Linear B Ideogram B182

It marks an unidentified item; “stone pincers” is disputed.

On KN U 876, a Knossos tablet, B182 stands beside 8 and a damaged Linear B word transcribed as a-pi-te[; the bracket marks missing text. Some scholars interpret the object as large stone pincers or tongs for moving building blocks; another proposal is a rope-and-block device. The tablet shows an item being counted, but leaves its identity uncertain.

Why did a Linear B tablet use B182?

It marked a counted item in a palace record. Linear B was adapted from Linear A to write Greek. Its syllabic signs represent spoken syllables; ideograms identify goods, and numerals show their quantities.

The earliest group of Linear B texts from Knossos's Room of the Chariot Tablets is dated either to the end of the fifteenth century BCE or the beginning of the fourteenth century BCE. KN U 876 attests B182, but does not establish when the sign first appeared.

Linear B was adapted from Linear A, and the later Cypriot syllabary belongs to the wider Aegean script history. These are connections among writing systems; they do not identify the object represented by B182.

What does this sign mean in a modern message?

It has no established messaging meaning; ask the sender.

As of 2026, B182 has no established messaging meaning. If someone sends it by itself, its historical use does not tell you what they intend; ask for context.