The race to decode a mysterious language - Susan Lupack
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In the early 1900s, archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans uncovered nearly 3,000 tablets inscribed with strange symbols. He thought the script, dubbed Linear B, represented the Minoan language, while others came up with their own theories. Was it the lost language of the Etruscans? Or an early form of Basque? Its meaning would elude scholars for 50 years. Susan Lupack explores the mysterious inscriptions.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Susan Lupack
- Director Gavin Edwards
- Narrator Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Art Director Gavin Edwards
- Storyboard Artist Gavin Edwards
- Animator Gavin Edwards
- Compositor Gavin Edwards
- Music Stephen LaRosa
- Sound Designer Stephen LaRosa
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
- Script Editor Soraya Field Fiorio
- Fact-Checker Madeleine I. Stevens
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Before the decipherment of Linear B it was thought by most scholars that the Mycenaeans were not Greek. Why do you think this was the case? How do you think this revelation changed the way we view the history and heritage of Greece?
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Monika Gothica
Lesson completed
Most scholars thought that the Mycenaeans weren't Greek because they thought that the land that they lived on what not invaded by the Greeks.
Harry Connerty
Lesson completed
I think this was the case because of revelation changed the way we view. I think this revelation changed the way we view the history and heritage of Greece by following the way we view it today.
LAUREN FOX
Lesson completed
I think that was because they were convinced that the people that spoke it were Egyptian.
Sumedh Mahangade
Lesson completed
This is because the language that was discovered by Sir Arthur Evans, was discovered in Crete.Because of the discovery, archeologists thought that the people that lived in Crete (Minoans) created the language.But after a long time, it was finally understood that Crete was land that was conquered by the Greek Empire.Micheal Ventris understood this, because he compared Crete to other countries, and eventually found out that the language included parts of Greek.At the end, not only was this discovery about deciphering a language, but it was also about history itself!
minseo kim
Lesson in progress
In the early 1900s, archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans uncovered nearly 3,000 tablets inscribed with strange symbols. He thought the script, dubbed Linear B, represented the Minoan language, while others came up with their own theories
sarmy vaddi
Lesson completed
Most scholars thought that the Mycenaeans weren't Greek because they thought that the land that they lived on what not invaded by the Greeks.
Saoirse Exton
Lesson completed
The Mycenaean culture was vastly different from the mainland Greek culture and because of this, historians didn't make the link between the two groups. By discovering that the Greeks actually invaded Mycenae, it shows us that Greece was an empire that integrated parts of other cultures they had conquered into their own instead of completely wiping it out, as many colionalists did at much later time periods.
