British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans uncovered nearly 3,000 tablets

1900 年代初期，在克里特島上，

inscribed with strange symbols.

英國考古學家亞瑟·埃文斯爵士 發現了近三千塊石板，

He thought these symbols represented the language spoken

上面刻著奇怪的符號。

by Europe's oldest civilization.

他以為這些符號代表

Their meaning would elude scholars for 50 years.

歐洲最古老的文明所說的語言。

Evans discovered these tablets amid the colorful frescoes

這些符號的意思 讓學者困惑了 50 年。

and maze-like hallways of the palace of Knossos.

埃文斯在克諾索斯宮殿 迷宮般的走廊上

He called the civilization Minoan—

和多彩的壁畫中發現這些石板。

after the mythical Cretan ruler, King Minos.

他稱之為米諾斯文明——

He thought the script, dubbed Linear B, represented the Minoan language,

以傳說中的克里特統治者 米諾斯王所命名。

and scholars all over the world came up with their own theories.

他以為這種書寫字母 （稱為線性文字 B）

Was it the lost language of the Etruscans?

代表了米諾斯的語言，

Or perhaps it represented an early form of Basque?

世界各地的學者提出自己的理論。

The mystery intensified because Evans guarded the tablets closely––

這是失落的伊特拉斯坎語言嗎？

only 200 of the inscriptions were published during his lifetime––

或許它代表巴斯克語的早期形式？

but he couldn't decipher the script.

因為埃文斯緊守著這些石板， 讓神秘感越來越強——

However, he did make two accurate observations:

在他一生中，只有 200 個碑銘被公開出來——

the tablets were administrative records, and the script was a syllabary,

但他無法破解這些書寫文字。

where each symbol represented both a consonant and a vowel,

然而，他確實做了兩項正確的觀察：

mixed with characters that each represented a whole word.

石板是行政管理的記錄， 且這些書寫文字是音節文字，

Evans worked on Linear B for three decades before a scholar from Brooklyn, New York,

每個符號代表著 一個子音和一個母音，

named Alice Kober set out to solve the mystery.

再混搭代表整個字詞的字符。

Kober was a professor of Classics at Brooklyn College

埃文斯花了三十年 研究線性文字 B，

when few women held such positions.

接著，愛麗絲·科伯爾， 紐約布魯克林的學者，

To help in her quest, she taught herself many languages––

打算要破解這個謎。

knowledge she knew she would need to decipher Linear B.

科伯爾是布魯克林大學的 古典學教授，

For the next two decades, she analyzed the symbols.

當時很少有女性擔任這類職位。

Working from the few available inscriptions,

為了協助探索， 她自學了多種語言——

she recorded how often each symbol appeared.

她知道若要破解線性文字 B 就會需要這些知識。

Then she recorded how frequently each symbol appeared next to another.

她接下來花了二十年分析這些符號。

She stored her findings on scrap paper in cigarette cartons

只根據少數可取得的銘文，

because writing supplies were scarce during the Second World War.

她記錄下每個符號有多常出現。

By analyzing these frequencies,

接著，她記錄了每個符號 出現在彼此旁邊的頻率。

she discovered that Linear B relied on word endings

她把研究結果寫在廢紙上， 再放到煙盒裡，

to give its sentences grammar.

因為二次大戰期間， 書寫用品十分稀少。

From this she began to build a chart of the relations between the signs,

透過分析這些頻率，

coming closer than anyone before to deciphering Linear B.

她發現線性文字 B 的句子文法

But she died, probably of cancer, in 1950 at the age of 43.

要看文字的結尾。

While Kober was analyzing the Knossos tablets,

依此，她開始建立符號關係圖，

an architect named Michael Ventris was also working to crack Linear B.

比任何人都更接近 破解線性文字 B。

He had become obsessed with Linear B as a schoolboy after hearing Evans speak.

但她在 1950 年過世， 可能死因是癌症，

He even worked on deciphering the script while serving in World War II.

享年 43 歲。

After the war, Ventris built on Kober's grid

當科伯爾在分析克諾索斯石板時，

using a newly published cache of Linear B inscriptions

建築師麥可·文特里斯 也致力於破解線性文字 B。

excavated from a different archeological site called Pylos, on mainland Greece.

他在學生時代聽了埃文斯的談論， 從此就著迷於線性文字 B。

His real breakthrough came when he compared the tablets from Pylos

他連在二次大戰服役期間 都在破解這種書寫文字。

with those from Knossos

戰後，文特里斯把科伯爾的對照表

and saw that certain words appeared on tablets from one site but not the other.

用在從希臘本島 另一考古地點皮洛斯

He wondered if those words represented the names of places

新近出土且公開的一系列 線性文字 B 刻文上。

specific to each location.

當他把皮洛斯的石板 和克諾索斯的石板做比較後，

He knew that over centuries, place names tend to remain constant,

才出現了真正的突破，

and decided to compare Linear B

發現有某些字詞只出現在 一處的石板上，另一處就沒有。

to an ancient syllabary from the island of Cyprus.

他懷疑那些字詞是否 代表地方的名稱，

The Cypriot script was used hundreds of years after Linear B,

專門指每個地點。

but some of the symbols were similar—

他知道，數世紀以來， 地名通常都維持不變，

he wondered if the sounds would be similar, too.

因此決定將線性文字 B 拿來

When Ventris plugged some of the sounds of the Cypriot syllabary

和賽普勒斯島嶼的 古老音節文字做比較。

into the Linear B inscriptions,

賽普勒斯的書寫字母 比線性文字 B 遲幾百年，

he came up with the word Knossos,

但有些符號很類似——

the name of the city where Evans had discovered his tablets.

他在想，也許發音也會類似。

In a domino effect, Ventris unraveled Linear B,

文特里斯把一些 賽普勒斯音節文字的發音

with each word revealing more clearly that the language of Linear B

放到線性文字 B 的書寫字母中，

was not Minoan, but Greek.

他得到了「克諾索斯」這個詞，

Ventris died in a car crash four years later, at the age of 34.

也就是埃文斯發現石板的 那個城市的名稱。

But his discovery rewrote a chapter of history.

在骨牌效應之下， 文特里斯解開了線性文字 B，

Evans had insisted that the Minoans conquered the mainland Greeks,

了解越多字詞，就越清楚知道 線性文字 B 這種語言

and that was why examples of Linear B were found on the mainland.

不是米諾斯的，而是希臘的。

But the discovery that Linear B represented Greek, and not Minoan,

文特里斯四年後 在車禍中身亡，享年 34 歲。

showed that the opposite had happened:

但他的發現重寫了歷史的這一章。

mainland Greeks invaded Crete and adopted the Minoan script for their own language.

埃文斯曾經堅持 米諾斯征服了希臘本島，

But the story isn't over yet.

那就是為什麼在本島可以 找到線性文字 B 的例子。

The actual language of the Minoans,

但發現線性文字 B 代表希臘， 而不是米諾斯後，

represented by another script called Linear A,

表示發生的狀況完全相反： 希臘本島人入侵克里特，

has yet to be deciphered.

把米諾斯的書寫字母 用在他們自己的語言上。

It remains a mystery— at least for now.

但故事還沒完。