minoan social structure - identity of ruler
DESCRIPTION
HSC - Ancient History Greece: The Bronze Age – Society in Minoan Crete Minoan Social StructureTRANSCRIPT
MINOAN: POLITICAL ORGANISATION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Minoan
Society
Ruler/s female?
Autonomous political
units
Elite woman
prominent at Knossos
Priesthood – sacrifice
+ priestesses
Agriculture important – goats and
sheep
Craftspeople –
farmers / herders
PROBLEMS WITH EVIDENCE
Fragmentary evidence = hypotheses
Evidence society was ‘stratified’:
Comparisons with similar societies of the time = Near Eastern and Egyptian = ruler / elite
Palaces, large country houses and the remains of simple houses = different class groups
EVANS ‘Minos’ – title like
pharaoh Ruled like a ‘priest
king’ – evidence “Prince of the lilies” fresco + the “chieftain cup” – young Minoan prince
Influenced by other civilisations & Frazer – ‘The Golden Bough’
PALACES
Palaces: Knossos, Mallia Phaistos, Zakros
Knossos is the largest – influence over others?
Colin Renfrew: society organised as a series of ‘chiefdoms’ – economy / political / religious
Robert Koehl: each palace - own aristocracy
PALACES
Peter Warren: political structure based on ‘hierarchy of built structures’ – size of building related to status of occupants
Concept of ‘high king’ in Knossos and tribal leaders in other areas
Period of peace allowed investment + unfortified palaces means no threat – social acceptance of ruler?
WA-NA-KA = WANAX (KING) Mycenaean control –
late period Crete (1450 BC -) – Linear B
Male? Minoan?
Mycenaean? Puppet ruler?
Occurs in the singular – ruled over Crete?
Found at Knossos
GENDER
Evans: Male king? Context? Early 20th
century – sexist? Patriarchal
assumptions Jane Harrison
(1903): matriarchy (ignored)
Revisionist historians have interpreted evidence that supports Harrisons’ theory
‘Ruler’ often represented as female
Warren: Religious? Politician? – Female
Waterhouse: No apparent signs of warfare or struggle – lead by priestesses?
Boulotis: kingship was the ‘norm’ – ‘master impression’ evidence
MALE OR FEMALE?
PALACE ELITE
Palace – large house / villa relationship – met with palace occupants – aristocrats?
Koehl: Banquets? Communal dining halls and resting rooms (Mallia / Knossos / Phaistos – have large halls north of central court)
Evidence of food debris and cooking utensils
‘Camp stool’ fresco - Knossos – elite male gathering?
BUREACRACY
Administrative need – palace office structure showed need for organisation
Administer rations / assign flocks + herds / regulate collection of raw materials and produce
Supervise scribes who kept records – clay tablets, papyrus, parchments
Clay seals - evidence of bureaucratic control
PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES
Evidence – seal stones e.g.: short cropped hair, a garment draped around body or a sacrificial axe carried over the shoulder
Women – full time? elite women? Social elite? Young women of child bearing age – associated with the pouring of libations, making offerings and performance of sacrifices
Belief that religion was focussed on gaining ‘divine favour’ = prosperity
CRAFT + AGRICULTURAL WORKERS
Meaning is inferred – objects / buildings / remains
Masons, carpenters, potters, painters, carves of stone and ivory, metalworker – cauldrons or jewellery
Part – time? Not clear if it was gender specific Spent significant amount of time farming Palace craft workers – fulltime? Evidence of intensive farming Linear B tablets – produce and cattle numbers Assigned flocks? Indentured labour? ‘Harvester vase’ – farmers in procession?
SLAVES
‘Likely’ that slaves existed – common in Bronze age Eastern Mediterranean
Owned by elite? Traded?
Attached to palaces? Skilled craftspeople?
Evidence: Linear B tablets – Mycenaean – ‘do-e-rola’ – connected to ‘doulos’ (Slave – Greek) – contracts for sale of slaves