Sample Characters
First 48 characters from Linear B Syllabary (U+10000–U+1005D)
About Linear B
Linear B is a syllabic script used to write Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language. The script dates from approximately 1400–1200 BCE, used by the Mycenaean civilization at sites like Mycenae, Tiryns, and Pylos.
Linear B was deciphered in 1952 by architect Michael Ventris, one of the great achievements of 20th-century linguistics. The tablets found at these Bronze Age sites recorded primarily administrative and economic information — inventories, tribute lists, ration records — on clay tablets. Linear B descended from Linear A, the still-undeciphered script of the Minoan civilization.
Data sourced from the ISO 15924 registry, Unicode CLDR, and the Unicode Character Database.
Languages Using Linear B 1
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of writing system is Linear B?
What direction does Linear B read?
How many languages use the Linear B script?
When was the Linear B script created?
Compare Linear B With Another Script
Direction, characters, languages — side by side.
Key Facts
- ISO Code
- Linb
- ISO Number
- 401
- Script Type
- Syllabary
- Direction
- Left-to-right
- Status
- Historical
- Region
- European
- Characters
- 211
- Introduced
- 1400 BCE
- Languages
- 1
Unicode Ranges
-
Linear B SyllabaryU+10000–U+1005D
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Linear B IdeogramsU+10080–U+100FA