Linear B B121 Barley Sign

It is a Linear B grain-accounting sign, conventionally barley.

Linear B adapted the earlier Linear A script, used around the Aegean Sea, for palace bookkeeping. As of 2026, the oldest surviving Linear B archive identified is at Knossos, with tablets dating to the late 15th to early 14th century BCE; that dates the script’s surviving records, not B121’s first appearance. B121, also written HORD, labels cereal entries beside grain amounts measured by volume in ration, allocation, and transfer accounts.

The usual gloss pairs B121 as barley with B120 as wheat. Ruth Palmer proposed reversing the pair, so the crop labels remain a scholarly dispute: tablet context and evidence about ancient crops matter more than the outline alone. A possible equivalent in Linear A, catalogued as A303, is a less secure match.

What does 𐂏 mean when someone sends it?

It points to Linear B, barley, or ancient writing.

As of 2026, it has no established chat convention. Outside a discussion of Aegean scripts, treat it as a niche historical reference or deliberate oddity and ask the sender what they mean; the glyph alone does not signal affection, approval, or sarcasm.