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Published: October 11th 2016
We are at Iraklion, on the island of Crete. But as has so often been the case, we are not here to see a modern city, but a truly ancient one: Knossos.
The bronze-age Minoan civilization is one of history's most interesting chapters. Long before the city states of Ancient Greece, long even before Mycenae and the Trojan War, a great civilization arose on the island of Crete. The Minoan civilization lasted over 1500 years, from 2600 to 1100 B.C., but at the zenith of its power and influence, in 1450 B.C., it was catastrophically destroyed and eventually was almost completely forgotten. "Almost" because names like Minos, Arachnea, Theseus and the Minotaur became part of legend. But no one thought that they had any basis in fact...
Until the late19th century, when reports came from European archeologists that interesting finds were being made on Crete. Our friend Schleimann tried to get permission to undertake excavations, but the political climate prevented this. (Crete was still under Turkish control at the time.) It was left to a English archeologist named Arthur Evans, who in 1900 started digging around Knossos. What he discovered was astonishing: an enormous royal palace complex 3 storeys
tall, with beautiful murals, statuary and jewelry. He immediately decided that this was the legendary Minos' palace and baptized the people the Minoans.
We meet our guide Andreas and board the bus to Knossos, near the modern city of Heraklion. Andreas has a degree in archeology and is a walking encyclopedia when it comes the Minoans. He points out that if estimates are accurate, the ancient city of Knossos that spread out from the palace may have had as many as 30,000 residents, making it the largest metropolis of its time.
We enter the archeological site from the west. Certain areas have been partially restored and some areas are still in utter ruin. One interesting thing is that Minoan columns are the opposite of classic Greek, in that their widest part is on the top rather than the bottom. Most were originally made of wood. We proceed inward and upward until we reach the central court, a broad expanse at the very centre of the complex, presumably used for official ceremonies. The presumed throne room lies off the court, entered through an antechamber. The frescos and decorations in this room have been recreated, and so the room appears
to us as if waiting for Minos to enter.
We have some time to wander about on our own. Andreas collects us once again in an area at the north end of the complex believed to have been used as a theatre. It connects to a road that heads west out of the complex. Andreas tells us that this is the oldest paved road in Europe, second oldest in the world (beaten only by Egypt). It even has an underground drainage system under the road. And this is the road that we stroll along to exit from the complex.
We haven't seen much in the way of artifacts and murals, because most of these have been moved to the nearby museum for careful restoration and safekeeping. That is our next stop. The museum is very crowded, with many groups moving through, each one with a guide trying to explain the exhibits and keep his/her flock together. The exhibits are arranged by theme and chronology, so that, for example, one room is devoted to pottery, another to jewelry, and each room traces the development of its theme through the various ages of Knossos and other Minoan cities.
Minoans
had a rich culture that was quite distinct from any other. They had their own set of animalistic gods and goddesses, with the most important animals being snakes and bulls. One of their rituals was bull jumping, where young athletes would vault over the backs of charging bulls, somehow avoiding their sharp horns. The legend of the Minotaur in the labyrinth probably combines the Minoans' worship of bulls with the complicated layout of their palaces. The Minoans also had their own language about which nothing is known. They also developed their own hieroglyphic alphabet and left many written records, but it remains completely undeciphered. Such an intriguing and mysterious civilization!
One of the artefacts I find especially fascinating is a sarcophagus in amazing condition. It has detailed drawings of scenes from everyday life that crystallize the reality of this civilization's existence.
The second floor is devoted to wall murals. The Minoans decorated almost every vertical surface with detailed paintings. The murals have an Egyptian vibe, in that they are strictly two-dimensional, with the people always depicted in profile. Many animals are also represented: bulls and snakes, of course, but also monkeys, fish, dolphins and some mythological animals like
Minoan gold jewelry
Knossos Museum, Heraklion, Cretegriffins. All these enormous murals have been painstaking pieced together from the smashed pieces, and the missing parts of the scenes have been drawn in to help you appreciate their full scope.
We leave the museum and proceed to the nearby town of Heraklion, where we have some time to shop before being bussed back to the ship.
Yet another physically demanding day. We opt for a table by ourselves tonight, as we are not sure whether we have enough strength for intelligent conversation. Entertainment is provided by British singer Petrina Johnson, who is a fine singer and performer. We finish off the evening, as usual, with the B.B. King All-Stars.
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Rose-Marie Fox
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What an extraordinary trip! Thanks for the interesting and informative blog!
It certainly looks like a trip I would love to take. I have been to Italy including Venice, the Amalphi Coast, Capri, etc. but have never been to Greece. So much history!