There is much Information which can be learned about Minoan daily life and culture through the excavation of the vast palace complex, which was discovered at Knossos, by the late Archaeologist
Sir Arthur Evans . According to (Sayre 96), Minoan Paintings found throughout the Cyclades suggests a mutual influence of Cycladic and Minoan culture. Also, as per (Sayre 97), Through the various archaeological finds, or as the text states it, evidence, we can make logical speculations about the
Minoan culture's religion. The palace at Knossos gives us a look into the power and prosperity of the Minoan culture (Sayre 98). The Minoans of Crete where an ancient Greek civilization who where very cultured, Through the excavation of the great palace of king Minos at Knossos we gain insight into that culture which has stood the test of time through various artifacts.
Culture and Paintings
Much can be said about the culture of the Minoans, through various paintings in the frescoes we can infer clues about how the culture lived day to day and where authentic in terms of artistic expression...
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
Knossos was centered on a palace, which was a very complex building. According to Greek mythology the palace was designed by architect Daedalus’, were anyone placed in it could never find its exit. King Minos then held the architect prisoner so that no one would ever get ahold of the palaces building plan. The palace occupies and area greater than 20,000 sq. meters and has its own sewage system. The center of the palace was its throne room, which was adorned with frescoes depicting the mythical creatures called “gr...
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
From the buried city at the Akrotiri excavation site, we gained so much information about life in the Bronze Age, especially about their society and trade. They were believed to be a monotheistic civilization who preformed animal, but not human sacrifices. Religion is clearly evident in the famed frescoes, and show Minoan culture and tradition through depictions of religious processions, goddesses, and sacred flowers like lilies or crocuses. Most frescoes portrayed religious events or figures, both directly and indirectly, rather than political figures like kings or queens.
Renfrew, Colin. The Emergence of Civilisation: The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium B.C. London: Metheun 1972.
Burckhardt, Jacob, The Greeks and Greek Civilization, St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10010, 1998.
In all societies, the practices associated with religion, burial and death have given archaeology and history detailed information concerning the nature of a society. It is through the study of symbology in particular that we are able to discern the significance of the Minoan religion as it represents various aspects of their religious beliefs and display the impact it has on their everyday lives. Key symbols like the birds, bulls, horns of consecration and double axe can be seen throughout the island of Crete as well as on votive offerings given to their gods from their worshippers.
The significance of monumental architecture lies not only in the function it is built to serve but also in the cultural values it represents. Monumental architecture is aesthetic as well as functional, and in its aesthetic aspects it is a form of cultural expression. In Bronze Age Mediterranean civilizations, the development of monumental architecture was influenced primarily by the political structure of the state. Perhaps the most disparate forms of monumental architecture in this region were developed in Pharaonic Egypt and Minoan Crete, reflecting the differences in their political systems. The socio-political structure of these two cultures can be sharply contrasted through an examination of a predominant type of monumental architecture found in each region.
The wooden lintels, writing, and the unique calendar reveal clues about life in a society that thrived for over 1000 years. Many massive building are visible today, those built to pay tribute to kings and to please the deities. The M...
... the sense of sight has been incorporated into depicting the story behind what is denoted between the traditions, social orders and situations during the period the images were produced.
The Minoan civilization was comprised of the inhabitants on the island of Crete, which is southeast of mainland Greece. As a whole, their history is not very well known and a lot of what is known about their culture today is still loosely based off of mythology. The Minoan language is still mostly untranslatable, so many historians rely on works of art to get an inside look at the aspects of Minoan life. According to
The development of an empire is a change strongly emphasized in the Archeology as a radical departure from the Hellenic tradition, and consequently a major source of conflict among the Greeks. Prior to the adven...
Kaltsas, Nikos E. Athens-Sparta. New York, NY: Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) in Collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, 2006. Print.
Paleolithic age presents the era when key human adaptations evolved in response to a variety of environmental changes experienced at the time. This period of human evolution coincided with change within the surrounding of man. Such included cooling, drying and unpredictable climatic patterns over the time. This increased amount of variability in environmental conditions raised the level of uncertainty and instability in their respective terms of survival, necessitated the man to adopt new habits to increase adaptability to the new and changing surroundings. The evolved structures and behaviors led to specialization to enable coping with changing and unpredictable conditions.
Through examining these texts, it is evident that the advantages historians have when drawing on evidence such as this is that they can easily reveal certain social and cultural values of the society from which the authors came from, just as easily as it shows social and cultural values of the society of which it was written about. The limitations for historians when collecting written evidence is that some key features of the complex civilizations written about were often left out or could be easily misinterpreted or