The Minoans (Day 1)By: Sean Rodriguez

Discovery!

Sir Arthur Evans discovered and excavated ruins of a great palace at Knossos (on the island of Crete) in the early 1900’s.

He discovered a grand and old civilization that spanned 2200-1400 BC.

We don’t know much about their society, we can just hypothesize with the artifacts they left behind

Artifacts

Frescoes: Beautiful, bright paintings that cover the palace’s walls.

http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/greeceknossos.htm

Artifacts Continued…

Linear A tablets: The Minoan’s written language, it has yet to be deciphered.

http://www.onassis.gr/fullstory.php?lang=en&id=243

Artifacts Continued…

Statues/Figurines: There have been multiple sculpted figures from the palace. Most of them are bulls, axes, and snakes.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/S8VG2SlW8qH-WB4x3vYbfw

Religion

The figurines I mentioned previously could have been evidence of their religion. This figure appears to be a goddess of some kind.

http://www.amazon.com/Minoan-Goddess-Statue-Knossos-Palace/dp/B001BX3VOW

Human Sacrafice?

In a building to the north of the excavation site lies the skeletons of four healthy children.

To a building to the west lies the bones of four humans and various animals, along with a ceremonial dagger.

Collapsing Civilization

Around 1450 BC, mainland Greeks have seem to have taken over due to traces of Greek artifacts covered at this time.

Around 1375 BC, the palace was burn to the ground and looted.

For more information…

http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Main_Page/