This volume presents a systematic and interdisciplinary analysis of the 546 Linear B documents discovered in the Northern Entrance Passage (NEP) in the Palace of Knossos. This major collection, which includes tablets found in the Passageway and the adjacent North-West Insula, stands apart due to the high number of scribes attested and the variety of topics recorded. Drawing inspiration from prior research on the Room of the Chariot Tablets (RCT), this study employs a holistic methodology, encompassing archaeological, pinacological, epigraphic, palaeographic, linguistic, and textual approaches. The primary objectives are to precisely define the relative date of the NEP tablets and to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the deposit and its administrative relationship to other collections within the palace. The archaeological reassessment utilizes original excavation notes by Evans and Mackenzie to reconstruct the architectural history and depositional processes (taphonomy) in the NEP area. The findings indicate that the tablets were preserved by fire during a violent destruction event in the LM IIIA2 period, thereby predating the final abandonment of the palace.
This chronological placement positions the NEP deposit as representing an intermediate administrative phase between the earlier RCT tablets and the later Knossian archives. Through a detailed analysis of scribal hands, style, linguistic features, and content, the volume fully characterizes this crucial corpus. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the NEP represents the remnants of a centralized administrative "pre-archive" before documents were transferred to perishable materials.
This interdisciplinary work significantly contributes to resolving the long-standing debate concerning the destruction(s) of the Palace at Knossos, advancing a convincing framework for dating the Linear B documents and illuminating key facets of Mycenaean economic management during the advanced Late Bronze Age.