Minoan Civilization
“Civilization sails prettily like a child 's rubber balloon until it hits a sharp object; then it is likely to collapse like the balloon”- Austin O’Malley. The first major European civilization during the Bronze Age came from the Minoans. The Minoan Civilization evolved in many influential ways during its reign of power, which started from approximately 3000 B.C. and into 1000 B.C.
In order to understand how the Minoan Civilization evolved, it is vital to know the background. The Minoan civilization flourished around the Mediterranean island of Crete (Lobell, Jarrett A). In 1901, British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans began excavating the site of Knossos, which lies at the northeastern coast of Crete (Image 1) (Gere, Cathy).
…show more content…
The site of Knossos was built around 1900 B.C. and covers about 200 acres of land, which includes buildings and tombs ("The Palace of Minos"). There is evidence of people inhabiting Knossos, but it is difficult to estimate population density; but the size of the site suggests that there was a population of several thousands ("The Palace of Minos"). The most important building on the site of Knossos is the palace of course, but there were other small important buildings, which contained ceremonial events ("The Palace of Minos"). Evans believed that they housed local gentry and he named them villas, which replicated Minoan palaces ("The Palace of Minos"). The palace of Knossos was used for about 700 years, but there were two events that slowed the usage, the first event was, the first palace was destroyed around 1700 B.C. by a massive earthquake, which also destroyed all the other palaces in Crete ("The Palace of Minos"). Knossos was then immediately rebuilt to form an even more advanced and elaborate complex (Sakoulas) (Image 9). The second palace of Knossos covered approximately 5.6 acres of land ("The Palace of Minos"). The palace was constructed with stone as the primary material, but the framing was constructed with timber, which provided support against earthquakes ("The Palace of Minos"). Wood was used to create the upper storey, columns, roofs, doors and …show more content…
One of the world oldest shipwrecks was found on the coast of Uluburun, near southwestern Turkey, which contained the wealthiest collection of Bronze Age items found in the Mediterranean (Holloway, April). Mehmed Cakir discovered the Ship in 1982 at depths of about 52 metres, when the ship had sunk it was carrying over 20 tons of cargo which included both raw materials and finished good (Holloway, April) (Image 12). The materials that were in the ship have been traced back to at least seven different civilizations, which are Mycenaean, Syro-Palestinian, Cypriot, Egyptian, Kassite, Assyrian and Nubian (Holloway, April). Some of the materials that were found were ten tons of copper, gold, silver, beads made out of glass, bronze tools and wooden writing boards and ceramics ( (Holloway, April) (Image 13). These items indicate that there was possibly an international trade network that was around the
The Iliad alone would never have been a reliable source without archaeological evidence to verify the actuality of a Trojan war. Therefore archaeologists have been working on the site known as hissarlik since the 1800’s to uncover truths about the myth. Frank Calv...
The Minoans society wasn't really an economic social society. In the archeological records, we find that the houses "poorer" parts of their towns were rather large and plush. Women were regarded rather highly in their society, many of their paintings are depictions of women. There is little evidence that they were war like, nor did they appear to go on military expeditions. This comes from the lack of weapons in the burial sites, there aren't any warrior tombs, nor are there paintings of war; which is something that was dominant in all other cultures at the time. They were mostly traders, as in merchants. They traded throughout Greece, Ionia, the Levant and Egypt. Their cities weren't strategically located, meaning
A prime example of the possible contributions of underwater archaeology is the Ulu Burun shipwreck. The Ulu Burun shipwreck is the remains of a Late Bronze Age (~1600 – 1050 BCE) trading vessel dated to about 1300 BCE. The shipwreck was discovered in 1982 off the coast of Ulu Burun, near the modern city of Kas, Turkey. This fifty-foot long vessel was resting at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of approximately 150 feet. Eleven sets of excavations were conducted from 1984 to 1994 in order to deliver the artifacts to the surface for analysis. From this wreck site, archaeologists now have a more detailed and precise understanding about the trade and distribution of commodities in the Late Bronze Age.
As the name suggests the Bronze Age is a period of human culture, in which civilizations heavily used copper and bronze for various aspects of life and trading. The beginning of the Bronze Age is estimated to date before 3000 BCE in parts of Med. Europe, Middle East and China. Knossos and Mycenae are both archeological sites, and date back to the Bronze Age. Knossos was the capital of the ancient Minoan civilization; located on the island of Crete. Mycenae was a massive fortified palace, located between two hills on the plain of the Peloponnese, Greece.
The first civilization to rise was the Mesopotamia, located in present day Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and Egypt, along the Nile River. It’s split in two ecological zones. In the south Babylonia (irrigation is vital) and north Assyria (agriculture is possible with rainfall and wells). By 4000 B.C.E., people had settled in large numbers in the river-watered lowlands of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Archaeologists have shown that large-scale irrigation appeared only long after urban civilization had already developed, meaning major waterworks were a consequence of urbanism (population). Mesopotamia cities were made of people called the Summerians in the land of Sumer located on the south of Babylonia. The Summerian city was one of
There were buildings found with complex drainage systems and wide, paved streets, perfect for merchants, showing sophistication unlike anything else from that time. The city was well planned and organized, and the size of some of the buildings indicate that they may have been used for religious or administrative purposes. The architecture is similar to that found on Crete, which is evidence of cultural diffusion between the two places, and their possible influence on each other. Crete-like architecture shows a trade route and influence from Crete, which means historians can find more connections between the Minoans on Crete and the Minoans in Akrotiri, which we would have not gained otherwise.
Renfrew, Colin. The Emergence of Civilisation: The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium B.C. London: Metheun 1972.
Although the Aegean World did not have the best land, with metals and timber from abroad, the Minoan and Mycenaean societies were able to be successful during that time. The Minoan civilization, which has an ethnicity that is a mystery, accomplished many things while living on the island of Crete. Mycenaean Greece was very successful
Shipwrecked off the Ethiopian coast while passing through the Red Sea in the fourth centuryAD, an encounter the between the coastal people and the crew of a merchant ship escalated into a fatal conflict in which only two young Syrian Christian brothers survived. After their capture, the brothers, Frumentius and Aedesius, The king took notice of the youths’ Greek education. Aedesius appointed the king’s cupbearer; Frumentius became the “master of correspondence and accounts.” Upon his death, the king released the brothers from their enslaved status, but the queen coaxed them into remaining in the kingdom to assist in the administration of the Aksum until her young son, Ezana, reached maturity. Under the direction of Frumentius, Christian merchants were allowed privileges in the kingdom and places to worsh...
The Minoans are known as the first advanced civilization of all of Europe. This may be a strong reason why the Greece Age remained for such a long time. They created a great civilization on the Island of Crete. The second great civilization of the Greek Bronze Age was the Cycladic society. They created their society on the islands of the Aegean. They were considered a large contributor to the overall success of Bronze Age Greece. However, they were never as significantly important as the Minoan society...
The Bronze Age ended at the beginning of the twelfth century in a collapse that appears to have been both sudden and difficult to define. A key reason that the cause of this collapse is so difficult to identify is because the collapse was so wide spread and complete. The groups we would look to for evidence on this event ceased existing, from the residents of Crete to the Greek mainland, removing their recording capabilities. We have archeological evidence, in the form of ruined cities, but most written records that provide insight into the collapse of the Bronze Age and the events of the world are Egyptian in origin, and thus are limited in their scope and reliability. In fact, these Egyptian records at
Mycenae was the first Greek state and was part of a Mycenaean Greek civilization that increased between 1600 B.C. and 1100 B.C. The Mycenaean Greeks were part of the Indo-European family of peoples who spread into Europe and Asia. One of these groups entered Greece around 1900 B.C. and gradually gained control of the Greek mainland. The Mycenaean civilization was made of powerful monarchies. The monarchies in these
Since the early Paleolithic period, civilizations have gone through many changes, including the way in which people find their food and the way they settled and live. This change shifted through the Paleolithic period all the way through the Agrarian Revolution. Changes included civilizations shifting from a nomadic type of people to a settled, farming people in the Agrarian Revolution. These changes took place from about 2.5 million years ago, or the beginning of what is called the Paleolithic Period, all the way to some of the first societies. The main thing that was changed was the way in which people found their food and where they settled. These changes brought forth new techniques and new tools to use. These tools and techniques
In 1882, Ignatius L. Donnelly published a book named “Atlantis: the Antediluvian World”. In this book, Donnelly tried to demonstrate his hypothesis that all known ancient civilizations were descended from a specific civilization, which was Atlantis. He observed that ancie...
For thousands of years, people all over the world have developed, progressed, and eventually formed civilizations. A civilization is a community characterized by elements such as a system of writing, a development of social classes, and cities. Early civilizations such as ancient Greece, classical Rome, Mesopotamia, and classical China have made many contributions to society that still affect people in the modern world. The inventions, progress, and contributions of the people of these ancient civilizations and others have shaped the world that we all live in today.