The Palace of King Minos - Essay Example

Expedition Diary: The Palace of King Minos, Crete, 1900 'One of the great islands of the world in midsea, in the winedark sea, is Krete: spacious andrich and populous, with ninety cities and a mingling of tonguesand one among their ninety towns is Knossos. Here lived King Minos' - Homer, The Odyssey As we made our way in from the coast after a journey of rough seas, our entourage of archeologists set forth up the mild steppes of Crete's rugged and beautiful coast toward our destination at Knossos where we would be commencing work with Sir. Arthur John Evans at the Palace of King Minos we found ourselves in the magical world of classical lyricism. It was in fact, Homer's mention of the island, and its legendary king, in Book XIX of the Odyssey first prompted my wonderment in Aegean cultures, and subsequent fascination with all things Minoan. An Antiquarian and Numismatist, Sir Evans contracted my assistance on the project toward historiographic documentation of his work, and that of Duncan MacKenzie whom will provide oversight on the forthcoming archaeological excavation. Inspired by the work of one of my colleagues, Heinrich Schliemann and his discovery of the royal tomb at Mycenae in 1876, Sir Evans has made numerous trips to Crete and the site at Knossos since the first encounter in 1894. In the Ancient Minoan period, the great palace is not only a royal residence but also the center of administration for the broader agrarian and maritime economies of the island. The site of exchange for governance of Cretan society, and locus of power in communiqu with other seafaring cultures of antiquity, the Palace of King Minos was to become my greatest resource for inquiry into to ancient civilization. While I had spent time following others like Schliemann around the Mediterranean in writing about the development of Bronze Age cultures, nowhere was I enlightened to the human spirit and its potential for inculcating both equity and whimsy into a praxis of leadership. Unlike the hierarchies of the Ancient Egypt Egyptian Kingdoms of the same period, Crete maintained a separate culture that could very well be the precursor to democratic monarchies of the modern period. Six Months later . . . How does a historian go about constructing an adequate chronological framework for such a site as we are uncovering We have been toiling at our work endlessly as Mr. MacKenzie and his crew of local workers dig, dust and classify the bronze statuary from both Crete, and the surrounding Mediterranean, the vast amount of clay pottery, and even shards of ivory and other foreign materials from as far away as East Africa that are so indicative of the world of abundant trade that the Minoans engaged. The robustness of their culture and especially successful economic trade with other civilizations, attests to the high standard of living that the culture enjoyed well beyond what might have been expected in Europe even one hundred years ago. We have decided upon a Chronology for the Minoan Bronze Age which is now determined to be three periods: Early, Middle and Late Minoan (em, mm, lm). Subdivision of the periods has been classified according to noticeable shifts in pottery styles. Late Minoan pottery: (a) conical rhyton, h. 325 mm, from Gournia, Room C58, lm ib; (b) ovoid rhyton, Marine style, h. c. 240 mm, from Palaikastro, lm ib; (c) bridge-spouted jar, Special Palatial tradition, Floral style, h. 165 mm, from Knossos, lm ib; (d) 'Ephyraean' goblet, h. 150 mm, from the Temple Tomb, Knossos, lm ii; (e) jar, Palace style, h. 850 mm, from Knossos, lm ii-iiia:1 (all Herakleion, Archaeological Museum); (f) stirrup jar, Close style, h. 105 mm, from a tomb at Tourloti, lm iiic (Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania, University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology).i Much effort has gone into geographic analysis of the site, and interpretation of planning that is an obvious precursor to Roman topographic renderings available to us today. The Palace at Knossos is to our best estimation 1300 BC. The grounds of the palace complex contain an entire city within a city, including: (a) central court; (b) north entrance; (c) east entrance; d) south entrance; (e) west entrance; (f) west court; (g) theatral area; (h) royal living quarters; (i) grand staircase; (j) dining hall area; (k) north entrance passage; (l) west magazines; (m) long corridor; (n) magazine of the giant pithoi; (o) throne room; (p) royal pottery stores; (q) loomweight basement; and (r) temple repositories.ii Knossos, plan of the Palace of Minos, c. 2150/2000-c. 1300 BC. Minoan Economics The centrality of maritime trade to the lives of Ancient Minoans has proven to be a significant narrative within the archaeological record at Knossos. Sir Evans and I spend endless hours discussing the historiography of this process, and my interpretation of a society that engaged in widespread exchange of small pottery goods, metals, religious artifacts, local olive oil and wine. What is clear through analysis of our findings at the Palace of Minos, and in the case of economic history, the surrounding grounds where a stock of resources was stored for what appear to be for purposes of accounting and distributive administration, is that Minoan participation in the Mediterranean circulation of exchange was never a simple commercial venture. The acquisition of raw metals from elsewhere outside of Crete in the third millennium BC, certainly prompted an expansion of Cretan cultural information and relevancy to trade specialization, not to mention aesthetic beauty. Technological development through specialist craft guilds characterized Crete and Cretans, and ultimately led to increased demand for those goods. As the flow of demand went from acquisition to distribution by the seventeenth century BC, it is apparent that Crete came to dominate Aegean trade as we expected. With this new monopoly on precious goods, the incorporation of Minoan systems of accounting (i.e. weights and measures) and writing became the lingua franca of the region, and so too the Minoans brief, yet important influence on the historical record. Knossos, west magazine V with pithoi (c. 16th-13th century BC) and floor cists (c. 1700 BC); photo Allan T. Kohl/AICT Architecture Strolling through the streets of the many sun bleached towns of Crete, it is easy to imagine that Minoan society was much like the present. Few architectural structures are built to extravagance larger than an aristocratic palatine villa in the Italian countryside. In Crete, as in the rest of the Greek islands, the many centuries of invasion and conquest by neighboring Mediterranean civilizations has resulted if not substantially in an architectural record, an abundant archaeological one that stands as evidence of Cretans' continuous exposure to materials toward design of the built environment. Sophistication and in engineering is present within the ancient structures at the Palace site in Knossos. The presence of earthquakes in the region attests to the competency by which Minoan architects and builders conceptualized a formula for resiliency in construction. Few structures exist that have over four stories on the island today, and most no more than two. Although simple and streamline in comparison to the citadels of the Near East, the funerary monoliths of Egypt, and the urban planning that would become Rome, the Kingdom of Minos, and Minoan architecture leaves us with insight into the precursors of the Ancient Greek Doric column, Propylaea and the universal courtyard building model that would become a beloved favorite around the Mediterranean for its privacy and sunlit inner sanctum. Knossos, North Propylaea, view from the south-west, c. 16th century BC; abd South Propylaea, view from the south-east showing horn altar, LM IA; photo Allan T. Kohl/AICT Functionary aspects of the Palace include chambers for King Minos and his family, as well as a sacrificial observation platform containing an external alter known as the "Horn Alter;" for maintenance of spiritual fortitude of the kingdom and divine sanction of the authority of the King. Wall Paintings Wall painting depicting dolphins and small fish, Queen's Megaron, palace of Knossos. LM IA; photo Allan T. Kohl/AICT Virtually unaffected by the salted sea air, the murals at the Palace of Minos are perhaps the most evocative rendering of the story at Knossos. Illustrated with fanciful reflections of the surrounding environment, the Minoan mural imagery depict a world of enchantment with nature and integrated compatibility of the society and its leadership with a world untouched by cultural configurations. Gorgeous sea life repetitions throughout the palace as seen in the 'Queen's Megaron' invite the visitor to exist in an undersea pleasure palace. Scenes from everyday life in Minoan society fulfill the promise of a Kingdom satisfied with its cultural continuity as an active participant in all that is civilized. The 'Bull-leapers' fresco from the group of works we have named the 'Toreador' offers a resplendent composition of light, one dimensional figurations. The subjects of the paintings appear to be acrobats. Located in the Court of the Stone Spout, we can imagine that these particular works were intended to be seen by subjects of the court in reverence to their honor of King Minos. Bull-leapers, from the Toreador frescoes, Court of the Stone Spout, palace of Knossos, late lm ii or early lm iii (Herakleion, Archaeological Museum); Photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY Statuary Faience figurine of a snake-goddess, deity or worshipper, h. 295 mm, from the Temple Repositories, Knossos, mm iiib (Herakleion, Archaeological Museum); Photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY Minoan statuary, most typically bronze in our record but sometimes terra cotta, substantiate that the civilization engaged in Culture rather than mere everyday relations constituted of things like agricultural exchange and communion with nature. The cultural root of human passions is expressed most thoroughly in the cult of fertility goddesses. The numerous anthropomorphic figurines found strewn throughout the site, seem to indicate that Minoan cult sacrifices were a domestic activity. Other rites of passage motifs can also be found in male representations, and include lion and bull figuration typically associated with hunting in ancient societies. We have also found libation vessels and tables and altars adjacent to quite a few of the statuary objects. Instantiation of cult practices is so prevalent within Minoan artistry found not only at Knossos but elsewhere at sites that I and MacKenzie have visited, that we have informed Sir Evans that he has discovered a very fine collection of reliquary sources. Octopus Vase, Crete, 1500 BC Coda The inspiration for the Expedition Diary: The Palace of King Minos, Crete, 1900 was drawn from recent discussions within archaeological theory surrounding the incorporation of symbolic narrative into historiography. Reflective of the light hearted spirit of Minoan Culture and the traditional discourses applied to the patrimony of Crete, the faux journal is nevertheless implicated as a vehicle of 'agency theory' and provides some serious explication toward an understanding of systemic processes of yesterday, and their implications within the representation of past human creativity and material cultural production.iii Society is constantly a dynamic in the making at all times, but in retrospect, the archaeologist contributes much in foregoing analyses and the dissemination of knowledge into the future. In Michael Herzfeld's (1991) A Place in History: Social and Monumental Time in a Cretan Town looks at the dissent on the island of Crete amongst local populace whom have become contentious toward the state bureaucracy charged with historic conservation of sites such as Knossos.iv While he focuses on the town of Rethemnos, once a center of learning under Venetian rule and later inhabited by the Turks, his inquiry into the struggle over national patrimony with citizens whom do not always share a nationalist perspective on history, and in particular the ownership of ancient histories explicitly located in the archaeological remains of their island, Herzfeld asks the critical question(s): Who defines the past and to whom does the past belong Throughout his analysis of the built environment, he argues that their personal histories and the immediate social context have converged in a myth of historiography; or living composition of a history that intersects, but does not mirror that of the type of formal history that employs the conservators. Put into dialogue with the Modernity of Sir Evans colonial travails, we are once and at the same time reminded that very essence of archaeological history of the Mediterranean is a construction of both external and internal forces. Ambiguity, then, continues to perplex those seeking a finite source of knowledge about the patrimony of what is now the nation of Greece, and all those who came before. Read More