Minoan Life & Archaeological Sites
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The name Minoan is given to the civilizations that flourished on the Mediterranean island of Crete during the Bronze Age. The term is also used to identify the earlier Neolithic inhabitants of Crete. Almost nothing was known about the Minoan civilization until the very end of the nineteenth century. Arthur Schliemann, who had recently excavated the sites of Troy and Mycenae, had done some preliminary excavation at Knossos near the north coast town of Heraklion. But it was not until 1897 that Arthur Evans was finally able to excavate the site. The main excavations took place between 1900 and 1905. But Evans' expeditions to Crete continued until 1932 with only a six year break because of the First World War. Evans had originally gone to Crete in search of samples of hieroglyphic writing on stones. In Crete he suspected that extensive ruins of some type were buried near Heraklion and when he finally dug there he was amazed to find nothing of Greek or Roman origin. He began to suspect that the civilization was pre-Mycenaean and it proved to be the "major site of Europe's earliest civilization."1 Evans named it the Minoan civilization after the legendary Cretan King Minos. But, aside from some very important writing tablets found at Knossos and a small number of references to ancient Crete in Greek Literature, almost all information about the Minoan life comes from the evidence of the art, architecture, and artifacts found at archaeological sites like Knossos.
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fluence throughout the southern Aegean, and "some remarkable artistic achievements."7 The Minoan civilization ended with the destruction of all the palaces, except Knossos, in an earthquake Two generations later, after the surviving Minoans had been conquered by the Mycenaeans who then ruled from Knossos, the palace and the surviving large houses there were finally destroyed by fire.
The most remarkable aspects of Minoan culture were the palaces and their decoration. The palaces were sprawling complexes that were added on to as the need arose. Janson says that their exteriors were probably not very impressive or elaborately decorated. But 'the numerous porticoes, staircases, and air shafts must have given [Knossos] a pleasantly open, airy quality.8
The palaces both raise and answer questions about the Minoans. Since almost nothing is known about their civilization, the names and histories of the leaders who occupied the palaces are a complete mystery. It is also unclear exactly what they did. Janson notes that there does not seem to be much indication that they were priest-kings even though the palaces "clearly functioned as centers of religious life."9 The absence of fortifications from around the palaces and of war
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Bull Leaping, East Minoan, Harvester Vase, Akrotiri Thera, Syria Egypt, BC Palace, Middle Late, BC Late, Thera Santorini, Greek Literature, minoan art, bull leaping, minoan civilization, ancient crete, minoan life, ed london routledge, berkeley university, crete berkeley, civilization ancient, middle late, york abrams, corr ed london, crete corr ed, minoan mycenaen art, london routledge 1980,
Approximate Word count = 1766
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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