The Aegean Bronze Age Essay

Women acted as priestesses, made official decisions in and amongst the community, and were responsible for organizing commune functions (Witcombe 10). These responsibilities and duties were not often jobs of men in Minoan civilization, “Moreover men are rarely seen in commanding positions, despite attempts to identify them in such positions” (Witcombe 10). It is suggested that the reason why women played such a huge role in Minoan civilization was due to the fact that in Minoan religion they worshiped goddesses and they were greatly influenced by them. It is believed that The Snake Goddess was an important figure in Crete at this time, and was worshiped along side of the Huntress, and The Mountain Mother. Mainly focusing on The Snake Goddess she represented a strong, powerful female deity, who overall acted as an icon for women. The influence The Snake Goddess had on women was substantial. Women became more than just members of the community, and gained a place in society. It was no longer a man’s world but a world run by women. Even ancient frescoes and other forms of Minoan artwork provide evidence of women being more vital than men, because depictions of women were more common than men (Witcombe 10). After examining women’s key roles in Minoan civilization it becomes apparent that The Snake Goddess influenced women in Crete in many different ways and played a significant part in Minoan civilization.

As the Greek and Roman empires ascended immensely throughout the western world, new ideas changed the way the Mediterranean Society handled things, which were spread across the globe. “The rise of the series of city-states of classical Greece began in the ninth century B.C.E. and during the late sixth century B.C.E, Rome’s development as a republic began as Etruscan society declined”(Bentley et al, 2008 p.132, 145). The development of these empires encouraged cultural circulation, blending the culture of the two empires into the land it conquered. As Greece and Rome gained more territory within the Mediterranean society, they began to progress toward a more civilized order of humanity. How were they alike? How were they different? How did

To what extent was Themistocles’ contribution the key factor in bringing about a Greek victory in the Persian Wars, 480-479 BC?

The Bronze Age in Greece was a period of time in which their civilization flourished. They were a main power at the time and seemed to have everything they wanted in the palm of their hands. Many other civilizations have a period of time also known as the Bronze Age, however, the bronze age of Greece is widely known to be the most prolific and dominant in history. The Greece Bronze Age is estimated to have lasted from between 8th to 6th century BC to about 146BC. Nobody knows for sure the exact time period in which it began and ended. However, these are the dates that are most widely known to be accurate. No other civilization has been able to remain a dominant world power longer than this time period, which is why this is such an

218-219). So nobility or at least an early form of it was present at this time due to knowledge that they were religious centered I think it could be possible that they could have had a semi-theocratic like situation. It is assumed that they are a fetish or symbol of a deity and it was discovered that to the Minoans it had a meaning close to that of a modern greek word for the weapon of the thunder god to the Greek but in to those of Minoan Crete, a Mother Earth god(Nilsson, 1950, p. 220).

(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)

Civilizations of the Stone Age were known for their use of stone implements, while the Bronze Age is signified by the use of bronze tools and technology. The Bronze Age is part of the three-tiered classification system of ancient civilizations described by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen: the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. The Bronze Age occurred at overlapping and slightly different times in various parts of the world. This is due in part to the limited availability of copper-tin ores. Certain places, like western Asia, did not see Bronze until trade brought this metal to the region. Notable civilizations during the Bronze Age were the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites, and Egyptians. The Bronze Age dates from 3200-600 BC in Europe and 3300-1200 BC in the Middle East. The Bronze Age collapse occurred around 1200 B.C.E. What followed was a dark age of decreased literacy and technology and a significant reduction in population.

The horns of a bull appear as a reoccurring theme in Minoan cultic practices and images. The term ‘horns of consecration’ was an expression given to these symbols by Sir Arthur Evans to describe the ever present images of horns in Minoan sanctuaries, architecture, and art. Religion played a major role in Minoan society with animal sacrifices, music, dance and prayer occurring in caves, on mountain peaks, and in local villas. A central part of the festivals was the sacrificing of a bull to signify the connection of man to nature. Peak sanctuaries first give rise to the image of horns, but as palaces became popular, the adoption of horns helped legitimize the palace’s power.

The article, “Power, Privilege, and Landscape in Minoan Art” by Anne P. Chapin, seeks to examine the previous interpretations of Minoan landscape frescoes, and add her own arguments towards the debate of religious versus secular. She presents the conclusion that while Minoan landscape art did have religious elements, the frescos presence was not an indication of a religious shrine.However, she also introduces the idea that they helped to assert the dominance of an elite class, who sought to demonstrate that they were influenced and connected with the divine.

But was it a religious ceremony to show mankind’s dominance over nature? Shapland’s article beats back this theory that bull-leaping was a way for humans to assert their dominance, strength, and power over wild bulls. He believes Minoans did not bull-leap—and create representations of these leaps—due to the tension between man and nature. Nowadays, people have a “tendency to reduce human-animal relations to human symbolism;” Shapland calls modern scholars to have a broader view of bull-leaping than of something merely portraying the need of mankind to conquer the wildness of bulls and the larger world. Moreover, much of the Minoans’ other art does not reflect this tension; rather, for scenes depicting marine life, for example, there are aquatic creatures, not men with nets and hooks trying to catch them; Minoan art is, for the most part, peaceful. Perhaps, then, bull-leaping was something celebrated not because it was man conquering beast, but man working harmoniously alongside the beast.

Chapter 6 – The Aegean Q1. Aegean figures where depicted on flat ground instead of naturalistic space. They also kept the frontal eye in a profile face. And like in Egyptian art, females are portrayed with much lighter skin than males. Aegean civilizations may have borrowed stylization from Egyptian artists.

Moving on to an Aegean representation of the human figure, when archeologists began excavating Aegean grave sites, they discovered many human sculptures of various sizes inside the tombs (Cothren & Stokstad, 2014). While each sculpture varied in size, most depicted females in strict symmetry with the body dived by three equal sized circles to insure conformity. While at first glance the sculptures look somewhat plain, under certain conditions like controlled lighting, and microscopic examination, one would see that the sculptures were painted with blue, red, and sometimes green paint with open eye illustrations throughout parts of the body. While unclear as to the eye’s importance to the sculpture’s archeologists suggest that the eyes were

The Minoan Civilization began on the Mediterranean island of Crete. It was first excavated by Sir Arthur Evans. The possible civilization sparked his interest when a charm that the Minoans use to wear was found, and it was brought to his attention. He started at Knossos, where the possible civilization became a reality. He uncovered multiple palaces, which have all been named since then. They are named: Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, and Zakros. Each one shows signs of religion, trade, and politics. They believed these palaces controlled the Minoan civilization. These Palaces seemed to co-exist on this small island because there are no signs of wall fortifications or protection. Although they were able to stand their ground when challenged because they made swords, daggers, and armor.

Frescoes are the wellspring of the absolute most striking symbolism passed on to us from the Minoan human progress of Bronze Age Crete (2000-1500 BCE). Further, without composed records, they are regularly the main source, alongside adorned ceramics, of exactly how the world appeared to the Minoans and give us enticing looks of their convictions, social practices and stylish

The Minoan civilization occurred in the Aegean Bronze age between 3650 and 1400 BCE in Crete and Aegean Islands. Minoans were fundamentally mercantile people who practiced trade overseas (Minoan.com, n.d.). The Island of Crete is mountainous and in the ancient times the island experienced a lot of earthquakes, winter storms and volcanic eruptions. As these natural occurrences reduced Minoans adopted agriculture where they raised cattle, pigs, goats and sheep for food (Lambert, n.d.). They also farmed chickpeas, barley, wheat, figs, grapes, olives and vetch. Farmers used tools such as wooden plows that were tied by leather strips to wooden handles and were drawn by oxen or donkeys. As a highly organized society, the Minoans lived in small villages