The Minoans   2000 BC - 1500 BC
Last Updated     11/23/2007      10/22/2007      10/21/2007    

Crete was the center of Minoan civilization, which spread to the Aegean Islands, the coast of Asia Minor, and mainland Greece.  There culture spread to the mainland Mycenaeans, which was later passed on to the Greeks.

Crete
Crete was a narrow, 160-mile-long island.
Being an island protected the Minoans from the wars  and fighting on the mainland.
Cities were Knossos, Mallia, Zakro, Phaisto.

People
The Minoans appear as a happy, peaceful people.
They were not Greeks.
Many of the Minoans were fishermen.
They have a pronounced liking for dancing, festivals, and athletic contests.
Women are shown enjoying a freedom and dignity unknown elsewhere.
They are not secluded in the home.
They are seen sitting with men and taking an equal part in public festivities.

Trade
The people of Crete grew more food than they needed.
They exported their food to other lands.
It ranged from Sicily, Greece, and Asia Minor to Syria and Egypt. 
The Minoans employed the first ships capable of long voyages over the open sea.
Minoan merchants traveled to trade olive oil, wine, pottery, leather, bronze armor, and metal jewelry.
Chief exports were olive oil, wine, metalware, and pottery.

Pottery
Minoan potters were thought to be the best in the world.
Minoan pottery shows a peaceful prosperous society,
It shows floral designs and marine wildlife as dolphins and octopuses rather than scenes of war.

Navy
The Minoans built a large fleet of ships.
Their navy was powerful in the Aegean.

Government
An efficient bureaucratic government under a powerful ruler.
Administrative records were written on clay tablets.
First in a form of picture writing.
Later in a syllabic script known as Linear A.

Writing
Early form called Linear A used between 1800 BC to 1450 BC.
Linear A is hieroglyphic.
Later form called Linear B used between 1450 BC to 1200 BC.
Linear B is syllabic and associated with Mycenae.
Linear B has 89 separate characters.
Translated tablets discuss day-to-day issues.
Agricultural inventories, military movements, records of real estate transactions.



Palace at Knossos
Knosos was the dominant city in Crete after 1700 B.C.
It was designed around a courtyard and was like a small town.
This "Palace of Minos," was built of brick and limestone
At least three stories high and sprawling over nearly six acres.
Had a maze of hundreds of rooms, halls with large pillars, passages and stairs.
There were royal apartments, storerooms, corridors, open courtyards, and broad stairways.
Clay pipes brought running water.
The palace had a sanitation system that surpassed anything constructed in Europe until Roman times.
Walls were painted with elaborate frescoes.
Knosos had been destroyed by a tidal wave.
Tidal wave caused by eruption of volcanic island, Thera.

Houses
Sea captains, merchants, and shipbuilders lived in houses around the palace.
Houses were constructed around courtyards. 
Most houses were two stories high. 
The inside of these houses were decorated with frescoes. 
Each house had its own well and drains. 
Most early Minoan houses had no street entrances. 
A person entered and exited through the roof using a ladder. 
Later, wooden doors and parchment windows were added. 

Clothes
Their dresses are very elaborate.
They use patterns and colors, pleats, puffed sleeves, and flounces.
Bodices are open in front to the waist.

Hair
Hair is elaborately fashioned.
There are ringlets over the forehead and about the ears.

Religion
There were no great temples, powerful priesthoods, or large cult statues of the gods.
The principal deity was the Mother Goddess.
Her importance reflected the important position held by women in Cretan society.
Statuettes show her dressed like a fashionable Cretan woman.
She was probably the prototype of such later Greek goddesses as Athena, Demeter, and Aphrodite.

Farming
Grew wheat, barley, grapes, and olives.
They raised cattle, long-horned sheep, and goats. 

Sports
They people in Crete loved sports. 
They built what was probably the world's first arena.
The Minoans held boxing matches and bull leaping in the arena.

Fall of the Minoans
In 1630 BC, the volcanic eruption of Thera killed all the people.
This eruption had three devastating effects.
A four-inch layer of ash covered the eastern and northern parts of the island.
Crops were destroyed and the land was made useless for agriculture.
A shock wave leveled Crete's cities.
Part of Thera collapsed and the sea rushed in.
The collapse caused a 500 foot tidal wave
The waves, estimated at traveling 250 mph, were still 250 feet high when they struck Crete.
The tidal waves destroyed the Minoan fleets of ships.
The hot ash would have darkened the sky and set fire to buildings.
Palace was rebuilt.
Mycenaeans conquered Knossos about 1450 B.C.
Destroyed finally about 1380 B.C. by earthquake and fire.

Theseus and the Minotaur
Theseus went to Knossos as part of 7 young men and 7 young women.
They were going to be sacrificed to the Minotaur.
Minotaur was a monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
Ariadene, the king's daughter, gave Theseus a ball of thread to unwind in the labyrinth.
Theseus killed the Minotaur.
He then escaped from Crete with Ariadene.

Bibliography

Baird, W. Shepard. "Discovering the Ancient Minoans." The Aegean Minoans of Crete and Thera.  20 June 2007. 23 Nov. 2007 http://www.minoanatlantis.com/Minoan_Spain.php.

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