Fascicula Mycenologica Polona DO-SO-MO 6 PIOTRKÓW TRYBUNALSKI 2005 PIOTRCOVIAE MMIV

Fascicula Mycenologica Polona DO-SO-MO 6 PIOTRKÓW TRYBUNALSKI 2005 PIOTRCOVIAE MMIV

Recenzent: Prof. dr hab. Ignacy R. Danka Kolegium Redakcyjne: Sergiusz Sharypkin (redaktor naukowy), Krzysztof T. Witczak, Elwira Kaczyńska, Rafał Rosół Korekta autorska Skład i łamanie: Opracowanie okładki: Wydanie publikacji dofinansowane przez Filię Akademii Świętokrzyskiej w Piotrkowie Trybunalskim ISBN Naukowe Wydawnictwo Piotrkowskie ul. Iwaszkiewicza 1, 97-300 Piotrków Tryb. tel. (044) 732-70-47, 732-70-43, 732-70-46 http://www.sapt.pl e-mail: wydawnictwo@aspt.pl Dystrybucja/Distribution: Księgarnia/Bookshop: tel. (+48) 44 732-74-99 e-mail: ksiegarnia@aspt.pl

Contents RES MINOICAE Gareth OWENS (Heraklion, Greece) in cooperation with Vikki HULSE, Gillian TRENCH, Christophoros CHARALAMBAKIS, Simon BENNETT, Kalliope NIKOLIDAKI). Evidence for Indo-European Language in the Minoan Documents. Selected Articles on Minoan and Mycenaean Crete in memory and honour of Michael Ventris and John Chadwick: Prologue ku-mi-na-qe, a-ku-mi-na With or without Cumin. Further Evidence for the Indo-European Nature of the Minoan Language? (with Vikki HULSE) Catalogue of Published Inscriptions in Linear A COPILA (with Gillian TRENCH) KH 11 and «Μινωικος Παλαιος Fοινος» - An Introduction to Linear A (with Christophoros CHARALAMBAKIS) Minoan Inscriptions in Mycenaean Greece (with Simon BENNETT) RECENSIONES Michael Ventris, Linear B and the Mycenaean Greeks: Review of Greek Editions of 5 Books about the Scripts and Languages of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete (Gareth OWENS and Kalliope NIKOLIDAKI).

Prologue Michael Ventris deciphered Linear B on 1 st June 1952 as recording the Mycenaean Greek Language at Knossos c.1400 B.C. 1 This amazing achievement was then broadcast on the BBC to a wide audience in the UK 2. It was heard, amongst others, by John Chadwick who was the first to fully comprehend and appreciate the significance of the decipherment of Linear B due to his training in code-breaking during the Second World War and due to his research into the pre-homeric dialects of the Greek Language. The subsequent collaboration and friendship of Ventris and Chadwick was to unite their names eternally when they added more than 5 centuries to the recorded history of the Hellenic Language. They first produced an academic article in 1953 on the decipherment, which was described by the Times of London as the Everest of Greek Archaeology 3. Then they produced what is still the classic work of reference for interpreting the Linear B Documents and the Mycenaean Greek Language 4. This was published shortly after the tragic death of Michael Ventris in 1956, όν οί θεοί φιλούσιν αποθνήσκει νέος. John Chadwick subsequently devoted more than 4 decades to studying Linear B along with an international team of scholars. In 1973 he revised the second edition of Documents in Mycenaean Greek and reconstructed Mycenaean history and society in his own works which have been published in numerous revised editions and/or translations and have trained and inspired two generations of students, researchers and scholars all around the world 5. This collection of 5 essays in memory and honour of Ventris and Chadwick has been compiled in collaboration with colleagues in both Greece and the UK and with the editors of DO-SO-MO in Poland. It was originally intended to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the decipherment, then to celebrate the half century since the publication of Evidence and it is hoped that it will be in time to celebrate the half century since the publication of Documents, "... qu'il soit permis de rire entre mycénologues!" cretologuesque! 1 M.Ventris, Work Note 20 (1-6-1952), [in:] Work Notes on Minoan Language Research and Other Unedited Papers, A. Sacconi (ed.), Roma, 1988. 2 M.Ventris, Deciphering Europe s earliest scripts, British Broadcasting Corporation 1-7-1952, Listener 10-7-1952, 57-58. 3 M. Ventris and J. Chadwick, Evidence for Greek Dialect in the Mycenaean Archives, Journal of Hellenic Studies 73, 1953, pp. 84-103 and The Times June 1953. 4 M. Ventris and J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Cambridge1956; 2 nd ed. Cambridge 1973. 5 J. Chadwick, The Decipherment of Linear B, Cambridge 1960; 2 nd ed. Cambridge 1967, the same, The Mycenaean World, Cambridge 1976, and the same, Linear B and Related Scripts, London 1987.