Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Minoan religion
Due to the fact that the Minoans left no decipherable texts we know very little about their religious beliefs. Usually the Minoans are approached from a Greek perspective, often retrofitting Greek mythology to what is presumed to have been Minoan reality. Actually the Minoans are best viewed as a north-west outpost of the Near East rather than as a south-east anlage of Europe. Marinatos presents an extraordinary tour-de-force viewing the Minoans from a Near Eastern perspective. This is the best analysis of Minoan religious beliefs that I have come across. It is not easy reading, but for anyone truly interested in the Minoans this is an essential text - there is nothing else published that comes even close. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description
Pseira, in northeast Crete, was a port dating from the end of the Neolithic until the Late Minoan. This, the second volume on the recent joint American-Greek archaeological excavations, reports on the new researches on building AC, the Late Minoan I shrine, first excavated in 1907, but badly recorded and then studied only for its beautiful reliefs, not its architecture. The recent excavations have paid particular attention to the architecture including the reconstruction of the wall paintings, and the textile patterns from stucco reliefs, which are reported in full in this volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Mochlos is a Minoan town set on a fine harbor at the eastern side of the Gulf of Mirabello, in northeast Crete. It was first inhabited during the Neolithic period, and it had an important Minoan settlement during most of the Bronze Age.Mochlos I, to be published in three volumes, presents the results of the excavations directed by Jeffrey Soles and Costis Davaras in the Neopalatial levels of the Artisans' Quarter and at the farmhouse at Chalinomouri. The Artisans' Quarter consisted of a series of workshops with evidence for pottery manufacture, metalworking, and weaving. Chalinomouri, a semi-independent farmhouse with strong connections to the nearby island settlement at Mochlos, was engaged in craftwork and food processing as well as agriculture. Volume IA publishes the process of excavation and the architecture, volume IB presents the pottery, and volume IC will publish the small finds.Contents: The Artisans' Quarter: Building A; The Artisans' Quarter: Building B; Conclusions on the Artisans' Quarter; The Chalinomouri Farmhouse; Conclusions on Chalinomouri; Human Skeletal Remains. ... Read more

Product Description
This publication includes a detailed discussion of the pottery, the finds and their parallels, and a reconstruction of both the excavation and stratigraphy of Tholos Gamma in the Bronze Age cemetery of Phourni at Archanes. This evidence is used to give the historical outline of the tomb from its foundation in Early Minoan IIA until its excavation in 1972. Several problems concerning Prepalatial mortuary practices are discussed, with particular reference to Tholos Gamma and the new evidence resulting from the study of this funerary assemblage. The artifacts from the tomb include pottery, metal objects, marble figurines, other small finds, and skeletal remains.

Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. Excavation and Stratigraphy; 3. Pottery; 4. Other Finds; 5. Discussion of the Excavation Evidence; 6. Mortuary Practices; 7. Conclusions; Appendix: The Human Remains, Sevi Triantaphyllou. ... Read more

Product Description
This study is an epigraphical investigation of the Linear B records from the West Wing in the palace of Knossos. Its focus is the group of 61 unclassified Od tablets with the ideogram for wool. The author presents a new classification of the Od tablets by identifying new sets, and by integrating unclassified Od tablets into existing Od sets or into other series recording wool, such as the two well known and thoroughly researched "bureaux", the textile and the sheep administration. Recent work by FIRTH on find-places has provided new insights for this study. In the present study, 29 prefix changes are suggested. Only few unclassified Od tablets, however, can be associated with the initial parts of textile production in which scribes 103 and 113 set targets and manage the production. Rather, many unclassified Od tablets belong to the final stages of the textile production, that is, the finishing and decoration of the cloth. Moreover,scribe 227, newly identified by KILLEN and MELENA, is presented. Scribe 227 records small amounts of wool, writes in a style similar to the writing of scribes 113 and 115, and is associated with the area I1 near the North Entrance. His administrative practices thus seem distinct from the better known practices of scribe 103. This confirms the high degree of specialisation in the palatial administration at Knossos. ... Read more

Product Description
Excavations carried out at two Late Minoan III sites at Mochlos in eastern Crete yielded a pottery assemblage from 31 tombs and 11 houses, which are cataloged, discussed, and illustrated together with petrographic analyses. The cemetery remains mirror the settlement remains, and the conclusions discuss how the two sites reflect each other. Rarely in Crete are a settlement and its cemetery both preserved, and it is extremely fortunate to be able to document both in a series of scientific excavation reports (Mochlos IIA-IIC). Contents: Introduction; 1. Petrographic Analysis of the Late Minoan III Ceramics; 2. The Late Minoan II-III Pottery; 3. Conclusions: The Decoration, Character, and Relative Chronology of the Late Minoan II-III Pottery; App. A. Petrographic Descriptions; App. B. Earlier Minoan and Later Orientalizing Pottery from Late Minoan III Contexts; Bibliography; Conc. A; Conc. B; Index; Tables; Figures; Plates. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a unique two volume box set revealing the history of Crete's luminous Minoan civilization. Volume one is a catalogue of the over 280 objects that were included in the exhibition. It features detailed descriptions as well as excellent color photographs of the wide ranges of rare objects included in the exhibition. While each object is dealt with separately the volume nonetheless covers numerous aspects of the Minoan culture such as Religion and Ritual, Scripts and Weights, Pots and Potters, Jewels for Life and Death, Masterpieces in Stone, Warriors and Weaponry. Volume two completes the set by offering 19 essays by renowned scholars of Minoan archaeology. They delve into detailed information on the Minoan civilization including up to date information on the palaces, their architecture and administration, funerary evidence and burial practices, the importance of religion in the Minoan society, the significance of the use of writing and many more principal facets of the civilization. More than just an exhibition catalogue, this two-volume set serves as a textbook for anyone who wants to better understand one of the greatest civilizations of the world. Contributors include, in addition to the editors, Peter Warren, Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Bristol University; Clairy Palyvou, Professor, Department of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Christos Boulotis, Archaeologist, Academy of Athens, Research Centre for Antiquity, Athens; Philip P. Betancourt, Professor, Department of Art History, Temple University, Philadelphia; Lefteris Platon, Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Athens; Irini Papageorgiou, Archaeologist, Benaki Museum, Athens; Jean-Claude Poursat, Professor Emeritus, University of Clermont II; Photini J. P. McGeorge, Anthropologist-Archaeologist, University of Crete, Rethymnon; Metaxia Tsipopoulou, Director of the National Archive of Monuments, Athens; Nanno Marinatos, Professor of Classics, University of Illinois at Chicago; Athanasia Kanta, Archaeologist, Archaeological Institute of Cretological Studies, Herakleion, Crete; Andonis Vasilakis, Archaeologist, 23rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Herakleion, Crete. ... Read more

Product Description
The crucial earliest phases of palatial Knossos are not well known, in part due to over-building by Neopalatial structures and floors. This volume represents the first complete publication of substantial deposits dating to this period, specifically the Middle Minoan IB and IIA phases. This is a first not only for Knossos but for Crete as a whole, and will act as a crucial point of reference for future work on these key phases in the island's prehistory.The five Protopalatial deposits in question, excavated in 1973, 1987 and 1992-93, are fully published with their contexts, the stratified pottery and 'small finds' - including the earliest inscribed clay document from Crete, clay sealings, horn cores and chipped stone; radiocarbon dates are also presented. The deposits come from the south-west of the palace area, and provide evidence for a range of activities such as ceremonial feasting, workshop production and administration, as well as showing the early development of individual town dwellings on terraces just a few metres from the palace.The volume concludes with a full discussion of the form and function of the Old Palace, stressing that the plans laid down in the first 150 years were far more closely followed over the next 400 years than has hitherto been suspected. ... Read more

Product Description
One in the series of ancient history books for older children, with vivid color illustrations on every other page. ... Read more

Product Description
Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus ), also known as Labyrinth, or Knossos Palace, is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace appears as a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square. Detailed images of Cretan life in the late Bronze Age are provided by images on the walls of this palace. It is also a tourist destination today, as it is near the main city of Heraklion and has been substantially restored, by archaeologist Arthur Evans. The city of Knossos remained important through the Classical and Roman periods, but its population shifted to the new town of Handaq (modern Heraklion) during the 9th century AD. By the 13th century, it was called Makryteikhos 'Long Wall'; the bishops of Gortyn continued to call themselves Bishops of Knossos until the 19th century. Today, the name is used only for the archaeological site situated in the suburbs of Heraklion. ... Read more

Product Description
The volume brings together 54 papers dealing with all aspects of the site of Knossos by leading scholars in the field of outstanding significance: readers will find a remarkable amount of new information and new interpretations on all aspects of Minoan and Cretan studies. They range in date from the Neolithic to the Late Roman and, indeed the modern reception of the site. ... Read more

Product Description
Foreword ; Monuments of Minos: Rethinking the Minoan Palaces ; Introduction ; List of abbreviations ; Jan DRIESSEN, 'The King Must Die.' Some Observations on the Use of Minoan Court Compounds ; Ilse SCHOEP, The State of the Minoan Palaces or the Minoan Palace-State? ; Colin F. MACDONALD, The Neopalatial Palaces of Knossos ; Giorgos RETHEMIOTAKIS, Evidence on Social and Economic Changes at Galatas and Pediada in the New-Palace Period ; Vincenzo LA ROSA, Pour une révision préliminaire du second palais de Phaistos ; Joseph SHAW, The Minoan Palatial Establishment at Kommos. An Anatomy of its History, Function, and Interconnections ; Olivier PELON, Contribution du palais de Malia à l'étude et à l'interprétation des "palais" minoens ; Jeffrey S. SOLES, A Central Court at Gournia ; Metaxia TSIPOPOULOU, Petras, Siteia: The Palace, the Town, the Hinterland and the Protopalatial Background ; Lefteris PLATON, The Political and Cultural Influence of the Zakros Palace on Nearby Sites and in a Wider Context ; Maria ANDREADAKI-VLASAKI, Are We Approaching the Minoan Palace of Khania? ; Clairy PALYVOU, Central Courts: The Supremacy of the Void ; Yannis HAMILAKIS, Too Many Chiefs?: Factional Competition in Neopalatial Crete ; Peter M. WARREN, Political Structure in Neopalatial Crete ; Philip P. BETANCOURT, Who was in charge of the Palaces? ; J. Alexander MACGILLIVRAY, Memories of a Minotaur ; Peter M. DAY and Maria RELAKI, Past Factions and Present Fictions: Palaces in the Study of Minoan Crete ; Klaas VANSTEENHUYSE, Minoan Courts and Ritual Competition. ... Read more

Product Description
The old, world-wide phenomenon of playing board games has received little attention among scholars studying the ancient cultures. This thesis collects and analyses game-related material from Bronze Age Crete, defines the field of research and examine gaming as part of social history. The book starts with a history of research of Eastern Mediterranean games and game boards and then analyses three types of archaeological material connected to games. First, the cup-holes made on pavement slabs at public, multi-purpose areas, such as street corners and courtyards, are investigated. Then the elaborate Knossos game board provides a new understanding for its details, layout and logic. Finally, all kinds of small objects are investigated, e.g. markers, pieces, dice and lots. The game-related finds can also highlight other aspects of the Minoan society; the public and private spheres, connections to ritual and religion, etc. We have a local production of gaming material, with various dimensions of foreign influence. These influences often came from Egypt, but little seems to have continued to the Greek mainland. ... Read more

Product Description
In this volume you will find a brief evaluation on the importance of the artistry of the Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. It is through the art and architecture of these very early Greek civilizations that we have been better able to understand the true roots of the Greek civilization in its entirety. The art and architecture of these three civilizations have yielded us much insight into the basic social organization, living habits, religions and spiritual figures that would later develop into the basis for Greek society. ... Read more

Product Description
Minoan Kommos, a newly excavated site on the Greek island of Crete, is widely known as an important sanctuary of the Greek period, and for its earlier role as a major Minoan harbor town. This final volume in the Princeton series on Kommos focuses on three of the site's grand public buildings.

The first two had the characteristic style of the Minoan "palace," with wings around a rectangular central court. The colonnaded stoas on the north and south were presumably provided for spectators viewing events in the court. Some of the interior rooms are believed to have held storage items connected with commerce that originated abroad. They contain imported pottery from such far-flung locations as Anatolia, Cyprus, Egypt, Syro-Palestine, and Sardinia. The third building, half the size of the others, yet still the largest Post-palatial structure discovered so far on Crete, consists of six huge roofed galleries. The galleries may have sheltered ships during the non-sailing months.

The book begins with a study of the architecture and the decorative and construction plasters, followed by presentations of the stratified Middle and Late Minoan pottery. After a chapter on miscellaneous finds, the volume concludes with a detailed examination of issues such as the buildings' forms and uses. Covering more than six hundred years of activity, Kommos V is a definitive guide to one of the world's most fascinating archeological sites. It provides the logical conclusion to the contextual studies already published in the four earlier Kommos volumes. ... Read more

Product Description
Pamphlet is a souvineer/scholarly detail of the Palace at Knossos with floor plans and artist's rendition of the rooms, environs, etc. ... Read more

Product Description
To say this book is innovative, challenging and has far-reaching consequences in the field of archaeology, would be an understatement. Accompanying an exhibition held in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (July-November 1999) this is a unique study of the eating and drinking habits, health, disease and medicine of the Mycenaean and Minoan civilisations. It is based on the most up-to-date scientific techniques testing residues from ceramic vessels (cups, bowls, storage jars, both decorated and plain), married with analysis of faunal, plant, and molluscan remains from excavations, iconographic and written sources, and human remains. It is rare in archaeology to be able to answer questions posed with a yes or no answer and provide scientific proof at the same time. Did they drink beer at Myrtos? Yes! Did they eat meat and vegetable stew at Chania? Yes! Was retsina really discovered in the Greek Bronze Age? Yes! The methods, approach and findings from this project, which is still in progress, have far-reaching significance both within and outside an Aegean context. A book providing further details of the techniques employed by this project will be published in late 2000. ... Read more