Crete

Crete

Well, I made it back. It was a great week on Crete. It’s a rugged island with long stretches of scenic beaches. There are definitely worse places to spend a week.

Most of the historical/archaeological remains which interested us were Minoan. The Minoans flourished on Crete from about 3500 to about 1300 BC and are best known for building enormous “palace” structures (we’re not exactly sure how they functioned), but they were around for a long time before and after the Palatial Period. We visited several of these palace sites which are scattered throughout the island. It’s a little disappointing how little remains of what was apparently a very rich, powerful, and well organized civilization. There are little more than foundations at most of these sites, but the archaeologists tell me that these were all 2 story buildings, brightly painted, and paved in gypsum for a dazzling white effect. Minoans were heavily involved in trade throughout the ancient Mediterranean and so their settlements are usually near a harbor; this makes for some pretty spectacular settings.

We can’t really read Minoan writing (called “Linear A” – pretty creative name, eh?); we can make the sounds but have no idea what the words mean. All we have left is the pottery, artifacts, paintings, and buildings. There are some pretty intriguing components of Minoan life.

Judging from the material remains, it is apparent that the Minoans thought bulls, double-axes, trees, and a female goddess with upraised arms (I call her the ‘touchdown goddess’) to be especially important, although how they all fit together in theology or ritual is unclear. The famous ‘bull-jumping’ activity seems to have entailed doing somersaults over a bull, but whether this was a sport, ritual, or just a popular myth is unclear.

I think most archaeologists consider Minoan civilization to have borrowed heavily from the Egyptians. I was personally impressed by the distinctive hand/arm poses which seemed to have some meaning and the apparently sacred tree, which was usually associated with a goddess. It smacks of Asherah from Ancient Near East contexts to me.

There were some Greek and Roman remains on the island as well, but nothing as spectacular as what is found on mainland Crete.

So, enough of me rambling already.
I am going to post some photos for your viewing enjoyment.

[I am going to do them on separate threads since this Greek computer seems to time out quickly and then I lose everything.]