MBA Crete
1/30/06
CNE/ART 354
Major BA Farming
Development
• Orchard husbandry was adopted, in addition
to the cultivation of wheat (emmer), barley,
legumes.
• The olive, fig, and vine are all native to
Greece, but domesticated forms were
established in the EBA.
• These didn‟t compete with crops for land;
allowed an intensification of production that
provided commodities for exchange (one of
the mainsprings of cultural advance and
prosperity).
MBA in a Nutshell
• Crete: rapidly grew prosperous; saw the rise
of palatial civilization.
• Cyclades: independent development was
checked; islands increasingly influenced by
Crete; conditions worsened. No more marble
figurines.
• Mainland: arrival of new peoples (the Greeks)
coincided with a period of cultural poverty.
MBA Crete
• 2300-1400: developments of this period
represent the continuation of patterns and
trends established earlier.
• Emergence of 1st Cretan palaces, the first
states in Europe.
• Complex, bureaucratically-based
organizations.
• Increasing emphasis on coastal sites, with
earlier inland centers diminishing in
importance.
Emergence of the State
• Definitions:
State: “a powerful, complex, permanently
instituted system of centralized political
administration. It exercises sovereignty in
carrying out basic political functions and its
authority is backed up by sovereignty in the
use of force within its jurisdiction.” [Rutter,
stating Cherry‟s view]
• Another definition:
“States are also societies with relatively
complex and specialized administrative
organization, involving hierarchically
ordered personnel who perform
specialized administrative tasks and
made decisions.” (Rutter)
Theories as to Why?
• The question of how and why palatial
civilization arose on Crete at this time has not
been definitively answered. See Rutter‟s
Lesson 11.
• Some theories:
– Developed from earlier Minoan culture
– Developed from NE models
– Developed from redistributive centers for
subsistence commodities controlled by elite
(Renfrew)
Social Storage
• Some see as crucial to the creation of the
palatial state: growth of social storage (the
exchange which takes place in a system of
social reciprocity - when food and other
resources are given to neighbors in the
expectation of reciprocity in the future.
• Flaws: makes elites motivated by altruism,
fails to explain why farmers would work to
produce large surpluses in a subsistence
economy.
First Palaces
• Appear in Knossos, Phaistos, and
Mallia c. 2000.
• A jump in size accompanies this:
EBA Knossos area of occupation: less
than 5 hectares
MBA 1st Palatial Period: 45 hectares
(.1 of a hectare is 1/4 of an acre)
Population Growth
• Population expands 400% from the end
of the Neolithic to the MBA.
• Things are moving on a different scale
than the EBA.
• Organizational shift to a „palatial‟
civilization (refers to both buildings and
social system).
Palatial Civilization
• Large integrated complexes of buildings
include monumental elements and large-scale
storage facilities.
• These become major regional centers, the
seats of local rulers. Tighter control of
agriculture and the economy.
• Indicates profound political and social
changes taking place at the end of the 3rd
millenium.
• Villages of the EM period like Myrtos give way
to MM palatial complexes.
Growing Urbanization
• Palaces were surrounded by large and
rapidly growing urban settlements.
• It is important to recognize that the
organizational hurdles had been jumped
before the building of the palaces.
• Earliest palaces are hazy, having been
built over by later palaces.
“Palace” Defined:
• Stone built, large, complex building
• Multifunctional center of respective settlement
areas (administrative, commercial,
ceremonial, religious centers)
• Open center (central court)
• Western court
• Western storage areas
• SE living quarters (not clear if these were elite
residences, however)
Palatial Economy
• Centralized around the ruler‟s house.
• Redistributive: maximizing the diversity
of the area around the palace. This
supports the ruling elite and allows for
greater craft specialization.
• Saves for times of drought and disaster.
Phaistos
• Phaistos provides the most evidence for the
first palaces.
• Characteristics:
Central court dominates (80 x 170 feet), a
measurement repeated almost exactly at
Knossos and Phaistos. Oriented N-S in all 3
palaces. Main entrance at the N side.
Western court.
Post and lintel system of architecture
(verticals and horizontals). 2 storeys high.
Phaistos & Mesara Plain from
the NW
Phaistos: Old Palace
Survivals
• Entire west façade, the west court in front of
that and the theatral area, and part of the
west wing are still visible because the later
“New Palace” western façade was moved to
the east.
• West wing: had a series of paved courtyards
in front at 3 different levels, entered by 2
major entrances, and 5 minor ones.
Phaistos MM West Wing
Phaistos: 1st Palace, Western
Court
Western Court, West Façade
from the NW
West Façade from S End
West Façade from SW
Entrance in Middle of West
Facade
Phaistos: Pier and Door
Partitions
Phaistos & Knossos
• Had monumental koulouras (stone-lined,
circular pits) in paved courtyards: often
thought of as successors of the earlier EMIII
hypogeum at Knossos.
• BUT: these are not suited to grain storage -
had no covers or moisture-proofing sealants;
may have stored water, or were part of
garbage disposal; OR tree planters for ritual.
• Mallia had silos: above ground, some with
columns to support a roof to keep the grain
dry.
Mallia
• Mallia also preserves its MM ground plan.
• Large structure to the west of the later palace
has:
– Many rooms with stuccoed walls
– Staircases
– Storage units filled with pottery
– Clay sealings & hieroglyphic inscriptions
Administrative building?
Building Organization
• Separate, uncoordinated buildings
(administrative building, „agora‟, etc.);
Quartier Mu: these types of large protopalatial
houses: evidence for emerging social
stratification (compare with same-size
„beehive‟ building plans).
• Palatial organization functioned from these
separate units, not integrated into
architectural whole until after rebuilding circa
1700 after earthquake.
Mallia, Palatial Plan
Quarter Mu, Mallia
Architecture
• Wood was used extensively in Minoan
architecture [example: wooden columns].
• Light, color, and luxury were emphasized:
„lustral basins,‟ lightwells, baths, wall
frescoes, colorful building materials.
• Knossos: palace had a complex drainage
system with terracotta pipes throughout.
• Palace fulfilled many roles, but the plan was
overall functional.
Knossos Drainage System
• Construction of the palaces: required
transportation of large amounts of stone
and timber, as well as new tools for
construction, and so the centralization
of control over raw materials and trade.
Fortification
• The later palaces were not surrounded
by defensive walls. Old interpretation:
thalassocracy? Allowed for „organic
growth‟ of the site.
• Fortifications have now been found from
EM III to MM II periods, at both palatial
(Knossos, Mallia) and non-palatial sites
(Ayia Photia‟s wall with towers).
Near Eastern Similarities
• The plan of the palaces is perhaps connected
to those of NE palaces, many of which had
large central courts, corridors, rectangular
units. But: NE heavily walled; aimed to keep
out heat/light.
• Example: palace of Zimrilim at Mari on the
Euphrates (now in modern Syria), 18th c.
BCE, but has earlier parts from 21st c. BCE.
Map: Mari
Plan: Zimrilim at Mari
Trade Contacts
• Strong trade contacts between Crete and
Egypt. Egyptian artifacts appear on many
EBA sites throughout the island (vases,
jewelry, other luxury goods).
• New Kingdom Egyptian tomb paintings show
men in Cretan dress bearing gifts to Pharaoh.
• May have been trade in agricultural goods as
well; no evidence remains.
• Trade with Syria (daggers, etc.) and Troy
(Minoan seals found there).
Why do we get palaces where
we do in Crete?
• Knossos: 5/6 kilometer from the sea
(first settled c. 5000 BCE)
• Phaistos: fertile plain, a bit away from
the sea
• Mallia: on a plain, closer to the coast
• Kato Zakro: smaller, on the coast in
eastern Crete (good for seaborne trade)
Common to all:
• Good agricultural areas
• Access to sea transportation
• Far enough from the sea to be safe
from marauders
Palatial Administrative Role
• Indicated by large-scale storage of
agricultural commodities by rulers: a
justification of their power? Provided
commodities in bad years, offered
public rituals that kept the status quo
and helped keep the arrangement
together.
Storage Facilities, Mallia
Phaistos, MM Storage Pithos
Associations with Cult
• Egyptian correlation of pharaoh with the
gods: Minoan palaces were also the center of
cult activities.
• Again, this type of system likely developed
before the architectural manifestations of it.
• Elite claimed special connection with the
gods/goddesses worshipped at special cult
places established by the elite: cave and
peak sanctuaries, etc.
Writing Systems
• First appearance of Cretan scripts
(“Hieroglyphic” and Linear A)
• Hieroglyphic used on seals/Linear A on clay
tablets to keep track of the storage of goods.
• The precise nature of the economy indicated
by storage facilities is open to argument:
- redistributive (evens out food supply for the
population‟s tributary areas)
- mobilization (upward movement of
resources from general population to the
elite, for elite benefit)
Hieroglyphic Seals, Phaistos
Hieroglyphics
• Time frame: appears in MM IA, in use
through MM IIIB (500-550 years).
• Found only at Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia
• Small number of texts found
• Script is undeciphered
• No uniformity in the direction in which
the script is written.
Linear A
• Appears in MM IB or MM IIA (all predate the
time of proposed Mycenaean occupation)
• Virtually contemporaneous with Hieroglyphic.
• Never appears on seals, but mostly on clay
tablets.
• Texts read from left to right. Syllabary; 85
signs.
• Found at 20 different sites on a wide variety of
different objects (libation tables, rings, in
cuttlefish ink on inside of clay cup, doorjamb).
• Unknown language; undeciphered.
Top Register: Hieroglyphic
(left) and Linear A (right)
Ayia Photia Structure
• Rectangular (27 x 19 m)
• More than 30 rooms arranged around a
narrow court, laid out on E-W axis.
• 2000-1900 BCE
• Has some similarities with palace plan
(indigenous, or not?)
• Function unknown (no storage areas or
pithoi).
• No differentiation in use of rooms; wall on
seaward side (a bit like Khalandriani on
Syros).
Ayia Photia Aerial View
Ayia Photia Plan
Ayia Photia North Ring Wall
Ayia Photia Main E-W
Corridor
Chamaizi
• Large MM IA building on a hilltop, on land
route to eastern Crete.
• Important role in Minoan architectural history.
• Excavated in 1903.
• Curved walls cope with site demands.
• Series of free-standing houses, perhaps of a
single clan. Rich arable & pasture land
around.
• Well suited for defense (wall, site).
Social System
• Still chiefdom, or budding states?
• By 1800 the palaces show similar forms and
functions; exacted tribune from the
surrounding countryside.
• Other forms: towns, isolated farms, larger
provincial villas (which may have featured in
the palatial administration)
• Examples: Gournia (town) and Palaikastro
(town), small collections of people/houses,
probably with some central authority.
Gournia
Minoan Towns
• No central courts
• Small houses
• Winding streets
Minoan Houses
• Model from Arkhanes (terracotta) from LM I
gives us an idea of what they looked like:
– 2 storey building with windows
– Columns
– Lightwell opening onto a typical Minoan hall
– Stairway
– Projecting balcony on top storey.
– Typical townhouse of this time period; actual ones
at Knossos of MM III are similar plan, with no more
than 3 rooms on the ground floor.
Arkhanes House Model
Faience Minoan House
Plaques
Palatial Occupations
• Kings
• Nobles
• Priests/priestesses
• Court officials
• Military
• Artisans
• Farmers
• Slaves
Characteristics of 1st Palaces
• Built from 1900-1800, destroyed circa 1700-
1625 by earthquakes.
• Lots of technological advances: ex. fast
moving potter‟s wheel.
• More regular contact with the Levant.
• Adoption of scripts for writing.
• Flowering of Minoan art (sophisticated style
confined to Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia).
Types of Palatial
Objects/Activities
• Characteristic pottery of MM: Kamares
ware, named after cave sanctuary on
Mt. Ida opposite Phaistos, where the
style was first found.
• Elaboration of earlier light on dark
wares of EMIII. Light decoration on dark
ground with much added yellow, red,
orange: polychrome style.
Kamares Ware, Phaistos
Kamares “Fruit Bowl”
Kamares Ware
• Designs: abstract or natural forms geared to
pot shape: spirals, coils, petals, leaves
repeated around pot. No human figures.
• 2 fabrics:
– Eggshell ware: small, very thin vessels. Imitation
of metal? Shows fast potter‟s wheel now firmly in
use. True palatial style, made and used in the
palaces (centralization of artistic production).
Didn‟t last long on Crete, but v. popular abroad.
Shipped to mainland, Cyclades, Syria, Egypt.
Shows palatial economy widely connected in
Aegean.
2nd Fabric
• Heavier, coarser ware for storage and
pouring vessels.
• Popular shapes: single-handled cup,
spouted jar, beak-spouted jug.
Trade:
Materials imported into the Aegean area
tend do be raw materials (e.g. metals);
exports tend to be manufactured goods.
Phaistos: Kamares Jug
Pottery Elaboration
Another View
Administrative Control
• Seal impressions, like those at Lerna, were
not documents but a recording system.
• Phaistos contained thousands of them.
• Clay bars and circular objects contain signs in
Cretan Hieroglyphic script, used to record
economic documents: “Joe Smith brought in
70 cows.” Found at Mallia (MMII) and
Knossos (EMII). This was probably a syllabic
script; one step more abstract than seals.
Writing Systems, Continued
• Phaistos has examples of Linear A, a
related but different system.
• Linear A has its origin at the same time
as Hieroglyphic script.
• Both remain undeciphered.
Phaistos Disk, MMIIIB
Religion
• We know from frescoes that the paved
western courts of palaces were
walkways, places where rituals were
performed, watched by crowds.
• Temple „repositories‟ (stone-lined pits):
held objects like „Snake-Goddesses‟,
made of faience (primitive glass).
Goddess, or priestess?
Knossos “Sacred Grove”
Fresco
Faience Snake Goddess
Faience Snake Goddess
Modern Forgery: “Our Lady of
the Sports”
Religion, continued
• Represented also:
animals (bull: bull-leaping fresco)
trees
birds
various „demons‟
Was the religion concerned with fertility,
death, rebirth of vegetation? Animistic
religion?
Figurines
• Small terracotta figurines (tallest 9
inches):
– Males: naked but for belts, daggers. Arms
raised to chest (gesture of respect?)
– Females: arms raised and extended in
front; bell-shaped skirts, elaborate hats.
Style: geometric shapes, large eyes [shows
some link with contemporary NE and
Mesopotamian figures]
Petsophas Male Figurine
Petsophas Female Figurine
Petsophas
• Peak Sanctuary (mountain shrine)
founded in MM IB/IIA.
• Above the long-lived Minoan town of
Palaikastro (eastern Crete).
• Many votive figurines of animals and
people, stone offerings with Linear A
inscriptions.
Petsophas Location
Cave Sanctuaries
• Palaces are also associated with cave
sanctuaries.
• Knossos: the N/S axis of the central court
points to the peak sanctuary at Mt. Iuktos,
where parts of figurines had been thrown into
a chasm (offered for divine healing?).
• Phaistos: court faces Mt. Ida and Kamares
Cave (above snow line).
• Horns of consecration: mark out sanctuary
and cult areas.
Tombs
• Mesara Plain: a few tholoi are still used in
MM. These become more complex and richer
in offerings, suggesting a shift in function from
burial for all in the settlement (EM) to elite
burial only (MM).
• Figurines: groups of large bulls grappled by
tiny people.
MM Mesara Sarcophagus
Arkhanes Tholos
Latest Arkhanes Tholoi
• Have dromoi (singular: dromos), or entrance
corridors.
• This links them to the later Mycenaean tholoi,
found both on Crete and the mainland.
• Used to be argued that the Mycenaean tholoi
were unrelated to earlier Minoan - Rutter
argues that the Mycenaean ones are directly
derived from the earlier Minoan ones.
• Tholos Gamma: preserves a fully vaulted roof
(as the Mycenaean ones have).
Burial Types
• Most common type of MM burial: pithos.
• Bodies are placed in pithoi: in simple
pits, alone or in groups, in caves, in
tholoi, in chamber tombs, in rectangular
ossuaries.
• Size of pithoi varies; rarely painted.
• Most look like re-used domestic
vessels, not specially made.
Miniature Art
• Minoans seemed to specialize in the
miniature arts
metallurgy:
Chrysolakkos bee pendant (shows
new techniques of working gold
acquired through Syrian and NE
contacts: filigree, granulation,
embossing).
Rings and Seals
• Used to stamp clay with which knots of
rope (binding boxes and chests) were
secured, identifying and securing the
goods.
• Seals were made out of a variety of
materials: stones, bone, gold.
• Range of decoration varied widely, from
abstract to human figures.
Minoan Gold Seals
Minoan Gold Seal (“The
Pantheon”?)