Minoan Crete

Question 1

Thalossocracy

Answer 1

Cretan king ruled over all the people in the Aegean and he maintained control by the use of a maritime fleet (Thucydides)

Question 2

Theocracy

Answer 2

Society ruled by religious figures (Theocratic Polity)

Question 3

Monarchy

Answer 3

A state that has a monarch. (Homer – stated there was a king)

Question 4

Homer

Answer 4

Crete had 90 cities (only 12 palaces found

Minos was a title for a king and ruled for 9 periods

Question 5

John Pendalbury

Answer 5

“ It is impossible to say that what kind of social order existed”

Question 6

Wolfgang Helck

Answer 6

in an Egyptian tomb, Cretans said to have a ruler, thinks there was a king.

Question 7

Pithoi

Answer 7

Pottery jars

Question 8

Koulouras

Answer 8

Major storage areas

Question 9

Gournia

Answer 9

A Minoan town with a small urban community.

Had many industries: Agriculture, fishing, olive oil, carpentry, weaving, bronze-working, copper-smelting, record-keeping, pottery

Excavated by Harriet Boyd 1901-1904

Question 10

Zakros

Answer 10

The site of a palace with several religious shrines.

It functioned as an for the overseas shipping trade with the Near East and processed purple dye.

Palace contains many storerooms, within them found imported ivory tusks from Syria.

Question 11

Palace Economy

Answer 11

Each palace responsible for production of certain good

Product recorded by scribes and stored in large magazine.

Used to pay wages and inter palace or foreign trade. ‘Surpluses of one palace would be swapped for the product of another palace not producing it

Question 12

Phaistos Disc

Answer 12

Round fired clay, 1500 BC

15 cm in diameter, both stamped with 241 hieroglyphic signs. Not yet deciphered

Maybe: star chart, gameboard, calendar

Question 13

Linear A

Answer 13

• (c.1450 BC)
• Do not know how it began to be used
• Found at Malia and Khania, said to have been produced in LMIII, suggesting that Linear A and B were being used at the same time
• Written on damp clay with a stylus
• Has not been deciphered

Question 14

Linear B

Answer 14

Most tablets found date to 1375 BC
Code broken by Michael Ventris 1952
Used during Mycenaean occupation

Question 15

Labrys

Answer 15

Was a double-headed axe, frequently used at Knossos

Most holy and important symbol in Minoan religion.

Question 16

Tholos

Answer 16

Free standing, circular tomb

Question 17

Ossuary

Answer 17

Storehouses for bones

After bodies had decayed in tombs and there was little room for more bodies, the bones were moved into an ossary for storage

Question 18

Peak Sanctuary

Answer 18

Attempt to gain contact with gods especially sky gods

most popular location for worship

usually linked with nearby palace

Question 19

Cave Shrines

Answer 19

Mostly took place in a cave grotto

worshiped Chthonic gods, or earth

Question 20

Palace Shrine

Answer 20

Small rooms set aside for religious activity

Question 21

Pillar Crypt

Answer 21

A small room with one or two large, almost oversized pillars in its centres.

Another aspect of worship associated with the earth

Question 22

Lustral Basins

Answer 22

Small aquare rooms found in the palaces and some villas, set down into the floor

Evident they were used for religious activities (rituals) through small traces of fresco work containing religious themes (XESTE 3)

Question 23

Horns of Consecration

Answer 23

Nanno Marinatos: Commemorate bull sacrifice, one of the most powerful acts.

Joseph Hazzidakis: Derived from egyptian symbol of the ‘horizon’ and thus constituted the symbol of a Minoan Sun Deity

Question 24

Snakes

Answer 24

Thought to be able to go beyond earth into a supernatural realm

Depicted with women

Perhaps worshiped: for their ability to rejuvenate or poisonous nature

Question 25

The Bull

Answer 25

Frequently the most important sacrificial animal dur to strength and fertility
Perhaps worshipped due to ledgend of Theseus and the Minotaur

Question 26

Trees

Answer 26

The tree, which grows from a seed into a mature plant is a symbol of life and fertility.

Symbol of rebirth and renewal

Further sanctified by association with ‘divine birds’ that made their nests and sat on them (branches)

Question 27

Birds

Answer 27

J.B Rutler: Suggests birds represented Minoan Gods in the form of an epiphany, symbolised Minoan deities.

May have been servant of gods

Later Greek: Ability to communicate with the sky gods

Question 28

Laranax

Answer 28

Coffin, often with numerous bodies placed inside

Question 29

Tombs

Answer 29

Rectangular (cist) tombs

Box shaped pit lined with stone

Question 30

Chamber

Answer 30

• Built after c. 1450 BC (Mycenaean occupation)
• Became smaller, containing less burials
• Used by elite (esp warriors)
• Cut into hillside with narrow path leading to doorway