MINOAN

RISE AND FALL

A LEGACY OF MYTHS, ELABORATE ART, AND ADVANCED   BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION IN THE AEGEAN SEA

AJ CARMICHAEL

Copyright © 2012 LEARN ALCHEMICAL PRESS

All rights reserved. Third Edition.

First Edition 2004, Second Edition 2009.

LEARN ALCHEMICAL PRESS

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INTRODUCTION

Crete was inhabited by Neolithic cave dwellers around 7000 BC. Aside from their wood, stone, and bone tools, they also wore simple cloth, and their clothing was made from wood, stone, and bone. There is a good chance they came from Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, or North Africa. Bull cults may have provided a clue to their origins in Neolithic Anatolia.

Development was almost imperceptibly slow through migrations, influences, or internal dynamics over the next three thousand years. Domestic animals and essential crops were used in elementary agriculture. In addition to better-made domestic utensils and clay figurines of humans, animals, and pregnant women, pottery (the oldest samples found beneath the Palace at Knossos) became more sophisticated. The island of Milos also supplied obsidian. As the era wore on, simple rectangular mud-brick huts were built with increasing skill and complexity, although caves remained inhabited.

Knossos was a crucial Neolithic settlement, two remarkable dwellings have been discovered beneath the Central Court, and there is abundant evidence that many other sites of later habitation were utilized at this time - Malia, Festos, Ayia Triadha, Hania area – as well as most of the caves that later became religiously significant.

In the Bronze Age Crete was ruled by the Minoans. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Minoan Crete was transformed from myth to archeological reality. The Minoans and their language are still subject to considerable controversy, even over such fundamental details as their identity. Almost everything we know is derived from physical remains, fleshed out somewhat by writings from Classical Greece almost one thousand years after Knossos was destroyed since no written historical records exist from that time. However, the theories about the Minoans can be unified into some consensus, as we shall see below. Fresh discoveries will change this viewpoint radically in the future.

The Minoan Civilization flourished in the Middle Bronze Age on the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean from c. 2700 BC to c. 1450 BC (following the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods). The Minoans were a trading civilization that traded throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, as far north as Britain and as far east as Mesopotamia. The Minoans imported a wide variety of raw materials and manufactured goods from other civilizations, and then they exported their own products, including olive oil, wine, pottery, furniture, perfumes, and jewellery. According to archaeological evidence, the two palaces on the island of Crete at Knossos and Phaistos are considered the largest surviving palaces from antiquity; both were built around 1900 BCE.

The Minoans were a trading civilization that influenced other cultures and people, but they also influenced others. They had a strong navy and traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Minoan history can be divided into three periods: Pre-Palatial, Palatial, and Post-Palatial (c. 2000–1450 BC). These people's origins are unknown but seem to be related to Anatolians. The latter settled on Crete around 2000 BC during an era known as Early Minoan I, which lasted until 1700 BC when it was followed by Late Minoan IA, which lasted until 1600 BC when it was followed by Late Minoan IB, which lasted until 1500 BC, when it was followed by Middle Minoan IA, which lasted until 1400 BC, when it was followed by Middle Minoan IB, which lasted until 1375 BC, when it was followed by Late Minoan IIA, which lasted until 1370 BC, when it ended with a period known as Mycenaean Colonization that saw mainland Greeks migrating onto Crete from where they ruled over their former colonies for 300 years before being overthrown themselves around 1100 BC.

Minoan traders likely sailed to Egypt on ships called 'Keels' or 'Liners.' These ships were made from planks of wood fastened together along their length by mortise-and-tenon joints, allowing them to be dismantled for travel overland if necessary (such as by crossing a desert). The Minoans imported a wide variety of raw materials and manufactured goods from other civilizations, and then they exported their own products, including olive oil, wine, pottery, furniture, perfumes, and jewellery. You might wonder why the Minoans traded with so many different civilizations.

Well, it's because they had a lot of resources and goods. They could trade their olive oil, wine, and pottery for other valuable things that were hard to produce in Crete. The Minoans were famous for their jewellery, perfumes, and furniture made of wood or ivory. They also produced bronze weapons and tools, which they exported as well as imported silver from Anatolia (modern Turkey).

Because the Minoan civilization was so advanced, they had many trading partners around the Mediterranean region, including Egypt, Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), Anatolia (modern Turkey), Hittite Empire (modern Turkey), and Assyrian Empire (modern Iraq). The two palaces on the island of Crete at Knossos and Phaistos are considered the largest surviving palaces from antiquity. Knossos has been excavated since 1900 by Arthur Evans, while Phaistos was discovered in 1908 by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier.

Phaistos is a lesser-known site than its famous counterpart at Knossos, but it still offers some of the best-preserved Minoan architecture and actual examples of frescoes and pottery. The palace complex at Phaistos consists of buildings ranging in date between 1900 BCE through 1700 BCE (the late Bronze Age). The Minoan civilization was centred around the Palace at Knossos on the island of Crete. It reached its height during the Bronze Age and is famous for its Labyrinth, where the mythical creature Minotaur was said to live; it contained over 1,400 rooms and was four stories high in some places. Knossos was destroyed twice, once by an earthquake and then again by a volcanic eruption which led to its abandonment in 1450 BC/BCE. The palace was rebuilt because of King Minos' efforts but would not last long before being buried under volcanic ash following another natural disaster: Mt Thera erupted violently between 1600-1500 BCE (Bronze Age), causing widespread flooding throughout Europe & Asia Minor; this affected ancient Egyptian civilization which relied heavily on trade routes through nearby lands like those found along Nile River Valley.

After an earthquake destroyed Knossos sometime between 1700 - 1650 BCE, it was rebuilt on an even grander scale by King Minos. The Minoan civilization was destroyed by a catastrophic earthquake and volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini around 1613 BCE. Knossos was rebuilt on an even grander scale by King Minos, who became obsessed with the idea of building a city that would be the envy of all who saw it. Phaistos was an inland town with a palace; it had one of the largest populations on Crete at this time, with around 10,000 people living within its walls at its peak.

Phaistos was built around 1900 BC and would have had cultural influences from Egypt and Syria as well as from Crete itself, where there were Minoan settlements nearby. The buildings contained clay tablets written in Linear B script that was used in accounting or for inventory records.

The Minoans were also known for their elaborate palace complexes, which included large bathtubs with running water as well as plumbing systems that used clay pipes connected to a central reservoir that supplied all parts of the palace complex; this means they had extensive knowledge of hydraulic engineering technology needed to construct these elegant buildings.

1. THE FIRST PALACES

Shortly before 1900 B.C., the first of the palaces were built at Knossos, Festos, Malia, and Zakros. They represent another significant and apparently abrupt change: a shift of power back to the island's center and the emergence of a much more hierarchical, ordered society. The sites of these palaces were also no accident: Festos and Malia both dominate fertile plains, while Zakros had a superbly sited harbor for trade with the east. Knossos, occupying a strategic position above another plain to the south and west of Iraklion, was perhaps originally as much a religious center as a base of secular power. Indeed, religion took on new importance at this time with the widespread use of mountain-top peak sanctuaries and caves as cult centers. At the same time, much larger towns were growing, especially around the palaces, and substantial villas appeared in the countryside.

The palaces themselves are proof of the island's great prosperity during this period, and the artifacts found within offer further evidence. Advances were made in almost every field of artistic and craft endeavor. From the First Palace era came the famous Kamares ware pottery – two distinct styles, one eggshell - thin and delicate, the other sturdier with bold-colored designs. The true potter's wheel (as against the turntable) was introduced for the first time, along with a simple form of hieroglyphic writing. Elaborate jewelry, seals, and bronze work were also being produced.

Cretan bronze was used throughout the Mediterranean, and its production and distribution depended on a wide-ranging maritime economy. For though Crete may have produced some copper at this time, it never yielded tin, the nearest significant sources of which were as distant as modern Iran to the east,