Linear A Sign A552

A552 is a catalogue number, not a word. As of 2026, Linear A remains undeciphered as a whole, so sign lists use identifying numbers instead of translated word readings. A552 identifies a particular sign shape in that scholarly inventory.

Linear A seems to have developed on Crete. Its earliest evidence clusters at Phaistos in the early palace period, when the first large palace centers were active; later, the script appears across Crete and parts of the Aegean. Most surviving texts are records: clay tablets track goods coming in and going out, while vessels from sanctuaries carry repeated sequences in a religious setting.

A552 appears on damaged tablet HT 33 from Haghia Triada, in a list of unidentified commodity signs—marks for goods—beside quantities; the tablet is understood as an inventory. Linear B later inherited much of Linear A's graphic repertoire. Cretan Hieroglyphic was a contemporary script also used in accounting, but neither script's history tells us how to read A552.

Is A552 one sign or three?

It is one encoded character with a composite design. Unicode's Linear A chart shows the design through AB073, AB057, and AB077; the encoded composite form is still one character.

SigLA describes the shape as AB73 + AB57 combined with AB77. One study tentatively assigns the parts the proposed syllable labels mi, ja, and ka, but calls that analysis doubtful. These labels are clues about the design, not a confirmed reading of the whole sign.

In a caption or research note, A552 identifies the catalogued form without claiming it has been deciphered.

Why does 𐛜 display as a box?

The app may lack a font that draws this sign. Text can contain the correct character even when the application cannot display it.

As of 2026, Noto Sans Linear A is a dedicated font for these signs, but whether an app uses a suitable font depends on the app. Without one, the fallback may be a blank space, a question-mark box, or a plain square. That display failure does not change the character stored in the text.