Linear A Sign A338

A338 is a catalogue label, not a decoded word. Linear A has not been deciphered as a whole, so no agreed reading is known for this sign. Some Linear A signs spell syllables; others stand for whole words or quantities, and their position in a text can matter. The isolated 𐙾 cannot settle which function applies.

A proposed comparison table for the Arkalochori Axe—a bronze double axe found on Crete—tentatively labels one sign as A338. Its question mark signals a visual match, not a confirmed reading.

What was Linear A used for?

It was a Cretan script used for records and religious writing. Linear A is attested on Crete by the end of the 19th century BCE. It developed alongside Cretan Hieroglyphic and later supplied much of the sign repertoire for Linear B, the script used to write Mycenaean Greek. Similar-looking or reused shapes do not show that a sign kept the same sound or meaning.

Many surviving inscriptions are on clay records: tablets, roundels (small clay discs) and sealings (clay pieces stamped with a seal). Other inscribed objects are understood as largely religious. Linear A later stopped serving as a bookkeeping script; its last attestation is placed around 1350 BCE. A338 remains a useful scholarly label: specialists can identify a sign's shape without knowing its reading.