Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Tablets : Clay Linear B tablet [Π-Ν106]

Clay Linear B tablet

Π-Ν106

Clay

Mended

Length: 11.1 cm. Height: 4.9 cm. Thickness: 1.7 cm.

Knossos

Palace, Area of the Bull Relief

Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan IΙΙA2 period.:

c. 1375-1300 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Final Palatial period (1450-1300 BC). The Knossos monopalatial system

Economy and administration. Linear B script. Economic data

Description

Palm-leaf Linear Β tablet summarising the total harvest of wheat (988,800 litres), wild and domesticated olives and cyperus at the site of da-wo in south-central Crete, perhaps present-day Agia Triada. Most of the Knossian tablets created in Late Minoan ΙΙΙΑ2 were used for the logistical administration of the sources of wealth and human resources of a wide territory covering the greater part of the island. In this context, documents were written recording the harvest of various crops, the production of the palatial workshops and other independent production units, the different stages in the distribution of olive oil and the perfumed oils produced from it, commercial transactions, the complex taxation system and a type of land registry.

Bibliography:

Chadwick, J., Godart, L., Killen, J.T., Olivier, J.P., Sacconi, A., Sakellarakis, I.A. Corpus of Mycenaean Inscriptions from Knossos, Volume I (1-1063). Cambridge University Press- Edizioni dell’Ateneo, 852 (tablet F(2) 852). Firth, R.J. and C. Skelton. "A study of the scribal hands of Knossos based on phylogenetic methods and find-place analysis." Minos 39 (2016): 189-213. Firth, R.J., and J.L. Melena. "The secondary scribes of Knossos." Minos 39 (2016): 353-378.

Author:

G. F.

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