Minoan Crete Flashcards
Thalossocracy
Cretan king ruled over all the people in the Aegean and he maintained control by the use of a maritime fleet (Thucydides)
Theocracy
Society ruled by religious figures (Theocratic Polity)
Monarchy
A state that has a monarch. (Homer – stated there was a king)
Homer
Crete had 90 cities (only 12 palaces found
Minos was a title for a king and ruled for 9 periods
John Pendalbury
“ It is impossible to say that what kind of social order existed”
Wolfgang Helck
in an Egyptian tomb, Cretans said to have a ruler, thinks there was a king.
Pithoi
Pottery jars
Koulouras
Major storage areas
Gournia
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
Zakros
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.
Palace Economy
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
Phaistos Disc
Round fired clay, 1500 BC
15 cm in diameter, both stamped with 241 hieroglyphic signs. Not yet deciphered
Maybe: star chart, gameboard, calendar
Linear A
- (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
Linear B
Most tablets found date to 1375 BC
Code broken by Michael Ventris 1952
Used during Mycenaean occupation
Labrys
Was a double-headed axe, frequently used at Knossos
Most holy and important symbol in Minoan religion.
Tholos
Free standing, circular tomb
Ossuary
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
Peak Sanctuary
Attempt to gain contact with gods especially sky gods
most popular location for worship
usually linked with nearby palace
Cave Shrines
Mostly took place in a cave grotto
worshiped Chthonic gods, or earth
Palace Shrine
Small rooms set aside for religious activity
Pillar Crypt
A small room with one or two large, almost oversized pillars in its centres.
Another aspect of worship associated with the earth
Lustral Basins
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)
Horns of Consecration
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
Snakes
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
The Bull
Frequently the most important sacrificial animal dur to strength and fertility
Perhaps worshipped due to ledgend of Theseus and the Minotaur
Trees
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)
Birds
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
Laranax
Coffin, often with numerous bodies placed inside
Tombs
Rectangular (cist) tombs
Box shaped pit lined with stone
Chamber
- 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
