Minoan Art
During the third millennium BCE, both on the Aegean Islands and
on the Greek mainland, most settlements were small and consisted
only of simple buildings. Only rarely were the dead buried with
costly offerings such as the Cycladic statuettes just examined. In con-
trast, the construction of large palaces marked the opening centuries
of the second millennium (the Middle Minoan period on Crete).
Architecture
The first, or Old Palace, period came to an abrupt end around 1700
BCE, when fire destroyed these grand structures, probably following
an earthquake. Rebuilding began almost immediately, and the ensu-ing Late Minoan (New Palace) period is the golden age of Crete, an
era when the first great Western civilization emerged. The rebuilt
palaces were large, comfortable, and handsome, with residential
suites for the king and his family and courtyards for pageants, cere-
monies, and games. They also had storerooms, offices, and shrines
that permitted these huge complexes to serve as the key administra-
tive, commercial, and religious centers of Minoan life. The principal
palace sites on Crete are at Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia, Kato Zakro,
and Khania. All of the complexes were laid out along similar lines.
Their size and number, as well as the rich finds they have yielded, at-
test to the power and prosperity of the Minoans.
PALACE AT KNOSSOSThe largest of the palaces, at Knossos
(FIGS. 4-4and 4-5), was the legendary home of King Minos. Here,84 Chapter 4 THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN4-4Aerial view (looking
northeast) of the palace at
Knossos (Crete), Greece,
ca. 1700–1400 bce.
The Knossos palace is the
largest on Crete and was
the legendary home of King
Minos. Its layout features a
large central court, around
which all the residential and
administrative units were
grouped.4-5Plan of the palace at
Knossos (Crete), Greece,
ca. 1700–1400 bce.
The mazelike plan of the
Knossos palace gave rise to
the Greek myth of the Cretan
labyrinth inhabited by the
Minotaur, a half-man half-bull
monster that the Athenian
king Theseus killed.N
0 25 50 75 100 feet
0210 0 30 meters588976
11
10(^12131415)
16
4
3
2
1
West porch
Corridor of the procession
South propylon
Central court
‘‘Theater area’’
North-south corridor
Pillar hall
Magazines
Throne room
Palace shrine and lower
verandas
Stepped porch
Grand staircase
Light well
East-west corridor
Hall of the Double Axes
(principal reception room)
‘‘Queen’s Megaron’’
Existing
Reconstruction
Earlier
structures
Reconstruction