The Knossos Od Series

This study is an epigraphical investigation of the Linear B records from the West Wing in the palace of Knossos. Its focus is the group of 61 unclassified Od tablets with the ideogram for wool. The author presents a new classification of the Od tablets by identifying new sets, and by integrating unclassified Od tablets into existing Od sets or into other series recording wool, such as the two well known and thoroughly researched "bureaux", the textile and the sheep administration. Recent work by FIRTH on find-places has provided new insights for this study. In the present study, 29 prefix changes are suggested. Only few unclassified Od tablets, however, can be associated with the initial parts of textile production in which scribes 103 and 113 set targets and manage the production. Rather, many unclassified Od tablets belong to the final stages of the textile production, that is, the finishing and decoration of the cloth. Moreover, scribe 227, newly identified by KILLEN and MELENA, is presented. Scribe 227 records small amounts of wool, writes in a style similar to the writing of scribes 113 and 115, and is associated with the area I1 near the North Entrance. His administrative practices thus seem distinct from the better known practices of scribe 103. This confirms the high degree of specialisation in the palatial administration at Knossos.