Linear A Sign AB049

As of 2026, specialists have not agreed how to read AB049.

AB049 is a modern catalogue label, not an ancient word. Linear A combines syllable signs with logograms—signs for whole words or quantities—but the language it records has not been deciphered.

The earliest secure evidence for Linear A on Crete dates to Middle Minoan IIA; the Archanes seal may be older, but its attribution to Linear A rather than Cretan Hieroglyphic is disputed. Most surviving records are palace accounts of goods and transactions. Offering tables, vessels, and metal objects also show cultic and funerary use.

How does Linear A connect to other scripts?

Cretan Hieroglyphic, another script used on Crete, and Linear A coexisted in the Bronze Age. Their similar forms and shared bookkeeping features point to contact, but direct descent remains debated.

Linear A spread across Crete and parts of the Aegean during the Second Palace period. After Linear B appeared, it stopped being used for administration, though it survived in occasional non-administrative inscriptions. Linear B, which wrote Mycenaean Greek, reused many of Linear A’s syllabic signs. Cypro-Minoan and later Cypriot syllabaries also show contact with Aegean writing; descent from Linear A is proposed, not proven.

Why does this glyph appear as a box?

Your font may not include Linear A.

As of 2026, an app whose chosen and fallback fonts lack Linear A coverage may show a square, question mark, or blank. A font with glyphs for the script can display the character without changing what it is.