OX-ARC-2024-0471

Clay Tablet Fragment — Linear B (Mycenaean Greek)

Object Data

Accession No.: OX-ARC-2024-0471
Object: Clay tablet fragment, fired (accidental — destruction context)
Script: Linear B (Mycenaean Greek)
Provenance: Palace of Nestor, Pylos, Messenia, Greece
Period: Late Helladic IIIB (~1250–1180 BCE)
Dimensions: 12.3 × 8.7 × 2.1 cm
Current Location: Held for analysis, National Archaeological Museum, Athens (loan arrangement)
Conservation: Fragmentary. Upper-right corner missing. Fire damage consistent with palace destruction layer (~1180 BCE).

Find Context

Recovered from Room 7, Archive Complex. Initially cataloged as PY Un 1543 (commodity list). Reclassification pending following retranslation by [researcher name redacted].

Photograph

Clay tablet fragment OX-ARC-2024-0471 showing Linear B inscription

Fig. 1. Clay tablet fragment OX-ARC-2024-0471, obverse. Pylos, Room 7 Archive Complex. Photograph: National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Transliteration

po-ti-ni-ja me-ra-na do-mo o-ki-to do-mo ka-ta-ra-wo o-e-ki-to a-ka-ra-to-e-to o-pa-ri-e-to ke-ne-wo me-ra-na mi-mna-so mē e-se-ro

Provisional Translation

The Lady of the Black House.

He who goes into the house is taken below.

He who comes out comes without heart.

He who returns is an empty dark shell.

Remember this and do not enter.

Translation Notes

Non-standard vocabulary. Several terms do not appear in existing Linear B lexicon (Ventris-Chadwick 1956, Docs² 1973). The term po-ti-ni-ja (Potnia, ‘Mistress’) is well-attested in cult contexts (KN Gg 702, PY Tn 316). However, its pairing with me-ra-na (cf. Gk. μελαινα, ‘black/dark’) is unparalleled. Subject matter is atypical for palatial administrative archive.

The form ka-ta-ra-wo does not correspond to any attested Linear B vocabulary item. If derived from a root related to later Greek κατα- (‘down, below’), this would represent an otherwise unknown verbal construction. The term ke-ne-wo may relate to κεν(ος) (‘empty’), though its morphological form here is problematic.

The retranslation is provisional. I have referred the tablet to Prof. [redacted] at Cambridge for independent verification. Until that review is complete, this entry should be treated with appropriate caution. — [initials redacted]

Bibliography

Ventris, M. & Chadwick, J. (1956). Documents in Mycenaean Greek. Cambridge University Press.
Chadwick, J. (1973). Documents in Mycenaean Greek (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Palaima, T. G. (2004). ‘Sacrificial Feasting in the Linear B Documents.’ Hesperia 73(2), pp. 217–246.
[Researcher name redacted] (2024). Unpublished retranslation notes. On file.

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