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History of Minoan Civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from c. 3500 BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000 BC, and then declining from c. 1450 BC until it ended around 1100 BC, during the early Greek Dark Ages.
What was the Minoan civilization known for?
Reaching its peak about 1600 bce and the later 15th century, Minoan civilization was remarkable for its great cities and palaces, its extended trade throughout the Levant and beyond, and its use of writing.
When did the Minoan civilization start?
Around 3000 B.C., the Minoan civilization emerges on the island of Crete and becomes a great maritime trading power.
Who were the Minoans summary?
The Minoans were an early Greek civilization of the Bronze Age, living on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea until around the 11th century BCE. They were named after the mythical King Minos, a son of Zeus, by British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans.
Why did Minoan civilization end?
The volcanic eruption in Thera, destroyed the Minoan settlement in Akrotiri, which had as a consequence the beginning of the end for the Minoan civilization. A massive tsunami devastated the coast of Crete causing significant damage that led to the economic drop.
What were 3 important features of Minoan culture?
Labyrinth-like palace complexes, vivid frescoes depicting scenes such as bull-leaping and processions, fine gold jewellery, elegant stone vases, and pottery with vibrant decorations of marine life are all particular features of Minoan Crete.
Who founded the Minoan civilization?
When the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans discovered the 4,000-year-old Palace of Minos on Crete in 1900, he saw the vestiges of a long-lost civilization whose artefacts set it apart from later Bronze-Age Greeks.
What were four achievements of Minoan civilization?
Centralized government, monumental buildings, bronze metallurgy, writing, and record keeping. What were achievements of the Minoan civilization? King Minos, he ruled a massive naval empire and kept the Minotaur in his labyrinth.
What is the capital city of the Minoans?
Knossos, also spelled Cnossus, city in ancient Crete, capital of the legendary king Minos, and the principal centre of the Minoan, the earliest of the Aegean civilizations (see Minoan civilization).
Was the Minoan civilization peaceful?
Researchers have discovered that the ancient civilization of Crete, known as Minoan, had strong martial traditions, contradicting the commonly held view of Minoans as a peace-loving people.
Why is the Minoan civilization associated to the emergence of the Greek civilization?
The Minoans are not Greek, but they are part of the Greek history. By trading with the early Greeks, the Minoans spread their ideas and art to the Greek mainland. Crete is located in the Mediterranean Sea, with the Aegean Sea on its northern shore.
Are Minoans Greek?
The Minoans were not Greeks nor do they appear to be closely related. What seems clear however is that they helped to shape the early Greek civilization, later immortalized by Homer and other Greek poets. 15th century BC bull-leaper fresco from Knossos, Crete.
How is Minoan culture best described?
How is their culture best described? The Minoan culture is best described as hedonistic or pleasure seeking. How is it believed the Minoan culture ended? It is believed the Minoan culture ended from a combination of volcanic activity and attack from the Myceneans.
How long did the Minoans last?
Minoans were a sea-based nation with Crete as their capital. Their name came from the legendary king Minos of Crete. The civilization lasted about 2000 years from around 3000 B.C. to 1100 B.C., but the highlight was the first half of the second millennium B.C.
Where was the largest Minoan palace located?
The Palace of Knossos is located just south of modern-day Heraklion near the north coast of Crete. Built by a civilization that we call the Minoans, it covers about 150,000 square feet (14,000 square meters), the size of more than two football fields, and was surrounded by a town in antiquity.
What was Greece’s Golden Age?
The Golden Age of Greece, also referred to as the Classical Period, took place in Greece in the 5th and 4th Centuries B.C. This era is marked by the fall of the age of tyranny in Athens, when Peisistratus, a known tyrant, died in roughly 528 B.C. His death marked the edge of an oppressive era, but it would take until …
What are the similarities between the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations?
The waning of Minoan influence and waxing of Mycenaean dominance has been observed from the archaeological evidence, and the close connection between the two cultures is represented in similarities in the architecture of the palatial complexes, burial practices, and the transmission of iconography and goods from Crete …
What did the Minoans believe in?
The religion of the ancient Minoans of Crete largely revolved around the Mother Goddess, their chief deity, who was typically associated with snakes.
What did archaeologists discover about the Minoan civilization at Knossos?
What did archaeologists discover about the Minoan civilization at Knossos? Archaeological survey of the upper strata of the Neolithic site revealed artifacts such as gold jewelry, glazed pottery, and bronze.
What do we know about Minoan religion?
Minoan religion is considered to have been closely related to Near Eastern ancient religions, and its central deity is generally agreed to have been a goddess, although a number of deities are now generally thought to have been worshipped.
What was the first civilization?
Sumer, located in Mesopotamia, is the first known complex civilization, having developed the first city-states in the 4th millennium BCE.
Did the Minoans discover America?
Professor John Bennet, a Minoan expert at the University of Sheffield, argues that, while it is theoretically possible that Minoans reached America, their ships were too small to carry sufficient supplies and cargo for regular long voyages.
Who was before the Minoans?
The primary ancestors of both the Minoans and Mycenaeans were populations from Neolithic Western Anatolia and Greece and the two groups were very closely related to each other, and to modern Greeks.
What did Minoans invent?
Overall, the Minoans had to invent many metalworking techniques like lost-wax, nielo, and granulation in order to achieve the diverse range of items they produced. Later, Greeks would use these same techniques to create the first monumental bronze sculptures in Western history.
What technology did the Minoans use?
In the Minoan Crete various fundamental technologies such as aqueducts, wells, cisterns, and closed water distribution systems for water supply to the palaces, cities and villages were very well developed, as did techniques relevant to the recreational use of water.
What tools did the Minoans use?
With origins in the Neolithic period and perhaps influenced in the early stages by Egyptian artists, Cretan artisans used chisels, hammers, saws and blades to work blocks of stone, sometimes also using a harder stone tool.
What is the name of the language spoken by the Minoans?
Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. It was succeeded by Linear B, which was used by the Mycenaeans to write an early form of Greek. It was discovered by archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans.
What did Minoans call themselves?
It is not known whether “Minos” was a personal name or a title. What the Minoans called themselves is unknown, although the Egyptian place name “Keftiu” (*kaft?w) and the Semitic “Kaftor” or ” Caphtor” and “Kaptara” in the Mari archives apparently refers to the island of Crete.
Where did the Minoans primarily live?
The Minoans lived on the Greek islands and built a huge palace on the island of Crete. The Mycenaeans lived mostly on mainland Greece and were the first people to speak the Greek language. The Minoans built a large civilization on the island of Crete that flourished from around 2600 BC to 1400 BC.
Did the Minoans ever go to war?
The civilization made famous by the myth of the Minotaur was as warlike as their bull-headed mascot, new research suggests.
How did Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations influence Greek civilization?
The Mycenaeans were influenced by the earlier Minoan civilization (2000-1450 BCE) which had spread from its origins at Knossos, Crete to include the wider Aegean. Architecture, art and religious practices were assimilated and adapted to better express the perhaps more militaristic and austere Mycenaean culture.
Did the Minoan skilled metal work?
in palaces that were centers of production and government. Their ships patrolled the eastern Mediterranean Sea to protect their trading ships from pirates. They were skilled in metal work. They fought in the Trojan War.
Introduction to the Minoans and Minoan Civilization
