2. Knossos is one of the major cities of Crete and it is also
considered Europe’s oldest city. It is situated in
Heraklion. Arthur Evans, the British Archaeologist
who excavated the site in 1900 AD restored large parts
of the palace.
3. The palace is set around a large Central Court, an area
used for public meetings. A second courtyard, the
West Court, acted both as the official approach to the
palace and a ceremonial area.
4. It was a multi-storey building covering an area of
20.000 square meters. Impressive features of it are the
variety of building materials used, and the painted
plaster, marble revetment and wall-paintings adorning
the rooms and passages.
5. The civilization in Knossos was peaceful. They didn’t
fight with others. We can see it through the pictures
that were drawn.
6.
Minoan were appeared since the
Bronze age in Europe (2600 BC-
1100 BC). The Minoans were
primarily commercial people
engaged in overseas trade.
Evans figured the saffron was
used for dye and was a
prominent industry for the
Minoans. Other archaeologists
tend to emphasize the more
durable items of trade:
ceramics, copper, and tin, and
dramatic luxury finds
of gold and silver.
7. Knowledge of the spoken and written language of the
Minoans is scant, due to the small number of records
found. Clay tablets dating to around 3000 BC were
found with the various Cretan scripts. Sometimes the
Minoan language is referred to as Eteocretan.