About the Book
THE DECIPHERMENT OF MINOAN LINEAR A - VOLUME I - PART IV It is significant that at least three toponyms can be recognized in the Messara-valley that have a Hurrian origin. The oldest is Linear A pa-i-to (HT 97a.3; HT 120.6). It is a genuine Hurrian toponym meaning 'He/She (a God/the King) has built (the palace)' and it is equivalent to Old Hurrian ba-'à-ás-to/um in the Tis-atal inscription, analysed and normalised as pa=ast=o=m, and translated as 'He (Tis-atal) has built (a temple)', cf. Th. Richter (BGH, 285-286), s.v. pa-, paḫ- II [passim] 'to build', pa('/h)-, cf. G. Wilhelm, 1988b, 55. The following phases of phonetic development are likely: ba-'à-ás-to/um = pa('/h)=ast=o=m > pa=j=ast=o=m > pa=j=(a)st=o=m > pa=j=st=o=m (wr. pa-i-to in Linear A). Transitional glide -j- (-i- in Linear A pa-i-to) distinguished -a- of the root pa- from the -a- of root-extension -ast- and eventually the -a- of -ast- disappeared as a result of syncope. For Linear B pa-i-to (KN Da 1163+1400, al.) the Old Hurrian ending in =o=m had to be changed into a Hellenized form in -oς (-os): Φαιστός (Phaistos). The ancient name of the palace of Hagia Triada, ka-pa (frequent in Linear A, but only at Hagia Triada), was the first Hurrian toponym detected in Linear A and interpreted as Ḫalba, Hurrian name of Aleppo (Ḫalab in Semitic) with the Linear A ethnic ka-pa-qe (HT 6a.4-5) = syllabic cuneiform Ḫalbaḫe = alphabetic cuneiform Ḫlbġ 'Man of Ḫalba', 'Man of Aleppo' (Hurrian ethnic suffix -ḫe). Toponym ka-pa and ethnic ka-pa-jo (with Greek ethnic suffix -yoς) were already known from the Linear B tablets from Knossos. Linear A ku-mi (HT 110a.1) may well be the Minoan-Hurrian toponym Kummi, present Kommos, the Minoan harbour of Phaistos and Hagia Triada on the south coast of Crete, recently excavated by the Canadian G. Cadogan and his team. Cretan Kummi is probably derived from the name of the city of Kumma/e/i or Kummiya in Anatolia, derived from Hurrian kum- 'to build / erect / pile up'. If this identification is correct, it is after ka-pa = Ḫalba (present Hagia Triada) the second Cretan site named after a famous predominantly Hurrian city in the Near East.
About the Author :
Peter G. van Soesbergen (born in Amsterdam, 7th February 1945) studied Classics at the University of Amsterdam (Doctoral Examination cum laude). He pursued research on The archaeological context of Minoan Linear A for "The Netherlands Organization for Pure Research" (report of 400 pp.), published several articles and gave papers at international colloquia and congresses (Heraklion, Bucharest, Sheffield, Nottingham, Prague, Rome, Naples), a Mycenaean Seminar on "The historical significance of onomastic data from Linear A and B texts" (Institute of Classical Studies, University of London) and special papers on Linear A at Cambridge and Groningen. He pursued research as a Leverhulme European Visiting Fellow and Independent Research Worker at the University of Sheffield, where he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) on the thesis "The onomastics of the 'Minoan Linear A' and 'Linear B' documents and their historical significance". He taught Greek, Latin, Ancient History, Archaeology, Mycenology and Andrological examination. After his retirement he is still pursuing research.
Review :
Jacques Raison (Paris) wrote a review in the REVUE DES ÉTUDES GRECQUES, Tome XCVII, Nos 460-461, 1984, p. 87: "Du même auteur (Peter G. van Soesbergen, BICS 28, 1981, p. 163, résume une conférence du 28-5-80 sur le même sujet 'The historical significance of onomastic data from Linear A and B texts' (texte complet fourni sur demande par la revue). .... Sans pousser jusqu'à l'hiéroglyphique, trop mal connu, Van Soesbergen, entre autres preuves, remonte aux origines du linéaire A, dont les traits 'agglutinants' et les caractéristiques orthographiques du syllabaire (inférées de celles du syllabaire B, son héritier), lui paraissent avoir été concues pour une langue comme celle du Mitanni. Rapprochement de mots du linéaire A et hourrites (assez intéressant, quand ils sont suffisamment longs); essai, finalement, point tellement loin d'une esquisse de déchiffrement partiel.
Sous la même signature, bref retour, mais ferme, sur les traits 'hourrites' du linéaire A dans 'Progress in Linear A research', communication au congrès EIRENE de septembre-octobre 1982, à Prague (à paraître dans les actes de cette réunion). En préambule, résumé des acquis antérieurs concernant l'écriture évoquée: il est retenu, comme assuré, un peu de chacun et annoncé un livre sur "The onomastics of the 'Minoan Linear A' and 'Linear B' documents and their historical significance", ainsi qu'un "Corpus of transliterated Linear A texts".
