Minoan Crete

Грачева А.Д., Мыслевцев А.С.

Periodization

Early Minoan: approximately the third millennium to the beginning of the second millennium BCE. Metalworking, crafts and maritime connections developed.

Middle Minoan: approximately the early second millennium to the seventeenth century BCE. The first palaces appeared, notably at Knossos, Phaistos and Malia.

Late Minoan: approximately the seventeenth to eleventh centuries BCE. The early part saw the flourishing of the new palaces. Many centres were destroyed around 1450 BCE; later administration at Knossos used Linear B to write Greek. The eruption of Thera preceded these destructions: it should not be placed in the fourteenth to twelfth centuries BCE or treated as the sole cause of decline. Exact period boundaries depend on the chronological scheme.

Modern map of Greece

Map of modern Crete and Crete of the Minoan civilization era

Discovery of the Minoan civilization

Until the middle of the XIX century, the history of ancient Greece was studied from the VIII century BC (from the Archaic period). The history of the earlier period was known only from the myths and legends of ancient authors, for example, Plutarch, Thucydides and Diodorus Siculus, who tell us the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Until the 19th century, scientists ignored these tales, despite the fact that in many places in Greece there were ruins of ancient structures, the origin of which local residents composed legends. The idea that myths might reflect real historical reality was hardly considered by scientists of that time until the 1870s. This period can be considered a turning point in the study of the history of ancient Greece. This is due to the beginning of the excavations by G. Schliemann of Troy in Asia Minor and A. Evans of the Palace of Knossos, which allowed us to prove the existence of an earlier Cretan-Mycenaean civilization (3-2 thousand BC). It should be noted that many tablets with inscriptions were found in Crete, mostly of economic content. We are talking about the so-called Linear A and Linear B. The first one couldn't be decrypted until now. A Linear B was deciphered after several unsuccessful attempts, including those made by A. Evans. The letter was deciphered in 1950-1953 by Michael Ventris with the assistance of John Chadwick.

Linear writing of A. XIX-XV centuries BC

Linear writing B. XVI-XIII centuries BC.

Custom disk. Side A and B. A unique monument of writing found in the city of Festus,the place and time of manufacture are not known for certain. Not decrypted. Archaeological Museum of Heraklion

Economic development

The oldest center of civilization in Europe was the island of Crete. At the turn of 3-2 thousand BC, the Minoan civilization appears here, which got its name from the legendary King Minos. As early as the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, copper and bronze production was established on the island. Among the reasons for the flourishing of the Minoan culture, a number of researchers call the trade in tin, necessary for obtaining high-quality bronze, the most important material of this era, which later received the name of the Bronze Age. From the Early Minoan period, the appearance of" colonies " of the Minoan culture is recorded on the Cycladic Islands, the island of Rhodes, in the area of Miletus. At the same time, changes are taking place in agriculture. It is based on mixed agriculture or the so-called "Mediterranean triad", which implies the cultivation of cereals (mainly barley), grapes and olives. The result of this economic shift was an increase in the productivity of agricultural labor, as well as the emergence of a reserve fund of agricultural products, which provided food for people not employed in agriculture. This allowed the development of professional specialization in various branches of production. Also, at the expense of this reserve fund, the population was provided with food in lean years. Since the 3rd millennium BC, sea trade with mainland Greece, Syria, Egypt, the Cyclades Islands, and Asia Minor has been actively developing.

Society and government

Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Zakros were major palace centres. Storerooms, workshops, seals and administrative records show that palaces organised production and the collection and distribution of resources. Settlements and households also existed outside palace complexes.

The structure of authority remains debated. Linear A has not been deciphered, so rulers’ titles, taxation and the precise social hierarchy cannot be reconstructed confidently. Models of royal government and priestly authority draw on architecture and imagery, but do not establish that all Minoan society was a known theocracy.

Later Greek poleis were not the direct continuation of a single Minoan political system. The Mycenaean period, the collapse of palace states and lengthy changes in local communities intervened.

Religion

Minoan religion is reconstructed chiefly from imagery, ritual objects and sanctuary layouts. Female figures, snakes, bulls, double axes and sacred trees are prominent. Not every female figure can confidently be identified as a goddess, however, and different images need not represent one supreme deity.

The so-called Snake Goddesses from Knossos are faience figurines traditionally associated with cult. Their precise function and the relationship between divine and human figures remain debated. The double axe, or labrys, also occurs in ritual contexts, but does not by itself prove the existence of a single bull-god.

Cult spaces are known in palaces, settlements, caves and mountain peaks. Women often appear in ceremonial scenes. This is significant evidence of their participation in ritual, but cannot establish the entire organisation of the priesthood.

The palace in Festus. Modern look

The palace is closed. Modern look

The Palace of Knossos. Modern look

Culture and art

The palace of Knossos lies in north-central Crete. Greek myth links it with Minos, Theseus and the Minotaur; these traditions cannot be identified directly with the archaeological history of the building.

Arthur Evans began systematic excavation in 1900. Remains of an earlier palace were uncovered beneath later rooms. The complex was rebuilt repeatedly after destruction. Its layout combines a central court, multi-storey wings, stairways, light wells, storerooms and ceremonial spaces.

The west wing contains long storage magazines and the so-called Throne Room, with a stone throne and reconstructed griffin paintings. The east wing includes rooms conventionally called royal apartments, the Hall of the Double Axes and a space with a reconstructed dolphin fresco. These names reflect scholarly interpretations and do not always establish a room’s original purpose.

The palace had water-supply and drainage systems. Linear B tablets attest Greek-language administration during a later stage of its history. Some columns, ceilings and paintings visible today were restored by Evans and his colleagues: the monument’s present appearance combines ancient remains with modern reconstructions.

Knossos. Plan of the Grand Palace

Plan of the Palace of Knossos. Excavations. Top view

Gurnia settlement. Modern look

The Minoan civilization had a special style of painting called Kamares (got its name from the village of Kamares, where a large number of vessels were found). This style is distinguished by strict forms, colorful coloring, and stylized plants are depicted on the vessels. Since the 18th century BC, Cretan art has become more realistic. Men were depicted with a narrow waist, excessively developed muscles and lean. Another distinctive feature is the image of the eyes en face (translated from the French "in the face","opposite"), while the face itself is written in profile. The male body was depicted in brown, and the female body in white. Similar images can be seen on the frescoes that are painted on the preserved walls. Most famous images: the earliest "Saffron Collector" (17th-16th centuries). BC), fresco with dolphins,"Ladies in blue","Parisian Woman"," Acrobats with a bull.". All of the above examples of wall paintings are found in the Palace of Knossos. The main theme of the images is scenes of peaceful life, festive rites, processions, scenes of catching and taming bulls.

Clothing and hairstyles

The fabrics were mostly linen and wool, and in more rare cases, tanned leather was also used to make clothing. The color scheme of clothing was very diverse: often products were painted in red, blue, yellow, brown, green, black, as well as their shades. On clothes there is often a plant ornament, ornaments made of feathers. The images of women that we find on frescoes, seals, dishes and ornaments show us on the one hand images of amazing refined beauty. They are dressed in clothing that varies depending on both the historical era and the context of the scenes depicted. Also noteworthy are the "serpent goddesses" — several figurines found in Knossos. These faience figurines date back to about 1600 BC. e. Along with them, half-decayed remains of clothing and belts were found in one cache. There are also several similar iconographic figurines made of clay, bronze and ivory.

Goddess with snakes,statuette. Archaeological Museum in Heraklion. Around 1600 BC.

A girl worshipping a deity. Bronze. 1600-1500 BC

Cretan-Minoan figurine. Mid-2nd millennium BC

It should be noted that most Minoan images of women are very close to the modern ideal of beauty: long hair, large eyes, a thin waist, rounded hips and full breasts. This is radically different from the closest states of that time, for example, Egypt. The situation is similar with clothing - it is very different from the simple, loose, figure-hugging outfits made of pleated white linen, which we see among the inhabitants of the Nile Valley.

Heads of terracotta figurines,Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Circa 1650 BC.

Cretan-Minoan women's hairstyles

Minoan women wore clothes with a rather complex cut: bell-shaped skirts with many horizontal frills, capes, like fitted sweatshirts, aprons, one-piece dresses. This fashion is typologically closer to the Sumerian-Akkadian and Babylonian models known to science from images of approximately the same historical period, for example, Inanna (Ishtar) quite often appears in similar multi-tiered folded robes. Most likely, the version of female attire recorded on the figurines of the image of "Goddesses with snakes" refers to a slightly older Minoan period, or purely ritual, since more often we find images of skirts with transverse stripes of several wedges extending downwards, as in the frescoes from Akrotiri.

Cretan-Minoan woman. Mid-2nd millennium BC

The image of men strongly contrasts with women. They are much smaller in number, the skin is depicted darker than women's, the amount of clothing is much smaller, and its color palette is scanty. The figures of men are slender, elongated, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. Long hair falls to the shoulders, and beards and even stubble on the face are absent. Loincloths vaguely resemble the Egyptian shenti. Sometimes the loincloth is shorter in front and falls in a wedge shape at the back, but the frescoes from Knossos also show models like skirts with an elongated front edge. And in the fresco "Prince of Lilies", the young man's left leg is naked, and the right one is covered in the upper part of the hip structure.

Cretan-Minoan male. Mid-2nd millennium BC

Young man among the lilies,"Priest-King". Relief painted in fresco technique,height 2.2 m. Knossos,1600 BC

Cretan-Minoan men. Mid-2nd millennium BC

Reconstruction

Currently, reconstructing Cretan-Minoan clothing is difficult, due to the scarcity of surviving textiles, as well as traditionally open breasts in women's sets. It is also assumed that in reality the skin tones of women and men were not very different, and the image of men with darker skin was artistic and symbolic.

Cretan-Minoan woman. Reconstruction

Literature and sources

1. History of Ancient Greece/ Edited by V. I. Kuzishchin.Moscow: Vyssh. shk.,2003,399 p. (in Russian) 2. Sergeev V. S. Istoriya Drevnei Gretsii [History of Ancient Greece] St. Petersburg: Poligon Publ.,2002,801 p.