The race to decode a mysterious language
Dig into the mysterious Linear B symbols, found on ancient tablets on the island of Crete, which took scholars nearly 50 years to decode.
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.