Ventris’s house, 19 North End, is described in ‘Keeping the children under’, by Mark Girouard, Country Life, 12 November 1959. Some plans for the house drawn by Ventris are in the Ventris Papers. The glass-topped desk on which Ventris deciphered Linear B, designed by Marcel Breuer, is in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Index
All page numbers refer to the 2012 print edition.
Numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
AA—see Architectural Association School
AJ—see Architects’ Journal
AJA—see American Journal of Archaeology
Alexander 80
Allen, William 148
allographs 64–65
American Journal of Archaeology 32–33, 44, 68, 76
Amnisos (Crete) 97–100, 102, 107, 109–10, 155
Anatolia 37
Annan, Lord Noel 18
Antiquity 153
Architects’ Journal 49, 122–23, 142, 145, 147, 148, 149–50
Architectural Association Journal 151
Architectural Association School (London) 30, 31, 41–42, 47, 48–52, 56, 60, 73, 145, 148, 151
Assyria 9
Atatürk, Kemal 35
Athens (Greece) 92, 118, 129, 132
Babylon 9
Barnet (UK) 151
BBC—see British Broadcasting Corporation
Beattie, Arthur 122, 154–55, 156
Bennett Jr, Emmett 62, 63–67, 68, 76, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 92, 94, 95, 98, 103, 104, 106, 111, 113, 114, 116–17, 121, 124, 128, 129–30, 132, 134, 139, 140, 146, 147, 156, 158
Betjeman, Sir John 44
Blegen, Carl 63, 117–18, 121, 125, 126, 134, 155
Bletchley Park (UK) 110
Blitz, London 41
Boardman, Sir John 134–36
Bomber Command War Diaries, The (Middlebrook/Everitt) 46
Breuer, Marcel 28–30, 40, 41, 103, 125
British Broadcasting Corporation 23, 102, 104, 106, 111, 116, 147, 158
Bullivant, Dargan 73, 144
Burlington House (London) 21, 121
Cambridge (UK) 110, 114, 117, 118
Canada 45
Carian (language) 37
Carter, Howard 102
Chadwick, John 14–15, 36, 66, 78, 80, 81, 83, 99, 110–18, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129–33, 136, 137–41, 146–47, 146, 148, 152, 153, 154, 156
Champollion, Jean-François 8, 12, 13, 15, 32, 45, 64, 81, 90, 106, 124
Chantraine, Pierre 147
Chaplin, Charlie 113
Chinese (script) 112
Chios—see Emborio/Emporio
Cleopatra 80, 100
Codebreakers, The (Kahn) 156
Copenhagen (Denmark) 47, 56, 74, 137
Cox, Oliver 49–50, 51–52, 53–55, 54, 57–8 61 74, 77, 148, 151
Country Life 149
Crick, Francis 15, 66, 81
Crowley, Mary 73
cuneiform 9, 12, 71, 76, 80, 89, 130
Cypriot (language and script) 33–38, 66, 70, 75, 84, 94, 97, 98–99, 112, 128
Danish (language) 90
‘Deciphering Europe’s earliest scripts’ (Ventris) 104–6, 111, 116
Decipherment of Linear B, The (Chadwick) 14, 21, 66, 80, 118, 146, 156
Denmark 53, 56
Documents in Mycenaean Greek (Ventris/Chadwick) 132–34, 137–41, 147, 153–54
Dumézil, Georges 152
Egyptian hieroglyphs 8–9, 11, 12, 21, 25, 64, 80, 89, 90, 100, 106, 124, 127
Einstein, Albert 156–57
Emborio/Emporio (Greece) 134–36, 135
Etruscan (language and script) 14, 32, 37–40, 39, 58, 68, 71, 74, 80, 81, 84, 90, 94, 97, 98, 99, 105, 106, 157
Evans, Sir Arthur 9–12, 11, 16, 20, 21, 23–26, 27, 32, 33–38, 40, 44, 60, 62–63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 74, 89, 90, 91, 98, 99, 106, 115, 123, 133
Everest, Mount 122
‘Evidence for Greek dialect in the Mycenaean archives’ (Ventris/Chadwick) 113–16, 125
France 57–58, 140, 146–47
Franklin, Rosalind 66
‘Function and arabesque’ (Ventris) 56– 57
Furumark, Arne 117
Gabo, Naum 19, 29, 30, 31, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 53
German (language) 17, 42, 47, 57, 75, 124
Gif (France) 140, 146–47, 146, 152, 158
Greek (language and script) 8, 9, 12, 14, 18, 33–40, 39, 68, 71, 76, 80, 84, 85, 88, 90, 92, 98–101, 102, 103–33, 108, 137–39, 146, 154, 158
Grice, Michael 81
‘grid’ (for decipherment) 71, 81–83, 82, 92–94, 93, 95–99, 96, 105, 111, 112, 115, 155
‘Group working’ (Ventris) 50–51
Hampstead (London) 27–29, 40–41, 56, 94, 125
Handley, Eric 140
Hatfield (UK) 151
Havilland, de (aircraft company) 42
Hebrew (language and script) 8, 66
Hepworth, Barbara 149
Herodotus 8, 37, 40
‘Hieroglyphic’ script (Cretan) 11, 23, 62
Highgate (London) 26–27
Highpoint (London) 27–30, 28, 32, 40, 41–42, 43, 47, 61, 77, 77, 81, 95, 102–3, 125, 128
Hillary, Sir Edmund 122
Hittite (cuneiform script) 76
Holme (UK) 45
Homer 8, 9, 10, 40, 63, 100, 106, 112, 114, 115, 121, 131, 137, 139, 158
Hood, Rachel 136
Hood, Sinclair 134, 136
Hrozný, Bedřich 76, 104
Hunter, P. G. (Patrick) 19, 21, 29, 121, 125, 128, 151
Iliad, The (Homer) 63, 121
Indo-European (languages) 38–40, 71, 76, 78, 90, 101
Indus Valley script 76
‘Introducing the Minoan language’ (Ventris) 33, 37–40, 41, 44, 68
Italian (language) 57–58, 75, 90
Italy 57–58
Janasz, Dorothea—see Dorothea Ventris
Janasz, Joseph 17, 30, 31
Japanese (language and script) 66, 109, 111, 112
Journal of Hellenic Studies 112, 113, 114, 116, 125, 153, 154
Kahn, David 156
Kepler, Johannes 156
‘King Nestor’s four-handled cups’ (Ventris) 121
Knossos (Crete)/Knossos tablets 8, 9, 10, 11, 11, 26, 27, 35, 35, 47, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 69, 77, 80, 84, 89, 92, 94, 97, 98, 99–101, 104–7, 115, 127, 157
Knox-Niven, Lois—see Lois Ventris
Kober, Alice 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 68–72, 76, 81, 89, 90, 91, 92, 95, 97, 98, 100, 106
Kober’s ‘triplets’ 69–71, 92, 97–100, 110, 157
Ktistopoulos, K. D. 98
Lane, Sir Allen 49
Latin (language and script) 8, 18, 37, 38, 68–69, 71, 88, 90, 92, 121
Le Corbusier 27, 50, 51–52, 58
Limnos (Greece) 37
Linear A 11, 23, 62, 64, 68, 71–72, 74, 75, 76, 94, 104
Linear B (principal entries only):
appearance 12
case distinction 92
content 157–58
dating 11
gender distinction 25, 71, 91
‘gods’ tablet 115
‘horse’ tablet 35–36
‘human sacrifice’ tablet 139–40
inflection 68–71, 90–92
location 10–11, 10
measurement system 64
nomenclature 11
number distinction 91–92
numerical system 23–24
pictographic signs 25–26
sign list 64–67
spelling mistakes 89
spelling rules 107–10, 127–29
statistical analysis 65–66, 85–88
syllabary 105, 120
totalling formula 24–25
‘tripods’ tablet 118–19, 121, 138–39
word dividers 23
logograms 25
Lubetkin, Berthold 27
; Luktos (Crete) 100
Lycian (language) 37
Lydian (language) 37
Martin, Ian 131
Mayan (languages and script) 12, 15, 80, 107, 127
Medd, David 73
Mesopotamia 9, 32, 84
Michael Ventris Remembered (Meredith et al) 20, 133, 147, 149
Mid-Century Report (Ventris) 60, 74–76, 95, 144
Milne, Christopher Robin 20
Ministry of Education (London) 30, 73, 74, 77, 102, 144, 148
Minoan civilization 9–11
Minos, King 8, 9, 25, 26, 60, 114
Moore, Henry 29, 41
Murdoch, Iris 103
Museum of Modern Art (New York) 27
Mycenae (Greece)/Mycenae tablets 9, 10, 11, 33, 101, 106, 118, 126, 127, 133–34, 139, 157
Mycenaean World, The (Chadwick) 139
Myres, Sir John 32, 44–45, 47, 59, 60–62, 63, 64, 66, 72, 76, 81, 87, 90, 94, 97, 98, 102, 103, 106, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 141
Napoleon Bonaparte 8
Nazis 40
Nestor, King 63, 121, 131
New York Times, The 132
Nicholson, Ben 29, 45, 53, 149
North End, 19 (MV’s house in Hampstead) 56, 94, 125, 130, 148, 149, 151
Odyssey, The (Homer) 8, 122
Oxford (UK) 30, 44, 47, 59, 60–61, 63, 72, 110, 117, 131, 134, 137
Palace of Minos at Knossos, The (Evans) 23, 33, 62
Palaima, Tom 139
Palmer, Leonard 131, 133, 140–41, 154
Paris (France) 140–41, 146–47
Perspector/Perspectron (design by MV) 51–52
Phaistos (Crete) 100
Picasso, Pablo 29, 31, 41
Plain Guide to the Ventris Decipherment, A (Beattie) 154–55
Plan 48, 50–51, 56–57
Plato 110
Plön (Germany) 47
Polish (language) 17, 45
Powell, Dilys 134
Ptolemy 80, 100
Pylos (Greece)/Pylos tablets 10, 63, 64–67, 76, 83, 84–86, 88–94, 95, 97, 100, 101, 103, 104–7, 108, 118, 119, 125, 127, 129–30, 133, 139, 155, 157, 158
Pylos Tablets, The (Bennett) 83
Rosetta stone 8, 68, 80, 94, 121
Roxburgh, J. F. 18, 19, 26, 30, 31, 41
Royal Air Force 19, 32, 43–47, 43, 60
Russian (language and script) 44, 57, 66, 127
St Ives (UK) 40, 149
Samuel, Edward 74, 149
Sanskrit (language and script) 38
Schele, Linda 127
Schliemann, Heinrich 9, 10, 11
Scientific American 132
Scripta Minoa (Evans) 61, 62, 63, 89, 95, 97, 112, 141
Shankland, Graeme 42, 49–50, 53–55, 54, 57–58, 72–73
Smith, Michael 102, 103
Smith, Prudence 102–4, 106
Stockholm (Sweden) 53–56, 55
Stowe School (UK) 18–22, 26, 29–30, 31, 56, 128, 151
Strabo 8
Sumer 9
Sumerian (language) 32
Sweden 53–56, 74, 131
Swedish (language and script) 53, 75, 117
Swiss German (language) 17, 57, 146
Switzerland 17–18, 57, 114, 146
syllabic scripts 34
Time 132
Times, The 116, 121–23, 124, 126, 152
Trades Union Congress 49
Trojan war 9, 34, 114, 121
Troy (Turkey) 9, 10, 63, 157
Tulissos (Crete) 100
Turkish (language and script) 35
Tutankhamun 25, 102
Ukrainian (language) 45
Unité d’Habitation (France) 58
Vatican City (Rome) 57
Ventris, Sir Charles 16
Ventris, Dorothea (mother of MV) 17, 17, 18, 21, 26–31, 40, 125
Ventris, E. F. V. (father of MV) 16–17, 17, 18, 26, 31
Ventris, Henry 16
Ventris, Lois (wife of MV) 18, 20, 42–47, 49, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57–58, 61, 94, 95, 102, 103, 125, 134, 136, 136, 148–49, 151
Ventris, Michael (principal entries only):
and architecture 26–31, 47, 48–57, 73–74, 78, 134–36, 142–46, 147–50
and Emmett Bennett Jr 76, 83, 85, 104, 116–17, 121, 129–30, 147
and John Chadwick 14–15, 110–22, 129–30, 132–33, 137–41, 146–47, 152
death of 151–52
decipherment principles of 12–14, 74–76, 78, 79–83, 155–57
education of 18–20, 30–31, 48–57, 72–73
and Sir Arthur Evans 21, 32
family life of 17–18, 26–31, 40, 42–44, 148–49
and Alice Kober 72, 76, 90, 106
languages spoken by 17–18, 52–53, 57–58, 146
and Sir John Myres 44–45, 47, 60–62, 103–4, 114, 116
war service of 43–47
writings of—see ‘Deciphering Europe’s earliest scripts’, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, ‘Evidence for Greek dialect in the Mycenaean archives’, ‘Function and arabesque’, ‘Group working’, ‘Introducing the Minoan Language’, ‘King Nestor’s four-handled cups’, Mid-Century Report, ‘Work Notes’, and Further Reading
Ventris, Nikki (son of MV) 18, 45, 55, 125, 149, 151
Ventris, Sir Peyton 16
Ventris, Tessa (daughter of MV) 47, 125, 132, 136
Wace, A. J. B. (Alan) 10, 118, 126, 133, 134, 158
Watson, James 15, 66, 81
Webb, Beatrice and Sidney 73
Webster, Tom 131, 153–54, 157
Welford (UK) 152
Which? 143
‘Work Notes’ (Ventris) 13, 14, 78, 79, 80–101, 82, 86, 93, 96, 103, 104, 111, 112, 118, 145, 155
Worms (Germany) 46–47
Young, Thomas 64, 90
Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2002 as
The Man Who Deciphered Linear B: The Story of Michael Ventris
ISBN 978-0-500-51077-3
by Thames & Hudson Ltd, 181a High Holborn, London WC1V 7QX
and in the United States of America by
Thames & Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10110
Copyright © 2002 Andrew Robinson
This electronic version first published in 2013 by
Thames & Hudson Ltd, 181a High Holborn, London WC1V 7QX
First published in 2013 in the United States of America by
Thames & Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10110
To find out about all our publications, please visit
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ISBN 978-0-500-77076-4
ISBN for USA only 978-0-500-77077-1
On the cover: Michael Ventris. (Getty Images)