Some time ago, several articles about the cultures of the Copperstone and Bronze Age were published here on VO, but then the informational "feeding" of the topic came to an end, and the publication of articles on this topic was suspended. We talked about the copperstone and bronze age on the island of Cyprus and the grave consequences for its ecology due to the discovered copper deposits. About how, in search of copper, people, and they were immigrants from Western Asia, as they mastered the skills of processing metals, reached the Cyclades Islands, mainland Greece and moved further to the West. There they settled many islands, settled in Italy and Spain, began to establish "menhir alleys" in many places, and in England they even built Stonehenge. But before they got to all these places, they settled on the island of Crete and created there a highly organized civilization. Naturally, enough has been written about the ancient Cretan civilization. But here are photographs … I do not like to use photos from the Web, and if I do use them, then these are mostly “public domain” photographs, that is, those that are in free public use. And the reason for this is simple: no other photographs can be used in our books today, since this is a violation of copyright. I had to send a "photo expedition" to Crete, that is, my daughter and son-in-law, and now, when they have returned, the theme of ancient bronze and ancient Cretan civilization will continue.
Let's start with geography. Like any island in the middle of the sea, Crete is surrounded by salty sea water. This picture was seen by its inhabitants a thousand and five thousand years ago. There will be no us, and this picture will not change at all …
Today Crete looks basically like this. That is, this is how people live there today.
This is a pleasant place where you can swim and sunbathe, and where even now in October the water temperature is 24 degrees Celsius. Area of the city of Matala. The photo clearly shows the ancient grottoes of the Neolithic era.
Well, and one should start, in my opinion, with why, for example, no one doubts that in ancient times all the men of their tribe were warriors. So in fact burials speak about it. For example, the burials of the “battle axes” culture differ from all other topics in that a drilled stone ax was found in each of the graves of this culture. This culture, like many others, belongs to the civilizations of the Bronze Age, however, what is left of it besides axes and ceramics? There is a well-known culture of “log burials”, there is a catacomb culture, there are named after their locations - Andronovskaya and Fatyanovskaya, the culture of Seimians and Turbines, which gave the world many wonderful bronze items. In a word, there are simply a great many cultures of the Bronze Age, so even a simple listing of them could take a whole page here. Of course, one can also name the civilizations of "river valleys" that arose on the banks of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Indus, Ganges, Yangtze and Yellow through the regular flooding of these great rivers).
However, the main thing is that there, in the capital of the island of Irikleone, there is an interesting archaeological museum, which presents the most valuable finds of archaeologists, starting with Arthur Evans. Knowing the interest of our readers in military history and artifacts associated with it, we begin our acquaintance with its exposition from this photo, in which you see the golden hilt of the Minoan dagger, which clearly confirms the skill of the ancient Cretans.
And here is the dagger itself, called the "dagger from Malia" (1800 -1700 BC).
However, there was a civilization in Europe that had nothing to do with rivers at all, and nevertheless it reached a very high level of development. And if on land there are known cultures of the Bronze Age, whose representatives moved across the steppes in chariots, then in the basin of the Mediterranean Sea there was a people of seafarers who created this civilization. However, these people were not only seafarers. They also knew how to build palaces!
And here is the model of the palace from Knossos, made of wood. (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion).
… and the ruins of this palace, which have become perhaps the most popular tourist attraction on the island.
We are talking about the so-called Aegean civilization, which in fact became the foundation of all subsequent European culture and its first empire. Moreover, we note that this is the general name for a number of civilizations of the Bronze Age of the period 3000 - 1000 years. BC e., which existed both on the islands in the Aegean Sea, on the island of Crete, and in mainland Greece and in the western regions of Asia Minor. Previously, it was very often called the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization or culture, but this term does not quite accurately reflect the historical realities, since the Cretan-Mycenaean culture itself is only a part of this large general culture or civilization.
The first centers of the Aegean culture were found by Heinrich Schliemann at Troy (1871–1873) and Mycenae (1876), and by Arthur Evans in Crete (from 1899). Since the 19th century, many ancient monuments have been found and studied, among which there are burial grounds, settlements and even large cities, for example, the city of Poliochni on the island of Lemnos, surrounded by a stone wall five meters high, Filakopi on the island of Milos; the royal palaces at Troy, in Crete (at Knossos, Mallia, and Phaistos) and the acropolis at Mycenae. And although there are several local cultures of this region, for example, the Cycladic, that is, located on the Cyclades Islands, the main, perhaps, for us will still be the ancient culture of the island of Crete and the culture of the city of Mycenae most closely related to it. They are even called together - the Cretan-Mycenaean culture. However, the Cretan civilization is still much older than the mainland cultures.
Marble idols from the Cyclades, Luros type. Their height is 17.4, 19.3, 22, 21.5, and 18 cm. (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)
Let us recall the legend about the abduction of the daughter of Agenor by the king of the gods by Zeus, the king of the city of Tire in Phenicia, a beautiful daughter named Europa. Turning into a huge white bull, he kidnapped the princess and went with her to the island of Crete, where she had three sons: Minos, Sarpedon and Radamant. Minos, as the eldest, became the first Cretan king, and his name eventually became the title of the ruler, which began to be called Minos and meant the same among the Cretans as Pharaoh among the Egyptians and Basileus among the Greeks.
With such a delightful legend at hand, many artists have embodied it on their canvases. The great Rembrandt, Francesco Albani, and Guido Reni were also noted here, but it is simply impossible to list them all. But for some reason I like "The Abduction" of our V. Serov the most. Somehow it is closest to the picturesque manner of the ancient Cretans.
Interestingly, excavations on the island of Crete have, to a certain extent, confirmed the veracity of this myth. For example, the fact that the island was actually inhabited by immigrants from Western Asia. It was the Phoenicians who sailed here about six thousand years BC and brought with them cattle - large bulls with lyre-like horns. Excavations made it possible to find here the oldest traces of agriculture in Europe, although, perhaps, equally ancient traces of it were found on the island of Cyprus near the settlement of Choirokitia. Well, the British archaeologist Arthur Evans began digging in Crete in 1900, and he also made his most important discoveries here, and also came up with the name of an open civilization - which he gave after its first king Minos.
By the way, the Minoans painted masterfully, as evidenced by the frescoes that have come down to us. Dolphins are good, aren't they? But the "three beauties" on the right is even better, isn't it ?!
"Three beauties" - and this is not an exaggeration! Yes, that's how they were - these Minoan beauties, who considered it quite natural to wear outfits that bare their breasts, but for some reason covered their stomach and back. (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion)
The significance of Evans' discoveries can hardly be overestimated. Thanks to them, we learned that over four millennia, it was the representatives of the Aegean civilization who created the first prosperous empire in Europe on their island. Of particular interest are its centers, which were several large palace complexes, which later grew into cities. Palaces have been excavated at Knossos, Gurnia, Kato Zakro, Agia Triada, Festa, Amnissa and Mallia. It is interesting that it was the palace of Knossos that was built as the residence of the ruler from the very beginning and it was isolated from the rest of the city. Other palaces discovered in Crete later were built in such a way that, in fact, they fit into the urban development. This was, for example, the palace in the city of Mallia.
Well, this fresco is still known to everyone from the textbook for the 5th grade - "Parisienne". So named it Arthur Evans himself, who discovered this fresco during excavations. At first, this fresco was located in one of the rooms on the second floor of the Knossos Palace. It depicted a scene of a ritual feast, the participants of which sat opposite each other with bowls in their hands. Unfortunately, only a small fragment of the girl's head has survived with some kind of large knot on the back of her clothes.
The Cretans considered themselves a sea people, so they built their settlements mainly on the coast, by the sea, so that it was easy to get to it. On the frescoes in the rooms of the palace, there are very frequent images of ships, fishermen and fish, dolphins and octopuses playing in the water. Thucydides - Greek historian of the 5th century. BC NS. wrote about the ancient Cretans that King Minos built a powerful fleet that dominated the entire Mediterranean. Archaeologists also drew attention to the fact that none of the palaces has fortress walls. The cities do not have them either! This could only mean that the inhabitants of the island were not at all afraid of their neighbors and considered their fleet the most reliable guarantee of security. Naturally, the skills of navigation made it possible to provide the population of the island with fish, shellfish and sponges. That is, marine fishing played a very important role in the economy of ancient Crete.
However, the Minoans drew not only dolphins and their busty beauties. Surprisingly, they also painted monkeys … Why is it amazing? Africa is close by. Yes, of course, but why is it blue ?! Fresco from Santorini Island.
The construction of the first palaces in Crete dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. e., but today only fragments of their foundations are found from them. Crete is located in an earthquake-prone zone, earthquakes are not uncommon there, therefore, studying them, scientists proved that the earliest buildings of the island stood on it for only 300 years, after which they collapsed. On the basis of these excavations, it is also customary to distinguish two "construction periods" - the period of the Old Palaces (II millennium - XVII century BC) and the period of the New Palaces (XVII-XV centuries BC). Moreover, it is significant that as soon as the old buildings were destroyed, the inhabitants of the island immediately began to build new ones on their ruins - and even more monumental and luxurious. Although the "very first" palaces were not built from scratch. Under the Palace of Knossos, for example, a cultural layer ten meters thick was discovered, where objects were found several thousand years ago.
The Minoan Cretans created a completely unusual view of the column - for some reason it expanded upwards, not downwards!
As for the palace at Knossos, it is considered to be the largest. It was in it, according to scientists, that King Minos, known to us according to legend, could live. And from here the legend of the Labyrinth was born, because this palace is indeed a labyrinth of rooms and courtyards, built over four and a half centuries - from 1900 to 1450 BC. NS. The total area of the palace is about 16 thousand square meters. m, and it consists of almost 300 different rooms. Up to 30 thousand people could live in this building itself and in the areas around it. So it is not at all surprising that foreigners who saw this structure were simply shocked by it, because today even its ruins and those make an indelible impression.
So the myth of the Minotaur could be quite inspired by some real events. The huge palace, with many rooms where it was so easy to get lost, turned into a gloomy labyrinth. Well, the cult of the bull that existed in Crete became the basis of the story of the monster, to which the aborigines sacrificed human beings. On one of the seals found, you can clearly see the image of a dancing Minotaur, from under the horns of which human hair is visible. That is, it is none other than a ritual dance character. It is possible that he symbolized the bull, which was then killed, so it is quite possible that the fate of the rulers of Crete at that time could be very tragic. That is, they received the throne for a while, enjoyed absolute power, and then were killed for the common good.
As for the general chronology of the history of ancient Crete, there are three periods in it:
the early Minoan period (XXX-XXIII centuries BC): when tribal relations still dominated the acute period, metallurgy was mastered and the rudiments of craft arose, navigation was developing, and the level of development of agriculture was already relatively high;
the Middle Minoan period (XXII – XVIII centuries BC - the time of “old” or “early” palaces): the emergence of the first states in different parts of the island, monumental palace complexes, the emergence of the earliest forms of local writing;
Late Minoan period (XVII – XII centuries BC), at this time the ancient Minoan civilization flourished, and the Cretan maritime power was created, headed by King Minos, and there was extensive trade throughout the Aegean Sea basin. There is a flourishing of monumental architecture ("new" palaces are being built in Knossos, Mallia, Festa), and active contacts are established with other ancient Eastern states.
Powerful natural disaster in the middle of the 16th century. BC NS. (it is also called the "Minoan eruption") causes the decline of the Minoan civilization, as a result of which the Achaeans conquer the island. That is, the legendary Achaeans of Homer not only ravaged the equally legendary Troy, but also destroyed the entire Minoan civilization. That from her was passed on to the Mycenaean culture of mainland Greece and this is undoubtedly. But in the XII century. BC NS. foreigners once again invade its lands - this time they are Dorian tribes, which leads the Mycenaean statehood to death, the beginning of the dark ages in Greece and the entire subsequent historical period.
A leather helmet trimmed with boar tusks, described in the Iliad, was found by archaeologists here in Crete in the tomb of Katzambas. (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion)
When we talk about the development of the Aegean civilization, it should be noted that it proceeded unevenly, and its centers knew both the epochs of falls and prosperity. First of all, we note that the civilizations in the regions of western Anatolia and Central Greece were based on the local Neolithic; but the island cultures in the eastern part of the Aegean Sea were greatly influenced by the civilization of Troy. Here already in 3000-2000. BC NS. cities were built, fortified with walls and towers, with temples and public buildings. And in mainland Greece - at the end of 2300-2000. BC NS.; but in Crete, archaeologists have not found any fortresses.
Around 2300 BC NS.the region of the Peloponnese peninsula and the lands of northwestern Anatolia are undergoing a military invasion, as evidenced by the traces of fires and destruction in the respective cultural layers. It is believed that these invaders were of Indo-European origin. Moreover, the consequences of their invasion were such that in the period 2000-1800. BC NS. under their influence, the material culture of mainland Greece, Troy and some islands has changed markedly.
Bronze daggers found in Crete, c. 2600 - 1900 BC. (Heraklion Archaeological Museum) As you can see, metal was in value at that time. Therefore, people came up with the idea of making the blade separately, and the handle separately, and only then connect them on rivets.
But the aliens did not make it to Crete, and the ancient Minoan civilization continued to develop there at that time. In 2000-1800. BC NS. hieroglyphic writing appears there, and starting from 1600 BC. NS. - Linear A.
Sample of Linear A, 15th century BC. (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion)
The Middle Bronze Age (2000–1500 BC) in this region is considered the period of the greatest cultural consolidation of the entire civilization of the Aegean region, as evidenced by a certain unity of its material culture - these are samples of ceramics, and of course, metal items found by archaeologists.
Around 1600 BC NS. Greece is once again undergoing a military invasion. Perhaps these were the Achaeans - a people who used war chariots. As a result, small states arise here with centers in the cities of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Orchomenes. However, the Aegean civilization did not die. On the contrary, the indigenous Cretans continued to play an important role in Mycenaean Greece, where they acted as something of a modern kulturtrager.
Some of the gold items from the finds at Mycenae. (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)
Around 1470 BC NS. Crete suffered greatly from the volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini, after which the appearance of the Achaean (Mycenaean) population was noted on the island, who brought with them a new culture and used Linear B.
Sample Linear B describing the administration of the palace at Knossos. (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion)
From 1220 BC NS. the entire Aegean civilization is going through a serious internal crisis, aggravated by the invasion of the Dorian tribes and the "peoples of the sea", after which the Aegean civilization completely disappeared, the indigenous population of Crete was assimilated by the Greeks already in the IV-III centuries. BC NS.
Evening in Crete …
