Political Structure, Facts, and Visual Aids By Christa

Political:

-City-states

-King

-Centralized government

-A lot of trade

-Bureaucracy

-Isolated from the mainland of Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Egypt

Facts:

-Lived on a Crete

-Southern edge of Aegean Sea

-Knossos was the capital

-Cities didn't need much protection

-2000-12=400 BCE
-Divided into 3 different periods:
         ~Early Minoans
         ~Middle Minoans
         ~Late Minoans
-Fertile soil (since it was an island)

-Limited resources
-Exported wine, oil, jewelry, etc... 
-Major Influence on the culture of Greece

-King Minos was a king of the Crete

-Mother Earth Goddesses

-Sacrificed bulls and other animals to the gods

-Civilization lingered for about 300 years after it came to an end

Lower Class Journal Entry By Joeylin

Dear Diary/Journal, 
Today while I was walking, I witnesses a ceremony and it was an Epiphany. Epiphany is the most important ceremony  because that is when the deity or god/goddess has an appearance before the religious community. In this ceremony it involves ritual dances and women are given a religious symbol in these dances and they danced as different sacred characters. Public offerings were very important during these ceremonies. I saw people with small and large animals to give as their offering to the deity as appreciation. These animals were tied to an altar and blood was taken from them and it's carried into a vase through a wooden rod that a priestess holds. Other than blood offerings people could give agricultural produce, and ritual objects. In this ceremony I witnessed today the king was accepting gifts from the worshippers. Usually kings and priests would accept the gifts from the people because they are represented as the gods and goddesses. Sacred symbols or scenes were shown on iconographic like the most important, consecration horns and the double axe. There are also priests that were mainly on the seals if they wore fringed garments because that shows that they are religious representations. 
As I was walking around in the city I wondered how our society started and how our culture was formed. I asked the elderly and they told me the cultural characteristics of our society. The Minoans shared similarities with Mesopotamia and Egypt because we traded widely with those two civilizations. Architectural forms and mathematics are some influences from Egypt. The writing system hieroglyphics was another influence from Egypt. Political structures were similar to Egypt and Mesopotamia as well. Diverse athletic scenes are also shown on seals which are used to transport goods. Both men and women were included in these events. Sports games like  acrobatics, wrestling, boxing, and bullfighting except women were not included in wrestling and boxing. These events also take place during some certain religious ceremonies. As for every day clothing attire of ordinary people no one really knows what they wore. The scenes from iconographic are from high social class events so they wore gowns and jewels and maybe that was their every day attire or just costumes.   

Just like any other society there are the higher arches, the middle class and the lower class. Belonging in the lower class is a very tough situation for everyone because of inequalities. For example other people don't receive the opportunity to  learn how to write, read, count. The different jobs people had were professional artisans, clerks, crafts and trade, farmers, women were weavers. They had special privileges for specializing in their jobs. Women were highly respected as well and often viewed froom iconographic as priestesses or athletes. Like any other society there were slaves but they weren't treated harshly. 

Women, Art and Technology By Michela

In ancient Minoa women played an important role. They served as priestesses, functionaries, and administrators. Women did not have limits on their choice of occupations. They could be anything from an entrepreneur, to a top bureaucracy leader. Along with having a choice of their job, they were also allowed to do most of the things that men were. Minoan sports were often violent and dangerous but women still had the option to participate in them. Minoa was a matriarchal society, and women were viewed as a symbol of worship. This is because the Minoans worshiped goddesses and gods. There isn’t much evidence to prove this but they know that there were more goddesses than gods. Although women were valued for their fertility, they were seen as more important than just caregivers. Women even got rights to more prominent positions during assemblies and processions. Women were considered to be “pillars of stability” in the Minoan civilization. Also there were paintings, sculptures, stone carvings, and seals depicting women goddesses. 

The Minoans had a lot of art in their culture. They mainly made sculptures it honor gods and goddesses. An example of a popular statue is the snake goddess. The Minoans also made paintings, pottery, did metal work and created palaces. Paintings usually portrayed a portrait of Minoan life at the time. They adapted some of their artistic ideas from the Egyptians. Use of the side view and frontal eye along with sharp outlines in solid color. Minoan pottery was complicated due to the use of a pottery wheel. Pottery wheels allowed for efficient production of vessels that had thin walls and shapes that are symmetrical. Minoans created metal works with copper and gold. They used many techniques to shape the metals into objects and works of art. Minoan palaces were structured to cause a visitor to feel a sense of awe while there. Some architectural features of their palaces are columns, long walls, large exterior staircases, and porches. Columns were very important to Minoans and it is believed that the column had ritual significance for the culture and was placed in many places to serve not only for heir original purposes but for cultural and ritualistic purposes. 

The Minoans were technologically advanced. Weaponry was key to Minoan civilization. There was art depicting hunters and warriors wading helmets and using shields as a form of protection. They used spears, daggers, bows and arrows, and swords in defense and hunting. Minoans are said to violent and brutal warriors. They also utilized metal for art by making sculptures, statues, and other forms of metal works with it. Another use that Minoans had for metal was jewelry making. Minoan cities were technologically advanced as well. Their cities were connected with stone roads made by blocks that were cut with saws. Those saws were made out of bronze. The streets had water, sewer and drainage systems that worked because of clay pipes. Minoan buildings were 2-3 stories high and had flat roofs. The roofs tile made out of plaster, wood, or flagstone floors. Timber would hold up the roofs and the walls and foundation were made out of stone mud brick and rubble. 

King Journal Entry By Jake

Dear Journal,

Being the king of the Minoans is not an easy job, but it is a good one. The year is 1700 B.C.E. and we are on the island of Crete which is found near the Libyan Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Crete. We are near Greece, Turkey and Asia Minor. Crete is a vast and beautiful island that has many mountains and gorges with several plateaus. The Leropotamos River is our water supply and there are two harbors in Crete. The island has mild weather with a slightly rainy winter and a warm, dry summer. In the past, our island has experienced natural disasters like earthquakes. Our shore is also elevated above the ground. Our soil is very fertile which allows for agriculture.
Our economy is very diverse. We have different crops that we farm like celery, asparagus, carrots, pear and more. For our agriculture, our civilization has bronze tools. We used to use bone or wood tools but when we found bronze our tools were revolutionized. In addition, we have a variety of animals like cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Being on an island with a rapidly growing population, resources are limited and trade is very necessary. The trade helps me and my bureaucracy get the items we need and deserve and it also helps to build our civilization up. This is why I decided to place a tax on low-class traders’ earnings from my civilization. We export oil, wine and jewelry among other things. We receive a lot of food and raw materials from other civilizations in our area like Egypt and Mesopotamia, who have been frequent trade partners recently. These items help to feed our population, create shelters and build my lavish palace. In addition, the civilizations that we trade with have influenced our culture greatly over time. We are also known for our pottery and sealstones. 

Now you would think that being the social civilization that we are we would have a lot of attacks and conflicts but we don’t! Although we do have a navy, it is for trade purposes only and our weapons are only used during religious rituals. We also built walls and watchtowers just to be safe because there is always a threat, but our island location helps us avoid attack. Generally, we are very peaceful with our fellow civilizations.