Linear B is the earliest form of writing used for Greek. It is a syllabic

script which belongs to the second half of the second millennium B.C.

and precedes the earliest alphabetic texts by at least four hundred years.

The tablets written in this script offer important information about the

economy, administration, religion, institutions, etc. of the Mycenaean

period. But who wrote these texts? What types of texts were they?

How can we read them, understand them and interpret them? What do

they teach us about the history, economy, religion, society, geography,

technology, and language of the Mycenaean period?

This Companion aims at answering these and other questions in a series

of chapters written by internationally recognised specialists. It is aimed

both at the beginner who needs an introduction to the whole area and

to advanced scholars (archaeologists, historians, classicists) who require

an up-to-date account which can serve as a standard reference tool.