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	Linear B text from Khania Linear B text from Khania (Khania Museum)
	Linear B first appeared in Late Minoan times (1600-1450 BC), when Crete was occupied by Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland.  Linear B evolved directly from the Minoan Linear A, whose characters the Mycenaeans then adapted to their own language.  Linear B tablets have been found in excavations at only three Cretan sites:   Knossos, Khania, and Malia, suggesting a Mycenaean palace in each of them. The Linear B tablet illustrated here is from Kastelli Hill in Khania. It refers to a cult of two male gods in Kydonia, Zeus and Dionysus, and the existence of a sanctuary dedicated to Zeus, probably in the vicinity. Another Linear B tablet from Khania mentions weavers with ethnic names of towns attributed to western Crete: wa-to and pu-na-so. Part of a third one provides information about ten chariot wheels, reminding us of another Knossian tablet that mentions the supply of chariots from Kydonia. .[Source: Metaxia Tsipopoulou, "Discoveries at Khania in Western Crete" in Athena Review, Vol.3, no.3, 2003  (pp.44-51).] .
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