The Man Who Deciphered Linear B: The Story of Michael Ventris

Robinson, Andrew

ISBN 10: 0500510776 / ISBN 13: 9780500510773

Edité par Thames & Hudson, 2002

N° de réf. du vendeur mon0000592384

Synopsis :

Linear B is Europe's oldest readable writing, dating from the middle of the second millennium BC. First discovered in 1900, on clay tablets among the ruins of the Palace of Minos at Knossos, Crete, it remained a mystery for over fifty years until 1952, when Michael Ventris discovered that its signs did not represent an unknown language as previously believed, but an archaic dialect of Greek, more than 500 years older than the Greek of Homer. Dubbled 'the Everest of archaeology', the decipherment was all the more remarkable because Ventris was not a trained classical scholar but an architect by profession, who had first heard of linear B as a schoolboy. An initial fascination became a lifelong obsession for this intriguing and contradictory man, a gifted linguist but a divided soul. This is the first book to tell not just the story of Linear B but that of the 'modest genius' who broke the code.

À propos de l?auteur: Andrew Robinson is the Literary Editor of The Times Higher Education Supplement. Among his previous books are The Story of Writing and Earthshock.

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : The Man Who Deciphered Linear B: The Story ...
Éditeur : Thames & Hudson
Date d'édition : 2002
Reliure : hardcover
Etat : Good