New Fragments of Linear B Tablets From Knossos

Abstract

In the course of his work at Knossos Sir Arthur Evans set aside a number of tablets, which remained there after the main collection had been removed to the Museum in Iraklion for safe keeping. Some of the fragments retained by Evans were rediscovered in the Villa Ariadne soon after the Second World War by Dr. N. Boufidis of the National Museum in Athens; drawings of them were sent by him to Sir John Myres, who published the texts for the first time in Scripta Minoa ii, where they are distinguished by the prefix ‘M’.Other fragments of tablets which had remained at Knossos were discovered there by Dr. N. Platon in 1956, when he was working in the Stratigraphic Museum. One, published here as X 8101, has already been correctly transcribed in Scripta Minoa II and in The Knossos Tablets, in which publications it is numbered 04–94. A second fragment (S 8100), published here for the first time, belongs to the category of armour. The boxes in which the two tablets were found had ‘Little Palace’ labels on them, but unfortunately they are not a sure guide to the original provenience of the tablets themselves, which appear to have been stored without the exact knowledge of Evans. A third tablet (Og8102) was found about the same time in the neighbourhood of the pine-trees to the north-west of the Palace. All three pieces were brought to our attention by Dr. Platon, to whom we are most grateful for the suggestion that we should publish them. The photographs are the work of Mr. Androulakis of Iraklion, to whom we are indebted for his assistance.