Das Ende der pylischen Küstenwache? Eine heterodoxe Interpretation der o-ka-Tafeln

Marko Müller Skyllis 11:2 (2011): 35-39.

Abstract

The so called o-ka tablets from Pylos are presumed to be the description of the Pylian coast guard in most of the publications referring to them. This understanding is largely based on PY An 657.1. However, the text of PY An 657.1 is not necessarily to be understood as a military document, but it also allows a different interpre­tation. By taking into account the well-known correspondences between the o-ka-tablets and other Pylian docu­ments in Linear B, particularly the Na-tablets, an agricultural context appears to be a more likely interpretation of the o-ka tablets: They enumerate groups of anonymous rural workers. The supervisors of the workers involved in flax production were the Mycenaean e-qe-ta. The men mentioned by their individual names were craftsmen associated with the groups called o-ka rather than commanding officers.