Mycenae and Minoan Crete

World Prehistory: Class 13

Mycenae and Minoan Crete

© Copyright Bruce Owen 2000

Regional and temporal setting

refer to the chronology chart in Fagan to put this in perspective
We've seen complex society emerge in Mesopotamia and Egypt

and you have read about similar processes in the Indus

And you've gotten some hints about how these regions were actually somewhat interrelated
Now let's go back to the southwest Asia and Eastern Mediterranean areas and see what happened a little later
As time passed, Mesopotamia and the surrounding areas went through a series of developments, periods of unification and division

Egypt did, too, although the changes were less profound

The entire area came to be more interrelated by trade and communication, even though there were many different languages and cultures
Today we will look very briefly at two of these cultures

The Minoans of Crete
The Mycenaeans of Greece
These were much later in time than early Sumer or Egypt
they were part of a clearly documented system of trade, politics, and warfare: a small "world"

but one in which writing was still so limited that we know it mostly through archaeology

We are considering these two cultures only because they are interesting and are ones you will often come across references to
But there are others that we could look at

Hittites (Hatti)
Babylon
Assyrian Empire(s)
Mitanni Kingdom
Troy (Hissarlik) (prior to the Mycenaeans)
and others...

Minoan culture

Setting: Island of Crete

conveniently midway between Egypt, Greece, Anatolia, Levant
250 km X 57 km (150 mi X 34 mi)
mountainous, fertile, pockets of flat farmland
First excavations by Sir Arthur Evans

he simply bought the site of Knossos and began excavating it

Long, continuous, local development with some Egyptian influence
Neolithic period: 6000 - 3000 BC

farming and herding, small villages
wheat in places
olives for oil; grapes for wine
sheep; wool textiles assumed
apparently a long tradition of craft production for exchange by sea

ceramics, seals (stone, bone, and ivory), stone sculpture, stone jewelry

Pre-palatial Bronze Age 3000 - 1900 BC

this was contemporary with

Egyptian Early Dynastic, Old Kingdom, and First Intermediate period
Sumerian Jemdet Nasr, Early Dynastic, Agade, and Ur III

dense agricultural towns developed
late in this period, about 2200-1900, some of these towns started to grow larger than others, perhaps controlling larger territories
none were particularly defensible, however
began making bronze, silver, gold tools, weapons, jewelry for exchange

Old Palace period 1930-1700 BC

Roughly contemporary with Middle Kingdom Egypt

when Egypt expanded trade with the eastern Mediterranean

several "palaces" were built at different places around the island, all at about the same time

all near the coast; at least one was only easily accessible by sea
four known, and there may have been more
also smaller versions called "villas"

minor palaces?
estates of nobles?
secondary centers serving a palace?

writing appeared near the end of this period

A "hieroglyphic" script (1750-1600 BC)

mostly known from seals and sealings
undeciphered, language unknown
not many examples

Also Linear A (1800-1450 BC)

probably derived from or related to the hieroglyphic script
mostly on clay tablets
undeciphered, language unknown

but similarities to the later Linear B, which recorded Greek and can be read, give us some clues

apparently mostly accounting texts

one appears to list amounts of wine associated with what are probably personal names

probably payments to or by these people
with a total at the bottom

annother seems to be similar, but totaling men rather than wine...

also few examples

not much known about the architecture, etc. of this period, because:
widespread destruction of palaces and villas around 1700

walls collapsed, major fires
often attributed to earthquake(s)

New Palace period 1700-1450 BC

the palaces were rebuilt in the same tradition, but even more elaborately

Central courtyard, rectangular and paved

at Knossos, 49 X 27 m (160 X 88 feet)

palace buildings

three stories tall in places, maybe even more
Post and lintel construction
in dressed stone and mud brick
lots of wooden beams in walls as well as ceilings
also wooden columns, doorjambs, moldings, etc.

luxurious design

but not particularly oriented for public show
upper parts of walls were plastered and often painted in elaborate designs and scenes, lower parts were left as stone or painted as faux stone
toilet rooms relatively common; wooden seat over vertical drain

complexes of long, narrow storerooms with stone chambers in the floor and ceramic storage jars lined up along the walls
these apparently were also the basement of large, highly decorated rooms in a second story, maybe banquet halls or...?
elaborate drain system
sectors for

storage
workshops (olive oil production, stone carving, pottery making, furniture inlaying)
archives
shrines / ritual areas
administrative / court rooms
luxurious residential areas

the palaces were surrounded by large towns

Knossos:

2.5 hectares covered by the palace buildings alone
surrounded by 75 hectares of dense occupation

houses both near the palaces and far from them had similar features

Settlement hierarchy

Knossos was 2.5 times bigger than the other major palaces

maybe it was just the biggest among equals
or maybe it was the capital, and the others were secondary administrative centers or estates

three or more smaller palaces; either smaller equivalents or lower-level centers
then "villas" or manors; secondary/tertiary centers, or small competitors?
also towns of rural people

agglutinated rectangular rooms

hamlets
isolated farms
also Minoan-influenced sites on other islands

Thera
Rhodes
etc.

Social organization

records and massive storage capacity suggest major control of production and distribution by the palaces

maybe formal redistribution

clearly must have been great social status variation and hierarchy

rulers, courtiers, scribes, many artists and craft specialists, farmers, etc.

but lack of isolation, walls, defenses between town and palace suggests hierarchy may have been harmonious...?
high status of some women: priestesses? rulers?

in wall paintings
in figurines
other evidence?

ideology

shrines in various places throughout the palaces
but no large, centralized temples
varying interpretations
"horns of consecration" and double-bladed axe symbols
female deity, bulls, specific trees, birds, etc. probably involved
bull jumping: ritual, sport, or ???

apparently little or no warfare in the New Palace period

palaces were not walled nor in defensible positions
not even sharply separated from the towns around them
lots of representational art, but none shows warfare

there is violence, though, with "boxing" children

no weapons in graves

economics and trade

production and storage activities were important at the palaces

they were clearly economic powers

Cretans were depicted in Egyptian tomb paintings

implying significant contact, presumably exchange

seals and writing suggest that they needed to keep track of the flow of lots of goods
imports

copper from Cyprus and Anatolia
amethyst, carnelian, gold from Egypt
lapis from Afghanistan
amber from North Sea
silver, tin
ivory

imports found not only in palaces, but also in elite houses

maybe suggesting a non-government trading class?

the Mycenaeans, a contemporary and quite different culture on the Greek mainland, were among their trading contacts

destruction around 1450 BC

palaces on Crete, as well as Minoan sites throughout the Aegean, were destroyed in a short period around 1450 BC

villas and towns destroyed as well
lots of burning

maybe by explosive volcanic eruption of Thera (Santorini)

but the dating is in doubt; looks like the eruption was closer to 1500 BC
still debated

maybe by some human events

internal revolution?
attacks by Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland?
a combination, maybe involving Mycenaeans already resident at Knossos?

Mycenaean reoccupation of Knossos 1450-1380 BC

Knossos was damaged less than the other palaces

it continued to be occupied for another 70 years or so until 1380 BC
but under strong Mycenaean influence

probably having been taken over by Mycenaean conquest
or opportunism after disaster had toppled the Minoan leadership

Mycenaeanization

mostly at Knossos
new, Greek mainland style of pottery
new, military themes in artwork
graves began to contain weapons (1400 BC)

Linear B writing: 1450-1375 BC at Knossos

appeared at Knossos under the Mycenaeans
only known from Knossos and the Greek mainland
Deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952
it was a system for writing archaic Greek, the language of the Mycenaeans
all that have been translated are accounting records

lists of goods dedicated, palace stores, military supplies, etc.
at least one relates to a land dispute

mostly scratched with a stylus on clay tablets

also on clay pressed onto a basket as a label
or on lumps of clay squeezed around knots on string and stamped with a seal (sealing)
a few texts were painted on pots (some from sites on other islands), identifying the source

the tablets were not normally fired

and there are no dates, just references to "this year" and "last year"
suggests that they were intended as temporary records
maybe transcribed onto more "permanent" or easily stored media like cloth or wood that has not preserved?
we have them only in cases where a building burned and accidentally baked the lot in current use at that moment

aftermath of destruction of 1450 BC

recent work suggests the destruction of the palaces was not as big a blow as was thought
smaller settlements continued with a mixed Minoan-Mycenaean tradition

Post-palatial period 1380-1150 BC

Knossos was finally destroyed around 1380 BC by fire, possible earthquake, maybe uprising?
Crete probably ceased to be an organized Mycenaean kingdom
but it continued to be occupied by Mycenaeans

Mycenaean culture

So who were these Mycenaeans lurking around Crete, anyway?

the early stages of Greek civilization

Setting: Greek mainland

cereal grains, olives, grapes

Unlike Crete, a very patchy, localized development with many breaks, destruction, etc.
the term "Helladic" is used to distinguish mainland culture from that on Crete
Early Helladic 3000-2000 BC

contemporary with pre-palatial Bronze Age on Crete
new pottery, architecture, and other features on the Greek mainland may suggest immigrants or influence from Anatolia
walled towns

note that Cretan towns were never walled
maybe protected by being on a distant island?

foreign trade
increasing use of metals
lots of destruction at the end of this period, both on the mainland and in the Aegean

Middle Helladic 2000-1550 BC

contemporary with Old Palace period and first part of New Palace period: the fluorescence of Minoan Crete
this is the direct predecessor of Mycenaean culture
a change from Early Helladic

again due to foreign influence?
some claim an "invasion" or "migration" of Greek tribes into mainland Greece

late in the period

increasing influence of Minoan and Aegean pottery, metalworking, and art styles

Late Helladic I&II (Early Mycenaean) 1550-1380 BC

this period started just as Minoan civilization peaked and went into decline...hmm.
Early Mycenaean period started with a sudden, dramatic Minoan influence on the mainland

the mainlanders become "Minoanized"
why might early Mycenaean elites have wanted to adopt Minoan styles?

the beginning of the period was marked by the shaft graves at Mycenae

vertical shafts 6-8 m deep with several grave chambers branching off

roofed and reopened to add new chambers and bodies
at Mycenae, six shafts in grave circle A, 19 people total

9 men, 8 women, 2 children

unparalleled wealth

gold and silver vessels
gold masks, gold sheet leaves and flowers over bodies
gold and precious stone jewelry
large bronze vessels
lots of weapons (esp. swords and daggers)

90 swords with three individuals

lots of Minoan imports

in fact, most of the best Minoan art comes from Mycenae!

also glass from Egypt, amber from northern Europe, ivory from Africa, etc.

suggests the rise of a wealthy leadership class

looted booty?
mercenary pay?
wealth from trade?

also royal "tholos" tombs (aka "beehive" tombs)

similarly impressive grave goods
and monumental architecture, too

possibility that Minoan craftsmen may have gone to work for Mycenaeans as attached specialists (voluntarily?)
Palaces analogous to the Minoan ones appeared around the Greek mainland

they were major storage/redistribution centers
based on local agriculture and trade
they contain written accounting records in Linear B
But most were heavily fortified
and were smaller than Minoan palaces

Mycenaeans occupied Knossos after Crete's destruction around 1450 BC

military conquest?
alliance or marriage between ruling families?

Late Helladic III A&B (Mycenaean Empire) 1380-1190 BC

contemporary with the post-palatial period on Crete
the capital at Mycenae was a major storage/redistribution center based on local agriculture and trade

as on Crete but smaller scale
written records show standardized taxation system

surrounding farmers had to pay tribute to the rulers in the citadels
they provided laborers, meat, other goods

rather than a central court, Mycenaean palaces had a central hall (megaron) with pillars supporting the ceiling and a central, built-in, round hearth
emphasis on massive "cyclopean" (big stones) masonry
palaces contained workshops making inlaid furniture, bronzework, jewelry...
also shrines marked by the "horns of consecration"
wall paintings similar to the Minoan ones

but including scenes of war

similar, but less developed, water supply and drain systems

a terra-cotta bathtub!

elite houses outside and around the citadels

included storage rooms and workshops
apparently functioned as part of the palace system
some specialized, i.e. one with oil-making facilities

now two "temples" known

two-room structures with large pottery female figures in the rear rooms

settlement hierarchy

apparently several kingdoms, probably independent, maybe with one dominant
each had a fortified capital

surrounded by towns, hamlets, and forts
but no villas (or "manors") as on Crete

Trade

lots of Mycenaean pottery reached Anatolia, Cyprus, Levant, and Egypt
Mycenaeans got cylinder seals, Egyptian faience vessels, scarabs, ceramics from the Levant, etc.
also traded to the west with Italy

Crafts

fantastic metalwork

gold masks, disks, vessels, rings
bronze weapons inlayed with etched gold and silver

ivory

warfare (and booty) may have been much more important than on Crete

lots of weapons in burials
fortified citadels

with their own water supplies ("secret springs") to allow resistance to prolonged sieges
the Lion Gate at Mycenae had a door that pivoted in the center, holes to bar it shut on the sides

impressive road network, with massive stone bridges
Massive canal (north bank of Lake Copais)

embankments 30 m wide, 2 m high
massive stone facing
both for shipping and irrigation

Sub-Mycenaean period 1190-1050 BC

marked by lots of destruction, abandonment, rebuilding, population movements

leading to the final abandonment or destruction of all the citadels
revivals with smaller, fewer, more diverse settlements

due to

foreign invasion?
internal disputes?
climate change?
highly debated