Minoan

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture that arose on the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean. Flourishing roughly from 2700 to 1450 BCE, it took its name from the legendary King Minos in Greek myth, though the people themselves did not use that label.

Archaeological work, notably by Sir Arthur Evans in the early 20th century, identified a cluster of large palace complexes at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, and Zakros. These palaces were centers of administration, religion, and craft, featuring multistory buildings, storage magazines, drainage systems, and light wells. The material culture shows a vibrant art scene with frescoes, intricate pottery, seal stones, and figurines.

Economy appears to have been based on a centralized palace economy that managed resources and redistribution across island communities. Minoan traders reached Egypt, the Levant, and other parts of the Aegean, helping disseminate styles and technologies. Writing systems include Linear A, which remains undeciphered, and later Linear B, used by the Mycenaeans on Crete and elsewhere, which has been deciphered as an early form of Greek.

Religious life is inferred from cult items such as goddesses, bull imagery, and snake figurines, as well as ritual scenes depicted in frescoes, including bull-leaping motifs.

Toward the end of the Bronze Age, around 1450 BCE, many palaces were destroyed or abandoned. The causes are debated and likely involve a combination of natural disasters, such as the Santorini eruption, and Mycenaean expansion from the mainland. By about 1100 BCE, Minoan political centers had declined, and the culture gradually merged into the broader Greek world.