Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Creta oggi
l l i te
sa te
l
Da
Le più antiche tracce di civiltà a Creta e nelle isole dell’Egeo
risalgono all’epoca neolitica (VII millennio a.C.).
La civiltà cretese/minoica ebbe inizio verso il 3000 a.C., quando I
primi Minoici si rifugiarono nelle numerose caverne di Creta – o
come invasori o come immigrati – molto probabilmente
provenendo dall’Asia Minore. Dopo poco, i Minoici lasciarono la
sicurezza delle caverne e iniziarono a costruire villaggi costieri
come quelli dell’Asia Minore.
I Greci dell’epoca arcaica e classica ritenevano che i primitivi
abitanti delle loro isole appartenessero a una razza diversa dalla
propria e li definivano Pelasgi oppure Cari.
Creta
250km
55km
fasi
crisi definitiva
1200 circa
La flotta di
Thera
730 km/h
I Micenei
• Verso il 1400 i Micenei o Achei avevano
occupato la Grecia, costituendovi solide
monarchie militari e provvedendo
all’arruolamento di soldati mercenari che
compaiono spesso nei dipinti dell’epoca con i
loro scudi e le lance di bronzo.
• Già indeboliti dagli eventi sopra descritti, i
signori di Creta non furono in grado di resistere
alla minaccia che veniva dall’esterno e si
arresero all’invasore.
Fase micenea (1400-1200 a.C.).
Several forms
of the Minoan
goddess
The Art of the Minoans
The Minoans of Crete…
Did not use their art in most cases to promote religion and/or government
Used most often naturalistic scenes such as dolphins and trees, or trivial
things such as the mundane details of everyday life or a cat hunting a heath
cock
Starting around 1700 b.C., covered the walls and floors of their palaces,
temples, and homes with wall-sized and floor-sized frescoes
3000bC The Minoan civilization begins as the native Cretans and either invaders or immigrants from Asia
Minor divide into clans and begin to build villages
2000bC The Minoans move from scattered villages and clans to centralized towns built up around the early
Minoan Palace Centers
The Minoans begin trading with their neighbors
The Minoans begin to use their first writing system, a hieroglyphic writing system similar to Egyptian
Hieroglyphics which to this day has yet to be deciphered
1700bC The Minoans rebuild their Palace centers after earthquakes sweeps over Crete destroying their
original pal aces built in 2000 b.c.
1600bC The Minoans begin to use Linear A, their second writing system which to this day has yet to be
deciphered
1650bC The Minoans, due to over population, colonize the islands of Thera, Melos, Kea, Rhodes, the
southwestern coast of Asia Minor near Miletus, and, perhaps, Athens of Greece
Due to the probable Minoan colonization of Athens this is also most likely the timeframe in which the
Greek Myth of King Minos and his Minotaur appeared
1500bC Earthquakes sweep through Crete again destroying most of the Minoan civilization as well all of their
great palace centers
1450bC More earthquakes on Crete and the catastrophic eruption of the Thera island volcano equivalent to a
600 kiloton atomic bomb decimated the Minoan civilization
The Minoans begin to use Linear B their third writing system which will be later deciphered as an
early form of Greek
1400bC Spurred on by the natural disasters occurring around 1500 b.C. and 1450 b.C. as well as the Minoans
lack of a strong military and their lack of proper defenses, the Mycenaeans of mainland Greece invade
Crete