Linear B ideogram B157

No commodity name is settled; “plant root” remains a proposal. B157, also cited as *157, is a logogram: a sign for an item or category rather than a syllable.

On three clay tablets from Pylos, B157 appears in lists of goods assigned to perfume-makers. The lists include other recorded goods, such as cyperus, coriander, wool, wine, and honey. A 2025 proposal reads B157 as a plant-root ingredient and treats the nearby wool entry as separate; the tablets do not identify the plant.

Linear B adapted the earlier Linear A script to write Mycenaean Greek and served palace bookkeeping: officials tracked goods and quantities. The Pylos tablets date to the late 13th century BCE. A 2025 study compares B157 with Linear A sign A646, 𐜦, as a possible ancestor because both have two-part shapes; that proposed link is unproven.

What does 𐂥 mean when someone sends it?

Treat it as an ancient-script reference, not a ready-made translation. Alone, the glyph does not tell you which scholarly reading—or what modern intent—the sender has in mind; ask for context before replying with “root,” “wool,” or “iris.”

In specialist notes, *157 is a catalog label. The Unicode name B157 adds a prefix to that catalog number; it is not a pronunciation.