Known as . She was raped by Zeus in the form of a bull. Speculation about Minoan religion indicates the gods were mainly female. Because of Egypt’s conservatism, time seems to culturally standstill thus providing an excellent reference to compare and discern the evolution of the Hellenistic culture. Meyer contends that the name Minoan assigned to the denizens of Crete is a misnomer and the real name of those inhabitants is Keftiu. Minoan civilization was first unearthed by Sir Arthur Evans in the early 1900s. He was a wealthy British archeologist who restored much of the palace complex he dug up at a site called Knossos. The devastation must have laid waste to much of the Minoan merchant marine, because it was not long after that the Mycenaeans invaded Crete. Perhaps the most famous record of the Mycenaeans was their siege of the city of Troy, recorded by Homer in his two great epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Historians and scholars have often pondered if the legends delineated in Homer’s two epic poems were myth masqueraded as history or true events. Palaces were filled with hundreds of rooms. In this regard, they were conduits of culture and knowledge of the Egyptians and Near East providing indirect cultural diffusion to the Mycenaeans. The inhabitants of this island were the first literate Europeans and are genetically close to the Myceneans. They took over the government and imposed some of their own forms, which were far more militaristic than the old Minoans. The Mycenaeans. The navy itself became the walls of the nation. The word Ethiopian is the combination of two Greek words burnt and skin and thus does not only refer to a specific nation but rather to an ethnic or racial group located in other lands. Take a quiz on this article about Minoan Culture. It is interesting to note that Diodorus Siculus distinguishes Minos I from Minos II. Much of what we know about the Minoans could be attributed to the hard work and diligence of one man, Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941). The Cretan form of government is not known, but it was probably kingship. until the Mycenaeans defeated them and took over (Biers, 1980, 27). In the myths of the Greeks, we find the origins of its existence. For example, the true name of the sphinx is Hor-am-Akhet (Horus on the Horizon). The island could not bully great states such as Egypt or Mesopotamia so the Cretans relied heavily on diplomacy. The Mycenaeans lived on the island of Crete after they took it over from the Minoans, … John Chadwick points out that at least six centuries lie between the earliest settling of proto-Greek speakers in Hellas and the earliest Linear B inscriptions, during which concepts and practices will have fused with indigenous beliefs, and— if cultural influences in material culture reflect influences in religious beliefs— … Took over after the . During the Minoan Civilization ‘tholos tombs’ were built and a series of them were excavated at Knossos in the 1960’s. The others are as follows: the Cypria, which focuses on the first nine years of the war; the Aethiopis, which focuses on Troy’s alliance with Ethiopia, the Little Iliad on the Trojan Horse, the Iliupersis, on the sack of Troy, the Nortoris, on the return of the Greek heroes and the Telegony a continuation of the Odyssey. Their craftsmen became experts in jewelry and pottery. In Greek myth, the primogenitor was Hellen the man who should not be confused with the female Helen of Troy (The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships) and she was the cause of the Trojan War. The myth of the labyrinth on Crete, from which the Greeks trace their roots may lay in the legends of the great labyrinth of pharaoh Amenemhat III of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. Unfortunately, there is little concrete known about individual people or events on Crete. Minoans had a great influence on the Greek mainland as well the island of the Aegean during the Second Palace Period. Meyers, however, was the exact opposite, leading from the Egyptians directly to the Minoans (Keftiu). However, such accomplishments should not be viewed in isolation nor should we view the Greeks as a race of geniuses without any reference to those antecedent civilizations that laid the foundation for Greece. Some of their movements were even recorded by the Hittites. How did the minoans and the mycenaeans influenced the ancient greeks civilization. By about 1580 BCE Minoan civilization began to spread across the Aegean. He had three sons Dorus, Aeolus and Xuthus from which the main Greek ethnic groups originated. The presence of Ethiopians at the Trojan War may shed some light on the demographics during the Mycenean era. As in the case of the Canaanites (Phoenicians), it is hard to obtain an unbiased opinion of the Philistines by reading the Bible because of the disdain that the Hebrews had for them. It is during these travels that the Minoans came in contact with the Mycenaeans on the mainland. An example from the Iliad states: “Only yesterday Zeus went off to the Ocean Riverto feast with the Aethiopians, loyal, lordly men, and all of the gods went with him.”. It is likely that the ruling house of Mycene was connected to the Minoan trade network. Both products were uniquely Egyptian, yet they entered Greece, not from the Egyptians, but through the Phoenicians. The second millennium BCE witnessed two extraordinary cultures that were the precursors of Greek civilization. Evans was not a professional scholar, however, like Schliemann, he was guided by the Greek tradition of recording the history of Crete in their legends. However, for reasons unknown but often speculated, the Mycenaean culture collapsed around 1200 BCE and the period between 1200 BCE and about 800 BCE is often referred to as the Dark Ages of the Greeks. In the top painting below, those on the right are Egyptians, and on the left foreigners entering into Egypt: a consistent theme of the Intermediate Periods. Minoan culture became a powerful force in the region. Their language was not Indo-European so they likely had not come from the north or north-west. Edward’s name and assumptions were based on the trail of the Mycenaeans to the Minoans and their myths. The story of civilization is the story of humankind; Western Civilization, although sometimes used as a euphemism for European superiority, is just one piece of this evolving story. The Mycenaeans came to dominate most of mainland Greece and several islands, extending trade relations to other Bronze Age cultures in such places as Cyprus, the Levant, and Egypt. The culture made a lasting impression on later Greeks in the Archaic and Classical periods, most tangibly in their myths of Bronze Age heroes like Achilles and Odysseus and their exploits in the Trojan War . We often start our history of Greece with Homer, Hesiod (c. 750 BCE) and the Archaic period (800–500 BCE). However, this time also corresponds with the rise of the sea people some of which were the Philistines mentioned in the Bible from which the name Palestine emerged. Since the Egyptians have never been maritime people, they relied on vassals such as the Phoenicians to be the conduit of their goods to what they viewed as the frontier. Geography & Early Culture. It's my opinion that the Myceanean culture, that was created on the ashes of the volcanic eruption that destroyed, not only Thera, but the Minoan Crete and the Egyptian cities, was influenced by the culture that existed on the Greek island, today's Santorini, which, I believe, it was the culture that influenced the Minoan, the Egyptian, and Plato's imagination! It stretched from Ethiopia to the Levant. Fought the Trojans at Troy in the . This is different than art in Egypt or Mesopotamia where rulers were set on memorializing themselves through art and statuary, and priests of depicting gods and ceremonies. In Egyptian mythology, the holy bull, Apis, was linked with Osiris. Classical scholars know about the orientalising periods in Greek art; and Near Eastern specialists are familiar with Minoan, Mycenaean, Hellenistic and still later Greek influence in Western Asia and Egypt. Greece is famous for its incredible art and stunning architecture, but did you know that this architecture was not original to the ancient Greeks? One significant difference between the Egyptian drama and Greek theater is that the Egyptians concentrated on the life of the god, and Greeks on the life of the hero. Additionally, while the Mycenaeans were discovered to have had a wide variety of weaponry suitable to battle, Minoan weapons were cerem… Many historians associate Hyksos with the Jews in Egypt at the time of Joseph and the Exodus. The Minoans did not speak Greek but had extensive contact with Egypt and the Near East, particularly the Phoenicians who were also maritime people, and they passed this culture to the Mycenaeans. This was a tradition that migrated to Greece in the form of religious festivals in honor of their heroes. Of all the societies of the ancient world, the Minoans were probably the most affluent. They imitated the Minoans, especially in their trading activities. Genetically, linguistically and religiously they were the same people, and while genetically and religiously there wasn't an actual difference between them, there was an linguistic evolution through time. Economic activity and limited size of the military brought rich rewards to every level of society.1 Even the poorest appears to have lived in multi-roomed dwellings. Ancient Egypt also had mystery plays that outdated the Minoan plays. Mycenaean culture included elaborate burial practices, but only for the wealthy aristocracy. His breakthrough was helpful in the dating of the Mycenaean culture. Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1600–1100 BC.It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainland Greece with its palatial states, urban organization, works of art, and writing system. Sea traders- passed on Minoan, egyptian, and Mesopotamian influences. They traded with other non-Greek peoples throughout the Mediterranean, much like their Mycenaean ancestors did hundreds of years prior. The Mycenaeans (Greek people) on islands and the mainland of Europe to the north had seen the grandeur of Crete. B. Minoan culture was influenced by the Mycenaeans. This spurred a growing and relatively affluent population. “To Troy no hero came of nobler line; Or if of nobler, Memnon it was thine.” [Odyssey Book XI] So much so that centuries later, the twin statues of pharaoh Amenhotep III located in Egypt were named the Colossus of Memnon by the Greeks. Even the burial sites indicate a relatively egalitarian society. Many of the paintings, sculptures, and pottery have been found intact. It is also important to note that during the Mycenaean period, the Phoenicians were under the Egyptian sphere of influence which gave them access to Egyptian expertise and products that they modified to make goods of which the Greeks emulated. The Cretan culture was called Minoan from the legendary king of Crete Minos and the Mycenaean culture earned its name from the town of Mycenae in the Peloponnese. Therefore little time or treasure was spent in fortification. The classical Greeks were known throughout the world, and today, just as much for their merchant and trade activities as they were for their martial abilities. Recently, much has been made about the tradition and influence of Western Civilization on the world. There were other Mycenaean cities that grew into major city-states during the height of Ancient Greece such as Thebes and Athens. Trojan Wars. Minoan culture became a powerful force in the region. The creation of colonies, because of the mountains, led to the spread of Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean Sea. For the next several hundred years, Greece fell into a period called the Greek Dark Age. There are definite sources of influence on early Greek culture to be found in the history of the second millennium, for which we have significant archaeological evidence and even some written documents. The city of Byblos (which traded cedar for paper) was closely linked to papyrus, so much so that when the writings of the Hebrew prophets were translated into Greek, the city’s name, Byblos, was given to the Bible. The Mycenaeans were influenced by the Minoan civilization from the island of Crete who were, in turn, influenced by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. The Mycenaean Civilization: Bronze Age Greece. The similarities of the Minoan palaces to palaces in the Near East along with the sudden appearances of palaces around 1900 BCE strongly suggest cultural diffusion from the Near East and Egypt to the island of Crete. Writing | … After this time, there was a resurgence of an independent Phoenician state that established colonies all over the Mediterranean. The greatness of David and Solomon may have been attributed to the incorporation of ideas that they inherited from the Philistines, who in turn inherited some of them from the Canaanites. Now it is important to note that Minos is the son of Zeus begotten in Crete by Princess Europa. These two civilizations have left indelible traces across Greece and a nexus to earlier civilizations of Africa and the Near East. And maybe this was the biggest influence of the mycenean civilization to later greek culture. This Minoan tradition can also be found in Mycenaean Greece in the mystery plays and festivals. The profundity of documents and the intricacy of palace complexes indicates that the government probably had a strong bureaucratic component. Their activities and raiding were wide ranging. Also recorded are noble warriors such as Memnon, the Ethiopian king, who was memorialized in art and poem. Washington State University on Minoan History. Minoan palaces, for example, had open designs and lavish courtyards. Life on Crete Horus was the son of the god Osiris. Between 1900 BCE and 1500 BCE, Crete was the western-most segment of the European Bronze Age world and was connected to the entire eastern Mediterranean. Which was the most important lasting impact of Alexander’s conquests? The Mycenaeans traded with Crete; Minoan objects have been found in the famous royal tombs at Mycenae that perhaps span the century from 1600 to 1500 B.C. Perhaps there was increased fighting among the Mycenaean cities, or perhaps there was a foreign invasion from the north of Greece. Some scholars believe that Israel was able to establish a temporary state because of the chaos and the weakness of its surrounding neighbors. In Meyer’s paradigm, the cultural diffusion from the Egyptians to the Minoans is more direct and pervasive. In fact, Ethiopia was the place where the gods came to feast, and the Greeks often referred to them as the blameless race. Mycenaean palaces, on the other hand, were constructed with high stone walls and other clearly defensive attributes, signifying the perennial presence of danger. The Ionians later migrated across the sea to settle the Aegean islands and found Ionia. Since the Egyptians did not use vowels Minos and Menes are structurally the same. When the Cretan places were destroyed around 1450 BCE, only the one at Knossos was rebuilt. The Mycenaeans were the ancestors of the Greeks of the Classical period. They imitated the Minoans, especially in their trading activities. There is much debate about the role of females in Minoan culture. During the Trojan War, Ethiopians (black people) may have lived in the vicinity of Troy. If you subtract 430 years from 1546, it equals the year 1116 BCE which is very close to the historical date of the establishment of the state of Israel, the decline of Mycenae and the New Kingdom. In 1954 CE, Michael Ventris demonstrated that the Linear B script was a form of Greek. Mycenae | Iliad 1.423–4 (Thetis is speaking to Achilles.). These were Greeks from the mainland that occupied Crete for three generations and during that time absorbed, as the Romans would do later: the knowledge of a greater civilization now in decline. A tidal wave was launched that destroyed much of the northern coast of Crete that may have included the governing structure at Knossos. The Greeks became known as Hellenes and Greece as Hellas. 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