The Bronze Age Meanwhile In Greece …

Background Began to coalesce into a heterogynous but identifiable people about the time of the first Olympics (776 B.C.). Backstory is important to understanding them Minoan Period Mycenaean Period Dark Ages

Minoan Period

Palatial Periods Prepalatial Period ( bc) Protopalatial ( bc) – palaces destroyed by earthquakes about 1720ish Neopalatial ( bc) Final Palatial Period ( bc) - Mycenaeans take over

Minoan (?) Sir Arthur Evans responsible for much of what we know about the Minoans (about 1900) Name is recent descriptive term King Minos City of Knossos Minotaur Known by the Egyptions as the Kafteo Known by the people is Western Semitic lands as the Kaftor or Kaftoreans

King Minos The legend Where does such a story come form Mixture of history and myth Dominated Greek islands, Mycenae and required tribute (Thucydides says Minos first king to have a navy) Palaces Functioned as storehouse as well as home for ruler Rubble from the palaces looked like labyrinth

Arthur Evans Reconstruction as an analogy for how we do history Palace Dolphin Fresco Griffin flanking throne Duplication of snake goddess figures

How Advanced? Indoor plumbing Glass windows Skilled artists Writing – Linear A

Traded throughout Mediterranean Pottery jars from Minos found in Egypt and in the Western Semitic territory Alabaster jar lid in Knossos marked with name of third Hyksos king Hyksos palace in Avaris includes a fresco of the Minoan style Gilgamesh fight with Bull of Heaven may reflect Minoan influence in Mesopotamia

Religion – Sacred Bulls (Apis)

Religion – Human Sacrifice Story of Minotaur eating 14 victims Sacrificial site at Knossos includes human sacrifice and indicates ritual feasting on the dead Probably rare – maybe related to Earthquakes suffered by island and attempts to appease Poseidon/Earthshaker

Religion – Snake Goddesses

Sacred War Axe

Why Did Minoan Civilization Fade? Possible Answers Volcano Earthquake Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur points to the animosity between Mycenae and Knossos

Mycenae ( BC) Immigrated from the North Mycenae gives its name to the civilization By 1500, Tribute and culture flowed from Mycenae to Knossos

Heinrich Schliemann Self-financed / self-style archaeologist Where is ancient Mycenae Looking for grave of Agamemnon discovers the shaft grave inside the lions gate.

The Lions Gate

I have gazed on the face of Agamemnon…

Commerce & Trade Strong naval power with much sea trade Sunken ship found with merchandise from no less than seven countries; Egypt, Canaan, Asia Minor, Italy, Cyprus,Baltic,etc. Linear B used primarily for accounting purposes but it mentions the gods. Decoded by Michael Ventris a WWII codebreaker Earlier form of Greek

Religion Snake goddesses (with bodice closed) Worship of the Greek gods (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, etc.) goes back to the second millennium BC on the mainland.

Time of prosperity, until …

Greek Dark Ages Circa bc. Cities abandoned Writing ceases Art and culture fade away Sophisticated architecture disappears Trade with foreign nations stops Vanish from records of other nations

Why Dark Ages? Possible Answers Earthquakes Famine and Plague The Sea Peoples Invasion of the Dorians thick fortified walls around palaces Art depicts them fighting barbaric peoples, chariots, armament Trojan War All of the above

Trojan War About 1250 BC Primary sources Homers Iliad - Odyssey Virgils Aeneid 10 Year Siege (compare with Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan)

Was there a Trojan War Heinrich Schliemann Calvert – American vice-consul Nine layered cities

The Greeks raise a mighty army because of a woman... And then invaded Asia and destroyed Priam and his forces. Ever since then, the Persians have regarded the Greeks as their enemies…. They date their hostilities towards Greece from the fall of Ilium. (Herodotus)