.2
There are forty-five Linear B tablets listed in CoMIK IV as being in British museums. The aim of ... more There are forty-five Linear B tablets listed in CoMIK IV as being in British museums. The aim of this paper is to consider these tablets and, in particular, how they came to be there. All of these tablets originated from Knossos, and, with the exception of a small number of fragments, all of the tablets were donations from Sir Arthur Evans, who was responsible for those excavations. It is stated in Scripta Minoa II by John Myres that these tablets were presented to Evans by the Greek government. However, this is clearly not accurate, since the most significant series of tablets was presented by the Cretan Assembly, when Crete was still independent of Greece. This paper considers: (a) the different phases of donations to museums (in respect both of the tablets themselves and of casts made of these tablets); (b) the Royal Academy exhibition of the tablets in 1936; and (c) the publications of the tablets by Evans. The story is rather more complex than might initially be imagined and gives some insight into the milieu of the time. A surprising finding of this work is that the photographs that are nominally of the British Museum tablets Fp 13 and Dd 1171 in CoMIK are actually of casts made by Émile Gilliéron.
It has already been demonstrated that it is possible to divide the tablets into three groups, wit... more It has already been demonstrated that it is possible to divide the tablets into three groups, with contents which are, at most, only weakly linked (Firth 2002, pp. 260269). In that study, the three groups were essentially the same as those given above although there were differences of detail because the earlier analysis did not have the advantage of using phylogenetic methods.2 It is clearly possible for there to be differences in writing styles that were in use at any given time. Therefore, in principle it is possible that all three of the above writing
The objective of this work is to publish an updated version of Chapter II of Scribes. For conveni... more The objective of this work is to publish an updated version of Chapter II of Scribes. For convenience of the authors, this will be done in a series of three papers in this volume which each tackle a group of scribes (the principal scribes 101-141 but excluding the 124 scribes; the 124 scribes; the secondary scribes). The aim of each of these papers is to draw together the useful information from existing publications together with a limited number of new suggestions. 1 Since this is the first paper in this series, it will begin by including a comprehensive introduction for the whole series of papers. 1 There are occasional statements in the literature which tentatively suggest that the pieces numbered 10,000 and above could be associated with particular scribal hands based on the clay-type. Such statements are noted here in the footnotes of this paper, however, in view of the very fragmentary nature of the these pieces, they are not include in the formal listings of tablets associated with scribal hands that are given in the main text. richard j. firth and josé luis melena re-visiting the scribes of knossos: the principal hands 101-123, 125-141
Wm 1707 was found on 14 May 1900 in the Area of the Bull Relief, i.e. the North Entrance Passage ... more Wm 1707 was found on 14 May 1900 in the Area of the Bull Relief, i.e. the North Entrance Passage (Firth 2002, p. 120). Wm 8493 was found in the Room of the Chariot Tablets on -17 April 1900 (Firth 2002 p. 107). It is generally agreed that there is little or no association between the inscriptions from the Room of the Chariot Tablets and those found elsewhere in the palace. This has supported the suggestion by Driessen (1990) that they may have been written at an earlier date. Wm 8499 was found in Western Magazine XVIII on 16 March 1901 (Firth 2002, p. 125). This nodule was written by scribe 103, who was responsible for many of the inscriptions associated with the production of textiles at Knossos. This is significant because it implies that Wm 8499 was written at Knossos. In other words, it was not a nodule that was used to record the contents of a package that was being sent to Knossos.
both provide recent examples of lists of year names for the Ur III period. 1 Whilst there are dif... more both provide recent examples of lists of year names for the Ur III period. 1 Whilst there are differences between these two versions, they are largely in agreement and the differences can readily be summarized. The aim here is to consider the practical application of these lists of year names to dating the tablets in the CDLI catalogue for the years, Šulgi 20 to 30. This paper also considers the statistical distribution of the numbers of tablets for this period across their different proveniences. §1.2. For the reign of Ur-Namma and the fi rst twenty years of Šulgi, the overwhelming majority of the tablets that have been preserved and documented originate from Girsu. However, during the latter part of this period , the number of tablets from any location is quite small. The numbers of tablets per year increases during Šulgi 20 to 30 but most of these tablets are from Umma, with smaller numbers from Girsu and other locations. This increase in the numbers of tablets presents some prob...
In 1967, Jean-Pierre Olivier published the seminal work on the scribes of Knossos.1 This has rema... more In 1967, Jean-Pierre Olivier published the seminal work on the scribes of Knossos.1 This has remained a key reference in Linear B studies for almost 40 years and it was the basis for the attribution of scribal hands in KT4, KT5 and in CoMIK. In KT5 (p. XIII) it was stated that, “In the light of the J. M. Driessen’s thesis The Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos, Leuven 1989, some prefixes of the tablets in hand ‘124’ have been changed (especially from Xd to Vc). Unfortunately, however, we have not had time to make full use of Driessen’s work”. The contents of Jan Driessen’s thesis have now become more widely available, particularly in the recent Supplement to Minos (RCTK). RCTK is a wide-ranging study of scribal activities in the Room of the Chariot Tablets (RCT), including a very detailed study of the scribal hands. The aim of the present paper is to use RCTK as a basis for re-drafting of the relevant section of Scribes (i.e. pp. 66-76). Since Scribes has been widely accepted fo...
This paper presents a study of the scribal hands of Knossos that is based largely upon phylogenet... more This paper presents a study of the scribal hands of Knossos that is based largely upon phylogenetic methods and find-place analysis. It will be divided into three parts. The first part describes the results of an analysis of the scribal hands using phylogenetic methods. The second part is an interpretation of the results of the phylogenetic analysis taking account of the find-places of the tablets. The third part introduces an extended phylogenetic analysis that considers the rate of evolution of the scribal hands and uses this to propose specific dates for scribal hands. Part I: The Phylogenetic Analysis
This pdf of your paper in Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress belongs... more This pdf of your paper in Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress belongs to the publishers Oxbow Books and it is their copyright. As author you are licenced to make up to 50 offprints from it, but beyond that you may not publish it on the World Wide Web until three years from publication (December 2017), unless the site is a limited access intranet (password protected). If you have queries about this please contact the editorial department at Oxbow Books
In Scribes (p. 125), Olivier postulated that there was a bureau concerned with aromatics, spices,... more In Scribes (p. 125), Olivier postulated that there was a bureau concerned with aromatics, spices, honey and offerings in the area above the Long Corridor of the West Wing at Knossos. He associated the scribal hands 103, 135, 136, 140, 220, 223 with this activity. However, he noted the possibility that hands 138, 139 and 141 might also be involved, extending the range of bureau to include the Room of the Clay Chest and the Room of the Column Bases. Godart (1968) went further and suggested that the Fh series (of hand 141) was strongly linked to the Ga and Gg series of the bureau because they both included a number of references to ku-pi-ri-jo who, according to Godart, was an unguent boiler (Godart 1969, p. 52). Foster (1977) took this another stage further and proposed that the bureau was an administrative department concerned with perfumery and offerings. This has remained the conventional view to date, although Bendall (2007, p. 12) notes that it would be desirable to make a fuller ...
Iris Tzachili has provided an excellent account of the clay cylinders found at Akrotiri.1 The des... more Iris Tzachili has provided an excellent account of the clay cylinders found at Akrotiri.1 The description of the cylinders found in Room Δ17 is particularly intriguing because they each have markings of numerous impressed circles and, thus, have the appearance of being devices used for counting. Although Tzachili does speculate on the possible use of these cylinders, it is judged that her suggestions are not compelling. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to explore an alternative suggestion: that the clay cylinders are the remains of tally-sticks. All mycenologists will surely be familiar with the painting by Henry Hankey which is used on the front cover (and in Fig. 9) of John Chadwick’s book, The Mycenaean World (1976). This painting is Chadwick and Hankey’s representation of the Archive Room at Pylos. In addition to the scribe and a young tablet-maker, the painting includes a jovial man holding a tally-stick. Chadwick writes (p. 20): “Next to him [the scribe] stands an offici...
Thoughts on the Knossos Ra Series » P. CARLIER, Réflexions sur les relations internationales dans... more Thoughts on the Knossos Ra Series » P. CARLIER, Réflexions sur les relations internationales dans le monde Mycénien : y-at -il eu des hégémonies? » M. CIVITILLO, Il sillabogramma *19: status quaestionis e proposte di lettura » 131 C. CONSANI, Aspects and Problems in Mycenaean and Cypriot Syllabification » P. DE FIDIO, Miceneo ki-ti-ta e me-ta-ki-ti-ta » S. DEGER-JALKOTZY, A-mu-ta-wo, Ku-ru-me-no und Pu 2-ke-qi-ri: drei "mykenische Karrieren" » M. DEL FREO, Rapport 2001-2005 sur les textes en écriture hiéroglyphique crétoise, en linéaire A et en linéaire B » 199 R. DUEV, Zeus and Dionysus in the Light of Linear B Records » Y. DUHOUX, Animaux ou humains ? Réflexions sur les tablettes Aravantinos de Thèbes » M. EGETMEYER, Epilukos / opilukos: un titolo greco di origine indoeuropea » G. FACCHETTI, La questione della scrittura "geroglifica cretese" dopo la recente edizione del corpus dei testi » R. J. FIRTH, J. L. MELENA, The Knossos Linear B Tablets: Genesis of the Listing of the Later Fragments » A. FRANCESCHETTI, Musici e strumenti musicali alle corti micenee » X S O M M A R I O J. L. GARCÍA RAMÓN, Mykenische Personennamen und griechische Dichtung und Phraseologie: i-su-ku-wo-do-to und are me -ne, are -i°-me-ne » N. GUILLEUX, Archaïsmes et innovations en grec mycénien : une évaluation critique » J. GULIZIO, Mycenaean Religion at Knossos » 351 E. HALLAGER, Some Unpublished Linear A Inscriptions » 359 M. IODICE, Miceneo a-pu-wa » M. JANDA, Il nome miceneo *Aiguptos: linguistica e ricostruzione culturale » A. M. JASINK, The "Scroll" and Its varIants: from a Decorative Symbol to a Writing Sign » 377 A. KARNAVA, La minoicizzazione » N. N. KAZANSKY, Greek Poetry in the Mycenaean Time » 407 VOLUME II SOMMARIO » IX J. T. KILLEN, The Commodities on the Pylos Ma Tablets » E. KYRIAKIDIS, Who's Who: The Shepherds in the Cn Series at Pylos » M. LINDGREN, Use of the Cypriot Syllabary in a Multicultural Surrounding » 461 S. LUPACK, The Northeast Building of Pylos and An 1281 » M. MARAZZI, Il "sistema" Argolide: l'organizzazione territoriale del golfo argolideo » M. MEIER-BRÜGGER, Une lecture en langue mycénienne des textes de la série Ta de Pylos » T. MEISSNER, Notes on Mycenaean Spelling » A. MICHAILIDOU, Late Bronze Age Economy: Copper / Bronze in Linear B Script and Material Evidence » C. MILANI, Al di là delle varianti grafiche: la lingua di scribi tebani » 541 D. NAKASSIS, Named Individuals and the Mycenaean State at Pylos » M. NEGRI, I criteri di distribuzione delle razioni nella Creta del II millennio » G. NIGHTINGALE, A-ko-so-ta and the Economy of Pylos » S. NIKOLOUDIS, The Role of the ra-wake -ta. Insights from PY Un 718 » M.-L. B. NOSCH, Administrative Practices in Mycenaean Palace Administration and Economy » J.-P. OLIVIER, Les syllabaires chypriotes des deuxième et premier millénaires avant notre ère. État des questions » R. PALMER, Wheat and Barley in Mycenaean Society 15 Years Later » 621 O. PANAGL, Die etymologische Erforschung des mykenischen Wortschatzes. Ein kritischer Rückblick » A. PANAYOTOU-TRIANTAPHYLLOPOULOU, Les écritures chypriotes et la présence mycénienne a Chypre » 651 S O M M A R I O XI M. PERNA, A proposito di alcuni documenti "fiscali" in lineare B » F. ROUGEMONT, Les enregistrements d'huile de la série Fh de Cnossos. Essai d'interprétation et de comparaison avec les données du bureau de l'huile à Mari » A. SACCONI, Riflessioni sul significato del termine o-pa nei testi micenei » E. SCAFA, Palace Politics and Social Results » S. SHARYPKIN, Irrelevant Phonetic Features and the Rules of the Linear B Script » R. J. E. THOMPSON, Mycenaean Non-Assibilation and its Significance for the Prehistory of the Greek Dialects » H. TOMAS, Comparing Linear A and Linear B Administrative Systems: The Case of the Roundel and the Elongated Tablet » C. VARIAS GARCÍA, Observations on the Mycenaean Vocabulary of Furniture and Vessels » F. WAANDERS, The Syntax and Co-occurrence of Case Functions in Mycenaean Texts » J. WEILHARTNER, Zu den Opfertieren innerhalb der Linear B-Texte: Mögliche Hinweise für Brand-und Schlachtopfer » J. ZURBACH, Pylos, Tirynthe, Cnossos: problèmes fonciers et diversité administrative » RELAZIONI » Comité International Permanent des Études Mycéniennes (C.I.P.E.M.) » Comité sur les signes du linéaire B et des autres écritures égéennes » Committee on Information Technology Applied to Mycenology » Comité pour les éditions et les instruments de travail » INDICI » Indice dei testi » Indice delle parole »
In his influential work, Les Scribes de Cnossos (Scribes), Olivier identified 41 major scribes an... more In his influential work, Les Scribes de Cnossos (Scribes), Olivier identified 41 major scribes and 25 secondary scribes on the Linear B tablets. The aim of this paper is to re-consider the secondary scribes of Knossos. It is hoped that the contents of this paper will form part of the basis for a new study of the Scribes of Knossos. However, it should be emphasised that this paper has been written at a time when it is not possible to gain access to examine the Knossos tablets. It follows that all the conclusions here should be regarded as preliminary and they will require confirmation when the tablets become available again. Nevertheless, this paper gathers together the discussions concerning the secondary scribes which are currently scattered throughout the published literature. It also takes this opportunity to set down some hitherto unpublished suggestions.2
There are forty-five Linear B tablets listed in CoMIK IV as being in British museums. The aim of ... more There are forty-five Linear B tablets listed in CoMIK IV as being in British museums. The aim of this paper is to consider these tablets and, in particular, how they came to be there. All of these tablets originated from Knossos, and, with the exception of a small number of fragments, all of the tablets were donations from Sir Arthur Evans, who was responsible for those excavations. It is stated in Scripta Minoa II by John Myres that these tablets were presented to Evans by the Greek government. However, this is clearly not accurate, since the most significant series of tablets was presented by the Cretan Assembly, when Crete was still independent of Greece. This paper considers: (a) the different phases of donations to museums (in respect both of the tablets themselves and of casts made of these tablets); (b) the Royal Academy exhibition of the tablets in 1936; and (c) the publications of the tablets by Evans. The story is rather more complex than might initially be imagined and gives some insight into the milieu of the time. A surprising finding of this work is that the photographs that are nominally of the British Museum tablets Fp 13 and Dd 1171 in CoMIK are actually of casts made by Émile Gilliéron.
It has already been demonstrated that it is possible to divide the tablets into three groups, wit... more It has already been demonstrated that it is possible to divide the tablets into three groups, with contents which are, at most, only weakly linked (Firth 2002, pp. 260269). In that study, the three groups were essentially the same as those given above although there were differences of detail because the earlier analysis did not have the advantage of using phylogenetic methods.2 It is clearly possible for there to be differences in writing styles that were in use at any given time. Therefore, in principle it is possible that all three of the above writing
The objective of this work is to publish an updated version of Chapter II of Scribes. For conveni... more The objective of this work is to publish an updated version of Chapter II of Scribes. For convenience of the authors, this will be done in a series of three papers in this volume which each tackle a group of scribes (the principal scribes 101-141 but excluding the 124 scribes; the 124 scribes; the secondary scribes). The aim of each of these papers is to draw together the useful information from existing publications together with a limited number of new suggestions. 1 Since this is the first paper in this series, it will begin by including a comprehensive introduction for the whole series of papers. 1 There are occasional statements in the literature which tentatively suggest that the pieces numbered 10,000 and above could be associated with particular scribal hands based on the clay-type. Such statements are noted here in the footnotes of this paper, however, in view of the very fragmentary nature of the these pieces, they are not include in the formal listings of tablets associated with scribal hands that are given in the main text. richard j. firth and josé luis melena re-visiting the scribes of knossos: the principal hands 101-123, 125-141
Wm 1707 was found on 14 May 1900 in the Area of the Bull Relief, i.e. the North Entrance Passage ... more Wm 1707 was found on 14 May 1900 in the Area of the Bull Relief, i.e. the North Entrance Passage (Firth 2002, p. 120). Wm 8493 was found in the Room of the Chariot Tablets on -17 April 1900 (Firth 2002 p. 107). It is generally agreed that there is little or no association between the inscriptions from the Room of the Chariot Tablets and those found elsewhere in the palace. This has supported the suggestion by Driessen (1990) that they may have been written at an earlier date. Wm 8499 was found in Western Magazine XVIII on 16 March 1901 (Firth 2002, p. 125). This nodule was written by scribe 103, who was responsible for many of the inscriptions associated with the production of textiles at Knossos. This is significant because it implies that Wm 8499 was written at Knossos. In other words, it was not a nodule that was used to record the contents of a package that was being sent to Knossos.
both provide recent examples of lists of year names for the Ur III period. 1 Whilst there are dif... more both provide recent examples of lists of year names for the Ur III period. 1 Whilst there are differences between these two versions, they are largely in agreement and the differences can readily be summarized. The aim here is to consider the practical application of these lists of year names to dating the tablets in the CDLI catalogue for the years, Šulgi 20 to 30. This paper also considers the statistical distribution of the numbers of tablets for this period across their different proveniences. §1.2. For the reign of Ur-Namma and the fi rst twenty years of Šulgi, the overwhelming majority of the tablets that have been preserved and documented originate from Girsu. However, during the latter part of this period , the number of tablets from any location is quite small. The numbers of tablets per year increases during Šulgi 20 to 30 but most of these tablets are from Umma, with smaller numbers from Girsu and other locations. This increase in the numbers of tablets presents some prob...
In 1967, Jean-Pierre Olivier published the seminal work on the scribes of Knossos.1 This has rema... more In 1967, Jean-Pierre Olivier published the seminal work on the scribes of Knossos.1 This has remained a key reference in Linear B studies for almost 40 years and it was the basis for the attribution of scribal hands in KT4, KT5 and in CoMIK. In KT5 (p. XIII) it was stated that, “In the light of the J. M. Driessen’s thesis The Room of the Chariot Tablets at Knossos, Leuven 1989, some prefixes of the tablets in hand ‘124’ have been changed (especially from Xd to Vc). Unfortunately, however, we have not had time to make full use of Driessen’s work”. The contents of Jan Driessen’s thesis have now become more widely available, particularly in the recent Supplement to Minos (RCTK). RCTK is a wide-ranging study of scribal activities in the Room of the Chariot Tablets (RCT), including a very detailed study of the scribal hands. The aim of the present paper is to use RCTK as a basis for re-drafting of the relevant section of Scribes (i.e. pp. 66-76). Since Scribes has been widely accepted fo...
This paper presents a study of the scribal hands of Knossos that is based largely upon phylogenet... more This paper presents a study of the scribal hands of Knossos that is based largely upon phylogenetic methods and find-place analysis. It will be divided into three parts. The first part describes the results of an analysis of the scribal hands using phylogenetic methods. The second part is an interpretation of the results of the phylogenetic analysis taking account of the find-places of the tablets. The third part introduces an extended phylogenetic analysis that considers the rate of evolution of the scribal hands and uses this to propose specific dates for scribal hands. Part I: The Phylogenetic Analysis
This pdf of your paper in Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress belongs... more This pdf of your paper in Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress belongs to the publishers Oxbow Books and it is their copyright. As author you are licenced to make up to 50 offprints from it, but beyond that you may not publish it on the World Wide Web until three years from publication (December 2017), unless the site is a limited access intranet (password protected). If you have queries about this please contact the editorial department at Oxbow Books
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