Linear B Wine Ideogram B131

It marked wine in Linear B records. Linear B was a Bronze Age script used for palace records. Its ideograms label goods, while nearby numbers record amounts.

A Linear A tablet from Agia Triada, dated to the mid-15th century BC, places the scholarly label VIN before quantities and a total. That accounting layout is why researchers read the sign as wine, rather than as a sound to pronounce.

On Cretan storage jars, the sign can appear with numerals. The entry may concern contents, capacity, or movement, so a jar does not always tell us exactly what its number measures.

How did the Linear B wine sign develop?

The AB 131 wine variants form a family, not one isolated drawing. Three graphic variants occur in Linear A, an earlier Cretan script, and two continue into Linear B, written in the 14th–13th centuries BC. A recognizable relative, Cretan Hieroglyphic CH *156, appears on sealstones and clay documents.

Arthur Evans first interpreted AB 131 as a ship. Sundwall proposed wine after comparing its shape with an Egyptian vine sign; Bennett supported the wine reading by noting the sign before liquid measures. That comparison does not prove Egyptian borrowing: the sign may have developed independently on Crete. Related Linear A forms may refer to products such as must or vinegar; in Linear B, 𐂖 marks wine.

Is 𐂖 a wine emoji?

No; it is a historical writing sign, not a wine emoji. In a message, it points to Linear B, ancient Crete, or wine as a historical topic. If the recipient needs to understand “wine” immediately, use a word or a familiar drink symbol.

A font with Linear B coverage can display the intended glyph. A missing-glyph box means the font lacks that character; it does not give the sign another meaning.