At first, the Minoans were using a kind of writing which was similar lo the hieroglyphics of Egypt. Each letter is symbolised with an animal or object. Later, they were using Linear A, and in the end, after 1450 BC, when the Achaians dominated, Linear B was instituted. Ventris proved that, in this period, they were speaking Greek in Knossos, like the Achaians. This helped us to prove that the same goes for the hieroglyphics and Linear A. The Greek hieroglyphics had been invented in Crete, by the Greeks of the island. In addition, based on inscriptions, we can assume that only Greeks or Greek speaking people created civilization in the island in the Prehistoric period. Linear writings came from the hieroglyphics, not as a new writing, but as a shorthand type of them. The Greek hieroglyphics are an independent invention of a Greek speaking nation and they represent the widest language in the world. The Greek hieroglyphics have simultaneously pictorial and phonetic character. This particularity of the Greek dialects caused the difference between Linear A and Linear B, which seem to represent the main dialects in the prehistoric Greek area.
Another opinion: prehistoric writings represented the local dialects
24 Aug 2012
by Archaeology Newsroom
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