Minoans - Sept 10 - Lecture notes 3 PDF

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Summary

covering the Early Civilizations on the Minoan People...

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Episode 3: Bronze Age Greece: The Minoans (Sept. 10) Archaeology and Bronze Age Greece -

the Aegean Sea Graecia (Latin) / Hellas (Greek)

Greece in the Stone Ages 40,000 BC: Paleolithic (Old Stone) Age - earliest humans in Greece - nomadic hunters and gatherers 12,000 BC: end of Ice Age - Frachthi Cave 6500-3000 BC: Neolithic (New Stone) Age - agriculture (crops, herding), permanent towns - c. 3500 BC: ox with plough - Mediterranean Triad: cereals, olives, grapes Greek Bronze Age 3000-2100 BC

Early Bronze Age

Early Minoan Early Cycladic Early Helladic

2100-1600 BC

Middle Bronze Age

Middle Minoan Middle Cycladic Middle Helladic

1600-1100 BC

Late Bronze Age

Late Minoan Late Cycladic Late Helladic (Mycenaean)

Minoan Civilization - Crete The Discovery of Knossos: - Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) - 1900: excavated Knossos - “palace of Minos” - labyrinth Early Minoans: 7000 BC: earliest inhabitants 2500 BC: farming villages grew into towns

Old Palace Period: 2000-1600 BC Minoan cities: Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia, Zakros - first large-scale palace at Knossos - influenced by Egypt and Mesopotamia - royal palaces or administrative elite? - independent cities dominated by Knossos The Eruption of Thera (Santorini) -

Akrotiri: Cycladic city 1600 (or 1400) BC: - volcano erupted - Akrotiri destroyed

New Palace Period: 1600-1425 BC 1600 BC: early palaces destroyed - new palaces built on a monumental scale - peak of Minoan civilization -

Trade networks: - Minoans trading with Cyclades, Egypt, Near East - thalassocracy “rule of the sea”

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Social structure: - palaces: redistribution centres - larger houses: lower-level local elites - most people were farmers; few slaves

Linear A 2000 BC: pictographic writing system 1700 BC: syllabic script – Linear A - syllabic: each symbol represents a consonant + vowel - Linear A has never been deciphered - economic and administrative records written on clay tablets 1450 BC: Linear B introduced by Mycenaeans Minoan Art and Architecture - influenced by Egypt and Mesopotamia - palaces: stone and mudbrick, 2-3 stories high - light wells, plumbing - painted walls Palace at Knossos

Minoan Ritual - sacred sites: rooms in palaces, mountain shrines, caves - female deities: mother goddess, holding snakes; huntress - Horns of Consecration The Decline of Minoan Civilization 1450 BC: Mycenaeans take over Crete - numerous sites were destroyed, Knossos was occupied - Linear B replaced Linear A 1200 BC: Knossos destroyed and abandoned...