Michael Ventris, the man who deciphered Linear B

July 12th is the birthday of Michael Ventris, the man who shocked the world in the 1950’s when he announced that he had deciphered Linear B, the ancient Mycenaean Greek alphabet that nobody had been able to decipher until then and always caused confusion with Minoan Linear A. The most shocking part is that he was just doing it as a hobby, managing to do what many professionals could not do for years.

His discovery forever changed the understanding of Greek history and proved that Linear B was in fact Greek. Linear A, the still undeciphered script that predated Linear B, was a source of confusion about the origins of Linear B, but Michael Ventris cleared up many things when he deciphered Linear B. Now the mystery of Linear A and the Minoans is still waiting to be discovered.

To really understand the impact of the deciphering of Linear B, watch the BBC News documentary about Michael Ventris : A Very English Genius, and a few other videos you will enjoy: