The Minoans: A Civilization of Bronze Age Crete

The Minoans were a civilization who flourished during the Bronze Age in the Aegean, and originated from the island of Crete. The #Minoans were a strong maritime entity and traded throughout the Aegean, primarily with the early Mycenaeans on mainland Greece, and with Egypt. #Knossos is a well known site which was excavated by Arthur Evans. The frescoes which survived have become iconic, such as the bull leaping fresco and the dolphin fresco.

Crete is best known in Greek Mythology as the home of King Minos, his wife Pasiphae, their daughters Ariadne and Phaedra and Pasiphae's child, The Minotaur. Daedalus created the labyrinth to hold the Minotaur which was killed by the hero Theseus.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Who were the Minoans?
1:40 The Destruction of the Cretan Palaces
2:46 The Eruption of Thera
4:15 Religion and Craftsmanship
5:50 The Minoans in Mythology
8:10 The Legacy of the Minoans

Want to Learn More About the Minoans? Check Out Some of Our Articles:

Intrigued about the Story of Theseus, the Minotaur and the Labyrinth? Read More About it Here:

The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:

Free Logo Reveal Graphics by Zhoomart

Transitions by LenoFX

IMAGES:
Bibi Saint-Pol
CC BY-SA 4.0
Carole Raddato
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Mark Cartwright
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Wolfgang Sauber
Public Domain
Carole Raddato
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Unknown artist
Public domain
Mark Cartwright
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Mark Cartwright
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Carole Raddato
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
NASA
Public Domain
Marsyas
GNU Free Documentation License
Bibi Saint-Pol
Public Domain
Jastrow
Public Domain
NASA
Public Domain
Unknown Author
CC BY 4.0
Sharon Molleru
CC BY 2.0
Zde
CC BY-SA 4.0
Bernard Gagnon
CC BY-SA 3.0
O H 237
CC BY-SA 4.0
C messier 
CC BY-SA 4.0
vintagedept
C BY 2.0
CC BY 4.0
Mark Cartwright
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Wolfgang Sauber
CC BY-SA 3.0
Mmoyaq
CC BY-SA 3.0
Jebulon
CC0
Shawn Appel
Public Domain
Yosh Ginsu
Public Domain

[WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Where do you think Linear A originated from? Do you think it will ever be deciphered? Let us know in the comments! We hope you enjoy, and learn!

[noelrunyan]

I just started teaching an Ancient History class for my 14 year-old students and y'all have been a fantastic resource for all of us-- thanks so much for all your work!

[rosieposie]

this was such a fantastic video!! thank you all at ancient history encyclopedia for all of the wonderful resources!<3

[ritaroberts]

Interesting video Thank you.  I have just finished my thesis for the study of Linear B so am familiar with Knossos and other palaces.  I hope someday the Linear A scripts will be deciphered as there are many scholars who are attempting to do just that.

[voiceactorofdovakiin]

A tip for AHE: show more media of the content related to the video, don't worry about showing the host to much. I prefer to have the cretan map shown for longer time and having a better picture of what the Minoans were than looking at the, undeniably, beautiful woman.

[MrReed-rvfe]

Research that I have read suggests the origin of the Minoans was Anatolia. Language and writing, like Linear A, is a fascinating topic that can help us understand origins and migration.

[sorrowmul]

Wow this Was really interesting! I have never got so detailed input about the minoans. Are there any dimentions of the pieces in the museum?

[donaldmackerer]

I always wondered about that ever since I visited Knossos in 1968. I wondered if they ever compared Linear B with ancient Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphs. Could it be a mixture of the two? If so maybe that could help decipher linear a.

[kimberlyperrotis]

Ariadne is mis-spelled in the captions.

[theoorval]

I beg to differ at the statement at 7:00, claiming that Minos required 14 human sacrifices from Athens AFTER Theseus had killed the Minotaur. This is turning mythology back to front, as the sacrifices were required FOR the Minotaur.

[towardstruth]

Minoan's script is somewhat similar to Harrappan script. Both time period are contemporary too. Both had bull figures too.
In Indian mythology the story of Gokarna resembles Minotaur in physical features but was opposite in character.

[bluelithium]

Pretty good look. 3500 bce is when we recognize them as a distinct civilization not 2000. Also, the last third of the video was a look at Greek mythology with no documented historical fact with the Minoans (labyrinth, King Minos, etc.) The Minoans civilization predated the Greeks by centuries if not a millennium.

[donaldmackerer]

Could the minoan scripts B pictographic ideaograms of syllables representing ideas? Somewhat like ancient Chinese was.

[voiceactorofdovakiin]

I just conquered these dudes in Troy TW.

[coryman]

Women were also prominent in the Egyptian civilization and Roman too

[Dreadboi]

Why pertray the women pale and the men dark....give some context to this. Either they were dark. Or the idolized dark skin, their ancestors

[lt.presto]

YO are these the people that made Minnesota. I was walking up there one time and some greeks tried to put a bag on my head and next thing I knew I was at the burger king drive through ordering chorrus.

[ZimbaZumba]

Listened to 30secs and ducked out. Didn't want another lecture on you know what.

[ranapratapsingh]

There are several Vedic Sanskrit inscriptions in Crete Island.