The earliest civilization that appeared in Greece was Minoan civilization in Aegean Sea, and its existence lasted from about 3000 BC to about 1450 BC. We know very little about Minos, and even this name is just a modern name, the legendary king Minos from Crete. They seem to belong to the pre-Indo-European family; Their language, Minos, may be written in the unread linear character A; They are mainly sea merchants. Although the reason for their decline is ominous, it is certain that they were eventually invaded and ruled by Mycenae in the Greek mainland. Middle and late culture in Crete, Greece. Also known as Crete culture or Crete civilization. It began in 1900 BC and ended in 1450 BC when Crete was occupied by Mycenae. "Minoan civilization" comes from ancient Greek mythology, Minos, the wise king of Crete. It is the earliest ancient civilization in Europe and the predecessor of Greek classical civilization. It is famous for its exquisite palace architecture, murals, pottery and handicrafts.

Minoan culture first developed from Neolithic culture in Crete. Around 2000 BC, the Minoan settlement of Crete began to build cities. As a result, foreign immigrants have increased. They chose the fertile eastern part of the temperate zone, established agricultural villages and began to use bronzes. From about the middle of this period (about 2300 BC-2 BC100 BC), the use of bronzes became more common, and bronze triangular daggers, copper saws, bronze double axes for sacrifice and exquisite gold ornaments appeared.

The ties with Egypt have also been greatly strengthened. Pottery, stone carving vessels, ivory carvings, lithographs and original pictures and characters have all been transformed into hieroglyphics, which reflect the influence of Egypt.

The primitive commune system in Crete began to collapse at the end of this period (about 265438 BC+000-2000 BC). In the clan, you can already see a relatively wealthy family. They not only have the means of production, but also have a large number of luxury items such as gold ornaments. Private printing has been used in pottery and various daily utensils, reflecting the considerable development of private ownership.

From the form of tombs and houses, from the early Crete culture to the middle of the late Crete culture, that is, from 2600 BC to 1450 BC, the residents of Crete basically belong to the same race and culture, and scholars call them ancient Crete or Minoan. Their language and writing are different from those of the Greeks who invaded later, but their ethnic relations are still uncertain.

Around 2000 BC, the earliest slave country appeared in Crete. At present, it is impossible to understand the specific process or characteristics of the Crete class state. The formation of the country is mainly inferred from the results of archaeological excavations. At that time, there were palace buildings of different sizes in several places on the island, among which the palace buildings in Knosas in the north of the island and Fei Gester in the south of the island were the most magnificent. From BC 1900 to BC 1700, Knossos and feaster developed a high level of culture. Palace architecture, the post road from Knossos to feaster Plain, bronze smelting, long-handled bronze swords with ridges, thin-shell pottery, painted pottery known as "Camarius style", early hieroglyphics, etc. , all marked the highly developed level of culture at that time. Handicrafts of this period show the influence of the craft style and theme of the 12th dynasty in Egypt. Murals present a unique realistic style.

The earliest slave country may still be an independent small country, and a palace is the ruling center of a small country. Palaces in various places have been destroyed and built repeatedly, which shows that these small countries have had wars with each other and may have had internal uprisings or other disturbances. It can be seen from the limited archaeological materials that the class differentiation within the country is quite fierce. The palace of the ruler is luxurious, but the housing of rural and urban workers is extremely simple.

Among the palace buildings in various places, the palace in Knossos is the most prominent. It was built more and more grandly, reflecting the growing power of the king, the legendary Minoan king. Around BC 1700 and BC 1600, the palace of Knossas was destroyed twice. After each destruction, it was quickly established and the scale was larger than before. In the past hundred years, Crete culture centered on Knossos has also made great progress. Long-handled swords and armor were improved, and hieroglyphics were gradually simplified and replaced by linear characters. This kind of linear character was written in ancient Crete, which is called linear character A, but it has not been successfully interpreted so far.

[Edit this paragraph] The Legend of Labyrinth

According to legend, when King Minos and his brother competed for the throne, he asked Poseidon to give him a pure white bull to prove that he got the throne by divine will. Minos should have dedicated this cow to Poseidon, but he broke his word and sacrificed another cow instead. In a rage, Poseidon made Princess Minos fall in love with the bull and gave birth to a monster with a cow's head, called "MINO Taulos" (meaning Minos' cow).

In order to imprison the monster, King Minos ordered the construction of a maze, which crisscrossed, and outsiders would be swallowed up by the monster if they mistakenly entered it. Later, Minos ordered the Aegean king to pay tribute to seven pairs of virgins every nine years and send them into the maze.

Minos maze structure for minotaurs to eat. In order to save the boys and girls in Athens, Prince theseus of Athens decided to go to Crete and kill MINO Taulos. Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, fell in love with him and gave him a sword and a ball of thread. With the help of this thread and sword, theseus finally killed MINO Taulos and escaped from the maze with the virgin and Princess Ariadne.

At the beginning of the 20th century, British archaeologist Arthur Evans excavated the ruins of Knossos Palace in the northern part of Crete, which was large in scale and vaguely consistent with the legendary maze, representing the achievements of Crete civilization. This palace is the greatest creation of Crete civilization. It is not only the political, religious and cultural center of Minoan dynasty, but also the economic center, because there are many warehouses, workshops, offices for storing economic files and tax collection agencies in the palace. During the new palace period, the last palace was a group of multi-storey buildings around the central courtyard, covering an area of 22,000 square meters. The total number of halls and rooms in the palace exceeds 65,438+0,500. The floors are closely connected, the stairs and corridors are tortuous and complicated, the halls are scattered, the patios are numerous, and the layout is asymmetric, which is difficult for outsiders to find. Therefore, it is called "maze" in ancient Greek myths and legends. It is built on the mountain, with a rectangular courtyard in the center, surrounded by the king's palace, the queen's bedroom, the religious double axe palace, storage room and warehouse. There are cloisters, hallways, many roads and stairs between buildings, and there are thousands of households with twists and turns. It's called a maze. Every palace and promenade is painted with magnificent murals, especially the king and lily. There is a theater in the northwest corner outside the palace, and there are royal villas and mausoleum sites nearby. There are many other historical sites in Crete, which add infinite charm to the island. The linear character A is a continuous character used in ancient Crete. Its cracking is the "holy grail" in archaeology. One of its related characters, linear character B, was deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1950, which proves that it is a form of ancient Greek.

Although many symbols are used in these two languages, the result obtained by applying the linear letter A to the syllable represented by the linear letter B has nothing to do with any known language. This language is named Minos, or Eteocretan. The use time corresponds to Minoan civilization before Mycenae invaded 1450 BC, that is, from 1800 BC to 1450 BC.

The period of the old palace lasted until BC 1700, and a big earthquake destroyed all the palaces on the island. Later, Minoan people rebuilt the palace and entered the "new palace period". The new palace period lasted from 1700 BC to around 1470 BC. During this period, Crete civilization reached its peak in politics, economy and art. Archaeologists discovered many Minoan palaces, towns and villages on the island, and Minoan Palace in Knossos was the largest one. Although little is known about the rulers of Minos so far, scholars don't even know whether Minos refers to a specific king or represents the rulers of a certain dynasty as Evans thought, but one thing is certain, that is, Minos has a high social status.

Organized society, it is in such a unified and coordinated society, created a magical and brilliant Minoan civilization.

At this time, Minos' influence has gone far beyond Crete itself. Minos are good at sailing and have an efficient fleet. The ships in the "New Palace Period" were 100 feet long, and it was easy to cross the Mediterranean. Minos' economy mainly depends on trade, and its overseas trade is very developed. It has established trade relations with Greece, Egypt, West Asia and even the two river basins, mainly exporting olive oil, wine, wood, wool, pottery, jewelry, knives and other items. Minoan handicrafts can be seen everywhere in the eastern Mediterranean, and many metal products from West Asia and North Africa have also been found in the ruins of Minoan. In order to ensure the safety of maritime transportation, Minos also established an invincible fleet to dominate the Mediterranean region. Ancient Greek myths and legends mentioned that Minos had an invincible fleet, and the Aegean region bowed to it one after another, and even Athens once bowed to it. The grand occasion of Minos dominating the Mediterranean is also reflected in Minos' paintings and sculptures. Many works of art are decorated with marine life, which shows the close relationship between Minoan and the ocean. Historically, Minos in this period was also called Minoan hegemony.

The hegemony of Minos made outstanding achievements in architecture, which had a great influence on later Greek architecture. Minos Palace is called "maze". People in ancient times thought that only the mythical craftsman De Darus could design and build such a masterpiece. Most of the houses in the palace buildings are spacious, and there are often only a few columns inside and outside the houses, which is related to the warm climate in Crete. Its lighting system is cleverly arranged, and there is a patio with lighting and ventilation between houses to let light and air enter the room. In each group of houses around the lighting patio, there is a rectangular main room called "Megaron", which means "main hall". This architectural form is often seen in Greek temple buildings (such as the Acropolis) in the future. A large number of columns are also used in palace buildings, and the design of thick columns and thin columns looks very harmonious, which shows that architects at that time have fully considered the visual differences of people. The most amazing thing is the water supply and drainage system of the palace. Water is introduced from the outside. The water pipe is made of durable clay and designed to be small at two ends and large in the middle, which can make full use of the impulse of water to discharge pollutants. There are bathrooms and toilets in the palace, and the sanitary conditions are amazing. No matter from the overall layout or nuances, the Minoan wisdom is everywhere.