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70-611: The vase was made in three parts, of which the lowest is missing and has been replaced in modern times with undecorated plaster. A band of relief running around the widest part of the vase depicts marching men, and has variously been interpreted as a harvest celebration, a religious procession, or a military scene. The scene has been praised for its "impression of vital, rhythmic movement", though exactly what it shows has been much argued about. Two other Minoan stone vases with figural scenes of humans were found at Hagia Triada. The "Chieftain Cup"

140-461: A floor drain or by bailing. This toilet and bathtub were exceptional structures within the 1,300-room complex. As the hill was periodically drenched by torrential rains, a runoff system was a necessity. It began with channels in the flat surfaces, which were zigzag and contained catchment basins to control the water velocity. Probably the upper system was open. Manholes provided access to parts that were covered. Some links to photographs of parts of

210-458: A Roman colony placed just to the north of, and politically including, Kephala. The Romans believed they were the first to colonize Knossos. In 325, Knossos became a diocese , suffragan of the metropolitan see of Gortyna . In Ottoman Crete , the see of Knossos was in Agios Myron , 14 km to the southwest. The bishops of Gortyn continued to call themselves bishops of Knossos until

280-426: A closed system leading to a sewer apart from the hill. The queen's megaron contained an example of the first known water-flushing system latrine adjoining the bathroom. This toilet was a seat over a drain that was flushed by pouring water from a jug. The bathtub located in the adjoining bathroom similarly had to be filled by someone heating, carrying, and pouring water, and must have been drained by overturning into

350-468: A coat decorated with a pattern of scales or scallops. He carries a long staff curved at the bottom, and seems to be leading the group. There is also a man with a sistrum , a rattle-like musical instrument, who has his mouth wide open, and may be singing. This is the only known depiction of a sistrum in Minoan art. Behind him come four men wearing cloaks, who also have their mouths wide open. One figure near

420-540: 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 undertook more extensive excavations which unearthed most of

490-428: A drainage system. A theatre was found at Knossos that would have held 400 spectators (an earlier one has been found at Phaestos). The orchestral area was rectangular, unlike later Athenian models, and they were probably used for religious dances. Building techniques at Knossos were typical. The foundations and lower course were stonework with the whole built on a timber framework of beams and pillars. The main structure

560-423: A monumental staircase leading to state rooms on an upper floor. A ritual cult centre was on the ground floor. The palace stores occupied sixteen rooms, the main feature in these being the pithoi that were large storage jars up to five feet tall. They were mainly used for storage of oil, wool, wine, and grain. Smaller and more valuable objects were stored in lead-lined cists . The palace had bathrooms, toilets, and

630-596: A research centre. He ran other important excavations on newly independent Crete, at Praisos , between 1901 and 1902, and initiated the School's major campaigns at Sparta on the Greek mainland. In 1906, he became the first Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Liverpool. Bosanquet’s first Romano-British excavations were at the fort of Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall in 1898. He organised fieldwork on

700-424: A second hole at the bottom for ritual drinking or libation , that was stopped with a finger until a flow was required. It was probably originally coated with gold leaf , in whole or part. The surviving fragments of the neck and shoulder measure approximately 4 inches (10 centimetres) in height, while the diameter of the vase is 4.5 inches (11 centimetres) at its greatest. The vase was made in three parts, of which

770-506: A second storey was present. The presence of the house, which is unlikely to have been a private residence like the others, suggests a communal or public use; i.e., it may have been the predecessor of a palace. In the Late or Final Neolithic (two different but overlapping classification systems, around 4000–3000 BC), the population increased dramatically. It is believed that the first Cretan palaces were built soon after c.  2000 BC , in

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840-490: A wooden throne. Both rooms are located in the ceremonial complex on the west of the central court. The throne is flanked by the Griffin Fresco, with two griffins couchant (lying down) facing the throne, one on either side. Griffins were important mythological creatures, also appearing on seal rings , which were used to stamp the identities of the bearers into pliable material, such as clay or wax. The actual use of

910-628: Is common to the Mediterranean. While Greek columns are smaller at the top and wider at the bottom to create the illusion of greater height ( entasis ), the Minoan columns are smaller at the bottom and wider at the top, a result of inverting the cypress trunk to prevent sprouting once in place. The columns at the Palace of Minos were plastered, painted red and mounted on stone bases with round, pillow-like capitals . The palace at Knossos used considerable amounts of colour, as were Greek buildings in

980-528: Is currently known, it was William Stillman, the American consul who published Kalokairinos' discoveries, who, seeing the sign of the double axe ( labrys ) on the massive walls partly uncovered by Kalokairinos, first associated the complex with the labyrinth of legend, calling the ruins "labyrinthine." Evans agreed with Stillman. The myth of the Minotaur tells that Theseus , a prince from Athens, whose father

1050-628: Is located at the confluence of two streams called the Vlychia and the Kairatos , which would have provided drinking water to the ancient inhabitants. Looming over the right bank of the Vlychia, on the opposite shore from Knossos, is Gypsades Hill, on whose eastern side the Minoans quarried their gypsum. Though it was surrounded by the town of Knossos, this hill was never an acropolis in the Greek sense. It had no steep heights, remained unfortified, and

1120-597: Is probably by the same artist, perhaps working at the nearby palatial site of Knossos . The third is known as the "Boxer Vase". The rhyton was made during the Neopalatial period of Minoan civilisation, around 1550 to 1500 BC. It was found at the "palace" of Hagia Triada in central Crete. It is made from steatite in the form of an ostrich egg ; this was a rare and exotic object in the Bronze Age Mediterranean, used to make rhyta. It would have had

1190-483: Is probably by the same artist, perhaps working at the nearby palatial site of Knossos . The third is known as the "Boxer Vase". The site of Hagia Triada was excavated from 1902 by the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens , under the directorship of the archaeologists Frederico Halbherr and Roberto Paribeni  [ de ] . The Harvester Vase was discovered during experimental excavations in 1902, in

1260-488: Is suggested that they followed eastern models such as those at Ugarit on the Syrian coast and Mari on the upper Euphrates. The early palaces were destroyed during Middle Minoan II, sometime before c.  1700 , almost certainly by earthquakes to which Crete is prone. By c.  1650 , they had been rebuilt on a grander scale and the period of the second palaces ( c.  1650  – c.  1450 ) marks

1330-721: The British School at Athens in the 1901–1902 edition of Archaeology in Greece , an annual report of archaeological discoveries published by the Journal of Hellenic Studies . It was formally published in 1903, in a find report by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Savignoni entitled Il Vaso di Hagia Triada ('The Vase of Hagia Triada'). A replica of the vase, made by the Swiss artist Émile Gilliéron around 1907–1908 and donated by

1400-940: The Chremonidean War (267–261 BC), the Ptolemies were not able to unify the warring city states. In the third century BC Knossos expanded its power to dominate almost the entire island, but during the Lyttian War in 220 BC it was checked by a coalition led by the Polyrrhenians and the Macedonian king Philip V . Twenty years later, during the Cretan War (205–200 BC) , the Knossians were once more among Philip's opponents and, through Roman and Rhodian aid, this time they managed to liberate Crete from

1470-504: The Early Neolithic (6000–5000 BC), a village of 200–600 persons occupied most of the area of the later palace and the slopes to the north and west. Residents lived in one- or two-room square houses of mud-brick walls set on socles of stone, either field stone or recycled stone artifacts. The inner walls were lined with mud-plaster. The roofs were flat, composed of mud over branches. The residents dug hearths at various locations in

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1540-615: The Middle Neolithic (5000–4000 BC), housed 500–1000 people in more substantial and presumably more family-private homes. Construction was the same, except the windows and doors were timbered, a fixed, raised hearth occupied the centre of the main room, and pilasters and other raised features (cabinets, beds) occupied the perimeter. Under the palace was the Great House, a 100 m (1,100 sq ft) area stone house divided into five rooms with meter-thick walls suggesting

1610-722: The Mycenaean world as an apotropaic mark : its presence on an object would prevent it from being "killed". Axes were scratched on many of the stones of the palace. It appears in pottery decoration and is a motif of the Shrine of the Double Axes at the palace, as well as of many shrines throughout Crete and the Aegean . And finally, it appears in Linear B on Knossos Tablet Gg702 as da-pu 2 -ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja, which probably represents

1680-575: The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales , which played an influential role in the direction of twentieth-century archaeology in the country. Robert Carr Bosanquet was born in London on 7 June 1871, the son of Charles Bertie Pulleine Bosanquet, of Rock Hall , Alnwick , Northumberland. He was educated at Eton College and at Trinity College, Cambridge , where he

1750-532: The Bronze Age site is supported by the Roman coins that were scattered over the fields surrounding the pre-excavation site, then a large mound named Kephala Hill , elevation 85 m (279 ft) from current sea level. Many of them were inscribed with Knosion or Knos on the obverse and an image of a Minotaur or Labyrinth on the reverse. The coins came from the Roman settlement of Colonia Julia Nobilis Cnossus ,

1820-594: The Macedonian influence. With Roman aid, Knossos became once more the first city of Crete, but, in 67 BC, the Roman Senate chose Gortys as the capital of the newly created province Creta et Cyrene . In 36 BC, Knossos became a Roman colony named Colonia Iulia Nobilis . The colony, which was built using Roman-style architecture , was situated within the vicinity of the palace, but only a small part of it has been excavated. The identification of Knossos with

1890-469: The Minotaur, Ariadne gave him a ball of thread which he unwound as he went into the Labyrinth so that he could find his way back by following it. Theseus killed the Minotaur, and then he and Ariadne fled from Crete, escaping her angry father. As it turns out, there probably was an association of the word labyrinth , whatever its etymology, with ancient Crete. The sign of the double axe was used throughout

1960-492: The Mycenaean Greek, Daburinthoio potniai , "to the mistress of the Labyrinth," recording the distribution of one jar of honey. A credible theory uniting all the evidence has yet to be formulated. Knossos appears in other later legends and literature. Herodotus wrote that Minos , the legendary king of Knossos, established a thalassocracy (sea empire). Thucydides accepted the tradition and added that Minos cleared

2030-622: The Roman military sites of Caerleon and Caersws for the short-lived Committee for Excavation and Research in Wales and the Marches, alongside Myres, who was then his colleague at Liverpool. This work helped set the research agenda for much of the following century. He was a founder-commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales , which recorded archaeological discoveries in Wales, running alongside his Welsh fieldwork of 1908–1909. He helped to visit and synthesise

2100-466: The West Wing in the winter of 1878-1879. The British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941) and his team began long-term evacuations from 1900 to 1913, and from 1922 to 1930. Its size far exceeded his original expectations, as did the discovery of two ancient scripts, which he termed Linear A and Linear B , to distinguish their writing from the pictographs also present. From the layering of

2170-570: The ancient geographer Strabo the Knossians colonized the city of Brundisium in Italy. In 343 BC, Knossos was allied with Philip II of Macedon . The city employed a Phocian mercenary named Phalaikos against their enemy, the city of Lyttus . The Lyttians appealed to the Spartans who sent their king Archidamus III against the Knossians. In Hellenistic times Knossos came under Egyptian influence, but despite considerable military efforts during

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2240-611: The archaeologist Gisela Richter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York reconstructs the total height at 18.4 cm (7.2 in). Knossos Knossos (pronounced /( k ə ) ˈ n ɒ s oʊ s , - s ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Κνωσσός , romanized :  Knōssós , pronounced [knɔː.sós] ; Linear B : 𐀒𐀜𐀰 Ko-no-so ) is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete . The site

2310-820: The archaeology of many counties through the Commission's Inventories and developed an interest in hillfort archaeology. The archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler , who knew him and was in a sense Bosanquet's successor in Wales, situated his own early excavations "in direct line of descent from those instituted by [Bosanquet] and the Liverpool Committee". After wartime service between 1915 and 1917 in hospital organisation and relief work in Albania, Corfu and Salonica , Bosanquet retired from teaching at Liverpool in 1920. He lived in his retirement in Rock , Northumbria, in

2380-481: The centre of the main room. This village had an unusual feature: one house under the West Court contained eight rooms and covered 50 m (540 sq ft). The walls were at right angles and the door was centred. Large stones were used for support under points of greater stress. The fact that distinct sleeping cubicles for individuals was not the custom suggests storage units of some sort. The settlement of

2450-527: The classical period. In the EM Period, the walls and pavements were coated with a pale red derived from red ochre. In addition to the background colouring, the walls displayed fresco panel murals , entirely of red. In the subsequent MM Period, with the development of the art, white and black were added, and then blue, green, and yellow. The pigments were derived from natural materials, such as ground hematite . Outdoor panels were painted on fresh stucco with

2520-597: The early part of the Middle Minoan period, at Knossos and other sites including Malia , Phaestos and Zakro . These palaces, which were to set the pattern of organisation in Crete and Greece through the second millennium, were a sharp break from the Neolithic village system that had prevailed thus far. The building of the palaces implies greater wealth and a concentration of authority, both political and religious. It

2590-509: The end of the procession appears to have fallen: the archaeologist Sinclair Hood suggests that he may be helping another figure, whom Hood interpreted as perhaps having fallen down through drunkenness. Hood praised the vase's artwork for its "impression of vital, rhythmic movement", though exactly what it shows has been much argued about. The vase's discoverers considered the men in depicted upon it to be warriors, but this interpretation has been less popular with later writers. Hood wrote that

2660-456: The height of Minoan prosperity. All the palaces had large central courtyards which may have been used for public ceremonies and spectacles. Living quarters, storage rooms and administrative centres were positioned around the court and there were also working quarters for skilled craftsmen. The palace of Knossos was by far the largest, covering three acres with its main building alone and five acres when separate out-buildings are considered. It had

2730-433: The lowest is missing and has been replaced in modern times with undecorated plaster. Around the widest part runs a relief of a procession, perhaps a dance, of 27 men. This is cut off at the level of their legs, but presumably was continued on the missing lowest section. Most of the men are young and dressed in the same way, with short kilts and "flat roll-brimmed caps". Exceptions are an older-looking man with long hair and

2800-403: The main body of the "rank and file" carry "curious three-pronged poles" over their shoulders and have "bag-like objects" around their knees. This equipment has been much discussed, and is often taken as representing kit for either sowing or harvesting and threshing cereal crops. The scene has also been interpreted as a harvest celebration, probably with a religious element. Dieter Rumpel considers

2870-400: The mainland. Greek became the administrative language and the material culture shows parallels with Mycenaean styles, for instance in the architecture of tombs and styles of pottery. Around 1350 BC, the palace was destroyed and not rebuilt. The building was ravaged by a fire which triggered the collapse of the upper stories. It is not known whether this final destruction was intentional or

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2940-423: The motif in relief; indoor, on fresh, pure plaster, softer than the plaster with additives ordinarily used on walls. The decorative motifs were generally bordered scenes: humans , legendary creatures , animals , rocks, vegetation, and marine life. The earliest imitated pottery motifs. Most have been reconstructed from various numbers of flakes fallen to the floor. Evans had various technicians and artists work on

3010-484: The nineteenth century. The diocese was abolished in 1831. During the ninth century AD the local population shifted to the new town of Chandax (modern Heraklion ). By the thirteenth century, it was called the Makruteikhos 'Long Wall'. In its modern history , the name Knossos is used only for the archaeological site. It was extensively excavated by Arthur Evans in the early 20th century, and Evans' residence at

3080-524: The north of England. He became a respected local archaeologist, but published little of his great store of knowledge on the nature and date of Roman imports north of the frontiers in Britain, Holland, Germany and Denmark. He wrote to his son Charles in 1927: "That the attraction of this place and its tradition is strong, is proved by the curious way in which, for three generations, we have given up very different occupations to settle here; but I think that R.W.B.

3150-527: The northern part of the palace's west wing, in a room with alabaster covering its walls and floor and with benches along its sides. The room, on the ground floor, originally contained wooden beams which supported a ceiling and a second floor; the vase is believed to have fallen from this second floor when the palace was destroyed. The vase's discovery was first announced in scholarship by the British archaeologists M. N. Tod and Robert Carr Bosanquet , director of

3220-447: The oldest known settlement in Crete. Radiocarbon dating has suggested dates around 7,030-6,780 BCE. The initial settlement was a hamlet of 25–50 people who lived in wattle and daub huts, kept animals, grew crops, and, in the event of tragedy, buried their children under the floor. Remains from this period are concentrated in the area which would later become the central court of the palace, suggesting continuity in ritual activity. In

3290-408: The palace and civilization as it was, but were creating a modern artifact based on contemporary art and architecture. The centrepiece of the "Minoan" palace was the so-called Throne Room or Little Throne Room, dated to LM II . This chamber has an alabaster seat which Evans referred to as a " throne " built into the north wall. On three sides of the room are gypsum benches. On the south side of

3360-645: The palace as well as many now-famous artifacts including the Bull-Leaping Fresco , the snake goddess figurines , and numerous Linear B tablets. While Evans is often credited for discovering the Minoan Civilization, his work is controversial in particular for his inaccurate and irreversible reconstructions of architectural remains at the site. Knossos was settled around 7000 BC during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic , making it

3430-505: The palace, Evans developed an archaeological concept of the civilization that used it, which he called Minoan, following the pre-existing custom of labelling all objects from the location Minoan. Since their discovery, the ruins have been the centre of excavation, tourism, and occupation as a headquarters by governments warring over the control of the eastern Mediterranean in two world wars. John Davies Evans (no relation to Arthur Evans) undertook further excavations in pits and trenches over

3500-427: The palace, focusing on the Neolithic. The palace at Knossos was continuously renovated and modified throughout its existence. The currently visible palace is an accumulation of features from various periods, alongside modern reconstructions which are often inaccurate. Thus, the palace was never exactly as it appears today. Like other Minoan palaces, Knossos was arranged around a rectangular central court. This court

3570-550: The palaces, often produced elsewhere in Crete. Pottery at Knossos is prolific, heavily-decorated and uniquely-styled by period. In Minoan chronology , the standard relative chronology is largely based on pottery styles and is thus used to assign dates to layers of the palace. The palace had at least three separate water-management systems: one for supply, one for drainage of runoff, and one for drainage of waste water. Aqueducts brought fresh water to Kephala hill from springs at Archanes , about 10 km away. Springs there are

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3640-495: The parson, C.B. P.B. the social reformer and R.C.B. the archaeologist, would have done better work here if they had spent more of their lives in the North, and had a business training into the bargain … Bosanquet died in 1935. His obituaries focused chiefly on his character and on his pre- and post-Liverpool activities. He married Ellen Sophia Hodgkin (1875–1965), a history graduate of Somerville College, Oxford and daughter of

3710-407: The paving would not have been optimal for the animals or the people, and that the restricted access points would have kept the spectacle too far out of public view. The 6 acres (24,000 m ) of the palace included a theater, a main entrance on each of its four cardinal faces, and extensive storerooms. The palace was built on Kephala Hill , 5 km (3.1 mi) south of the coast. The site

3780-472: The practicability of the three-pronged implements for the various agricultural tasks proposed for them, and concludes that they would not work. He believes that the implements were stabbing weapons used for naval warfare during close-quarter fighting between boats. The vase is similar in shape to another vase, found at Zakros in eastern Crete, made from painted clay. Two other Minoan stone vases with figural scenes were found at Hagia Triada. The "Chieftain Cup"

3850-697: The project, some artists, some chemists, and restorers. The symmetry and use of templates made possible a degree of reconstruction beyond what was warranted by only the flakes. For example, if evidence of the use of a certain template existed scantily in one place, the motif could be supplied from the template found somewhere else. Like the contemporary murals in the funerary art of the Egyptians, certain conventions were used that also assisted prediction. For example, male figures are shown with darker or redder skin than female figures. Some archaeological authors have objected that Evans and his restorers were not discovering

3920-475: The result of a natural disaster such as an earthquake. While parts of the palace may have been used for later ceremonies and the town of Knossos saw a resurgence around 1200 BC, the building and its associated institutions were never restored. After the Bronze Age, the town of Knossos continued to be occupied. By 1000 BC, it had reemerged as one of the most important centres of Crete. The city had two ports, one at Amnisos and another at Heraklion . According to

3990-492: The room and the throne is unclear. Robert Carr Bosanquet Robert Carr Bosanquet (1871–1935) was a British archaeologist, who excavated in the Aegean and in Britain. He was the first Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Liverpool , teaching there from 1906 to 1920. He was particularly significant to the archaeology of Wales, excavating at the Roman sites of Caerleon and Caersws and founding

4060-504: The sea of pirates, increased the flow of trade and colonised many Aegean islands. Other literature describes Rhadamanthus as the mythological lawgiver of Crete. Cleinias of Crete attributes to him the tradition of Cretan gymnasia and common meals in Book I of Plato's Laws , and describes the logic of the custom as enabling a constant state of war readiness. The site of Knossos was identified by Minos Kalokairinos , who excavated parts of

4130-484: The site served as a military headquarters during World War II . Knossos is now situated in the expanding suburbs of Heraklion. In Greek mythology, King Minos dwelt in a palace at Knossos. He had Daedalus construct a labyrinth , a very large maze in which to retain his son, the Minotaur . Daedalus also built a dancing floor for Queen Ariadne . The name "Knossos" was subsequently adopted by Arthur Evans. As far as

4200-409: The source of the Kairatos river, in the valley in which Kephala is located. The aqueduct branched to the palace and to the town. Water was distributed at the palace by gravity feed through terracotta pipes to fountains and spigots. The pipes were tapered at one end to make a pressure fit, with rope for sealing. Unlike Mycenae , no hidden springs have been discovered. Sanitation drainage was through

4270-460: The throne room there is a feature called a lustral basin , so-called because Evans found remains of unguent flasks inside it and speculated that it had been used as part of an annointing ritual. The room was accessed from an anteroom through double doors. The anteroom was connected to the central court, which was four steps up through four doors. The anteroom had gypsum benches also, with carbonized remains between two of them thought possibly to be

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4340-414: The water-collection-management system follow. Due to its placement on the hill, the palace received sea breezes during the summer. It had porticoes and air shafts. The palace also includes the Minoan column, a structure notably different from Greek columns . Unlike the stone columns that are characteristic of Greek architecture, the Minoan column was constructed from the trunk of a cypress tree, which

4410-570: 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

4480-551: Was a member of the Pitt Club . Admitted in 1892 as a student at the British School at Athens (BSA) – where he was an approximate contemporary of the archaeologist John Linton Myres  – he was among the first to lead excavations at the Minoan seaside town of Palaikastro on Crete, from 1902 to 1905. He also served as Assistant Director and then Director, from 1900 to 1906, of the BSA, during one of its productive periods as

4550-475: Was an ancient Greek king named Aegeus , the basis for the name of the Greek sea (the Aegean Sea), sailed to Crete, where he was forced to fight a terrible creature called the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a half man, half bull, and was kept in the Labyrinth – a building like a maze – by King Minos, the ruler of Crete. The king's daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus. Before he entered the Labyrinth to fight

4620-661: Was built of large, unbaked bricks. The roof was flat with a thick layer of clay over brushwood. Internal rooms were brightened by light-wells and columns of wood, many fluted, were used to lend both support and dignity. The chambers and corridors were decorated with frescoes showing scenes from everyday life and scenes of processions. Warfare is conspicuously absent. The fashions of the time may be seen in depictions of women in various poses. They had elaborately dressed hair and wore long dresses with flounced skirts and puffed sleeves. Their bodices were tightly drawn in round their waists and their breasts were exposed. The prosperity of Knossos

4690-439: Was not very high off the surrounding ground. The Royal Road is the last vestige of a Minoan road that connected the port to the palace complex. Today a modern road, Leoforos Knosou, built over or replacing the ancient roadway, serves that function and continues south. The palace had extensive storage magazines which were used for agricultural commodities as well as tableware. Enormous sets of high quality tableware were stored in

4760-598: Was primarily based upon the development of native Cretan resources such as oil, wine, and wool. Another factor was the expansion of trade, evidenced by Minoan pottery found in Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, Rhodes, the Cyclades, Sicily, and mainland Greece. There seem to have been strong Minoan connections with Rhodes, Miletus, and Samos. Cretan influence may be seen in the earliest scripts found in Cyprus. The main market for Cretan wares

4830-440: Was the Cyclades where there was a demand for pottery, especially the stone vases. It is not known whether the islands were subject to Crete or just trading partners, but there certainly was strong Cretan influence. Around 1450 BC, the palaces at Malia, Phaestos, and Zakros were destroyed, leaving Knossos as the sole surviving palace on Crete. In this final period, Knossos seems to have been influenced or perhaps ruled by people from

4900-500: Was twice as long north-south as it was east-west, an orientation that would have maximized sunlight, and positioned important rooms towards the rising sun. The central court is believed to have been used for rituals and festivals. One of these festivals is believed to be depicted in the Grandstand Fresco . Some scholars have suggested that bull-leaping would have taken place in the courts, though others have argued that

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