Linear A Sign AB120

It marks a grain-related commodity, but its ancient word is unknown.

AB120 is a modern sign label, and GRA is scholarly shorthand. The records support a grain-related reading, but scholars differ between grain, wheat, and barley; none is a confirmed Linear A word. As of 2026, Linear A has no generally accepted decipherment.

If someone sends 𐙉, treat it as a reference to the sign unless they explain their intended crop: the character alone does not choose between those glosses.

When did Linear A begin?

Linear A is securely attested by the nineteenth century BCE.

Linear A is a Bronze Age writing system used on Crete. The earliest Archanes seal inscriptions may belong to an early Linear A phase or to a separate Cretan script.

Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic, a second Cretan writing system, coexisted before Linear A became dominant in Late Minoan I. Clay tablets, roundels (small clay disks), and sealings preserve palace economic records; inscriptions on stone, metal, and vessels appear in cultic or practical settings. AB120 occurs in grain-related records from Khania, Hagia Triada, Arkhanes, and Zakros.

Is 𐙉 the same as the Linear B wheat sign?

They are related signs, but their readings are not interchangeable.

𐂎 is Linear B ideogram B120, labeled wheat. Scholars connect B120 and AB120 by form and use; Linear B adapted much of its sign repertoire from Linear A, but a later wheat label does not prove AB120 meant wheat. Linear B recorded Mycenaean Greek, while the language of Linear A remains undeciphered.

On a clay weight from Kythera, AB120 is paired with the Linear A fraction sign E, which marks a fractional amount. Researchers interpret the pairing as measurement, not just a crop label.