Gareth Alun Owens

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Gareth Alun Owens

Gareth Alun Owens , Greek Γκάρεθ Άλουν Όουενς (born February 21, 1964 ) is a British-Greek classical philologist , classical archaeologist and Mycenaeologist .

Life

Owens studied Classical Philology and Ancient History at University College London from 1982 to 1985 , graduating with a BA . As a student of James Thomas Hooker, he then obtained an MA in Greek Philology and Classical Archeology with a dissertation on the Linear B script . From 1986 to 1991, he continued to work at University College on a dissertation on the relationship between the Linear A script and the Linear B script, thereby earning his M. Phil. In Classical Archeology. Owens then taught from 1991 to 1992 at the Institute of Classical Studies , London , and at University College London. He received the Ventris Award for his contributions to Mycenaean Greek . From 1992 to 1994 he held a postdoctoral fellowship from the Council of Europe and the Greek State Scholarship Foundation . During this time he worked on “A Study of Minoan Linear A” at the University of Crete and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion . From 2001 to 2004 he worked on a dissertation on “A Provisional Approach to the Minoan Language”, with which he received his PhD in the Department of Linguistics of the University of Athens .

He is currently working as “ Erasmus ” coordinator of the European Union in the International Relations Office of the Τεχνολογικό Εκπαιδευτικό Ίδρυμα Κρήτης (Technological Educational Institute of Crete) and at the same time as professor for the history of Crete in this institution. From 2008 to 2013, he held a postdoctoral position in the Department of Linguistics of the University of Athens to study the inscriptions in Cretan hieroglyphs from the first palace period, including the Phaistos Disc .

Owens is married to a Greek archaeologist with whom he collaborates frequently and acquired Greek nationality. Therefore he had to serve in the Greek army for a short time.

Research priorities

Owens came up with a new hypothesis for deciphering the Linear A script. According to this, about 90% of the Linear A characters correspond in their phonetic value to the similar-looking Linear B characters. Only ten characters have no equivalent in the Linear B script, so that one can only speculate about their sound value and their meaning. Due to the correspondence, Owens was able to identify various place names that are significant for the archeology of Crete and that also occur in the Linear B script. He also believes to have found evidence of the grammatical gender of nouns and nomina agentis , as well as vocabulary and connections that identify the underlying Minoan language of the Linear A tablets as an Indo-European language of the Satem branch.

Fonts (selection)

Collections of articles

  • Κωστής Ψυχογιός (επιμέλεια), Κάλλια Νικολιδάκη (μετάφραση): Λαβύρινθος. Γραφές και γλώσσες της μινωικής και μυκηναϊκής Κρήτης. Κέντρο Κρητικής Λογοτεχνίας, Ηράκλιο 2007 - Kostís Psikhoyós (ed.), Kállia Nikolidáki (transl.), Labyrinth. Scripts and Languages ​​of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete. Center for Cretan Literature, Iraklio 2007, (online) (PDF files). - (Collection of 50 essays by Owens on the archeology, epigraphy and philology of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete from 1990 to 2006)
  • Η δομή της Μινωϊκής γλώσσας (Σύντομη έκθεση) - The Structure of the Minoan Language (Short discussion). Without place and year, (online) (PDF).
  • Evidence for Indo-European Language in the Minoan Documents. In: THU-SUN-MO. Fascicula Mycenologica Polona 6 . Piotrków Trybunalski, Piotrcoviae 2004. - (5 selected essays on Minoan and Mycenaean Crete in memory of and in honor of Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Evidence for Greek Dialect in the Mycenaean Archives , Journal of Hellenic Studies 73, 1953, 84-103 and Documents in Mycenaean Greek , 1956)
  • Δαιδαλικά. Γραφές και Γλώσσες της Μινωικής και Μυκηναϊκής Κρήτης. Iraklio, Kreta 1996. - (20 articles in Modern Greek, 1991–1996).

Editing

  • James Thomas Hooker : Kritika daidalika. Evidence for the Minoan language. Selected essays in memory of James Hooker on the archeology, epigraphy and philology of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete . Edited by Gareth Owens. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1997, ISBN 9-025-61096-X .

media

  • The Scripts of Knossos. Contribution to: Municipality of Heraklion and University of Crete (Ed.), Heraklion, a City through the Ages. 2004 (DVD), pp. 1-8.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Owens, Gareth Alun
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Όουενς, Γκάρεθ Άλουν (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Greek classical philologist, classical archaeologist and mycenaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1964