FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY

MINOAN
CIVILIZATION
Team 15
Muhammed Hesham Muhammed 2001209

Hazem Gamal Abdullah 2000110

Moataz Ragab Mahmoud Ahmed 2001959

Ahmed Amgad Ali Elsayed 2000083

Ahmed Mahdy Mohamed2001362

Hady Sobhy Elsayed Ali 18T6199

Seif yasser 2000315

Khaled Mohammed 2001795

Marwan Ashraf Saber Abdallah2001845

Mohamed Hassan salah 18T5518

SUBMITTED TO:
Dr: Ahmed Hassan Yakout
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 Contents

Figures .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iii
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
1.Minoan architecture ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
1.2. Some engineering works in the Minoan civilization of Crete ................................................................................................................. 2
2.Minoan Water Systems on Crete : ............................................................................................................................................................................................................3
...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
2.1. clay sewer pipe .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
4.Minoan’s weapons and warfare.................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
5.Minoan’s language and writing .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
5.1. clay ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
5.2. Papyrus ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................7
6.POTTERY .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................7
6.1. Early Minoan Period (c. 3,000 -2,000 B.C.E.) ....................................................................................................................................................................7
6.2. Middle Minoan Period (c. 2,000-1,550 B.C.E.) ................................................................................................................................................................. 8
6.3. Late Minoan Period (c. 1,550-1,100 B.C.E.)........................................................................................................................................................................ 8
8.Minoan ships ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
References ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

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 FIGURES

Figure 1 one of Minoan’s palaces ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Figure 2 hill........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Figure3 Knossos palace ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Figure4 throne room ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Figure5 the queen's room ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Figure 7 UNDERGROUND SEWER SYSTEMS ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Figure 8 Sedimentation and a stepped water channel ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 9 Minoan Rock-Crystal Vase ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 10 Minoan Stone Vase ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 11 Blades from Malia...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 12 Blades from Malia...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure13 late Minoan warrior 1700-1450 BC ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Figure14 Minoan different classes of warriors .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 15 clay ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 16 Vasilike Ware ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 17 Kamares Ware ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Figure 18 loincloths ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Figure 19 the Minoan colors at Knossos .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 20 Trade Flourish ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 21 Ships in Minoan ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 22 Art showing the ships......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

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 INTRODUCTION

Around 2000 BCE, the Minoan culture emerged on the island of Crete. These Bronze Age
Cretans created a unique writing system, knew how to make bronze tools, were excellent at
building wooden ships, stone structures and installed a sewage disposal and indoor plumbing
system.
The Minoans were an inventive culture, taking the technologies they learned from
Mesopotamians, Persians, and Egyptians, improving them, and then creating their own. We can
best appreciate their efforts through three aspects of their society: architecture, water
management, and arts and crafts.

1.MINOAN ARCHITECTURE
Ancient Minoans built large palaces from
3000to1400 BC which acted as cultural,
religious, administrative as well as
commercial centers for their society that was
rapidly expanding these palaces often
provided a space for gathering and
celebrations where same time artists used
them as workshops, and they were also used to
store crops

Figure 1 one of Minoan’s palaces

Archaeologists in Crete bound tombs palaces
villas towns and roads which connected them all

These palaces were often built on low hills in strategically defensive positions that were so
complex that to outsiders it resembled a labyrinth

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These multistory palaces were constructed out of
rough stones and ceramic bricks, so far zero have
been found to be circled by defensive walls the
Minoans were so dominant with sea warfare that walls
were never needed as invaders could only access the
island by boats

Figure 2 hill

1.2. Some engineering works in the Minoan civilization of Crete

The palace of Knossos is characterized by the fact that it

contained many rooms and many upper floors, and this
indicates the greatness of engineering in the civilization of
Crete

The architectural planning in the palaces of Crete was

characterized by something unique and distinctive in the Knossos palace3 Figure

engineering works, which is the central courtyard exposed to the sky and there are surrounding
building around it.

The palace of Knossos consisted of four entrances, and the four

entrances covered the entire area of the palace. Building
materials that were used in the Knossos palace. Stones, marble,
wood, and used mortar or white gypsum and small pebbles to
make floors.

The throne room was made up of the throne chair to the king,
throne room4 Figure
and on the sides, there are seats that fit in the wall, and the
queen's room consisted of more than one entrance and there was small opening.

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and the queen's room consisted of more than one entrance
and there was small opening.

There was also a method of small courtyards for ventilation

and stairs to go up to the upper floors.

the queen's room5 Figure

2.MINOAN WATER SYSTEMS ON CRETE :

The Minoans benefited of the steep grade the land to create a

drainage system with lavatories, sinks and manholes.
Archaeologists have found pipe laid in depths

Water technologies in the palaces and other communities,

drainage systems, pipeline systems, rainwater harvesting, and
other water technologies were all used.

2.1. clay sewer pipe Figure 6 Minoan Water Systems on Crete

Rainwater from rooftops and overflows was carried down into

subterranean drains made of pottery pipe. The pipes had ideal
socket joints, which were tapered to the point that one pipe's
narrow end fit snugly into the broad end of the next. The
tapering parts allowed for a jetting movement to keep sediment
from accumulating

Sedimentation and a stepped water channel (desilting basin). A

tiny channel (for rainwater collection) runs beside the stairwell, Figure 6 UNDERGROUND SEWER
SYSTEMS
consisting of a succession of parabolic-shaped stepping chutes that
transport rainwater the sedimentation tank or basin.

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 Figure 7 Sedimentation and a stepped water channel

Although there was no evident outlet, wasted water was collected and dumped through a hole in
the floor that connected to the main drain, which discharged into the Kairatos River .

3.Minoan’s civilization tools

Craftsmen of the Minoan civilization centered on the island
of Crete produced stone vessels from the early Bronze Age (c. 2500 BCE)
using a wide variety of stone types which were laboriously carved out to
create vessels of all shapes, sizes and function. The craft continued for a
millennium and vessels were of such quality that they found their way to
the Greek mainland and islands across the Aegean.
Popular shapes include the 'bird's nest' lidded bowl which tapered
Figure 8 Minoan Rock-Crystal Vase
significantly at the base and was probably used to store thick oils
and ointments. The form was produced over a period of 1000 years
throughout Crete from 2500 to 1500 BCE. The same shape of vessel
but with simple carved lines on the exterior imitating petals is
known as a blossom bowl and enjoyed similar longevity in terms of
popularity as the 'bird's nest' variety. The most common material for
these vessels was dark grey serpentine, although, one notable lid
with a carved dog is made from green schist.
Figure 9 Minoan Stone Vase
When it comes to weapons, swords occupy a special place. Unlike
all other ancient weapons, like the spear or the bow, the
sword wasn’t originally developed to hunt animals or, like
the axe, to function as a tool for chopping wood. The
sword is the first dedicated weapon, an object whose sole
purpose, if we reduce the object strictly to its function, is
Figure 10 Blades from Malia

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 to injure and kill other human beings (see also Molloy 2010, p. 414).

Of course, the sword didn’t spring into being from nothing. Swords are essentially longer
daggers – though exactly how one distinguishes between a long dagger and a short sword is a
matter largely of individual preference; blades that are rather too big to pass as daggers, but too
short to be called swords are often referred to as dirks, which are strictly stabbing weapons.

The earliest swords in Crete are relatively long and

referred to as Type A swords (for a convenient overview
of the history of Aegean sword types, see Molloy 2010,
pp. 403-409). The earliest are dated to the nineteenth
century BC, which falls in what we refer to as the Middle
Bronze Age, the heyday of Minoan civilization. While
some have suggested that swords may have developed in
Crete independently from the Near East, Fortenberry has Figure 11 Blades from Malia
pointed out in her PhD thesis that the Cretan sword is
influenced by blades from the Near East (Fortenberry 1990, p. 145-146).

4.MINOAN’S WEAPONS AND WARFARE

To judge from the available evidence, which

is far from complete, the towns of bronze age
Crete were not fortified
We may be lulled by this into believing that
life on Minoan Crete was entirely peaceful.
Even so, we should not rule out the possibility
– likelihood, even – of warfare between one
Cretan city-state and another. It is known
from documentation (e. g. Diodorus Siculus
Book XVI and Polybius IX) that the Cretan
city-states of the third and fourth centuries BC
were at war with each other constantly,
struggling for supremacy. Bitter fighting over
late Minoan warrior 1700-1450 BC 12 Figure long periods

We also know that the Minoans were equipped for war. Linear B tablets mention tunics
reinforced with bronze, and the Minoans probably had their own version of the corslet, to judge
from the tunic ideograms.

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 Minoan different classes of warriors 13 Figure

By about 1580 BCE Minoan civilization began to spread across the Aegean to
neighboring islands and to the mainland of Greece. Minoan cultural influence was
reflected in the Mycenaean culture of the mainland, which began to spread throughout
the Aegean about 1500 BCE.

The Minoans had daggers and swords, some of them richly decorated. At a beautiful matching
set of sword and dagger was found. The sword handle was covered in gold sheet decorated top
and bottom with an incised herringbone design, the pommel being fashioned out of a large piece
of rock crystal. Since the sword and dagger were found close to a ceremonial leopard -axe

5.MINOAN’S LANGUAGE AND WRITING

The Minoans of Ancient Crete spoke a language called Linear A that has yet to be deciphered,
they used Linear A primarily, but not exclusively, for administrative purposes.

Linear A is a logo-syllabic script used for administrative purposes on Bronze Age Crete, the
Bronze Age is characterized using copper and bronze as the chief hard materials in the -
manufacturing of implements and weapons, and they used their language and writings in trade
with others.

They used some materials to write on like:

5.1. clay

- Small clay ‘labels’ found on Crete bear short Minoan inscriptions on one side and
imprints of fibers or string on the other.

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 - These suggest the labels were used to secure information written on folded or rolled
perishable material

Figure 14 clay

5.2. Papyrus

There is no evidence about the kind of paper they used in writing, I think it was papyrus
because of Its benefits in the field of writing, and its availability in Egypt in this time,
they obtained it from trading with ancient Egyptian.

The brightest evidence for the use of writing. The oldest short inscriptions engraved on seals
are found in Crete, where it appears that the symbolic drawings fall within the framework of
figurative writing

6.POTTERY

6.1. Early Minoan Period (c. 3,000 -2,000 B.C.E.)

Among the earliest Early Minoan pottery types is Incised Ware,

characterized by incised decoration of parallel lines creating patterns on the
surface of the clay. Contemporary with Incised Ware is Aghios Onouphrios
Ware, a type simply painted with dark red or black diagonal lines, which
form both series of parallel lines and crisscrosses on a light surface; these
Figure 15 Vasilike Ware
designs typically appear on jugs and bowls. Vasilike Ware, with its mottled
surface achieved by novel means of firing, was probably meant to approximate more substantial
and expensive stone vessels. A reddish coat of paint increased the stone-like appearance of
Vasilike Ware vessels. At this time, vessels carved of such variegated and colorful stone as
serpentine and alabaster are indeed known.

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6.2. Middle Minoan Period (c. 2,000-1,550 B.C.E.)
Pottery in the Middle Minoan Period was transformed by the
introduction of the fast potter's wheel, an innovation that led to
thinner and finer wares, which, in turn, led to finer
decoration. Kamares Ware is decorated with abstract designs,
often in complex patterns. Kamares Ware decoration is light-on-
dark polychrome and sometimes includes animal or figural
representations rather than abstract patterns. The same types of
Figure 16 Kamares Ware
patterns are found on a much thinner type of vessel known as
eggshell ware because of its extreme delicacy and fineness. An
incredible variety of designs adorned the vases of the Middle Minoan period though eventually
the energy of the earlier Kamares Ware calmed a bit, becoming more formal with the
introduction of repeated vegetal motifs and other nature-inspired designs.

6.3. Late Minoan Period (c. 1,550-1,100 B.C.E.)

During this later period of Minoan history, dark-on-light pottery predominated, replacing the
earlier polychrome, light-on-dark wares. The Floral Style was one early result of this shift,
featuring vases covered in repeated decorative floral motifs. A similar and contemporary style
was the Pattern Style, which covered vessels in geometric designs, rather than florals. The
patterns may have been inspired by the borders of fresco paintings in the great palaces. Slightly
later in date came the delightful Marine Style, which exhibited sinuous octopuses, realistic
fishes, dancing dolphins, and speeding nautiluses, as well as jagged, spiky seaweed and rocks.

7.Costumes
7.1. Clothes
Sheep wool was the most common textile fiber, and it was maybe a substantial export
commodity. Linen from flax was likely far less widespread, and it
was either imported from Egypt or grown locally. Although there
is no indication of silk, it is plausible that it was used.
Minoan men wore loincloths (if poor) or robes or kilts that were
often long, women wore long dresses with short sleeves and
layered, flounced skirts.

7.2. Dyes
-Linen is difficult to dye, and so linen garments often were left
Figure 17 loincloths

white. Wool, however, takes pigments well, and vegetable dyes were commonly used to tint it.

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 [leaves of the henna plant from Egypt] → [addition of natron] → [red dye]

Figure 18 the Minoan colors at Knossos

8.MINOAN SHIPS

The Minoan economy was based in the maritime trade of

agricultural products like wine, olives, and figs in exchange for
minerals and other resources like copper and ivory. To facilitate
this trade, the Minoans not only built quality roads that
connected their farms and exchange centers to numerous ports
around the island, but also maintained a massive and impressive
fleet of ships.

With the spreading of the use of Figure 19 Trade Flourish

bronze tools the shipwrights kept
improving their techniques construction culminated with the
Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean ships that date from the 16th to
the 12th century B.C.

Wood (Cypress tree) → creative work → ships

Figure 20 Ships in Minoan

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They were constructed by first chopping down a single tall
Cypress tree and stripping off its branches. The log was then
dragged to the shipyard by a team of oxen. After being laid
on a smooth flat working surface, it was stripped of its bark.
A team of men carved it with their sharp bronze axes and
saws, shaping it to nearly its final form.

Figure 21 Art showing the ships

CONCLUSIONS
1. Ancient Minoans built large palaces for many uses, and they built it in low hills with no
defensive walls in strategically defensive positions that were so complex.
2. Ancient Minoan pottery from Crete has been used as a tool for dating the mute Minoan
civilization. The pottery consists of vessels of various shapes, which as with other types
of Ancient Greek pottery may be collectively referred to as "vases", and "terracottas".
The finest achievements came in the Late Minoan period, with the palace pottery called
Kamares’s ware, and the all-over patterned "Marine Style" and "Floral Style".
3. Minoan’s language and writings relied on a very complex system called linear A
4. About their writings material they depended on papyrus (from Egypt) and clay (Hand
made by craftsmen).
5.

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