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Ancient Minoan Facts & Worksheets

The eastern Mediterranean island of Crete was the site of the thriving Minoan civilization during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–c. 1500 BCE).

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The eastern Mediterranean island of Crete was the site of the thriving Minoan civilization during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–c. 1500 BCE). Minoans made a substantial contribution to the advancement of Western European civilization with their distinctive art and architecture, as well as the dissemination of their ideas through contact with people from various cultures throughout the Aegean. Minoan Crete is known for its labyrinth-like palace complexes. These brilliant murals portray scenarios like bull-leaping and processions, beautiful gold jewelry, attractive stone vases, and ceramics with vibrant marine life motifs.

Below are some interesting facts and information about the old civilization of the Ancient Greeks alternatively download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Facts & Information

Etymology

  • In Greek mythology, “Minoan” alludes to the legendary King Minos of Knossos, linked to Theseus, the labyrinth, and the Minotaur. The term has only current usage and dates back to the 19th century.
  • It is frequently credited to British archaeologist Arthur Evans, who made the phrase well recognized in both archaeology and everyday speech.
  • However, Karl Hoeck had previously given volume two of his Kreta the title Das Minoische Kreta in 1825; this appears to be the first instance in which the term “Minoan” was used to refer to “old Cretan.”

The Minoans

  • Minoan is any member of the non-Indo-European ethnic group that thrived on the island of Crete between 3000 and 1100 BCE. Their economy and power were based on the sea.
  • Their sophisticated civilization, centered at Knossos, was given the name Minos in honor of the fabled king, and it stood for the earliest advanced civilization in the Aegean.
  • The Minoans significantly influenced the Mycenaean civilization of the Greek islands and the mainland. The height of Minoan civilization was during this time, and writing was used as their extensive trading connections in towns and palaces.
  • Its artwork comprised intricate seals, pottery, and, most importantly, the colorful paintings adorned palace walls and represented religious and secular subjects, including goddesses indicative of a matriarchal faith. 

Discovery of Arthur Evans

  • In the early twentieth century CE, surviving carved seal stones worn as charms by native Cretans alerted archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans to the possibility of an ancient civilization on Crete.
  • Evans conducted significant excavations at Knossos between 1900 and 1905 CE, confirming old literary and mythological reports of a sophisticated Cretan civilization as well as the potential location of the legendary labyrinth and palace of King Minos.
  • Evans is credited with introducing the term “Minoan” to describe this fabled Bronze Age king. Evans, observing what he thought to be the development and demise of a single civilization on Crete, separated the Bronze Age of the island into three distinct phases, primarily based on variations in pottery styles: 
    • Early Minoan (EM) or Early Bronze Age (3000–2100 BCE) 
    • Middle Minoan (MM): 2100–1600 BCE, also known as the Middle Bronze Age 
    • Late Bronze Age (LB) or Late Minoan (LM): 1600–1100 BCE

Minoan Palace Settlements

  • On Crete, Minoan people can find Minoan settlements, tombs, and cemeteries throughout, but the four largest palace sites were as follows:
    • Knossos
    • Phaistos
    • Malia
    • Zakros
  • Large, intricate palace buildings appear to have served as the regional commercial, administrative, religious, and possibly political hubs at each location. Due to a shortage of archaeological and written evidence, it is unclear how the palaces relate to the power system within them or throughout the island.
  • However, the palaces inevitably exercised some level of regional control, especially when it came to acquiring and storing excess supplies of goods like wine, oil, grain, precious metals, and ceramics.
  • Small cities, villages, and farms could be found across the area that appeared to be governed by a single palace, and these outlying towns had roads that connected them to the city center and neighboring towns.
  • Greater regularity in construction and the usage of Linear A writing across numerous palace sites are indications that the palaces were independent of one another until 1700 BCE, after which they came under the control of Knossos, according to historians.
  • The lack of fortifications in the settlements implies that the various communities coexisted peacefully. But the existence of weapons like swords, daggers, and arrowheads, as well as protective gear like armor and helmets, would also imply that they may not have always experienced peace.
  • Regular guardhouses and watchtowers have also been found on Minoan roadways, indicating that banditry, at the very least, bothered the unprotected traveler.
  • The palaces themselves were built throughout two eras. Minoan’s established the first palaces approximately 2000 BCE, and they later restored them after severe earthquakes and fires. 1700 BCE.
  • These second palaces lasted until they were finally destroyed between 1500 and 1450 BCE, probably as a result of an invasion or another earthquake, fire, or both. The palaces were grand, well-designed buildings with spacious courts, colonnades, ceilings supported by tapered wooden columns, stairs, religious crypts, light wells, elaborate drainage systems, enormous storage magazines, and even “theatre” sections for public shows or religious processions.

Religion

  • The Minoan religion is only vaguely understood, although art, architecture, and artifacts provide details.
  • In such artworks as a voluminous female mother-earth goddess figure and a male figure holding multiple animals, natural forces and nature, in general, were respected. Bulls are also significant in Minoan art.
  • Their horns are an architectural component of palace walls and a general ornamental element in jewelry, frescoes, and ceramic ornamentation, as has already been described.

Material Culture

  • The Minoans’ extensive and high-caliber use of art is another indication of their culture’s advanced state. The variety of containers in pottery discoveries ranges from small cups to enormous storage jars or pithoi.
  • Initially formed by hand-turning, ceramics are increasingly produced using potters’ wheels. 
  • In terms of ornamentation, the Kamares ware was followed by the later Floral and Marine styles, which included bright naturalistic representations of flowers, plants, and marine life. Three-handled amphorae, tall beaked jugs, squat round containers with a fake spout, beakers, little lidded boxes, and ceremonial pots with figure-of-eight-shaped handles are common ceramic shapes.
  • Similar vessel types and rhyta—ritual vessels for pouring libations, frequently in the form of animal heads—were also crafted from stone.
  • However, numerous bronze and other material figurines exist, and large-scale figure sculpting has not. Early types in clay depict period clothes, with men wearing belted loincloths and women wearing long flowing gowns and open-fronted coats.
  • The faience serpent goddess and a jumping acrobat in ivory, both prominent pieces, show the Minoans’ love of catching people in dynamic stances.
  • Magnificent frescoes from the palaces’ walls, ceilings, and floors also light the Minoans’ devotion to the natural world and their appreciation of the sea, as well as their understanding of social, burial, and religious customs.
  • Scales for the subjects range from micro to larger-than-life. Given how much they revered nature, the Minoans were among the first civilizations to paint scenes of untamed landscapes without any humans in them.
  • Along with humans, animals were frequently portrayed in their natural settings, and examples include fish, dolphins, birds, and monkeys.
  • Although Decorative borders often surrounded Minoan frescoes with geometric patterns, the central fresco occasionally extended past standard bounds like corners. It spanned multiple walls in a single room, enveloping the observer.

Aegean Contacts

  • As a maritime society, the Minoans were in contact with other peoples throughout the Aegean, as shown by the Near Eastern and Egyptian influences in their early art as well as in later export trade, particularly the exchange of pottery and foodstuffs like oil and wine in exchange for priceless items and materials like copper from Cyprus and Attica and ivory from Egypt. 
  • Numerous Aegean islands, particularly those in the Cyclades, exhibit the traits of a palace-centered political and economic system similar to that of Crete. At the same time, Minoan artisans, particularly fresco painters, brought their talents to the royal palaces of Egypt and the Levant. 

Decline

  • There is an ongoing discussion on what caused the Minoan civilization to collapse. Palaces and towns bear the scars of fire and devastation, and Knossos was destroyed approximately a century later and was not built until 1450 BCE.
  • The advent of the Mycenaean civilization on the Greek mainland in the mid-2nd millennium BCE, as well as evidence of their cultural effect on subsequent Minoan art and trade, makes them the most plausible explanation.
  • However, other possibilities exist, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes resulting from a tsunami. Although the exact timing of this cataclysmic eruption is contested, its relationship with the end of the Minoan period remains ambiguous.
  • The most plausible scenario involved a deadly fusion of natural environmental harm and wealth-based rivalry undermining society’s foundation, which was exploited by advancing Mycenaeans.
  • Most Minoan ruins were abandoned by 1200 BCE, and Crete would not return to the Mediterranean stage of history until the 8th century BCE, when Archaic Greeks colonized it.

Ancient Minoan Worksheets

This bundle contains 11 ready-to-use Ancient Minoan Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about the Minoans who were a group of people who lived on the Greek island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea during the Bronze Age

Download includes the following worksheets

  • Ancient Minoan Facts
  • Fact or Bluff
  • Cities of Crete
  • Fill in the Blanks
  • Word Search
  • Natural Disasters
  • Word Jumble
  • Minoan Palaces
  • Let’s Draw!
  • Ancient Minoans
  • The End

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Minoan civilization known for?

The Minoans of Bronze Age Crete are known for their huge palace-like structures, brilliant and colorful murals in these palaces, and pottery adorned with scenes of marine life.

Do Minoans still exist?

There is an ongoing discussion on what caused the Minoan civilization to collapse. Most Minoan ruins were abandoned by 1200 BCE, and Crete would not return to the Mediterranean stage of history until the 8th century BCE, when Archaic Greeks colonized it.

What destroyed the Minoan civilization?

There are many possibilities on what destroyed the Minoan civilization, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes resulting from a tsunami.

What animal did the Minoans worship?

Bulls are also significant in Minoan art, and their horns are an architectural component of palace walls and a general ornamental element in jewelry, frescoes, and ceramic ornamentation, as has already been described. 

What race was the Minoan?

Any member of a non-Indo-European ethnic group that thrived on the island of Crete between 3000 and 1100 BC is referred to as a Minoan.

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