Michael Ventris: A Tiny Seed

Michael Ventris Centenary: 1922 - 2022
His former teacher Patrick Hunter discusses how Michael started on his decipherment of Linear B while still at school. Linear B is an ancient writing system found on clay tablets uncovered by Sir Arthur Evans in Crete in 1900. Deciphering the script became Michael's overriding passion until he cracked it shortly before his thirtieth birthday in 1952, when he discovered it was an early form of Greek. His achievement is regularly compared to the decipherment of the Enigma code by Alan Turing.

Patrick Hunter, Michael's teacher, was interviewed by author Andrew Robinson in 1990 at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The footage was never used and at Andrew's suggestion I acquired it from Brook Lapping Productions and edited it into the film you see. I would like to thank Andrew and Brian Lapping for their help and for allowing me to use the material. The Phaistos Disc shown is actually a copy of the original, which is on display in the Herakleon Museum in Crete.

[daveduvergier]

Never thought I would see Ventris' Greek teacher interviewed on camera, thank you