Sir Arthur Evans and the Excavation of the Palace at Knossos

Before work began in Crete by the British archaeologist Evans at Knossos (1900), and his A erican conte !orary "arriet Boyd at #o$rnia (1901% 190&' see Bo( 1), knowledge of the Bron)e Age *inoan c$lt$re was only faintly reflected in a few Classical #reek yths+ By the ti e this !ioneering work was finished several decades later, the *inoan !eriods on Crete had been defined well eno$gh to identify the as a a,or civili)ation fro ca+ 1900%1-00 BC+ Evans was born in 1./1 in 0ash *ills, "ertfordshire, England+ 1t$dying history at the 2niversities of 3(ford and #4ttingen, Evans later beca e Kee!er of the Ash olean *$se$ at 3(ford+ 5$ring this !eriod (1..&% 190.), he beca e interested in seals (tiny carved stones) as so$rces of inscri!tions fro ancient, !re%Classical *editerranean civili)ations+ 6Fig.1: Arth$r Evans holding *inoan vase+7 Evans was !artic$larly drawn to Crete as one s$ch so$rce of seals containing $ndeci!hered early inscri!tions+ 8he ancient town site of Kafala (Knossos) on the northern coast of Crete, ne(t to the ca!ital city of "erakleion, was well%known to local inhabitants, who !lowed $! ancient ob,ects, incl$ding !ottery, coins, and seals, as they c$ltivated their fields+ Knossos had been occ$!ied $! thro$gh the 9o an !eriod, and d$ring the Classical and "ellenistic eras (/00%:00 BC) had iss$ed its own coinage, which interestingly showed !ict$res of labyrinths, *inota$rs, and Ariadne, the st$ff of later inter!retations (fig+:)+ ;irst to e(cavate at Knossos was an "erakleion erchant and anti<$arian, a!tly na ed *inos Kalokairinos, who in 1.=. $ncovered fo$ndations of store roo s filled with large !ithos ,ars+ 5oc$ entation of Kalokairinos> work by ?illia 1till an, 21 Cons$l in Crete at the ti e, identifies the finds as being fro the west aga)ine of the !alace+ 1till an also (so ewhat !ro!hetically) !rovides a sketch of the @Aabyrinth of 5aedel$s,@ a !ortion of the fo$ndations also d$g $! by Kalokairinos, and later identified as the 8hrone 9oo (1haw 1990)+ 6fig.2: Classic%era silver coin fro Knossos (&:/%--0 BC)+ At left, the obverse shows a *inota$r, while the reverse at right shows the head of Ariadne, s$rro$nded by a eander !attern re!resenting the labyrinth (CNG; SG-3211)+7 8$rkish landowners, however, soon sto!!ed the Kalokairinos investigations+ 1hortly thereafter, the fa ed #er an archaeologist "einrich 1chlie ann, e(cavator of 8roy and *ycenae, atte !ted to !$rchase the @Kefala hill@ % act$ally a @tell,@ or artificial, o$nd ca$sed by long%ter occ$!ations at Knossos since the 0eolithic (see *acdonald, this iss$e) % b$t ref$sed to !ay !rices he considered e(orbitant+ Evans first visited Crete in 1.9& to st$dy and deci!her two ty!es of $nknown scri!ts a!!earing on Cretan seals+ A year later he !$blished the res$lts in the Ash olean !$blication Cretan Bictogra!hs and Brae%Bhoenician 1cri!t (Evans 1.9/), therein identifying both the enig atic *inoan hierogly!hs (@Bictogra!hs@), and the syllabic or !re%al!habetic (@Brae%Bhoenician@) scri!ts, now called Ainear A and B+

Bolitical fort$nes then !layed a !art in assisting Evans to e(cavate in Crete, after the island had won its inde!endence fro 8$rkey+ Cn 1.99, Evans $sed oney fro a fa ily inheritance to b$y the site at Kefala+ 2sing a si)able local work force, Evans began large%scale, syste atic e(cavations at Knossos in 1900, and by the end of 190- had $ncovered any of the fo$ndations of the large, s!rawling str$ct$res he designated as the Balace+ 9estorations and reconstr$ctions of !ortions of the walls and fo$ndations often $sed reinforced concrete (fig+-), with reconstr$cted ti ber fra es and other wooden str$ct$res !ainted in a !ink or b$ff color+ 0$ ero$s e(a !les of the now fa o$s frescoes, discovered ainly as s all frag ents, were boldly restored+ Evans is also res!onsible for restoring any of the now fa o$s roo s within the !alace, s$ch as the 8hrone 9oo , with its !air of griffins in a fresco flanking a gy!s$ stone seat+ 8hese restoration ethods have been often critici)ed for both over%inter!retation of so eti es scanty re ains, and for $sing aterials foreign to *inoan architect$re+ 6Fig.3: 9econstr$cted !illars and shield fresco at Knossos (photo: Athena Review)+ Cn his decisive (and highly controversial) site inter!retations, Evans drew heavily fro !ost%Bron)e Age, ancient #reek ythology to !ost$late the site as the !alace of the legendary King *inos+ 8his concl$sion is now $ch dis!$ted (as s$ggested in several of the articles in this section), b$t early on gained solid footing a ong any archaeologists as well as in the !o!$lar i agination (cf+ Cottrell 19D:)+ Cn legends fro so$rces varying fro "erodot$s to "ellenistic coins, Knossos was tho$ght to be the !alace site of *inos, king of the Cretan *inoans whose labyrinth contained the ythic *inota$r+ Evans inter!reted the co !le( layo$t of the !alace at Knossos as @labyrinthine,@ and connected this with the do$ble%a(e sy bol or labrys fo$nd engraved on col$ ns at the !alace+ 8h$s, his identification of Knossos> civili)ation as *inoan ade a co !elling if (at ti es) so ewhat strained eta!hor, given the associated yths of King *inos, the labyrinth, and the *inota$r+ Besides his !ioneering work in e(cavating the ain !alace site, a ong Evans> ost significant discoveries at Knossos was the recovery of abo$t -000 ancient Ainear A and B writing tablets+ Ainear B event$ally !roved to be an early for of ancient #reek fro a later, *ycenaean occ$!ation of the site+ Ainear A, a scri!t re!resenting the lang$age of the *inoans, still re ains largely $ndeci!hered+ Evans contin$ed his research $ntil 19-1, with an interr$!tion for the ;irst ?orld ?ar+ "e !$blished his on$ ental work in fo$r vol$ es entitled 8he Balace of *inos at Knossos (19:1%19-/)+ ?hen Arth$r Evans died in 19&1, the British 1chool of Archaeology took $! f$rther investigations at Knossos, contin$ed to this day (see *acdonald, this iss$e)+ 5es!ite any detractors, Evans stands as a a,or archaeologist whose creative i agination, otivation, and scholarshi! led hi fro an initial interest in inscri!tions on tiny, carved seals to the discovery and doc$ entation of Knossos, largest site of the *inoan civili)ation+
0oteE 8his is article a!!ears in the !rinted iss$e of Fol+-, no+- of Athena Review (!+19)+ Copyright 2003, Athena Pub i!ation", #n!$7

The
8he

!th of Theseus and the "inotaur

yth of 8hese$s and the *inota$r is one of the ost tragic and fascinating yths of the #reek *ythology+

8hese$s, a gen$ine #reek hero of the *ythology and *inota$r, one of the ost devastating and terrifying onsters are the ain !rotagonists of a yth that involves gods and onsters, heroes and kings and two of the ain cityGstates in the "ellenic worldE Athens and Crete+ 8he *inota$r and the Aabyrinth of Crete

8he *inota$r was the son of Basi!hae, wife of King *inos of Crete+
*inota$r, half an % half b$ll

H$een Basi!hae sle!t with a b$ll sent by Ie$s, and gave birth to *inota$r, a creat$re half an G half b$ll+ King *inos was e barrassed, b$t did not want to kill the *inota$r, so he hid the onster in theAabyrinth constr$cted by 5aedal$s at the *inoan Balace of Knossos+ According to the yth, *inos was i !risoning his ene ies in the Aabyrinth so that the *inota$r co$ld eat the + 8he labyrinth was s$ch a co !licated constr$ction that no one co$ld ever find the way o$t alive+ 1on of *inos, Androge$s, went to Athens to !artici!ate to the Banathenaic #a es, b$t he was killed d$ring the *arathon by the b$ll that i !regnated his other Basi!hae+ *inos was inf$riated, and de anded Aege$s the king of Athens to send seven en and wo en every year to the *inota$r to advert the !lag$e ca$sed by the death of Androge$s+ 8he third year, 8hese$s, son of Aege$s decided to be one of the seven yo$ng en that wo$ld go to Crete, in order to kill the *inota$r and end the h$ an sacrifices to the onster+ King Aege$s tried to ake hi change his ind b$t 8hese$s was deter ined to slay the *inota$r+ 8hese$s !ro ised his father that he wo$ld !$t $! white sails co ing back fro Crete, allowing hi to know in advance that he was co ing back alive+ 8he boat wo$ld ret$rn with the black sails if 8hese$s was killed+

8hese$s kills the *inota$r 8hese$s anno$nced to King *inos that he was going to kill the *onster, b$t *inos knew that even if he did anage to kill the *inota$r, 8hese$s wo$ld never be able to e(it the Aabyrinth+ 8hese$s et Brincess Ariadne, da$ghter of King *inos, who fell adly in love with hi and decided to hel! 8hese$s+ 1he gave hi a thread and told hi to $nravel it as he wo$ld !enetrate dee!er and dee!er into the Aabyrinth, so that he knows the way o$t when he kills the onster+ 8hese$s followed her s$ggestion and entered the labyrinth with the thread+ 8hese$s anaged to kill the *inota$r and save the Athenians, and with AriadneJs thread he anaged to retrace his way o$t+ 8hese$s took Brincess Ariadne with hi Athens+ Aege$s and the 1ails 8hese$sJ boat sto!!ed at 0a(os and the Athenians had a long celebration dedicated to 8hese$s and Ariadne+ After long ho$rs of feasting and drinking, Ariadne fell aslee! on the shore and didnJt enter the boat that sailed to Athens+ 8hese$s fig$red o$t that Ariadne was not with the when it was too late and he was so $!set that he forgot the !ro ise ade to his father and did not change the sails+ 038E+ A different version of the Ariadne on 0a(os+ yth entions that 8hese$s deliberately left and left Crete sailing ha!!ily back to

King Aege$s was waiting at Ca!e 1o$nion to see the sails of the boat+ "e saw the black sails fro afar and !res$ ed his son was dead+ "e dro!!ed hi self to the waters, co itting s$icide and since then, this sea is called the Aegean 1ea+ 8he yth of 8hese$s and the *inota$r has ins!ired n$ ero$s artists thro$gho$t the cent$ries, who have created !aintings and sc$l!t$res dedicated to the yth and the hero of Athens+