Minoan Crete

1
Minoan Crete
2
Cities

• Had over 90 cities
• Four major cities Knossos (north), Malia (east),
  Kato Zakros (eastern tip), Phaistos (south)
• Had no city walls or permanent protection

3
Government/ Law Codes

• Had a centralized government and the major palace
  in Knossos
• 2000 B.C. established a king
• Leaders were mostly women

4
Writing and Record Keeping

• 1900 B.C Cretan hieroglyphic script used on clay
  documents
• 1850-1700 B.C Linear A, pictographs reduced to
  cursive strokes or lines
• Used another language, Linear B, only for record
  keeping used horizontal lines to mark each entry
• None of the languages have ever been deciphered

5
Writing and Record Keeping

• Examples

6
Specialized Jobs

• Mainly trade and export based
• Small agricultural section
• Many religious leaders

7
Social Classes

• Men and women were equal
• Wealth was evenly distributed
• Women served as religious leaders

8
Complex Technologies

• Experts in metalworking (copper and bronze)
• Created wooden plows
• Common tool pick-ax

9
Organized Religion

• Mostly goddesses
• Similar to the later Greek culture and religion

10
Theory of Destruction

• 1500 B.C Massive earthquake and volcanic
  eruption caused a tsunami, covering most of the
  island
• Minoan culture died out soon afterward
• The story of Atlantis may come from this disaster