Week 4 - Bronze Age Crete and Cyclades Flashcards
The Aegean Bronze Age
aegean sea (area of the Mediterranean sea between Greece, Turkey and Crete)
-bronze was primary material during this time
Redisocvery of the Minoans
happened in the late 19th century / Knossos
Sir Arthur Evans did the major excavations at Knossos
King Minos
king of crete who lived in the palace Knossos (he upset Poseidon)
Minotaur
Curse from poseidon made Minos wife Pasiphae fall in love with a bull
Dadealus and the Labyrinth
created to hide the Minotaur and Athens send Athenian children as tribute to the Minotaur
Where did minoans worship?
peak santuaries on mountains, after palaces were made that they worshiped in palaces
Men and women division
Genders were divided in terms of religious practice for Minoans
Minoan style influenced by
influenced by Egyptian style, very static style
men wear breach claws, women usually have exposed breasts
Prince of the Lilies
meant to be a God
uncommon headress,
Faience Snake Goddess
fertility goddess
a woman who wore typical Minoan clothing, carrying snakes that sets her apart from others
long skirt, exposed breast. figurines found peak santuaries
Bull Iconography for Minoans
Bull’s head rhyton (expensive design, holds offerings, used to pour)
Horns of Consecration: abstract form of bull horns
Bull leaping fresco(wet plaster), Knossos
dark parts are the original parts
what is happening: a person leaping over a bull. This is a single person and these are the three stages of this exercise: holding the horn, leaping over and landing. Skin colour change = youth entering into adulthood.
Minoan writing
three scripts: cretan hieroglyphics, phaistos disc, Linear A
all three are SYLLABIC and undeciphered. Seal-stone features Cretan Hireoglyphs has a sun leaf thing in the middle.
Phaistos Disc
mysterious. only script stamped in, not carved in. cannot deciphiper this, however has repeated patterns, assume it is religious text/prayer
Linear A script Minoans
- linear script
- dates to protopalatial
- main script of the Minoans
- used in palace administration
Proposed origins of the Minoan Language
Luvian or Semitic languages
No relation to Greek language
What is Linear A talking about
-administrative records (record storage)
- prayers (like the Libation Formula
Four main Minoan palaces
Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia and Zakros
Minoan Palaces Architectural Style
-ashlar masonry (style of blocks) / rectangular blocks that create the walls
-tapered columns
-open airy spaces with lightwells
- lots of frescoes (wall paintings)
Key features of Minoan Palaces
-central courtyard (big open spaces, probably for assembelies)
-warehouses/storage areas (Pithoi, very tall jugs)
-lustral basin (room sunken into the ground, sacred bathing area?, ritual objects)
-minoan hall (posts/spaces used to keep light in or out, lots of linear A tablets found here, probably adminstrative function)
- western main entrance
- theatral areas (performance area)
Function of Minoan Palaces
- political (seat of power)
- religious (one of the main centres for community/private religion)
- economic (redistributive economy)
The Minoan Palace Economy
-redistributive economy (similar to West Asia)
-records kept by sealings (from seal stones) and clay tablets
-imprints from sealing mark ownership
Minoan Political Structure
- priest king?
- images of women in prominent positions is much more common
- throne room? small throne for woman? could be for rituals ?
The Cyclades
group of 30 islands located within the Aegean
-lots of interregional trade
-mineral wealth
-source of high quality marbles
Cycladic figurines
-marble
-early cycladic
-infleunce on modern art
-geometric and abstract
-minamilist
folded arm figurine
The Minoan influence in the Cyclades
-new palace period
-cycladic culture was heavily influened by the Minoans
-trade with Minoans resulted in change in their culture
Truth in myth? (Minoans ruling over Cyclades)
Thucydides said that Minos made himself master of what is called the Hellenic sea and ruled over cyclades
Akrotiri
-town in southeren Thera
-strong Minoan influence in late Bronze age
-the best preserved of all Bronze Age sites
The Boxing Boys Fresco (Akrotiri)
-children’s bodies
-wrap around hand
-sport or ritual activity
-long pieces of hair
The Eruption of Thera during Bronze Age
-massive volcanic eruption
-people were able to evacuate before the eruption
-no luxury goods found at the site
Atlantis
-Thera is not Atlantis
The Impact of the Eruption on the Minoans
-up to 5cm of pumice in some areas of northern Crete
-wide impact on trade
-the theor that led to the downfall of Minoan civilization is inaccurate
The End of the Minoans
-ca. 1450
-destruction of most sites and palaces
-Material culture on crete changes from Minoan to Mycenaean culture
