Minoan civilisation on Crete

The story

An island in the middle of the sea

Crete is the largest island in Greece and lies halfway between Europe, Africa and Asia. Anyone sailing the eastern Mediterranean four thousand years ago could hardly avoid sailing past it. It was here that a rich, refined and, at least in appearance, peaceful civilisation was born, which we now call Minoan. Its people did not choose the name: it was given by the English archaeologist Arthur Evans, at the beginning of the twentieth century, in memory of King Minos, whom the Greeks imagined as the ruler of the island and of the palace of Knossos. What the Cretans of the time really called themselves, we do not know. The Egyptians, in their documents, speak of a people called the “Keftiu”, who may well have been them; but scholars are not sure even of this.

How long it lasted

Archaeologists divide Minoan history into periods, following changes in the style of the pots. The dates are approximate and vary a little from scholar to scholar. The culture begins around 3100 BC, when people on the island still lived in villages. Around 1925 BC the first great palaces appear, and from about 1750 BC the period of the “new palaces” begins, the most splendid of all. After about 1470 BC Minoan civilisation declines, and around 1100 BC it comes to an end. This is why the date of this card, 2000 BC, should be read as a midpoint: it is the moment when the palaces are about to appear.

Sailors out of necessity

Crete is poor in metals. To make bronze you need copper and tin, and Crete does not have enough of either. The Minoans therefore had to go and get them elsewhere, and to do so they built ships and opened up routes. Archaeologists have found Minoan objects in Egypt, Cyprus, Syria and on the coasts of present-day Turkey. At Avaris in Egypt, and at Tel Kabri in Israel, wall paintings in Minoan style have been discovered: a sign that Cretan artists, or people imitating them, worked for the kings of those countries. In exchange for copper, ivory and precious stones, the island exported what it had in plenty: olive oil, wine, wool, cloth and painted pottery.

The palaces

The heart of society was the palaces: Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros and others. They were not just the homes of a king. According to scholars they served at the same time as storehouse, workshop, archive and place of worship, and they gathered in the produce of the surrounding countryside. In the long storerooms stood big jars for oil, grain and wine. The walls were covered with brightly coloured frescoes: processions, flowers, sea creatures and young people leaping over a bull. This last scene makes us think that bull-leaping, perhaps linked to religion, was a ritual or a contest.

Minoan pottery is famous. With the first palaces came the potter's wheel and new, brilliant colours: this is how the pottery known as Kamares ware was born. Later, potters painted octopuses, shells and seaweed winding round the pot: this is the so-called “marine style”.

Women, writing and mysteries

One thing strikes anyone who looks at Minoan art: there are a great many women, and they are important. Priestesses, goddesses and court ladies appear everywhere, often larger than the other figures. Some scholars conclude from this that women had a leading role in society and religion; others urge caution, because the evidence is not enough to say who really ruled.

The Minoans knew how to write, but we cannot read them. They first used a script of Cretan hieroglyphs and then the so-called Linear A, two systems that nobody has managed to decipher. We know the signs, but we do not know what language they spoke. Linear A was later adapted by the Mycenaeans, a Greek people, to write their own language: this is how Linear B was born, and that one was deciphered in 1952. This is why Minoan civilisation remains partly silent: it is the objects that speak to us, not the texts.

The decline

Around 1600 BC, north of Crete, the island of Thera (now Santorini) was devastated by a great volcanic eruption. The exact dates are still debated. Minoan society recovered, and indeed the following decades are considered the high point of its culture. But soon afterwards, in a period that archaeologists call Late Minoan IB, many palaces and villas were destroyed by fire: the causes are not clear, and scholars debate whether a conquest, internal revolts or something else is to blame. Around 1450 BC the Mycenaeans, that is, Greeks from the mainland, took control of Knossos. By the time the palace of Knossos was destroyed once and for all, towards the end of the Bronze Age, the great age had long been over. Around 1200 BC the people of the coasts moved to villages in the hills, easier to defend, and lived on like this for a few more centuries before Minoan culture faded away.