The Minoan Civilization: Definition and Meaning - Term Paper Example

The Minoan Civilization Name Course Instructor Institution Location Date of Submission The Minoan Civilization The Minoan civilization spanned from around 3600 to 1400 BC[Anc15]. During this time, the Minoan civilization established its rule on the island of Crete. The island of Create stood between Egypt, Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East as well[Anc15]. Despite thriving for a period that almost spanned two centuries, not much information exists about the Minoan civilization. Therefore, the much that comes out about the Minoan civilization, its people, culture, and way of life originates from archeological findings and available texts that give details on the ancient civilization[Ewe13]. This problem further compounds because most of the available Minoan writings or text have not undergone successful deciphering[Anc151]. As such, it has not been easy to develop firsthand and knowledge on the ancient Minoan civilization as is the case in many other ancient civilizations. Despite this fact, there exist significant knowledge and information on the Minoan civilization, in regards to their culture, life, palaces, religion, language, technology, and art. As such, this paper will therefore delve into the available details on the Minoan civilization and thus will touch on the above-mentioned aspects of the ancient Minoan civilization. In the same breadth, the paper makes the assertion that Minoan civilization was real and thus the following section consists of credible knowledge and information on this ancient civilization. The subject of the discovery of the ancient Minoans involves a number of Greek legends related to the ancient Create. One famous legend or myth relates the story of King Minos who was the rule of the Create[Jes11]. According to the legend, King Minos reared a creature that was partly a man and partly a bull[Anc15]. The creature went by the name Minotaur and the legend holds that King Minos sacrificed young Greeks to feed the creature. This is however one of the many legends on King Minos and his Cretean Kingdom. For this reason, the ancient Greek people concluded that out of the many legends, there must have been more than one king Minos who ruled over the Crete[Anc151]. All these legends notwithstanding, the Minoan civilization remained forgotten for a long time until its rediscovery by British Archeologist Sir Arthur Evans in the begging of the twentieth century. This happened when Edward found and excavated the ruins of the great and ancient Minoan palace of Knossos. According to Evans, this was the palace of the legendary king Minos[Anc151]. However, the ruins defined an elaborate structure that consisted of temples, government structures, workshops, and storage facilities. Following this findings, Evans kept detailed records of his archeologic findings. As time went by other archeologists made more findings that they subsequently documented. It therefore stands that there exist credible archeological evidence that facilitated the construction of a timeline for the Minoan Crete[Anc151]. Based on available evidence, the historical timeline of the Minoan Crete falls within four distinct historical periods. The first of these periods was the Neolithic and Pre-palatial Crete spanning form 3000-1150 BC[Anc15]. Prior to the building of the great palaces and the development of the Minoan civilization, the Crete was home to Neolithic people. Estimates hold that the island’s first inhabitation took place at around 6000 BC. These first inhabitants grew crops and kept animals while living in small villages that slowly developed into large cities with time[Ewe13]. With the approach of the third millennium BC, the growing cities and towns supported activities such as trading, artisanship. Sea trading took place with neighbors such as Egypt and Anatolia where trade involved the buying and selling of things like ivory, copper, and gold[Ewe13]. It is important to note that in this period there were no kings thus the lack of palaces and a central government. The second period was the Protopaliatial Crete spanning between 1900-1700 BC. This period marked the building of the first palaces on Crete. The palaces in this period stood close to the sea and underwent building at around the same time. Smaller settlements existed around the palaces[Anc15]. Essentially, in this period kings emerged as rulers in various areas on the Crete. There was also the development of a hierarchical society defined by nobles, peasants, and slaves[Anc151]. During this period, the trade networks expanded for the Minoans and thus they developed contact with other civilizations such as Egypt in addition to establishing their first trading colonies. It is also in this period that the first representation of the Minoan written language appeared. In this period at around 1700 BC, a violent catastrophe struck the island of Crete resulting in the destruction of the palaces and disruption of normal life in the island[Anc151]. It is however not clear about the exact nature of the catastrophe that destroyed the Pro-palatial Crete. The period that followed was the Neo-palatial Crete at around (1700 and 1400 BC). The subsequent rebuilding of the palace marked the beginning of the Neo-palatial Crete. This was a golden age of civilization for the Minoans and the new palaces were grand, complex, and elaborate compared to the former ones[Anc15]. In this period, the main palace house was the palace of Knossos[Ewe13]. The architecture of the new palaces and structures followed a maze like design aimed at strengthening them against possible catastrophes that would end up destroying them[Anc151]. In this period, large towns also grew around the palaces with paved roads connecting the various towns in Crete. The Minoan trade networks grew in leaps during this period and their colonies increased in number with the growth of overseas trading[Anc15]. During this period, the Minoan influence grew in Greece and the larger Mediterranean region. Despite this success, the shift of power to the Mycenae and the subsequent destruction of the palace and the Knossos marked the benign of the Post-palatial period between (1400-1150 BC). This period therefore marked a time of complete control by the Mycenaean civilization. In the Minoan culture, religion represented and important aspect and activates and art revolved around religious cults[Anc151]. In the Minoan culture, religion took place in scared caves and sanctuaries located on mountain pics as well as in the palaces and villas[Anc151]. Rituals involved animals and bloodless sacrifices. Other forms of religious activities included precessions where dance, music, and prayer served in the worship of the female goddess of nature[Anc151]. The sacrifice of bulls and games such as “taurokatharpsia” formed part of religious festivals. Minoan art depicts a society that was one with nature and the surrounding environment and thus Minoan art “speaks of a joyous disposition”[Anc151]. On another note, archeological artifacts point to a people with great self-respect and “keen eye for observing and adopting to the physical environment”[Anc151]. In the case of the Minoan language, the initial written Minoan scripts had great similarity with the Egyptian hieroglyphs. The “Phaistos Disk” dating back to 1700 BC gives a good example of the Minoan script. With time, the development of a syllable-based script called “Linear A” dominated the island as the main language and writing standard[Anc151]. It is however important to note that the “Linear A” system has never undergone deciphering. This means that it is not possible to make sense of the many archeological tablets found in palaces and villas that had a basis on the “Linear A” system[Anc151]. The Minoan people also developed their own technology following their interaction with other civilizations in the Middle East[Anc151]. Technologies applied by the Minoan people related to the art of metalworking. This enabled them to come up with skillfully created jewelry for the noble and inhabitants of the palace. The skill and technology applied by Minoan metal smiths made the popular in the ancient world and thus many of the skilled Minoan metal smiths worked in places such as Greece and Aegean islands in addition to working for the noble and rich in their palaces and villas[Anc151]. Essentially, the Minoan civilization and its existence on the Crete represent one of the ancient civilizations of the world. While there are limitations in regards to the availability of knowledge and information of the civilization, there also exists significant evidence of their existence. The discovery of the Minoan civilizations relates to a variety of Greek mythologies however, the most significant discovery is that of British Archeologist Sir Arthur Evans. Evans findings give evidence that also has backup credibility from subsequent archeological findings of more Minoan evidence. The historical timeline of the Minoan civilization defined four periods that draw from the actual occurrences in the Minoan civilization. These periods include the pre-palatial period, the proto-palatial period, the Neo-palatial period, and the Post-palatial period. The Minoan culture involves religious activities and rituals that defined religious practices at the time. Art in the Minoan civilizations was also an important feature that depicted their nature and interaction with nature as well. The Minoan civilization also defined a language from and system of writing that applied in some of the archeological tablets found in the palaces and villas on the Crete. Technologically, the interaction with other civilizations facilitated the Minoan adoption of technology from these civilizations. Much of the adopted Minoan technology revolved around metalworking. References Anc15: , (Ancient-Greece.org, 2015), Ewe13: , (Callaway, 2013), Anc151: , (Ancient-Greece.org, 2015), Jes11: , (Cecil, 2011), Read More