What is Linear B?
[[File:Linear B (Mycenaean Greek) NAMA Tablette 7671.jpg|thumb|Tablet with writing in Linear B script]] '''Linear B''' is an ancient [[writing system|script]], used to write [[Mycenaean]] [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]], as the oldest known form of [[Ancient Greek]]. This was proved by [[Michael Ventris]] in the early 1950s.<ref>Ventris, Michael & Chadwick, John 1973. ''Documents in Mycenaean Greek''. 2nd ed, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-08558-6}}</ref> Linear B came before the [[Greek alphabet]] by several [[centuries]]. The script is based on [[Linear A]], a script which cannot be read today. The oldest texts written in Linear B date from about 1450 [[BC]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aegeanscripts.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98:new-linear-b-tablet-found-at-iklaina&catid=80&Itemid=473 |title= New Linear B tablet found at Iklaina |publisher= Comité International Permanent des Études Mycéniennes, UNESCO |accessdate= 29 April 2012 |archive-date= 15 October 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131015044633/http://www.aegeanscripts.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98:new-linear-b-tablet-found-at-iklaina&catid=80&Itemid=473 |url-status= dead }}</ref> Linear B was found mainly in the palace archives at [[Knossos]], [[Kydonia|Cydonia]],<ref>{{cite web |first=C. Michael |last=Hogan |title=Cydonia |work=The Modern Antiquarian |year=2008 |publisher=Julian Cope |url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/65496/fieldnotes/cydonia.html |accessdate= 2009-01-12}}</ref> [[Pylos]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] and [[Mycenae]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Linnea Holmer |last=Wren |author2= David J. Wren and Janine M. Carter |year=1986 |title= Perspectives on western art: source documents and readings from the ancient Near East through the Middle Ages |publisher= Westview Press |page=55 |isbn= 978-0-06-430154-1}}</ref> The writing of Linear B language disappeared with the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. There are about 87 signs in Linear B that represent