Linear forms of writing used by Aegean civilizations during the 2nd millennium BC.
Examples of Linear A, a syllabary (a writing system in which one character represents a whole syllable) written from left to right, date from 1850 BC to 1400 BC. The language written in Linear A remains unknown. Linear B, adapted from Linear A, was borrowed from the Minoan civilization by the Mycenaean Greeks, probably с 1600 BC, and used to write the Mycenaean Greek dialect. Examples of Linear B script have been found on clay tablets and vases from с 1400–1200 BC. These texts represent the oldest known form of Greek. Linear B was deciphered as Greek in 1952 by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick.