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Hagia Photia

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Hagia Photia (also Ayia Photia, Agia Photia, Greek : Αγιά Φωτιά ) is an archaeological site of a fortified ancient Minoan building on eastern Crete . Sitia lies five kilometers to the west.

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98-521: The building at Hagia Photia has 37 rooms that open onto a central court, but which do not necessarily connect to adjoining rooms. It was originally built in the Middle Minoan period with a surrounding fortification wall. The fortifications are important to note, as so few Minoan settlements have evidence of city walls . Other fortified Minoan settlements are from the Pre-Palatial period, but Hagia Photia

196-461: A floor drain or by bailing. This toilet and bathtub were exceptional structures within the 1,300-room complex. As the hill was periodically drenched by torrential rains, a runoff system was a necessity. It began with channels in the flat surfaces, which were zigzag and contained catchment basins to control the water velocity. Probably the upper system was open. Manholes provided access to parts that were covered. Some links to photographs of parts of

294-452: A Roman colony placed just to the north of, and politically including, Kephala. The Romans believed they were the first to colonize Knossos. In 325, Knossos became a diocese , suffragan of the metropolitan see of Gortyna . In Ottoman Crete , the see of Knossos was in Agios Myron , 14 km to the southwest. The bishops of Gortyn continued to call themselves bishops of Knossos until

392-473: A brief adoption of horned stands in cooking pot production, primarily used during the EM II period. These features have not been identified elsewhere beyond Knossos and surrounding regions. Cups had reduced in size for it to be used by one person. The vast majority of these Minoan tripod cooking pots had deep featured bodies, usually being supported with three legs with either horizontal handles or vertical handles with

490-426: A closed system leading to a sewer apart from the hill. The queen's megaron contained an example of the first known water-flushing system latrine adjoining the bathroom. This toilet was a seat over a drain that was flushed by pouring water from a jug. The bathtub located in the adjoining bathroom similarly had to be filled by someone heating, carrying, and pouring water, and must have been drained by overturning into

588-650: A coming-of-age rite, the Boxer Rhyton (Hagia Triada), showing boxing scenes, the Sanctuary Rhyton , depicting a peak sanctuary to the "mistress of animals" and featuring birds and leaping goats, and others. Around 1450 BCE, the beginning of LM II, the Mycenaean Greeks must have moved into the palace of Knossos. They were well-established by 1400, if the Linear B tablets can be dated to then. The resulting LM II culture

686-533: A cup combined with a funnel-shaped stand could be set on a hard surface without spilling. As the Pyrgos site was a rock shelter used as an ossuary, some hypothesize ceremonial usage]. This type of pottery was black, grey or brown, and burnished, with some sort of incised linear pattern. It may have imitated wood. The EM II era in the Minoan civilization saw the start of tripod cooking pots at places like Knossos, with that came

784-428: A drainage system. A theatre was found at Knossos that would have held 400 spectators (an earlier one has been found at Phaestos). The orchestral area was rectangular, unlike later Athenian models, and they were probably used for religious dances. Building techniques at Knossos were typical. The foundations and lower course were stonework with the whole built on a timber framework of beams and pillars. The main structure

882-423: A monumental staircase leading to state rooms on an upper floor. A ritual cult centre was on the ground floor. The palace stores occupied sixteen rooms, the main feature in these being the pithoi that were large storage jars up to five feet tall. They were mainly used for storage of oil, wool, wine, and grain. Smaller and more valuable objects were stored in lead-lined cists . The palace had bathrooms, toilets, and

980-473: A royal residence. The earliest parts of the palace were built around 1900 BC in an area that had been used for ritual feasting since the Neolithic . The palace was continually renovated and expanded over the next five centuries until its final destruction around 1350 BC. The site was first excavated by Minos Kalokairinos in 1877. In 1900, Arthur Evans undertook more extensive excavations which unearthed most of

1078-502: A second storey was present. The presence of the house, which is unlikely to have been a private residence like the others, suggests a communal or public use; i.e., it may have been the predecessor of a palace. In the Late or Final Neolithic (two different but overlapping classification systems, around 4000–3000 BC), the population increased dramatically. It is believed that the first Cretan palaces were built soon after c.  2000 BC , in

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1176-534: A small opening on the top. They appear to be the most common way to cook. These cooking tripods were made from red firing clay with rock fragments to create the coarse touch that these pots had. The usage of animal goods can be identified in the tripod cooking pots, and the usage of plant byproducts can also be identified. The mixture of both can be found in the tripod cooking pots, but with plant byproducts being more evident than animal byproducts in some instances. There appears to be also found residue of beeswax in

1274-617: A wide variety of richly decorated Minoan pottery . Its restless sequence of quirky maturing artistic styles reveals something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists in assigning relative dates to the strata of their sites. Pots that contained oils and ointments, exported from 18th century BC Crete , have been found at sites through the Aegean islands and mainland Greece , in Cyprus , along coastal Syria and in Egypt , showing

1372-483: A wooden throne. Both rooms are located in the ceremonial complex on the west of the central court. The throne is flanked by the Griffin Fresco, with two griffins couchant (lying down) facing the throne, one on either side. Griffins were important mythological creatures, also appearing on seal rings , which were used to stamp the identities of the bearers into pliable material, such as clay or wax. The actual use of

1470-538: Is a typical all-over leafy decoration, for which first workshop painters begin to be identifiable through their characteristic motifs; as with all Minoan art, no name ever appears. In LMIB, the Marine Style also emerges; in this style, perhaps inspired by frescoes, the entire surface of a pot was covered with sea creatures, octopus, fish and dolphins, against a background of rocks, seaweed and sponges ( Examples 1 , Examples 2 , Examples 3 , Examples 4 ). The Marine Style

1568-617: Is common to the Mediterranean. While Greek columns are smaller at the top and wider at the bottom to create the illusion of greater height ( entasis ), the Minoan columns are smaller at the bottom and wider at the top, a result of inverting the cypress trunk to prevent sprouting once in place. The columns at the Palace of Minos were plastered, painted red and mounted on stone bases with round, pillow-like capitals . The palace at Knossos used considerable amounts of colour, as were Greek buildings in

1666-518: Is currently known, it was William Stillman, the American consul who published Kalokairinos' discoveries, who, seeing the sign of the double axe ( labrys ) on the massive walls partly uncovered by Kalokairinos, first associated the complex with the labyrinth of legend, calling the ruins "labyrinthine." Evans agreed with Stillman. The myth of the Minotaur tells that Theseus , a prince from Athens, whose father

1764-520: Is developing understanding of the details of production. The styles of pottery show considerable regional variation within Crete in many periods. Early Minoan pottery is broadly characterized by a large number of local wares with frequent Cycladic parallels or imports, suggesting a population of checkerboard ethnicity deriving from various locations in the eastern Aegean and beyond. Early Minoan pottery, to some extent, continued, and possibly evolved from,

1862-661: Is located at the confluence of two streams called the Vlychia and the Kairatos , which would have provided drinking water to the ancient inhabitants. Looming over the right bank of the Vlychia, on the opposite shore from Knossos, is Gypsades Hill, on whose eastern side the Minoans quarried their gypsum. Though it was surrounded by the town of Knossos, this hill was never an acropolis in the Greek sense. It had no steep heights, remained unfortified, and

1960-428: Is more free flowing with no distinct zones, because it shows sea creatures as floating, as they would in the ocean. The Marine style was the last purely Minoan style; towards the end of LMIB, all the palaces except Knossos were violently destroyed, as were many of the villas and towns. Dated to LM IA and following also are conical rhyta , or drinking cups, in steatite and also imitated in ceramic. ( Example ) Some of

2058-473: Is not a break with the Minoan past. Minoan traditions continue under a new administration. However, the vase forms and designs became more and more Mycenaean in character with a large variety of decoration. Style names have multiplied and depend to some degree on the author. The names below are only a few of the most common. Some authors just use the name "Mycenaean Koine"; that is, the Late Minoan pottery of Crete

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2156-589: Is of the Old Palatial period. Three apsidal buttresses along the north wall (which faces the sea) and a fourth at the southwest corner of the outer wall are similar to the buttresses on fortification walls at Lerna in the Argolid subregion and Chalandriani cemetery on the Island of Syros . The site was abandoned, and circular structures were built over its ruins. The structures might be tholos tombs , and they would be

2254-484: Is suggested that they followed eastern models such as those at Ugarit on the Syrian coast and Mari on the upper Euphrates. The early palaces were destroyed during Middle Minoan II, sometime before c.  1700 , almost certainly by earthquakes to which Crete is prone. By c.  1650 , they had been rebuilt on a grander scale and the period of the second palaces ( c.  1650  – c.  1450 ) marks

2352-628: The Archaeological Museum of Sitia and the Agios Nikolaos, Crete , Museum. 35°11′45.4″N 26°08′52.1″E  /  35.195944°N 26.147806°E  / 35.195944; 26.147806 This Crete location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to archaeology in Greece is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Minoan pottery The Minoan civilization produced

2450-897: The Chremonidean War (267–261 BC), the Ptolemies were not able to unify the warring city states. In the third century BC Knossos expanded its power to dominate almost the entire island, but during the Lyttian War in 220 BC it was checked by a coalition led by the Polyrrhenians and the Macedonian king Philip V . Twenty years later, during the Cretan War (205–200 BC) , the Knossians were once more among Philip's opponents and, through Roman and Rhodian aid, this time they managed to liberate Crete from

2548-497: The Early Neolithic (6000–5000 BC), a village of 200–600 persons occupied most of the area of the later palace and the slopes to the north and west. Residents lived in one- or two-room square houses of mud-brick walls set on socles of stone, either field stone or recycled stone artifacts. The inner walls were lined with mud-plaster. The roofs were flat, composed of mud over branches. The residents dug hearths at various locations in

2646-503: The Grotta-Pelos early Cycladic I culture. Some have suggested imports or immigrations. See also Hagia Photia . The painted parallel-line decoration of Ayios Onouphrios I Ware was drawn with an iron-red clay slip that would fire red under oxidizing conditions in a clean kiln but under the reducing conditions of a smoky fire turn darker, without much control over color, which could range from red to brown. A dark-on-light painted pattern

2744-601: The Middle Neolithic (5000–4000 BC), housed 500–1000 people in more substantial and presumably more family-private homes. Construction was the same, except the windows and doors were timbered, a fixed, raised hearth occupied the centre of the main room, and pilasters and other raised features (cabinets, beds) occupied the perimeter. Under the palace was the Great House, a 100 m (1,100 sq ft) area stone house divided into five rooms with meter-thick walls suggesting

2842-598: The Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur . It is located on the outskirts of Heraklion , and remains a popular tourist destination. Knossos is considered by many to be the oldest city in Europe. Knossos is dominated by the monumental Palace of Minos . Like other Minoan palaces , this complex of buildings served as a combination religious and administrative centre rather than

2940-405: The Minoan site in eastern Crete, has mottled glaze effects, early experiments with controlling color, but the elongated spouts drawn from the body and ending in semicircular spouts show the beginnings of the tradition of Minoan elegance ( Examples 1 , Examples 2 ). The mottling was produced by uneven firing of the slip-covered pot, with the hottest areas turning dark. Considering that the mottling

3038-651: The Mycenaean world as an apotropaic mark : its presence on an object would prevent it from being "killed". Axes were scratched on many of the stones of the palace. It appears in pottery decoration and is a motif of the Shrine of the Double Axes at the palace, as well as of many shrines throughout Crete and the Aegean . And finally, it appears in Linear B on Knossos Tablet Gg702 as da-pu 2 -ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja, which probably represents

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3136-583: The horror vacui or "dread of emptiness". The whole field of decoration is filled densely. ( Examples ). The Stirrup Jar is especially frequent. Finally, in the Subminoan period, the geometric designs of the Dorians become more apparent. ( Example ) Minoan wares were already familiar from finds on the Greek mainland, and export markets like Egypt, before it was realized that they came from Crete. In most 19th-century literature they are described as "Mycenaean", and

3234-502: The sand dollar tests , and barnacle growths ( Example ). Barbotine ware features three-dimensional decorations, as well as the use of the ceramic slip. Ridges and protuberances of various types are seen on the surface of vessels. The earliest stages of Kamares ware also appear at this time. Scholars place Barbotine ware a bit earlier than the Kamares ware, Gisela Walberg places Barbotine Ware, with its thin walls and dynamic motifs, in

3332-522: The Bronze Age site is supported by the Roman coins that were scattered over the fields surrounding the pre-excavation site, then a large mound named Kephala Hill , elevation 85 m (279 ft) from current sea level. Many of them were inscribed with Knosion or Knos on the obverse and an image of a Minotaur or Labyrinth on the reverse. The coins came from the Roman settlement of Colonia Julia Nobilis Cnossus ,

3430-454: The Cyclades, while both FN and EM I settlements are contemporaneous, with EM I gradually replacing FN. Of the three possibilities, no immigration, total replacement of natives by immigrants, immigrants settling among natives, Hutchinson takes a compromise view: EM I types include Pyrgos Ware , also called "Burnished Ware". The major form was the " chalice ", or Arkalochori Chalice , in which

3528-466: The Early Kamares Ware phase. Spirals and whorls motifs appear in Minoan pottery from EM I onwards (Walberg), but they become especially popular during EM III. A new shape is the straight-sided cylindrical cup. MMIA wares and local pottery imitating them are found at coastal sites in the eastern Peloponnese , though not more widely in the Aegean until MMIB; their influence on local pottery in

3626-466: The Floral Style.) The floral style depicts palms and papyrus, with various kinds of lilies and elaborate leaves. It appears in both pottery and frescoes. One tradition of art criticism calls this the "natural style" or "naturalism" but another points out that the stylized forms and colors are far from natural. Green, the natural color of vegetation, appears rarely. Depth is represented by position around

3724-473: The Late Minoan all-over patterned "Marine Style" and "Floral Style". These were widely exported around the Aegean civilizations and sometimes beyond, and are the high points of the Minoan pottery tradition. The most comprehensive collection is in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum on Crete. The traditional chronology for dating Minoan civilization was developed by Sir Arthur Evans in

3822-583: The MM IB, but other "handmade" methods of forming the body remained in use, and were needed for objects with sculptural shapes. Ceramic glazes were not used, and none of the wares were fired to very high temperatures, remaining earthenware or terracotta . All of these characteristics remain true of later Greek pottery throughout its great period. The finest wares often have very thin-walled bodies. The excavation of an abandoned LM kiln at Kommos (the port of Phaistos ), complete with its "wasters" (malformed pots),

3920-582: The Macedonian influence. With Roman aid, Knossos became once more the first city of Crete, but, in 67 BC, the Roman Senate chose Gortys as the capital of the newly created province Creta et Cyrene . In 36 BC, Knossos became a Roman colony named Colonia Iulia Nobilis . The colony, which was built using Roman-style architecture , was situated within the vicinity of the palace, but only a small part of it has been excavated. The identification of Knossos with

4018-464: The Minotaur, Ariadne gave him a ball of thread which he unwound as he went into the Labyrinth so that he could find his way back by following it. Theseus killed the Minotaur, and then he and Ariadne fled from Crete, escaping her angry father. As it turns out, there probably was an association of the word labyrinth , whatever its etymology, with ancient Crete. The sign of the double axe was used throughout

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4116-485: The Mycenaean Greek, Daburinthoio potniai , "to the mistress of the Labyrinth," recording the distribution of one jar of honey. A credible theory uniting all the evidence has yet to be formulated. Knossos appears in other later legends and literature. Herodotus wrote that Minos , the legendary king of Knossos, established a thalassocracy (sea empire). Thucydides accepted the tradition and added that Minos cleared

4214-511: The Northern and Northeastern sections of the island. Another EM I type, Incised Ware , also called Scored Ware , were hand-shaped, round-bottomed, dark-burnished jugs ( Example ) and bulbous cups and jars (" pyxes "). Favored decor was incised line patterns, vertical, horizontal or herring-bone. These pots are from the north and northeast of Crete and appear to be modeled after the Kampos Phase of

4312-461: The West Wing in the winter of 1878-1879. The British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941) and his team began long-term evacuations from 1900 to 1913, and from 1922 to 1930. Its size far exceeded his original expectations, as did the discovery of two ancient scripts, which he termed Linear A and Linear B , to distinguish their writing from the pictographs also present. From the layering of

4410-561: The ancient geographer Strabo the Knossians colonized the city of Brundisium in Italy. In 343 BC, Knossos was allied with Philip II of Macedon . The city employed a Phocian mercenary named Phalaikos against their enemy, the city of Lyttus . The Lyttians appealed to the Spartans who sent their king Archidamus III against the Knossians. In Hellenistic times Knossos came under Egyptian influence, but despite considerable military efforts during

4508-475: The centre of the main room. This village had an unusual feature: one house under the West Court contained eight rooms and covered 50 m (540 sq ft). The walls were at right angles and the door was centred. Large stones were used for support under points of greater stress. The fact that distinct sleeping cubicles for individuals was not the custom suggests storage units of some sort. The settlement of

4606-542: The ceramic ware. During LMII, Mycenean influence became apparent. The vase forms at Knossos are similar to those on the mainland. The Palace Style showcased by them adapts elements of the previous styles but also adds features, such as the practice of confining decor in reserves and bands, emphasizing the base and shoulder of the pot and the movement towards abstraction ( Examples 1 , Examples 2 , Examples 3 ). This style started in LM II and went on into LM III. The palace style

4704-522: The classical period. In the EM Period, the walls and pavements were coated with a pale red derived from red ochre. In addition to the background colouring, the walls displayed fresco panel murals , entirely of red. In the subsequent MM Period, with the development of the art, white and black were added, and then blue, green, and yellow. The pigments were derived from natural materials, such as ground hematite . Outdoor panels were painted on fresh stucco with

4802-533: The early part of the Middle Minoan period, at Knossos and other sites including Malia , Phaestos and Zakro . These palaces, which were to set the pattern of organisation in Crete and Greece through the second millennium, were a sharp break from the Neolithic village system that had prevailed thus far. The building of the palaces implies greater wealth and a concentration of authority, both political and religious. It

4900-542: The early years of the 20th century AD. His terminology and the one proposed by Nikolaos Platon are still generally in use and appear in this article. For more details, see the Minoan chronology . Evans classified fine pottery by the changes in its forms and styles of decoration. Platon concentrated on the episodic history of the Palace of Knossos . A new method, fabric analysis, involves geologic analysis of coarse and mainly non-decorated sherds as though they were rocks. The resulting classifications are based on composition of

4998-449: The forms of ceramic ones, Ventris and Chadwick were able to make a few new correlations. Knossos Knossos (pronounced /( k ə ) ˈ n ɒ s oʊ s , - s ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Κνωσσός , romanized :  Knōssós , pronounced [knɔː.sós] ; Linear B : 𐀒𐀜𐀰 Ko-no-so ) is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete . The site was a major centre of

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5096-479: The geometric slip-painted designs of Koumasa Ware seem to have developed from the wares of Aghios Onouphrios. The designs are in red or black on a light background. Forms are cups, bowls, jugs and teapots ( Example: "Goddess of Myrtos" ). Also from EM IIA are the cylindrical and spherical pyxides called Fine Gray Ware or just Gray Ware , featuring a polished surface with incised diagonals, dots, rings and semicircles. The EM IIA and IIB Vasiliki Ware , named for

5194-456: The height of Minoan prosperity. All the palaces had large central courtyards which may have been used for public ceremonies and spectacles. Living quarters, storage rooms and administrative centres were positioned around the court and there were also working quarters for skilled craftsmen. The palace of Knossos was by far the largest, covering three acres with its main building alone and five acres when separate out-buildings are considered. It had

5292-643: The increasing use of motifs drawn from nature heralded the decline and end of the Kamares style. The Kamares featured whole-field floral designs with all elements linked together (Matz). In MMIII patterned vegetative designs, the Patterned Style , began to appear. This phase was replaced by individual vegetative scenes, which marks the start of the Floral Style . Matz refers to the "Age of Efflorescence", which reached an apogee in LM IA. (Some would include Kamares Ware under

5390-568: The local Final Neolithic (FN) without a severe break. Many suggest that Minoan civilization evolved in-situ and was not imported from the East. Its other main feature is its variety from site to site, which is suggestive of localism of Early Minoan social traditions. Studies of the relationship between EM I and FN have been conducted mainly in East Crete. There the Final Neolithic has affinities to

5488-480: The main scene. LMI marks the highwater of Minoan influence throughout the southern Aegean (Peloponnese, Cyclades, Dodecanese, southwestern Anatolia). Late Minoan pottery was widely exported; it has turned up in Cyprus, the Cyclades, Egypt and Mycenae. Fluent movemented designs drawn from flower and leaf forms , painted in reds and black on white grounds predominate, in steady development from Middle Minoan. In LMIB there

5586-400: The mainland. Greek became the administrative language and the material culture shows parallels with Mycenaean styles, for instance in the architecture of tombs and styles of pottery. Around 1350 BC, the palace was destroyed and not rebuilt. The building was ravaged by a fire which triggered the collapse of the upper stories. It is not known whether this final destruction was intentional or

5684-451: The most northerly and most easterly tombs of their kind on the island. Many of the grave goods here are Cycladic , and they may indicate that Hagia Photia was a Cycladic colony. Two Kouphota hill caves (which face the sea) contain Neolithic , Pre-Palatial, and Old Palance period remnants. 150 meters to the east, a Minoan cemetery, Glyphada , has been excavated with over 250 Minoan chamber tombs. Finds excavated from Hagia Photia are at

5782-423: The motif in relief; indoor, on fresh, pure plaster, softer than the plaster with additives ordinarily used on walls. The decorative motifs were generally bordered scenes: humans , legendary creatures , animals , rocks, vegetation, and marine life. The earliest imitated pottery motifs. Most have been reconstructed from various numbers of flakes fallen to the floor. Evans had various technicians and artists work on

5880-457: The nearby Cyclades has been studied by Angelia G. Papagiannopoulou (1991). Shards of MM IIA pottery have been recovered in Egypt and at Ugarit . Kamares Ware was named after finds in the cave sanctuary at Kamares on Mt. Ida in 1890. It is the first of the virtuoso polychrome wares of Minoan civilization, though the first expressions of recognizably proto-Kamares decor predate the introduction of

5978-478: The nineteenth century. The diocese was abolished in 1831. During the ninth century AD the local population shifted to the new town of Chandax (modern Heraklion ). By the thirteenth century, it was called the Makruteikhos 'Long Wall'. In its modern history , the name Knossos is used only for the archaeological site. It was extensively excavated by Arthur Evans in the early 20th century, and Evans' residence at

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6076-447: The oldest known settlement in Crete. Radiocarbon dating has suggested dates around 7,030-6,780 BCE. The initial settlement was a hamlet of 25–50 people who lived in wattle and daub huts, kept animals, grew crops, and, in the event of tragedy, buried their children under the floor. Remains from this period are concentrated in the area which would later become the central court of the palace, suggesting continuity in ritual activity. In

6174-408: The palace and civilization as it was, but were creating a modern artifact based on contemporary art and architecture. The centrepiece of the "Minoan" palace was the so-called Throne Room or Little Throne Room, dated to LM II . This chamber has an alabaster seat which Evans referred to as a " throne " built into the north wall. On three sides of the room are gypsum benches. On the south side of

6272-618: The palace as well as many now-famous artifacts including the Bull-Leaping Fresco , the snake goddess figurines , and numerous Linear B tablets. While Evans is often credited for discovering the Minoan Civilization, his work is controversial in particular for his inaccurate and irreversible reconstructions of architectural remains at the site. Knossos was settled around 7000 BC during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic , making it

6370-434: The palace of Knossos. An average pithos held about 1100 pounds of fluid. Perhaps because of the weight, pithoi were not stored on the upper floors. New styles emerge at this time: an Incised Style (see above), and the tactile Barbotine ware, featuring the relief decoration studded with knobs and cones of applied clay in bands, waves and ridges. Such decorations are sometimes reminiscent of the marine-derived features such as

6468-505: The palace, Evans developed an archaeological concept of the civilization that used it, which he called Minoan, following the pre-existing custom of labelling all objects from the location Minoan. Since their discovery, the ruins have been the centre of excavation, tourism, and occupation as a headquarters by governments warring over the control of the eastern Mediterranean in two world wars. John Davies Evans (no relation to Arthur Evans) undertook further excavations in pits and trenches over

6566-427: The palace, focusing on the Neolithic. The palace at Knossos was continuously renovated and modified throughout its existence. The currently visible palace is an accumulation of features from various periods, alongside modern reconstructions which are often inaccurate. Thus, the palace was never exactly as it appears today. Like other Minoan palaces, Knossos was arranged around a rectangular central court. This court

6664-550: The palaces, often produced elsewhere in Crete. Pottery at Knossos is prolific, heavily-decorated and uniquely-styled by period. In Minoan chronology , the standard relative chronology is largely based on pottery styles and is thus used to assign dates to layers of the palace. The palace had at least three separate water-management systems: one for supply, one for drainage of runoff, and one for drainage of waste water. Aqueducts brought fresh water to Kephala hill from springs at Archanes , about 10 km away. Springs there are

6762-487: The palaces. There is some evidence that women were also potters. Archaeologists seeking to understand the conditions of production have drawn tentative comparisons with aspects of both modern Cretan rural artisans and the better-documented Egyptian and Mesopotamian Bronze Age industries. In Linear B the word for potter is "ke-ra-me-u". Technically, slips were widely used, with a variety of effects well understood. The potter's wheel appears to have been available from

6860-407: The paving would not have been optimal for the animals or the people, and that the restricted access points would have kept the spectacle too far out of public view. The 6 acres (24,000 m ) of the palace included a theater, a main entrance on each of its four cardinal faces, and extensive storerooms. The palace was built on Kephala Hill , 5 km (3.1 mi) south of the coast. The site

6958-620: The pot is densely covered, but sometimes the space is partitioned by bands. One variety features extravagantly thin bodies and is called Eggshell Ware ( Example 1 , Example 2 ). Four stages of Kamares ware were identified by Gisela Walberg (1976), with a "Classic Kamares" palace style sited in MM II, especially in the palace complex of Phaistos. New shapes were introduced, with whirling and radiating motifs .( Examples 1 , Examples 2 , Examples 3 , Examples 4 , Examples 5 , Examples 6 , Examples 7 , Examples 8 , Examples 9 , Examples 10 ) In MMIIB,

7056-503: The potter's wheel. Finer clay, thrown on the wheel, permitted more precisely fashioned forms, which were covered with a dark-firing slip and exuberantly painted with slips in white, reds and browns in fluent floral designs , of rosettes or conjoined coiling and uncoiling spirals. Designs are repetitive or sometimes free-floating, but always symmetrically composed. Themes from nature begin here with octopuses, shellfish, lilies, crocuses and palm-trees, all highly stylized. The entire surface of

7154-692: The project, some artists, some chemists, and restorers. The symmetry and use of templates made possible a degree of reconstruction beyond what was warranted by only the flakes. For example, if evidence of the use of a certain template existed scantily in one place, the motif could be supplied from the template found somewhere else. Like the contemporary murals in the funerary art of the Egyptians, certain conventions were used that also assisted prediction. For example, male figures are shown with darker or redder skin than female figures. Some archaeological authors have objected that Evans and his restorers were not discovering

7252-429: The recognition and analysis of styles and periods had gone some way on this assumption. Only in the 1890s were the first finds on Crete recognised and published, from a cave at Kamares. These were found by a local archaeologist who allowed the young John Myres to publish them; Myres had realized that they were the same ware as finds in Egypt published by Flinders Petrie . For several decades analysis of Minoan pottery

7350-475: The result of a natural disaster such as an earthquake. While parts of the palace may have been used for later ceremonies and the town of Knossos saw a resurgence around 1200 BC, the building and its associated institutions were never restored. After the Bronze Age, the town of Knossos continued to be occupied. By 1000 BC, it had reemerged as one of the most important centres of Crete. The city had two ports, one at Amnisos and another at Heraklion . According to

7448-479: The rhyta are ornate libation vessels, such as the noted " Bull's-head Rhyton " found at Knossos. The Bull's Head Rhyton , however, was a specific type of which many instances have been found. The bull's head is found in ceramic as well. Other noted stone vases of LM IA and II are the "Harvester Vase" View 1 , View 3 , View 4 , from Hagia Triada , which depicts a harvest procession, " the Chieftain Cup ", depicting

7546-453: The rise of elite wares, emphasizing refinements and novelty, so that palace and provincial pottery become differentiated. The forms of the best wares were designed for table and service . In the palace workshops, the introduction from the Levant of the potter's wheel in MM IB enabled perfectly symmetrical bodies to be thrown from swiftly revolving clay. The well-controlled iron-red slip that

7644-500: The sea of pirates, increased the flow of trade and colonised many Aegean islands. Other literature describes Rhadamanthus as the mythological lawgiver of Crete. Cleinias of Crete attributes to him the tradition of Cretan gymnasia and common meals in Book I of Plato's Laws , and describes the logic of the custom as enabling a constant state of war readiness. The site of Knossos was identified by Minos Kalokairinos , who excavated parts of

7742-404: The sherds. Little is known about the way the pottery was produced, but it was probably in small artisanal workshops, often clustered in settlements near good sources of clay for potting. For many, potting may well have been a seasonal activity, combined with farming, although the volume and sophistication of later wares suggests full-time specialists, and two classes of workshop, one catering to

7840-479: The site served as a military headquarters during World War II . Knossos is now situated in the expanding suburbs of Heraklion. In Greek mythology, King Minos dwelt in a palace at Knossos. He had Daedalus construct a labyrinth , a very large maze in which to retain his son, the Minotaur . Daedalus also built a dancing floor for Queen Ariadne . The name "Knossos" was subsequently adopted by Arthur Evans. As far as

7938-409: The source of the Kairatos river, in the valley in which Kephala is located. The aqueduct branched to the palace and to the town. Water was distributed at the palace by gravity feed through terracotta pipes to fountains and spigots. The pipes were tapered at one end to make a pressure fit, with rope for sealing. Unlike Mycenae , no hidden springs have been discovered. Sanitation drainage was through

8036-460: The throne room there is a feature called a lustral basin , so-called because Evans found remains of unguent flasks inside it and speculated that it had been used as part of an annointing ritual. The room was accessed from an anteroom through double doors. The anteroom was connected to the central court, which was four steps up through four doors. The anteroom had gypsum benches also, with carbonized remains between two of them thought possibly to be

8134-581: The tripod cooking pots. Most of these discoveries were found at Sissi. What that beeswax was used for is uncertain. This appears to potentially lead to the possibility of subtypes of these cooking pots. There is evidence that these pots started to show up during the EMI in the Hagia Photia; its appearance in the Hagia Photia during the second EMII period is questionable.   Most of these discoveries were located in

8232-414: The water-collection-management system follow. Due to its placement on the hill, the palace received sea breezes during the summer. It had porticoes and air shafts. The palace also includes the Minoan column, a structure notably different from Greek columns . Unlike the stone columns that are characteristic of Greek architecture, the Minoan column was constructed from the trunk of a cypress tree, which

8330-408: The wide trading contacts of the Minoans. The pottery includes vases, figurines, models of buildings, and burial urns called larnakes . Several pottery shapes, especially the rhyton cup, were also produced in soft stones such as steatite , but there was almost no overlap with metal vessels. The finest achievements came in the Middle Minoan period, with the palace pottery called Kamares ware , and

8428-674: Was added to the color repertory during MM I could be achieved only in insulated closed kilns that were free of oxygen or smoke. Any population center requires facilities in support of human needs and that is true of the palaces as well. Knossos had extensive sanitation, water supply and drainage systems, which is evidence that it was not a ceremonial labyrinth or large tomb. Liquid and granular necessities were stored in pithoi located in magazines, or storage rooms, and elsewhere. Pithoi make their earliest appearance just before MMI begins and continue into Late Minoan, becoming very rare by LMIII ( Examples 1 , Examples 2 ). About 400 pithoi were found at

8526-469: Was an ancient Greek king named Aegeus , the basis for the name of the Greek sea (the Aegean Sea), sailed to Crete, where he was forced to fight a terrible creature called the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a half man, half bull, and was kept in the Labyrinth – a building like a maze – by King Minos, the ruler of Crete. The king's daughter, Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus. Before he entered the Labyrinth to fight

8624-661: Was built of large, unbaked bricks. The roof was flat with a thick layer of clay over brushwood. Internal rooms were brightened by light-wells and columns of wood, many fluted, were used to lend both support and dignity. The chambers and corridors were decorated with frescoes showing scenes from everyday life and scenes of processions. Warfare is conspicuously absent. The fashions of the time may be seen in depictions of women in various poses. They had elaborately dressed hair and wore long dresses with flounced skirts and puffed sleeves. Their bodices were tightly drawn in round their waists and their breasts were exposed. The prosperity of Knossos

8722-563: Was controlled into a pattern, touching with hot coals was probably used to produce it. The effect was paralleled in cups made of mottled stone. In the latest brief transition (EM III), wares in eastern Crete begin to be covered in dark slip with light slip-painted decor of lines and spirals; the first checkered motifs appear; the first petallike loops and leafy bands appear, at Gournia (Walberg 1986). Rosettes appear and spiral links sometimes joined into bands. These motifs are similar to those found on seals . In north central Crete, where Knossos

8820-567: Was essentially stylistic and typological, but in recent decades there has been a turn towards technical and socio-economic analysis. The Linear B tablets contain records of vessels made of various materials. The vessel ideograms are not so clear as to make correlation with discovered artifacts easy. Using a drawing of the "Contents of the Tomb of the Tripod Hearth" at Zafer Papoura from Evans' Palace of Minos , which depicts LM II bronze vessels, many in

8918-660: Was mostly confined to Knossos. In the late manifestation of the palace style, fluent and spontaneous earlier motifs stiffened and became more geometrical and abstracted. Egyptian motifs such as papyrus and lotus are prominent. The Plain Style and Close Style developed in LM IIIA, B from the Palace Style. In the Close Style the Marine and Floral Styles themes continue, but the artist manifests

9016-439: Was not very high off the surrounding ground. The Royal Road is the last vestige of a Minoan road that connected the port to the palace complex. Today a modern road, Leoforos Knosou, built over or replacing the ancient roadway, serves that function and continues south. The palace had extensive storage magazines which were used for agricultural commodities as well as tableware. Enormous sets of high quality tableware were stored in

9114-437: Was primarily based upon the development of native Cretan resources such as oil, wine, and wool. Another factor was the expansion of trade, evidenced by Minoan pottery found in Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, Rhodes, the Cyclades, Sicily, and mainland Greece. There seem to have been strong Minoan connections with Rhodes, Miletus, and Samos. Cretan influence may be seen in the earliest scripts found in Cyprus. The main market for Cretan wares

9212-440: Was the Cyclades where there was a demand for pottery, especially the stone vases. It is not known whether the islands were subject to Crete or just trading partners, but there certainly was strong Cretan influence. Around 1450 BC, the palaces at Malia, Phaestos, and Zakros were destroyed, leaving Knossos as the sole surviving palace on Crete. In this final period, Knossos seems to have been influenced or perhaps ruled by people from

9310-471: Was then applied. From this beginning, Minoan potters already concentrated on the linear forms of designs, perfecting coherent designs and voids that would ideally suit the shape of the ware. Shapes were jugs, two-handled cups and bowls. The ware came from north and south central Crete, as did Lebena Ware of the same general types but decorated by painting white patterns over a solid red painted background ( Example ). The latter came from EM I tombs. In EM IIA,

9408-441: Was to emerge, there is little similarity: dark on light linear banding prevails; footed goblets make their appearance ( Example ). The rise of the Minoan palaces at Knossos and Phaistos and their new type of urbanized, centralized society with redistribution centers required more storage vessels and ones more specifically suited to a range of functions. In palace workshops, standardization suggests more supervised operations and

9506-481: Was to some degree just a variety of widespread Mycenaean forms. The designs are found also on seals and ceilings, in frescoes and on other artifacts. Often Late Minoan pottery is not easily placed in sub-periods. In addition are imports from the neighboring coasts of the Mediterranean. Ceramic is not the only material used: breccia , calcite , chlorite , schist , dolomite and other colored and patterned stone were carved into pottery forms. Bronze ware appears imitating

9604-492: Was twice as long north-south as it was east-west, an orientation that would have maximized sunlight, and positioned important rooms towards the rising sun. The central court is believed to have been used for rituals and festivals. One of these festivals is believed to be depicted in the Grandstand Fresco . Some scholars have suggested that bull-leaping would have taken place in the courts, though others have argued that

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