Linear B Symbol B086

𐁜 identifies a sign scholars still cannot read with confidence.

As of 2026, no proposed value for *86 is secure. Scholars have suggested readings such as na2, sa2, and dwa, but the surviving evidence does not choose among them. The asterisk is a scholarly placeholder for an undeciphered sign, not part of the Bronze Age glyph.

At Knossos, 86 appears in the personal name me-86-ta and in wa-86-re, a word glossed as “shepherd”; at Pylos, u-ra-86 is treated as a place-name. These contexts show where scribes used it, not how they pronounced it.

Where did Linear B sign *86 come from?

It evolved from Linear A, but *86’s first appearance is not secure. Linear B grew out of Linear A, sharing many sign forms while adapting the system to Mycenaean Greek. The earliest Linear B texts are generally placed at Knossos in the late 15th or early 14th century BCE; the earliest known mainland tablet, from Iklaina, is dated ca. 1450–1400 BCE. Those dates establish the script’s early history, not a secure first appearance of *86. As of 2026, no secure first-attestation date for *86 is established.

Palaeographers compare the sign’s form with Linear A signs 𐛥 and 𐛦 and with ship-like Cretan Hieroglyphic signs. These comparisons track related Aegean sign shapes; they do not establish that *86 meant “ship” or had the proposed reading dwa.

Linear B served palace record-keeping: most surviving texts are clay documents for inventories and accounts. The sign’s setting was administrative, even though *86’s value and role in those records remain unresolved.

Why does 𐁜 sometimes show as a box?

A missing font glyph can turn it into a box.

As of 2026, font coverage remains uneven: some fonts support the Linear B block, while others cover only part of it. If a document shows a box, check the font before deciding the character is wrong.

For scholarly input, a documented Mac OS X Linear B layout maps *86 to an undeciphered sign. If that layout is unavailable, use a system that lets you enter the character by its Unicode value.