4 - BIRTH OF A THEORY

Summary

So far this account of Linear B has deliberately reproduced the chaotic state of our knowledge up to the end of the Second World War. It is now time to give a clear and detailed analysis of the script as it appeared to the investigators who began a fresh attack on it at this period. We must, however, begin with some preliminary observations on the nature of the problem and the methods which can be applied.

There is an obvious resemblance between an unreadable script and a secret code; similar methods can be employed to break both. But the differences must not be overlooked. The code is deliberately designed to baffle the investigator; the script is only puzzling by accident. The language underlying the coded text is ordinarily known; in the case of a script there are three separate possibilities. The language may be known or partially known, but written in an unknown script; this, for instance, was the case with the decipherment of the Old Persian inscriptions by the German scholar Grotefend in 1802; the cuneiform signs were then quite unknown, but the language, as revealed by recognition of proper names, turned out to be largely intelligible through the medium of the Avestan texts. Secondly, the script may be known, the language unknown.