Linear A Sign AB059

It has no securely decoded word meaning. Linear A sign lists classify AB059 as a syllabogram—a sign used to write one syllable—and some assign it the provisional reading “ta.” That is a reading label, not a translation of the undeciphered language.

AB059 appears in sign-groups and sometimes by itself before numerals. In isolated cases, researchers have considered whether it was an ideogram—a sign for a thing or category—or a one-syllable word. The object or word is unknown.

When and where was Linear A used?

Linear A belongs to Bronze Age Crete. Inscriptions in the script are known chiefly from Crete from about 1800–1450 BCE, with scattered finds elsewhere in the Aegean, mainland Greece, and Asia Minor.

It formed part of a wider Cretan writing tradition: Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic both served Minoan administration. Tablets, small clay discs called roundels, and clay seal impressions recorded goods and transactions; writing also appears on objects used for worship and everyday tasks.

Is 𐘳 really “ta”?

“Ta” is a proposed reading, not a translation. The proposal comes from the similar-looking Linear B sign 𐀲, read TA. Linear A influenced the set of signs later used in Linear B, but the scripts wrote different languages: Linear B recorded Mycenaean Greek, while the language of Linear A remains undeciphered. The matching shape suggests a value; it cannot confirm that “ta” was the sign’s sound or word meaning.