Minoan Civilization on Crete Chapter 9 section 1

Crete Greek civilization grew out of 2 earlier civilizations: Minoan and Mycenaean Around 2800 B.C. civilization rose on the island of Crete

Crete- island in Mediterranean Sea

Economic Activity Minoans- Grew crops such as olives and grapes Good carpenters because of plentiful forests Built ships (world’s first seafaring civilization) Merchant ships traveled to trade for pottery, leather, bronze armor, and jewelry Jobs people had: farmers, fishermen, sea captains, shepherds, ship builders, artisans

Sports Loved sports Built first open air arena Boxing Bull leaping- a team of 2 people, one would grab the bull by the horns, the bull would toss the person over its head, making the person do a somersault and land on his feet on the bull’s back.

Sports cont. Then the person would do a back flip and the second person would help to catch him Bull leaping may have been used as a religious ceremony as well as a sport

Cities and Palaces At the center of each city was a palace Cities did not have walls around them Knossos was the largest city on Crete The palace at Knossos had indoor plumbing, flush toilets and hot water running water Palace had several entrances that formed labyrinths

Cities and Palaces Labyrinth means double ax and the palace was called the House of the double ax Houses surrounded the palace Walls were painted with frescos-watercolor paintings made on damp plaster Houses had no entrances from the street, people entered from the roof Doors and windows that were made of parchment were added later.

Rulers Rulers were called priest kings- made the laws and represented the gods on earth Had many gods Main god was Mother Earth Built shrines Hills lead to Heaven, caves lead to underworld Minoans believed the lily was sacred, the double ax stood for the power of Mother Earth, and doves were sacred because they flew in the heavens

Fall and Decline of the Minoans Civilization ended about 1400 B.C.- when control of the sea passed to the Mycenaean's Theseus and the Minotaur myth explains why it ended. When the minotaur died, the power of the Minoans died off too.