The Palace of Nestor at Pylos in Western Messenia: Vol. IV: Inscribed Docs
Synopsis
This free download is made available thanks to a grant from the Packard Humanities Institute
In 1939, on the first day of excavation on a hill in western Messenia, Carl W. Blegen uncovered a Mycenaean palace that he called The Palace of Nestor. Its archives contained clay tablets inscribed in the so-called Linear B script, a syllabary employed to record the Greek language. These documents had been unintentionally baked in a conflagration that destroyed the palace early in the 12th century B.C. Blegen, who died in 1971, planned to see published in a final volume of his excavation report all Linear B texts from Pylos. This publication in two parts fulfills his commitment and is the work of several generations of scholars who have remained dedicated to the enterprise. After a preliminary detailed introduction, Linear B tablets 1–1589 are here presented accompanied by color photographs, transcriptions, and definitive epigraphical and palaeographical notes. The Palace of Nestor IV will be fundamental for any future study of Mycenaean economy and society.
