User:Deerntje/Jan Best

Jan G. P. Best (born in Idaarderadeel, 29 August 1941) is a Dutch pre- and protohistorian, author and former associate professor. He taught ancient history and Mediterranean pre- and protohistory at the University of Amsterdam.

Education
In 1966 Best graduated for the Master's examination Classical Languages with as major study Ancient History, along with minors Greek and Latin. In 1969 he attained the doctorate with the thesis Thracian Peltasts and their Influence on Greek Warfare. Afterwards he succeeded in the Master's examination Archaeology with major study Cultural Pre- and Protohistory, and minor studies Classical Archaeology and Provincial Roman Archaeology. For these three studies he graduated cum laude each time.

Experience
From 1962 until 1991 Best worked in the University of Amsterdam, respectively as assistant classical archaeology, associate professor ancient history and coordinator of the study Mediteranean Pre- and Protohistory. Best had several additional functions including co-leader of the excavation of the settlement at Djadovo (a Dutch-Bulgarian-Japanese UNESCO-project) in Bulgaria from 1975 until 1979. From 1980 until 1984 he was professor-secretary of the International Committee of Thracology 'Wilhelm Tomaschek' with the 'Association Internationale des Études Sud-Est-Européens' (Unesco-comité AIESEE). During the eighties he was general advisor of the exhibitions 'The Gold of the Thracians' in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam (1984) and 'The Thracian Royal Treasure' in the Nieuwe Kerk at Amsterdam (1989).

Deciphering ancient scripts
Best is one of the initiators of Alverna Research Group which specialises in deciphering of so-far unknown scripts.

With the already known Egyptian hieroglyphs, his reconstruction of Lineair A and Cretan hieroglyphic, Jan Best is convinced to have deciphered the Byblos script successfully after 40 years of research.

Reaction to his recent book Het Byblosschrift ontcijferd (The Byblos Script deciphered), shows that the world of archaeology is not that peaceful. Best's idea that the syllabic Linear A Script from Crete has Semitic characteristics, meets great antagonism from colleagues with an education in Ancient Greek. They believe Crete to be the origin of the written language.

Author
In 1991 Best was co-founder and director of Najade Press, a publishing company issuing the international magazine Thamyris, Mythmaking from Past to Present. From 2001 onwards it is edited by publishing company Rodopi in the new series Thamyris, Intersecting, Place, Sex and Race. Best is an author since 1992. He writes travel books for Gottmer Publishers Group. In October 2010 his book Het Byblosschrift ontcijferd (The Byblos Syllabary deciphered) appeared with publishing company Bert Bakker.

Books (selection)

 * Het Byblosschrift ontcijferd - In het voetspoor van Willem Glasbergen 2010 (ISBN 9789035136007)
 * with Winfried Achterberg, Kees Enzler, Lia Rietveld, Fred Woudhuizen The Phaistos Disc: A Luwian Letter to Nestor (Harrassowitz), Wiesbaden 2011
 * Terug tot Homerus: Een zoektocht naar Nestor (Heureka), Weesp 1994
 * with Flemming Kaul, Ivan Marazov, Nanny de Vries Thracian Tales on the Gundestrup Cauldron (Najade Press), Amsterdam 1991
 * with Sibylle von Reden Auf der Spur der ersten Griechen-Woher kamen die Mykener?: Neue archäologische Erkenntnisse über die Herkunft der Griechen (DuMont), Köln 1981
 * Co-writer travelbooks Bulgaria, Sweden, Norqay, Denmark, Dordogne/Limousin, in the Dominicus-series (1991-)

Other publications (selection)

 * Best, Jan and De Vries, Nanny. Thracians and Mycenaeans. Boston, MA: E.J. Brill Academic Publishers, 1989. ISBN 90-04-08864-4.
 * Suruya in the Byblos Corpus, Ugarit-Forschungen 40 (2009), 135-41
 * Breaking the Code of the Byblos Script, Ugarit-Forschungen 40 (2009), 129-33
 * Reconstructing the Linear A Syllabary, Ugarit-Forschungen 38 (2006), 53-62
 * The First Inscription in Punic: Vowel Differences between Linear A and B, Ugarit-Forschungen 32: In memoriam Cyrus H. Gordon (2000)
 * The Ancient Toponyms of Mallia: A post-Eurocentric reading of Egyptianising Bronze Age documents, Black Athena: Ten Years Afters (= Talanta 28-29/1996-1997, red. Wim M.J. van Binsbergen), 99-129
 * Linguistic Evidence for a Phoenician Pillar Cult in Crete, The Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society (JANES) 20 (1991), 7-13
 * various articles in national and international magazines in his working fields, since 1972 mainly in the fields of Thracology and decipherment of ancient scripts (1962-)