[2026] PTE Academic Reading - Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of the Greek language.The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries and was primarily inscribed on clay tablets discovered in the ruins of Knossos, Mycenae, and Pylos.For decades following its discovery by archaeologist Arthur Evans in the early 20th century, the script remained an impenetrable mystery to scholars.

The breakthrough in decipherment came in the 1950s through the collaborative efforts of an English architect named Michael Ventris and a classical scholar named John Chadwick.Ventris, who had been fascinated by the script since childhood, applied methods of cryptographic analysis to the texts.He initially hypothesized that the language might be related to Etruscan, but the phonetic patterns eventually led him to the startling realization that it was an archaic dialect of Greek.

The successful decipherment of Linear B revolutionized the study of ancient Aegean history.It proved that the Mycenaeans were Greek speakers and pushed the documented history of the Greek language back by over half a millennium.The translated tablets, mostly administrative records and inventories, provided invaluable insights into the economy, religion, and social organization of the Mycenaean civilization.