| That's one of the reasons. Another, and more important one, is that we don't know the language that the script transcribes. The claim above is that it's Hebrew. I have no idea why Minoans would speak Hebrew, there's no indication as far as I'm aware of extensive cultural exchange between the Minoan civ and Hebrew-speaking people, but there's a very clear hierarchy of difficulty to translate dead scripts. From easier to harder: a) We know what language the script transcribes and how the script transcribes it (e.g. what symbol means what word or sound). b1) We don't what language the script transcribes but we know how the script transcribes it (e.g. it's a syllabary or an abjad etc). b2) We know what language the script transcribes but we don't know how the script transcribes it (e.g. Egyptian hieroglyphics). c) We don't know what language the script transcribes nor do we know how it transcribes it. b1) and b2) are more or less of similar difficulty. Linear A goes to category c) above. We know next to nothing about the script or the language, other than the fact the former was reused in linear B to transcribe Mycenean Greek. |