250 Linear A and B fierce resistance from the native Berbers According to legend, the famed Berber queen al-Kahina only surrendered after burning the forests and laying waste to the land Indeed, centuries after the Arab invasion, cycles of conflict between the Berbers and Arabs, especially in modern Algeria, continue to this day Further reading: Apuleius The Golden Ass Translated by Robert Graves New York: Penguin Classics, 1950; Gibbon, Edward The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire New York: Penguin, 1985; MacKendrick, Paul The North African Stones Speak Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980; Raven, Susan Rome in Africa New York: Routledge, 1993 Allen Fromherz Linear A and B Linear B is the oldest known form of Greek writing extant today It is a syllabic script that was used to represent Greek sounds Adapted from Cretan Linear A, it was probably developed for a language other than Greek The Minoans and Mycenae used Linear B in their palaces at least 400 years before the Greek Dark Ages It is quite different from the Greek alphabet, which was based on a North Semitic script and developed after the Greek Dark Ages Archaeologists became aware of the existence of Linear B in 1878, when a clay tablet was found at Knossos By 1895 archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941) suspected that it was Greek after examining signs found on seals Evans published his work in a volume entitled B Cretan Pictographs and Prae-Phoenician Script (1895) In 1900 Evans conducted an archaeological dig at Knossos where he discovered an archive of clay tablets in Linear B, thought to be the archive of the palace of King Minos Despite years of effort Evans was unable to decipher the Linear B script However, he was able to conclude that frequently repeated short line markers in Linear B were word markers The hieroglyphic script of Linear A has yet to be deciphered Evans noticed that there were parallels between the Cypriot script, which had been deciphered, and Linear B In 1939 another archive of tablets in Linear B were discovered at Pylos in Greece Linear B was believed to be Minoan until 1952, when British amateur archaeologist Michael Ventris (1922–56) deciphered it At first Ventris did not believe that the language represented by the script was Greek, despite the fact that many of the deciphered words were archaic forms of Greek In 1951 Ventris approached John Chadwick, an expert in early Greek, for help Together they were able to show definitively that Linear B was Greek Most of the material in Linear B records lists of people, goods, and animals The occasional use of ideograms such as “tripod” and “horse” provided an important clue for deciphering Linear B Further study has shown that it has features closely related to the Classical Arcadian and Cypriot dialects See also hieroglyphics Further reading: Chadwick, John The Decipherment of Linear B Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992; Horrocks, Geoffrey Greek: A History of the Language and Its Speakers New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 1997; Palmer, Leonard Robert The Greek Language Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996; ——— The Interpretation of Mycenaean Greek Texts Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963; Renfrew, Colin Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of the Indo-European Origins Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987 Andrew J Waskey Liu Bang (Liu Pang) (247–195 b.c.e.) founder of Chinese dynasty Liu Bang was also known as Liu Ji (Liu Chi) He was born in 247 b.c.e to a farming family, was the first commoner to ascend the Chinese throne, founded the longlived Han dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.), and died in 195 b.c.e As emperor he was called Gaodi (Kao-ti), which means “high emperor”; after death he was called Han Gaozu (Han Kao-tsu), which means “high progenitor of the Han.” He was admired for his abilities, generosity, and taking advice from his ministers A minor official in 209 b.c.e., Liu rose in revolt against the oppressive Qin (Ch’in) dynasty and joined forces with Xiang Yu (Hsiang Yu), the foremost rebel general They agreed that the first to enter the Qin capital area would be king In 206 b.c.e Liu’s forces entered the Qin capital Xienyang (Hsien-yang) and received the surrender of the last Qin monarch He was generous in victory, protected the Qin royal family, and forbade looting However, irreconcilable rivalry between Xiang and Liu led to war between them Xiang’s brilliant generalship was nullified by his cruelty and arrogance; abandoned by his allies and troops, Xiang committed suicide in 202 b.c.e