<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article contains Linear B Unicode characters . Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Linear B . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article contains Linear B Unicode characters . Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Linear B . </Td> </Tr> <P> Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek . The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries . The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1450 BC . It is descended from the older Linear A, an undeciphered earlier script used for writing the Minoan language, as is the later Cypriot syllabary, which also recorded Greek . Linear B, found mainly in the palace archives at Knossos, Cydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae, disappeared with the fall of Mycenaean civilization during the Late Bronze Age collapse . The succeeding period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, provides no evidence of the use of writing . It is also the only one of the prehistoric Aegean scripts to have been deciphered, by English architect and self - taught linguist Michael Ventris . </P> <P> Linear B consists of around 87 syllabic signs and over 100 ideographic signs . These ideograms or "signifying" signs symbolize objects or commodities . They have no phonetic value and are never used as word signs in writing a sentence . </P>

What was the writing system of the minoan called