Michael VentrisBorn 12 Jul 1922; died 6 Sep 1956 at age 34.Michael George Francis Ventris was an English architect and cryptographer who showed (1952) that the Minoan Linear B script was a very early form of Greek, the oldest known examples. Since archaeologists working in Crete had discovered (1900) these incriptions on ancient clay tablets, the writings had stymied the experts. Ventris had been a keen amateur cryptographer since his teenage years, was later a student in architecture, served in WW II, then returned intent on analysing the code. When he was able to decipherthe inscriptions, he identified them to be from c. 1400 to 1200 BC, roughly the period of the events narrated in the Homeric epics. Ventris died young, in an auto accident, soon after this accomplishment, but having provided the key findings, his work was taken up by others.« |
