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Looking at the Minoans
If of any use to anyone, here's an account of our recent rather quick dash
around Minoan remains (prepared for a history ng, but with some travel coverage!). As some will know in this ng, we're not expert travellers amongst classical & ancient ruins, but nevertheless we are enthusiastic and enjoy it to the full! Our favoured areas are North Africa & Middle East (i.e. deserts combined with ruins!). But thanks to Bush, recent scrambles have been a little closer to home. Having 'done' the Myceneans about 35 years ago, we thought it was time to follow up with those lovely peaceable Minoans that they apparently then clobbered. It was therefore a 'learning trip' for us, starting at virtually zero knowledge. So these remarks are by no means for those already knowledgeable, but might have some use for similar tyros to us who still have the delights of Knossos & co. ahead of them. We based in Crete, during the middle two weeks of October, at Rethymno - the third largest town of Crete and a delightful venue in its own right. Its additional virtues are that it is centrally placed for many Crete sites, and also has a direct ferry to Thera (Santorini). Heraklion might be a slightly better communications centre, and is very close to Knossos, but would be by no means as pleasant a base. Knossos, of course, was one of the main attractions. Thankfully, Schliemann was stopped by the Turks from carving one of his trenches through, a la Troy, and a rather more careful British archeologist, Arthur Evans, started up around 1900. Evans, too, however, has his harsh critics. Having uncovered the central palace site, he proceeded rather clumsily and 'imaginatively' to reconstruct up to 5 (I think) storey levels. Purists condemned this early Disneyland. Others say that, at least, an impression is thus given of the original magnificence of the buildings, and that Evans probably 'got it moreorless right'. Both are probably true. But, since the reconstructions are now there, it was suggested that Knossos was thus visited first, which would give a visual impression that could greatly aid 'interpretation' on other more conventionally excavated sites. This, we found, is so. Reconstituted or not (and many areas are not) Knossos is a splendid site to visit. There is no point in going into all the intricacies of the aspects to view - far too many, and all details are readily available on many websites & books, anyway. So I'll limit my remarks to a beginner's impressions and any practical tips for other first-time visitors. Ideally, do not go on a 'packaged' coach tour. The guides are only repeating basic information that is readily obtained beforehand. The site is quite compact and easily navigated with a site map. The guided tours do 'rush' you round in about 90 minutes or so - heresy! And, of course, they arrive alongside all the other guided tours, and so, for several particular features, you find yourself in massive queues, even in October. Goodness knows what the peak season must be like. Preferably, Knossos is easily reached by bus or car from very nearby Heraklion, and you can time your arrival for earlier morning or afternoon, missing the late morning coach tour peak. One of the theories of the 'Labyrinth' legend/myth is that it comes from the pure complexity of the palace buildings and interconnecting corridors. This could well be right! We tracked the major features by map but then gave up being clever and just wandered, soaking it all up. One area, to the east of the central court and easily identifiable, we found the most attractive. It is a 'well' of two or three stories, with staircases and with Evans' full colour rebuilding, that massively shows the sheer beauty of Minoan architecture and its famous 'light wells'. Another underated feature we enjoyed was the Royal Road, approached by a wide staircase to the north-west of the site. This apparently connected with other Minoan cities right across Crete and is dubbed 'the oldest road in Europe'. Easily identifiable and paved, we walked along it for some 100 yards - it apparently continues for some further hundreds of yards until hitting a modern road. It seems inconceivable, if the account is true, that this 3,500-year-old road is not being excavated in full wherever possible. Presumably it runs for some 100+ miles! We got chatting to this 'old bloke' whilst rewatering (hitting 100F in mid-October 'thanks' to a hot wind from Libya!) who turned out to be the now-retired chief on-site guide, and who can't stay away from the place! Presumably he knows what he is talking about, and we found his account of the mythology basis interesting. Broadly, the myths say that youths from dependent territories were sent to Knossos annually, put into the labyrinth and sacrificed to the bull/man Minotaur. Above, I related one account where the labyrinth was supposed to be simply the 'labyrinth' of palace corridors. His account, however, was totally novel to us. The recurring motif of the palace is a double-headed axe, carved into the stones all over. the word for this axe was 'lab'. 'Labyrinth' was therefore the word for 'the place of the axe'. Alongside this, bull masks have been uncovered which were presumably used for ceremonial purposes. In practice, therefore, those youths may simply have been summoned to Knossos to masked ceremonies! Those more knowledgeable may well be able to inform us whether we were being had or not! Also, to dispel some popular beliefs that may remain, the Knossos palace was not destroyed by the tidal wave from the Thera (Santorini) volcanic explosion (apparently the largest ever, including Krakatoa, and giving for some the basis of the Atlantis myths). The tidal wave from this did indeed smash the Minoan ports and therefore greatly harmed trade. The volcanic dust may well also have greatly harmed agriculture for a long period of time. Santorini possibly therefore was the beginning of the end. Excavations suggest, however, that the Minoans continued for some scores of years. However, their peacetime architecture changed to fortified towns, suggesting the start of the Mycenean invasions against a weakened state. And, around 100(?) years after Santorini, a distinct level of ash shows the final destruction of the Knossos palace itself, presumably by the Myceneans. Any Knossos visit would probably be combined with the obligatory visit to Heraklion Museum nearby, which is where the vast majority of finds are displayed, including the glorious and famous coloured frescos and a mass of statuary, pottery, jewellery etc. in very well laid-out, modern (and air conditioned!) buildings. We only had time to go to one other major Minoan site on Crete itself, and thank goodness we did! This was to Phaistos in the south of Crete. It is difficult to believe that no Evans-style restoration has taken place. Apart from the fact that Knossos did give a flavour of the multi-storied multi-coloured architecture, Phaistos is so open that the spread of courtyards, staircases, multi-levels etc. can somehow be far better imagined than in the 'closed-in' and far more crowded surroundings of Knossos. One can still walk from cellar levels up to around fifth storeys, due to its hillside base, and in many places massive storage pots etc.are still there in situ. And, beyond that, is Phaistos' incomparable position, high on a ridge in the middle of a fertile plain rolling down to the Libyan Sea. The views are incomparable and by no means trite to mention - apparently this was the very reason for the positioning of this magnificent palace! Somehow, we both enjoyed it rather more than Knossos, which was totally unexpected! The other Minoan trip was to the relatively recently excavated Akrotiri, which had to be our most imagination-stirring visit. Akrotiri? Well, first, one unfortunately has to endure a 4-hour ferry run, under the yellow stuff and through the blue stuff, to this island called Thera, which really could have been rather a bore - except for that fact that it's probably better known as Santorini! If it hadn't already been done thousands of times, I could write a travelogue, take videos, expound for hours and still never describe the total wonder of riding the prow of the ferry into this 32-square mile sea-filled caldera, with the 'new' volcano already rising as two islands in the centre, surrounded by the remaining rims of the original large island, along the tops of which - 1,000 ft. up - string the modern towns. Unbelievable stuff. Luckily a long day return on the ferry allows plenty of hours in which to soak up all this. Hint - don't try walking up the path from the harbour to the caldera rim and Fera town - walking down it killed us! After the obligatory and equally boring drinks on the 1,000 ft. terraces, we were ready to continue on the far more important (well, maybe!) detour to the bit of the rim on which lies Akrotiri. Unbelievably, Akrotiri is the remains of the Minoan town that was on Santorini before the volcano blew around 1,500BC. I had always assumed - bearing in mind the devastation caused in Crete by the explosion - that even if there had been anything on the original island, it had been totally blown away, including Atlantis. Much of Akrotiri was, of course, blown away. Its site moves up to the rim of the caldera and then, of course, disappears. But on the seaward slope, the town was somehow protected from the blast and instantly covered by volcanic ash, a la Pompei, etc. Human activity ceased a bit, of course! But now being uncovered is an unbelievably intact pre-volcano Minoan town. All naturally effectively underground it is all being protected by a hideously expensive roof courtesy of the EU. One shame is that the rafters of this roof (to be removed after construction finishes) tend to spoil the effect. Suddenly, you realise that (up to and beyond the rafters) you are walking down 3,500-year old Minoan streets through still-remaining two- & three-storey buildings. Awesome! It's already a large site, but is apparently only around 10% of what is still there. So it looks as if there are another 3,500 years of digging to come! We were told how the massive importance of this site is not simply its unforgettable outward appearance, but the colossal quantities of remains found in situ, providing a mountain of new data on Minoan economics, living, trade, crafts, raw materials, farming, metalwork, shipping, etc. etc. Well, that was it - apart from another side trip en route to Phaistos. We went to Gortyn which, being only 'dug' for a very small proportion of its area, could easily be missed. But what an omission that would be! There was a Minoan town here, but the relatively sparse remains of any size are Roman, including a very good Byzantine church on the site of the first, 3rd. century, Christian church in Crete. But the major site has to be a wall, some 12ft. high by some 50 ft. long covered in a mass of very early Greek inscriptions - they are laws, and represent the largest single area of ancient writing in Europe. I didn't even know of them, and to see them is something else. Also, we were shown hundreds of acres of fields, amongst which undug remains poked here and there - a massive site. The reason? Well, we were told that Gortyn was not merely the Roman capital of Crete but of a whole province that included much of North Africa, which it faces. Again, I'd never even heard of it (well, I did say we were amateurs!). If this is so, this must be a site of amazing potential. This is something I must follow up. So, that was our first taste of the Minoans. I hope any others still to see all this for the first time lap it up as enjoyably as did we. Any (fully expected!) corrections from those more knowledgeable to any of our assumptions etc. would always be very welcome. But in our blissful ignorance, the whole initial experience was superb. Surreyman |
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Looking at the Minoans
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#3
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Looking at the Minoans
On Sat, 1 Nov 2003 11:56:44 -0000, "a.spencer3"
wrote: [snip] Preferably, Knossos is easily reached by bus or car from very nearby Heraklion, and you can time your arrival for earlier morning or afternoon, missing the late morning coach tour peak. I took the public bus to Knossos from Heraklion. It costs about .20 or something and stops right at the site. It is hardly luxurious, but is reasonably fast and the seats are okay. You also get to be around some everyday working-class locals. Mason Barge "If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me some coffee." -- Abraham Lincoln |
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Looking at the Minoans
I just stumbled across this news story on an archaeology NG that might
be of interest. Regards, Walter http://taipeitimes.com/chnews/2003/1...ory/2003073739 ...And Paradise Was Lost...like teardrops in the rain... |
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