Linear B Ideogram B123 Spice

A generic Linear B commodity sign for spice or condiment. Scholarly transcriptions call it AROM, but the bare sign names a broad category rather than any proven herb — a pantry label for aromatics.

Linear B was adapted from the largely undeciphered Minoan script Linear A rather than invented outright; its clay accounts first appear at Knossos around 1450 BCE, and deciphered in 1952 it proved to be the earliest known writing of Greek. The sign's ancestor is Linear A AB123, though there it can also serve as a syllable — shared ancestry is not an identical reading.

Why was 𐂑 used?

To count and allocate a spice category in palace records. Ideograms sat beside quantities, turning terse clay tablets into stock and distribution lists; in perfume documents, AROM appears among ingredients meant to be boiled in oil.

Placement narrows it. On tablet MY Ge 603, ko directly before AROM pins the generic sign to coriander; the same tablet shortens other aromatics — cumin and sesame — to syllables. The sign stays broad until a neighbor names the specific commodity.

Is 𐂑 an emoji?

No; it is a specialist text character, not a food emoji. In a modern chat, the safest decode is a Linear B reference or an interest in ancient scripts, unless surrounding text supplies another intent. As of 2026, no established messaging convention gives it a separate food meaning.

AROM is not another character — it is the conventional Latin transcription editors write for this sign. The glyph is drawn by a font, not emoji artwork, so it can vanish where coverage is missing.