Centenary of the birth of Michael Ventris

Professor Carlos Varias and the Humanities Library organizes this October an exhibition with bibliographical, epistolary and photographic material on the figure of Michael Ventris, as well as on Mycenaean Greek writing and language, including - photographs and replica tablets to publicize the importance of the Ventris decipherment and Mycenaean studies.

14/10/2022

Michael Ventris (1922-1956) was a British architect who achieved one of the major milestones in 20th century archaeology: the decipherment of Linear B writing, a prehistoric form of writing that preceded any other known alphabet.

This year marks one hundred years since his birth and also seventieth since his decipherment as Greek of the Linear B syllabic script of the Mycenaean inscriptions (ca. 1400-1200 BC), a very important milestone in the field of the humanities of past century XX, which made it possible to go back almost 700 years in the documented history of the Greek language.

On the occasion of these two anniversaries, professor Carlos Varias and the Humanities Library are organizing this October an exhibition with bibliographical, epistolary and photographic material around the figure of Michael Ventris, as well as on writing and the Mycenaean Greek language, including photographs and replica tablets to raise awareness of the importance of the Ventris decipherment and Mycenaean studies.

Shortly, the exhibition will be accompanied by a virtual exhibition that will complement it.

You can listen to the recording with Ventris' voice at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOOGJAQ4eg4

Quality education