Discover what Minoan culture was like in Crete

The history of greece takes us centuries ago, before the well-known Athens and Sparta, to a series of civilizations older, less known but whose influence has made our society the way it is in the present. One of these civilizations is the Minoan, the first European civilization of the Copper Age, and the forerunner of many of the characteristics of later Greek peoples. To get to know this great civilization, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to talk about what the Minoan culture was like in Crete.

The Minoan civilization is considered as the first european civilization of history, having a presence during the Copper Age and the Bronze Age. This civilization was for centuries a great power, being the political center of the Aegean Sea.

This culture is not only called Minoan, but depending on the source we consult we can speak of other denominations, such as Cretan or Aegeanwhile its citizens were called keftiu, its translation being something similar to "men of the islands".

We must locate the Minoan civilization on the island of crete, south of Aegean Sea, and southeast of Greece. Therefore, it is located in a privileged area, located between three continents, which was a great value. for trade, having an unbeatable situation to negotiate with the states of the three continents.

To continue with this lesson on what the Minoan culture was like in Crete, we must comment on some of its characteristics thanks to which we will be able to see the great influence it had on later civilizations. Some of its characteristics are the following:

• The Cretans were great navigators and merchants. They traded with the Egyptians and with the inhabitants of other islands in the Aegean Sea. Their great variety of commercial partners was due to their great geographical position, which allowed them good communications with many other states.
• They mainly traded with ceramics, this being one of the elements that has survived to this day. Other items they traded with were gold and bronze jewelry.
• His writing began as hieroglyphic, but with the passage of time it evolved to become the Linear A, a syllabic language. This language would later be modified by the Mycenaeans, creating the Linear B, which would evolve in the first dialects of Greek.
• They had a great cultural development, evolving the music of the time, and creating the lyre.
• The Minoan religion it was very special, being very based on vegetation gods, which had cycles of death and rebirth. Its main gods were female, so it is recognized as a matriarchal pantheon.
• His pantheon was influential for the later Greeks, existing in the Minoan religion gods that later were greek, for example Zeus and Demeter.
• One of the most famous elements of Minoan culture was the palaces, some of them being unique for the time. Some important palaces were that of Phaestos and Malia, although the most famous is that of Knossos.

Minoan civilization existed for many years, so to know its long history we must talk about the different phases it went through, in order to see its evolution. The different phases of Cretan history are as follows:

• Ancient Minoan: The first phase is characterized by the fact that the Cretans had not yet built their famous palaces. They already trade with other great peoples of the time, but their evolution was not great enough to require palaces.
• Middle Minoan: Trade is increased thanks to maritime improvements, so culture evolves, creating palaces to centralize the administration. In this period writing also appears, being very important for the development of trade.
• Neopalatial Minoan: In this stage, the greatest moment of splendor of the Minoan culture is reached, being one of the main commercial states of the time. New cities are founded, and palaces larger than the previous ones are created.
• Postpalacial Minoan: Some of the palaces are destroyed, not being clear what were the causes of this destruction. The palaces are not rebuilt, which shows that the economy of the Cretans was beginning to decline.
• Submino: The Dorians begin to arrive in the area, and the Minoan culture is declining. The palaces are destroyed by unknown causes, and the Minoan culture ends up disappearing.