“It’s Linear A script, this is going to be troublesome.” When those clay tablets were delivered to the temporary workstation at the site, the leader from the Irish museum took one look at the text and instinctively remarked.
The reason for his comment was simple: there were so few artifacts with Linear A script that it was nearly impossible to find enough comparative material to translate the text.
On the other hand, the situation with Linear B was much better, as numerous similar artifacts had been discovered earlier, thus the script had already been deciphered.
Of course, the decipherer of these linear scripts was also Liang En. Although his theory in the published article was very plausible and had gained recognition from experts in linguistics, in reality, he had acquired the translation ability through a skill card. This ability was obtained while excavating the Palace of Minos. At that time, besides mastering the translation of Linear B, he also acquired the ability to translate Linear A.
However, due to the scarcity of related artifacts, Liang En was concerned about explaining how he managed to translate the script, which is why he hadn’t written a paper on Linear A like he did for Linear B.
This explains why the Irish archaeologist seemed so regretful, and why the entire field of ancient script translation believed that without more examples, Linear A could never be deciphered.
The only consolation was that some previously found artifacts allowed them to make comparisons, enabling them to decipher a small portion of the Linear A text.
“I remember there should have been papyrus in that era, right?” As the scholars began examining the clay tablets, Joan of Arc leaned in and whispered, “Why are they still using clay tablets?”
“It’s simple. Although papyrus existed back then, it was extremely expensive, especially for ordinary people. Importing papyrus would make it even more costly,” Liang En quickly explained to Joan of Arc.
Though called papyrus paper, it wasn’t made from cheap raw materials like real paper, which could be produced for the masses. The production and raw materials of papyrus were both costly.
For one, the papyrus plant was only found near the Nile River, with a very limited supply. Moreover, the production process was extremely labor-intensive.
The process involved cutting the main stem of the papyrus into 40-50 cm long segments, stripping off the bark, and splitting the pith into long strips as wide as possible. These strips were laid in two layers on a hard board (the first layer horizontally, the second layer vertically).
Then, the semi-finished product was pressed and pounded, using a small amount of water and the plant’s own adhesive to bond the two layers together. After drying, the surface was polished smooth with stones or shells, and the edges trimmed to create the final product.
From a certain perspective, making papyrus was more akin to making plywood than paper, and its complex process and limited raw materials made it quite expensive.
Compared to the parchment used by Europeans in the third century, papyrus was relatively affordable. To copy a Bible in the Middle Ages required parchment from hundreds of sheep.
Because papyrus wasn’t cheap, it was often used by the upper classes for recording important content. Even the finest craftsmen rarely used it daily.
But craftsmen were different from ordinary people. They needed to use writing for communication and recording. Thus, they typically used clay tablets from the Near East for their daily records.
For those working in metal foundries, there was plenty of clay available. They just had to write on the tablets and bake them in the fire to harden.
In theory, hardened clay tablets shouldn’t survive three thousand years, but volcanic eruptions buried them in hot ash, turning them into durable ceramic tablets that preserved the text to this day.
“I recognize this word.” After carefully examining the clay tablets found in the metal foundry, Professor Harry quickly discovered a word that could be translated.
“This word comes from a clay tablet that has both Linear A and Linear B scripts,” Harry said confidently, pointing at the word.
“If the previous translation of Linear B is correct, this word is equivalent to the Greek ‘ρεχαλκο,’ which we write today as ‘oreikhalkos.’”
“Oreikhalkos?” As someone familiar with ancient Greek, Liang En quickly realized what the word was. However, out of caution, he asked, “Is this the same as orichalcos?”
“Yes,” Professor Harry said excitedly but soon showed a regretful expression. “Unfortunately, we don’t recognize the rest of the text, otherwise we could understand why this word appears here.”
The word, when translated into Chinese, means orichalcum, a mythical metal from the legends of Atlantis.
The story of Atlantis was passed down by the famous ancient Greek philosopher Plato, around 400 BC, over a thousand years after the volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini.
In his works "Timaeus" and "Critias," Plato described a glorious civilization and an island that sank overnight, submerged forever beneath the waves.
However, Plato never specified the exact location of this island, vaguely mentioning it was situated beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, larger than Libya and Asia combined.
He wrote that the story was told to the Greek statesman Solon by an ancient Egyptian priest around 590 BC.
Solon passed the story to his son, who then passed it to his grandson, and after several generations, it reached Plato’s ears.
Due to Plato’s detailed description of Atlantis, such as its ring-like land and water formations and the dimensions of its cities, but without a precise location, the story has been widely debated.
To this day, many claim to have found Atlantis, with locations ranging from the Bahamas to the coast of Cyprus.
While some sites resemble Plato’s description of Atlantis, studies have shown they are either naturally formed or unrelated to ancient Greek civilization, or both.
Thus, the legendary kingdom remains a mystery, but the ceramic tablets discovered by Liang En and his team could hold the key to unlocking it.
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