Overview

The Minoan Linear A script has mystified scholars over the last 70 years. The first Linear A clay tablets discovered from 1900 A.D. at Knossos, Phaistos and Hagia Triada puzzled some of the greatest minds in the linguistic field, especially after Michael Ventris's decipherment of the younger related script of Linear B as Mycenaean Greek in 1952. Many attempts to identify Linear A as Semitic, Hittite, Luwian and even Greek resulted into failure. Some people thought that a ""Rosetta stone"" was crucial for the decipherment of Linear A. Disappointment even led to the view that the language written with Linear A might be extinct and remain unknown. Through systematic linguistic research, Peter van Soesbergen has established that the Linear A script records an agglutinative language. Hurrian, the dominant language of the kingdom of Mitanni (Northern Iraq, Eastern Anatolia, Syria), turned out to be the best candidate, especially because dominance of Mitanni in the Near East was approximately contemporary with Minoan Linear A in Crete. The excavations at Urkish / Tell Mozan showed that Hurrians were already present in Syria in the third millennium B.C. The Decipherment of Minoan Linear A, Volume I, reads like a detective novel, as the evidence is revealed page by page. Van Soesbergen has been able to identify lots of Hurrian personal names, ethnics, toponyms and theonyms in Linear A. Important are the typical Hurrian grammatical forms with Hurrian suffixes. While the extensive linguistic evidence may be challenging to the layman, the wealth of information contained within the entire works remains rewarding and enlightening. Volume I, Part I and II, comprise the main text in the series The Decipherment of Minoan Linear A, whereas Volume I, Parts III-VI, offer the indices to the main text and glossaries at the same time. Volume II, Parts I (Arkhanes - Kea) and Part II (Khania - Zakros), contain the Corpus of transliterated Linear A texts. The spiral Linear A inscription a-re-ne-si-di-jo-pi-ke-pa-ja-su-l/ra-i-te-l/ra-me-a-ja-ku (KN Zf 13) on a gold signet-ring from the necropolis of Mavro Spilio near Knossos probably consists of six sequences: a-re-ne (, ) si-di-jo-pi (, ) ke-pa-ja (, ) su-l/ra-i (, ) te-l/ra-me (, ) a-ja-ku, that can be analysed as {Ar-ene=s} {Sid=i-j=o/umbi} {Kebaja} {zul(l)=ai} {Telame} {Aya=k(k)=un}, and be translated: 'In order that [the priest] Ar-ene ('Give, oh God !') may connect (final debitive zul(l)=ai) Si(n)dijombi and Kebaja (in wedlock with this wedding-ring), oh Great Ajak(k)un (vocative) !'. Can it be accidental that Linear A te-l/ra-me = Hurrian telame / talame / talme 'great' precedes a-ja-ku in this inscription and that we have here the Linear A prototypes of Tελαμών (Telamon) and his father Aἰακóς (Ajakos), grandfather of the 'Great' Aἴας (Ajas), together in one inscription ? A-ya-ku-un is a Hurrian divine name, cf. E. Laroche, Glossaire de la langue hourrite, Paris 1980, 40, s.v. ayakki: Nom divin: a-ya-ku-un = oug. a-ya-ku, RS quadr. 137 IV b 15 (Série An, No 48) ?

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Reviews

"Jacques Raison (Paris) wrote a review in the REVUE DES �TUDES GRECQUES, Tome XCVII, Nos 460-461, 1984, p. 87: ""Du m�me auteur (Peter G. van Soesbergen, BICS 28, 1981, p. 163, r�sume une conf�rence du 28-5-80 sur le m�me sujet 'The historical significance of onomastic data from Linear A and B texts' (texte complet fourni sur demande par la revue). .... Sans pousser jusqu'� l'hi�roglyphique, trop mal connu, Van Soesbergen, entre autres preuves, remonte aux origines du lin�aire A, dont les traits 'agglutinants' et les caract�ristiques orthographiques du syllabaire (inf�r�es de celles du syllabaire B, son h�ritier), lui paraissent avoir �t� concues pour une langue comme celle du Mitanni. Rapprochement de mots du lin�aire A et hourrites (assez int�ressant, quand ils sont suffisamment longs); essai, finalement, point tellement loin d'une esquisse de d�chiffrement partiel. Sous la m�me signature, bref retour, mais ferme, sur les traits 'hourrites' du lin�aire A dans 'Progress in Linear A research', communication au congr�s EIRENE de septembre-octobre 1982, � Prague (� para�tre dans les actes de cette r�union). En pr�ambule, r�sum� des acquis ant�rieurs concernant l'�criture �voqu�e: il est retenu, comme assur�, un peu de chacun et annonc� un livre sur ""The onomastics of the 'Minoan Linear A' and 'Linear B' documents and their historical significance"", ainsi qu'un ""Corpus of transliterated Linear A texts""."

Jacques Raison (Paris) wrote a review in the REVUE DES ETUDES GRECQUES, Tome XCVII, Nos 460-461, 1984, p. 87: Du meme auteur (Peter G. van Soesbergen, BICS 28, 1981, p. 163, resume une conference du 28-5-80 sur le meme sujet 'The historical significance of onomastic data from Linear A and B texts' (texte complet fourni sur demande par la revue). .... Sans pousser jusqu'a l'hieroglyphique, trop mal connu, Van Soesbergen, entre autres preuves, remonte aux origines du lineaire A, dont les traits 'agglutinants' et les caracteristiques orthographiques du syllabaire (inferees de celles du syllabaire B, son heritier), lui paraissent avoir ete concues pour une langue comme celle du Mitanni. Rapprochement de mots du lineaire A et hourrites (assez interessant, quand ils sont suffisamment longs); essai, finalement, point tellement loin d'une esquisse de dechiffrement partiel. Sous la meme signature, bref retour, mais ferme, sur les traits 'hourrites' du lineaire A dans 'Progress in Linear A research', communication au congres EIRENE de septembre-octobre 1982, a Prague (a paraitre dans les actes de cette reunion). En preambule, resume des acquis anterieurs concernant l'ecriture evoquee: il est retenu, comme assure, un peu de chacun et annonce un livre sur The onomastics of the 'Minoan Linear A' and 'Linear B' documents and their historical significance , ainsi qu'un Corpus of transliterated Linear A texts .

"Jacques Raison (Paris) wrote a review in the REVUE DES ÉTUDES GRECQUES, Tome XCVII, Nos 460-461, 1984, p. 87: ""Du même auteur (Peter G. van Soesbergen, BICS 28, 1981, p. 163, résume une conférence du 28-5-80 sur le même sujet 'The historical significance of onomastic data from Linear A and B texts' (texte complet fourni sur demande par la revue). .... Sans pousser jusqu'à l'hiéroglyphique, trop mal connu, Van Soesbergen, entre autres preuves, remonte aux origines du linéaire A, dont les traits 'agglutinants' et les caractéristiques orthographiques du syllabaire (inférées de celles du syllabaire B, son héritier), lui paraissent avoir été concues pour une langue comme celle du Mitanni. Rapprochement de mots du linéaire A et hourrites (assez intéressant, quand ils sont suffisamment longs); essai, finalement, point tellement loin d'une esquisse de déchiffrement partiel. Sous la même signature, bref retour, mais ferme, sur les traits 'hourrites' du linéaire A dans 'Progress in Linear A research', communication au congrès EIRENE de septembre-octobre 1982, à Prague (à paraître dans les actes de cette réunion). En préambule, résumé des acquis antérieurs concernant l'écriture évoquée: il est retenu, comme assuré, un peu de chacun et annoncé un livre sur ""The onomastics of the 'Minoan Linear A' and 'Linear B' documents and their historical significance"", ainsi qu'un ""Corpus of transliterated Linear A texts""."

Author Information

Peter G. van Soesbergen (born in Amsterdam, 7th February 1945) studied Classics at the University of Amsterdam (Doctoral Examination cum laude). He pursued research on The archaeological context of Minoan Linear A for ""The Netherlands Organization for Pure Research"" (report of 400 pp.), published several articles and gave papers at international colloquia and congresses (Heraklion, Bucharest, Sheffield, Nottingham, Prague, Rome, Naples), a Mycenaean Seminar on ""The historical significance of onomastic data from Linear A and B texts"" (Institute of Classical Studies, University of London) and special papers on Linear A at Cambridge and Groningen. He pursued research as a Leverhulme European Visiting Fellow and Independent Research Worker at the University of Sheffield, where he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) on the thesis ""The onomastics of the 'Minoan Linear A' and 'Linear B' documents and their historical significance"". He taught Greek, Latin, Ancient History, Archaeology, Mycenology and Andrological examination. After his retirement he is still pursuing research.

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