Minoan Demise

One may ask, who are the Minoans? Well they are considered by many Historians and Archeologists to be the first great European Civilization. Some people believed that this was the mythical land of Atlantis. They were located near the Aegean Sea and lands such as Greece, Troy and Asia Minor. One interesting fact is that these people never called themselves the Minoans. There wasn’t any name listed in the history books for these people but the Ancient Crete Civilization. They were known as the Crete Civilization because they lived on the island of Crete which is now part of Greece. It wasn’t until a 19th century British Archeologist, Sir Author Evans gave them the name, The Minoans. He gave them this name because he believed he had found the legendary palace of King Minos. There has been many civilization collapses over the World’s history, but most can be explained in great detail. There are some that are very mysterious and not definitively explained. The collapse of the Minoan people happens to be one of those mysterious collapses which ranks 3rd in the top ten most mysterious collapses of the world and is still to this day debated on what actually caused their demise. There are many factors that go into the collapse of a civilization, but this kind of catastrophe doesn’t just happen in a blink of an eye this is something that happens over a long period of time. This paper will touch on the climate and environment, the time period and culture, how they became

Eric H. Cline’s main theory is that the “sea peoples” weren’t the only thing that made these civilizations come to an end. Before the book came out, many historians believed that the early civilizations collapsed due to the invasion of the”sea peoples”, but Cline was willing to prove them wrong. He states in his book that,”[...] the Sea peoples may well have been responsible for some of the destruction that occurred at the end of the late Bronze Age, but it is much more likely that a concatenation of events, both human and natural -including climate change and drought,[...] earthquake storms, internal rebellions and ‘system collapse’ -coalesced to create ‘perfect storm’ that brought this age to an end,”(Eric H.Cline,

The Mycenaeans were the first Greek speaking culture to pop up in the region surrounding the Aegean Sea. They developed a written language using the Greek alphabet. The written language was not used to keep their historical records, but rather they show a complex form of documentation and record keeping of goods that flowed into and out of their cities. These detailed records show the complex system of regional collection and distribution that made up the economy of the Mycenaeans. Internal warfare and riots from the peasant class would eventually lead to the downfall of the Mycenaeans. The next few hundred years would come to be known as the “Dark Age” in Greek

(Bright, Hilda, and Helen Pocock.) The Minoans were the first advanced society in Europe 's history. The Minoans were found throughout mainland Greece and throughout the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Crete. Around the year 6500 the Cretans were documented in hunting, fishing, and engaged in pagan worship. In the year 3000 B.C. and the years following, immigrants from Northern Africa came to Crete. They were skilled in Bronze making. This would soon lead to the Bronze Age and the Greek empire would grow and become more powerful. In the years after 2000 B.C. is when most of the palaces and the other artifacts that are still visible today were made. (Kyriakopoulos, Victoria. pg. 23-24)

The Minoan civilisation originated on the eastern Mediterranean island of Crete and was named by Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) after King Minos. The society saw the gradual development of a culture that was rich in artistic and technological achievement and whose influence reached far across the Mediterranean. The relationship between Thera and Minoan civilisation was shown through the similarities of their architecture, pottery, writings, frescoes, religion and

The Minoan civilization was named after King Minos and was influenced by the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. They were most likely destroyed later on by the Mycenaean civilization.

in a cataclysmic event. For long it has been debated that Atlantis was not a factual civilization but either counts as one of the many known myths of a destructive deluge, or merely serves as a metaphor for the Greek philosopher Plato to debate the consequences for a society that fails in its moral code of conduct. The extinction of Atlantis was linked in the late 1930s to a volcanic disaster that befell the island of Thera some 113 kilometers from Crete at a time when the Minoan civilization flourished.

In the text Black Athena by Martin Bernal, Bernal provides a contemporary and interesting perspective in relation to the discussion and examination of Ancient Greece’s development as a society as well as a culture. Throughout Black Athena, Bernal discusses the Ancient Model and Aryan Model, which are the two models that have been constructed and utilized to assist historians in understanding the reality and truth of how Ancient Greece developed to the society and culture it has become (Bernal, 1). Bernal specifies the clear distinctions when he discussing how both models have influence modern historians’ and their perceptions towards Ancient Greece; furthermore, he discusses how Ancient Greece has been examined and interpreted through the utilization of the Aryan model, which is viewing Ancient Greece as being influenced by Europeans (Bernal, 1). However, Bernal holds a completely different viewpoint on how Ancient Greece grew into the civilization it is. Through the examination of the linguistic and cultural similarities, Bernal argues the invasions by the Egyptians and the Phoenicians laid out the foundation for the development of Ancient Greek civilization and culture (Bernal, 2). In other words, he emphasizes how Ancient Greece’s development should be examine through what he calls the “Revised Ancient Model” (Bernal, 2), as he makes it evident that this model effectively shows the true and “complex reality” (Bernal, 3) of Ancient Greece.

The Minoans were a civilization who flourished from 3000 BCE until 1100 BCE on the island of Crete, were greatly influenced by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Syrians and the Anatolians (Britannica Encyclopedia). This civilization made major contributions to Western European development in the areas of language, architecture and art. It was the famous archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans who made the astounding discoveries at Knossos in the early 1900’s that introduced to the world the fascinating and wonderful sophistication of these early Greeks (Britannica Encyclopedia). The history of the island has been molded by its proximity to the Aegean Sea. Its geographical location gave it control over the sea and the lucrative trade routes. The Minoans traded with Egypt, the Levant, the Aegean, and beyond to Italy, and Sicily.

The thought of massive tornados, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural being the result of a powerful Greek God is simply perceived as a story in our modern day world, but this was no natural phenomom to the people of ancient Greece. In Homer's great poem The Odyssey many of these natural phenomenons were created by the powerful Greek Gods, while in the modern day article Are earthquakes on a rise? Is California's ‘Big One’ coming? written by Holly Yan a focus of scientific evidence and years of expert research have revealed a much more probable and realistic cause of these disastrous events.

island of Crete established in the mediterranean. The island of Crete is called the Minoan

As an island civilization, the peace-loving Minoans focused almost solely on trade. However, the Mycenaeans were were concerned with warfare and advanced their civilizations through conquest, as well as trade. This is evident in their architectures, as the high walls and narrow passages of Mycenaean architecture appear to be more defensive than aesthetic nature. Furthermore, their home city state was constructed upon a large mountain, aiding the defensive nature of the civilization. Also, their art often depicts forms of warfare, The Warrior Vase and the lion hunt dagger for instance. On the other hand, the Minoans had very open architecture, especially the Palace at Knossos. Moreover, most of the Minoan art depicts different animals and creatures of the sea, as well as people acting to further life, rather than take

Source B shows the skeletal remains that were discovered at the seashore in Herculaneum. In the 1981 under the site administrator Dr. Giuseppe Maggi, excavations turned up more than 55 skeletons. Dr Sara Bisel played a prominent role in the understanding of Herculaneum. Analysis of the skeletons in the s in Herculaneum has suggested that the people died instantaneously when the pyroclastic surge hit the city. Their bodies vaporised by the intense heat, leaving only their skeletal remains. Bisel’s chemical analysis of the skeletal remains on the seashore gave an insight into the age, gender, diet and overall health of the victims just prior to their deaths. With this information combined with Dr Estelle Lazars analysis of the skeletons in Pompeii,

When the volcano erupted, it buried the city of Pompeii in burning ashes, killing almost two thousand people (Bagley 1). The city of Pompeii disappeared underneath a blanket of ash until around 1748 when it was discovered by explorers and archeologists (Owens 1). Underneath the layers of ash archeologists discovered buildings, skeletons, and artifacts from the ancient world. Although many buildings were destroyed by the volcanic ash, the ruins were well preserved and the people looked like statues. This amazing discovery provided people with new information on ancient roman civilizations and the tragic event that destroyed a once prosperous

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