Term Papers on The Minoan Civilization

Term Paper Title	The Minoan Civilization
# of Words	1232
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.93

The Minoan Civilization

The Mycenean city-kingdoms were unconscious models for the later Greek city-states. Stories passed on about the Mycenean Greece were foundations of organization of later city-states.
                                                 The history of Greece begins  with the Minoan civilization. They were based on the island of Crete. Their civilization was unlike any that preceded or followed. The land was very fertile and this produced a very wealthy society that worshipped nature, they also used hedonism. This term refers to the pursuit of happiness. Unlike the Mycenean and the later Greeks, the Minoans saw themselves as blending with the natural world. Their magnificent art and architecture reflected their love for the natural world. The organic quality of Minoan architecture is seen most clearly in the palaces of Crete. The four major palaces at Knossos, Phaestos, Mallia, and Zakros, all followed the same basic plan. The private homes of Minoan Crete ranged from simple peasant dwellings to rich mansions and villas, constructed with the same feature and fine techniques as the palaces. Minoan painting is found in two forms, the vivid frescoes on the palace walls, and the graceful designs that decorated Minoan pottery. The Minoans made a large contribution to the art of landscape painting. Minoan artists represented the terrain with many different colors to represent the life of the earth. The religion of the Minoans gives further evidence of their love for nature in the

bare-breasted priestess and hedonistic scenes in the paintings of religious ceremonies. They prayed to fertility goddesses. Although they were excellent seamen who developed trade and commerce, the Minoans do not seem to have been very aggressive and war-like. They influenced many other civilizations through trade. Their government was a complex bureaucracy administrated the island from a series of palaces, the most notable at Knosses. The most remarkable part of the palaces is their impressive technology. Apartments were equipped with running water and the equivalent of flushing toilets. An advanced system of writing, known only as Linear A, allowed the Minoan bureaucracy to keep records and manage Crete. As the Minoans developed trade relations with the Greek mainland, they came to influence the Myceneans. While the two civilizations were almost opposites culturally, Mycenean and Minoan art showed signs of cultural diffusion. The bond ended when the Myceneans decided to invade Crete . After a brief period of Mycenean control the Minoan civilization disappeared.
                                                 The Myceneans were the most direct ancestors to the later Greeks. Speaking an Indo-European language the Myceneans settled on the Greek peninsula and Asia Minor. Mycenean Greece was a collection of independent city-kingdoms governed by local warlords. Unlike Minoan Crete with

its central, in Greece each warrior-king had his own region and sometimes had war with his neigbors. It was this reason that caused the decline of the Myceneans. The

legendary attack on the city of Troy led to  the beginning of this decline. The Myceneans developed a strong, flourishing economy based on the phrase “trading and raiding”. They became expert sailors and built strong navies capable of make trade and war with equal efficiency. As trade increased, their art and craft work showed the influence of other civilizations, most heavily the Minoans. The Myceneans worshipped male sky gods. Their religion is clearly the beginning of later Greek himinocentric  concept. The Mycenean warlords were supported by a palace bureaucracy of  scribes who kept records, wrote treaties, and sent messages. Their writing is known as Linear B. Its letters are borrowed from the Minoan Linear A. Mycenean culture and power reached its peak around 1300 BC. The cultural diffusion that resulted from trade contacts with the Hittite Empire and Egypt started to deterior...

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