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Galatas Palace
The Galatas Palace is a Minoan civilization, Minoan archaeological site in Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion, Crete, Greece about 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Heraklion discovered in the early 1990s. Built on a older Protopalatial settlement dating to the MM IB (c. 1925–1875 BC) period, a Minoan palace was constructed in the early Neopalatial Period, during the Early MM IIIA period (c. 1750 BC). The palatial center was destroyed by a conflagration at the end of the MM IIIA period.Rethemiotakis, Giorgos, and Kostis Christakis, "The Middle Minoan III Period at Galatas: Pottery and Historical Implications", British School at Athens Studies, vol. 21, pp. 93–105, 2013 The east wing is the best-preserved part of the structure, while the West and South wings were found to be extensively damaged. Excavations have not been completed in the area of the North wing of the building. The archaeological site is considered to be unique because it is the only such Minoan center t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Map Minoan Crete-en
A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on a transitory medium such as a computer screen. Some maps change interactively. Although maps are commonly used to depict geography, geographic elements, they may represent any space, real or fictional. The subject being mapped may be two-dimensional such as Earth's surface, three-dimensional such as Earth's interior, or from an abstract space of any dimension. Maps of geographic territory have a very long tradition and have existed from ancient times. The word "map" comes from the , wherein ''mappa'' meant 'napkin' or 'cloth' and ''mundi'' 'of the world'. Thus, "map" became a shortened term referring to a flat representation of Earth's surface. History Maps have been one of the most important human inventions for millennia, allowin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phaistos
Phaistos (, ; Ancient Greek: , , Linear B: ''Pa-i-to''; Linear A: ''Pa-i-to''), also Transliteration, transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Latin Phaestus, is a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Faistos, a municipality in south central Crete. It is notable for the remains of a Minoan palace and the surrounding town. Ancient Phaistos was located about east of the Mediterranean Sea and south of Heraklion. Phaistos was one of the largest cities of Minoan Crete. The name Phaistos survives from Ancient Greece, ancient Greek references to a city on Crete of that name at or near the current ruins. History Bronze Age Phaistos was first inhabited around 3600 BCE, slightly later than other early sites such as Knossos. During the Early Minoan period, the site's hills were Terrace (building), terraced and monumental buildings were constructed on them. Like other large Minoan cities, there was a palace that was built in an area that had been used earlier for communal feastin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minoan Eruption
The Minoan eruption was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera (also called Santorini) circa 1600 BCE. It destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with subsequent earthquakes and paleotsunamis. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 7, it resulted in the ejection of approximately of dense-rock equivalent (DRE), the eruption was one of the largest volcanic events in human history. Since tephra from the Minoan eruption serves as a marker horizon in nearly all archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean, its precise date is of high importance and has been fiercely debated among archaeologists and volcanologists for decades, without coming to a definite conclusion. Although there are no clear ancient records of the eruption, its plume and volcanic lightning may have been described in the Egyptian Tempest Stele. The Chinese ''Bamboo Annal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minoan Religion
Minoan religion was the religion of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization of Crete. In the absence of readable texts from most of the period, modern scholars have reconstructed it almost totally on the basis of archaeological evidence such as Minoan paintings, statuettes, vessels for rituals and Minoan seals, seals and rings. Minoan religion is considered to have been closely related to Religions of the ancient Near East, Near Eastern ancient religions, and its central deity is generally agreed to have been a goddess, although a number of deities are now generally thought to have been worshipped. Prominent Minoan sacred symbols include the Bull (mythology), bull and the horns of consecration, the labrys double-headed axe, and possibly the serpent (mythology), serpent. The old view was that, in stark contrast to contemporary cultures in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Syria, Minoan religious practice was not centred around massive formal public temples. However, it is now thought the Minoan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minoan Art
Minoan art is the art produced by the Bronze Age Aegean civilization, Aegean Minoan civilization from about 3000 to 1100 BC, though the most extensive and finest survivals come from approximately 2300 to 1400 BC. It forms part of the wider grouping of Aegean art, and in later periods came for a time to have a dominant influence over Cycladic art. Since wood and textiles have decomposed, the best-preserved (and most instructive) surviving examples of Minoan art are its Minoan pottery, pottery, Minoan palace, palace architecture (with frescos which include "the earliest pure landscapes anywhere"), small sculptures in various materials, jewellery, metal vessels, and Minoan seals, intricately-carved seals. It was influenced by the neighbouring cultures of Ancient Egypt and the ancient Near East, which had produced sophisticated urban art for much longer, but the character of the small but wealthy mercantile Minoan cities was very different, with little evidence of large temple-base ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minoan Chronology
Minoan chronology is a framework of dates used to divide the history of the Minoan civilization. Two systems of relative chronology are used for the Minoans. One is based on sequences of pottery styles, while the other is based on the architectural phases of the Minoan palaces. These systems are often used alongside one another. Establishing an absolute chronology has proved difficult, since different methodologies provide different results. For instance, while carbon dating places the eruption of Thera around 1600 BC, synchronism with Egyptian records would place it roughly a century later. Relative chronology Ceramic periodization The standard relative chronology divides Minoan history into three eras: ''Early Minoan (EM)'', ''Middle Minoan (MM)'' and ''Late Minoan (LM)''. These eras are divided into sub-eras using Roman numerals (e.g. EM I, EM II, EM III) and sub-sub-eras using capital letters (e.g. LM IIIA, LMIIIB, LM IIIC). This system is based on the sequenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minoan Pottery
The Minoan civilization produced a wide variety of richly decorated Minoan pottery. Its restless sequence of quirky maturing artistic styles reveals something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists in assigning relative dates to the Archaeology, strata of their sites. Pots that contained oils and ointments, exported from 18th century BC Crete, have been found at sites through the Aegean Sea, Aegean islands and mainland Greece, in Cyprus, along coastal Syria and in Egypt, showing the wide trading contacts of the Minoans. The pottery includes vases, figurines, models of buildings, and burial urns called larnax, larnakes. Several pottery shapes, especially the rhyton cup, were also produced in soft stones such as steatite, but there was almost no overlap with metal vessels. The finest achievements came in the Middle Minoan period, with the palace pottery called Kamares ware, and the Minoan chronology, Late Minoan all-over patterned "Marine Style" and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lustral Basin
The lustral basin is an architectural form used in Minoan architecture. Consisting of a small sunken room reached by a staircase, they are characteristic of elite architecture of the Neopalatial period (c. 1750-1470 BC). They are hypothesized to have been used either as shrines, baths, or as part of an initiation ritual. The term was coined by Sir Arthur Evans, who hypothesized that they were used for lustration. Description Lustral basins are small square chambers sunk into the floor of the surrounding room. They are entered via a descending L-shaped staircase and are open at the top, allowing their occupants to be viewed from above. Lustral basins are found at sites throughout Crete as well as at Akrotiri in the Cyclades. However, no examples have been found on the mainland. Lustral basins were common in elite buildings such as Minoan palaces and villas. Each palace had at least one lustral basin, with Phaistos having four of them. At Knossos, one is adjacent to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zakros
Zakros ( also Zakro or Kato Zakro) is a Minoan archaeological site on the eastern coast of Crete in Lasithi, Greece. It is regarded as one of the six Minoan palaces, and its protected harbor and strategic location made it an important commercial hub for trade to the east. The town was dominated by the Palace of Zakro, originally built around 1900 BC, rebuilt around 1600 BC, and destroyed around 1450 BC along with the other major centers of Minoan civilization. Extensive ruins of the palace remain, and are a popular tourist destination. Zakros is sometimes divided into ''Epano Zakros'' (''Upper Zakros''), the portion higher up on the hillside, and ''Kato Zakros'' (''Lower Zakros''), the part near the sea. A Minoan villa was discovered on the road from Epano Zakos near the gorge. It is dated to the Minoan LM IA period (c. 1700–1625 BC), before the construction of the palace. A pithos found there had a Linear A inscription around its rim recording a large quantity (32 units) of wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malia (archaeological Site)
Malia (also Mallia) is a Minoan and Mycenaean archaeological site located on the northern coast of Crete in the Heraklion area. It is about 35 kilometers east of the ancient site of Knossos and 40 kilometers east of the modern city of Heraklion. The site lies about 3 kilometers east and inland from the modern village of Malia. It was occupied from the middle 3rd millennium BC until about 1250 BC. During the Late Minoan I period (1700 - 1470 BC) it had the third largest Minoan palace, destroyed at the end of the Late Minoan IB period. The other palaces are at Hagia Triada, Knossos, Phaistos, Zakros, and Gournia. It has been excavated for over a century by the French School of Athens and inscriptions of the undeciphered scripts Cretan hieroglyphs, Linear A, and the deciphered script Linear B have been found there. History The first signs of occupation at Malia, in the form of pottery, occurred in the Early Minoan IIA period (mid-3rd millennium BC). The first firmly dated struc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knossos
Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on the outskirts of Heraklion, and remains a popular tourist destination. Knossos is considered by many to be the oldest city in Europe. Knossos is dominated by the monumental Palace of Minos. Like other Minoan palaces, this complex of buildings served as a combination religious and administrative centre rather than a royal residence. The earliest parts of the palace were built around 1900 BC in an area that had been used for ritual feasting since the Neolithic. The palace was continually renovated and expanded over the next five centuries until its final destruction around 1350 BC. The site was first excavated by Minos Kalokairinos in 1877. In 1900, Arthur Evans, Sir Arthur Evans undertook more extensive excavations which unearthed most of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heraklion (regional Unit)
Heraklion () is one of the four regional units of Greece, regional units of Crete. The capital is the city of Heraklion. Geography The regional unit of Heraklion borders on the regional units of Rethymno (regional unit), Rethymno to the west and Lasithi to the east. Farmlands are situated in the central and the northern parts, at the coast and in valleys. The mountains dominate the rest of the regional unit, notably the south. The main mountains are parts of Ida Mountains, Ida or Idi Mountains to the west and Asterousia Mountains, Asterousia in the south. The regional unit includes the island of Dia, Greece, Dia to the north. Except for the mountains which receive mild to cool winters unlike northern Greece, the warm to hot Mediterranean climate dominates the regional unit. Ancient history Within the Heraklion regional unit's boundaries are a number of significant Neolithic and Minoan civilization, Minoan human settlement, settlements, most notably the ancient palace complexes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
