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Greece and its Rich History of Palaces

The Age of the Palaces. Theresemblances. The Achaeans were just
middle-Minoic era was the time oflike the Cretans excellent tradesmen.
prosperity for Crete. Cities started toTheir pottery was found in Sicily,
develop in the period between 2200 andRhodes, Cyprus, Italy, Asia Minor,
1450 BC, but they were huger blocks ofnorthern Syria and Milete. In some of
palaces like the Syrians built them,these places their influence seems so
rather than conglomerations of privatestrong that it is not unlikely that they
houses. Examples of these palaces arehad permanent strongholds there.
Cnossus, Phaistos and Hagia Triada. TheHowever, they could not enter Asia Minor
palace of Cnossus was spread out oververy far as the Hittites were still too
two hectares, and counted so many roomsstrong. That is the reason why their
that it formed the basis for the famouscolonization, if we can even speak of
myth about the labyrinth of thecolonization, was very limited. Both
Minotaur. It seems that Crete has been anations also shared the same form of
collection of local kingdoms, mostlygovernment monarchy. The Cretan and
subsidiary to the dominating CnossusMycenaean monarchies were based on a
where the profits of the ruler werewidespread feudal system of lords with a
collected, managed and distributed.strongly centralized and bureaucratic
Remarkable are the huge storerooms withpalace-economy.
the big pots from products like corn,The End of the Minoic Civilization.
wine and olive oil.Around 1500 Thera was hit by and
The Late Helladic and Minoic Periods.earthquake. The western half of the
Since 1700 BC the Achaeans became moreisland was the top of a volcano, which
and more influenced by Crete. Out ofexploded and completely destroyed most
this interaction between the Cretan andof the island. The results were
Helladic cultures developed a Mycenaeannoticeable in a large part of the
palace culture, which was initiallyMediterranean; the whole Aegean area was
dependent on Cretan models. This newhit by a huge tsunami. The Cretan fleet
culture was named after the powerfulprobably was destroyed for the biggest
city of Mycenae, the city of thepart. The rain of volcanic ashes covered
legendary Agamemnon who was one of theCrete in a grey layer of 10 centimeters
leaders of the expedition against Troy.thick, and had a catastrophic effect on
Soon Mycenae, with its palace on athe crop for many years. Because of
fortified acrois, surrounded bythis, and more reasons, many believe
cyclopean walls and its marvelous Gatethat Crete was the legendary Atlantis.
of Lions, became the dominating power inFifty years later Crete was struck by
the Peloponesse. This period isanother disaster. Everywhere on the
different from the middle Helladic one,island, the palaces went up in flames.
not only because a sudden explosion ofOnly Cnossus was saved. The only logical
wealth took place, but also becauseexplanation for this is that the
throughout Hellas palaces were built.Achaeans from Hellas had attacked Crete
These palaces had a more logical groundfor unknown reasons, and settled
plan than the ones on Crete, and theythemselves down in Cnossus. The
were in fact huge fortifications unlikeexplosion of Thera had decreased the
the palaces on Crete. The most famousstrength of Crete so much that they did
Greek palace of this period was found atnot find much resistance. This theory
Mycenae, but other palaces were found ingets more convincing as you know that
Pylos, Thebe, Athens and Iolkos. AnotherCnossus is the only place outside Hellas
difference with the Minoic culture waswhere Linear-B tablets were found. We do
that the Achaeans developed their ownnot know for how long the Achaeans
script. It was called Linear-B, and wascontrolled Crete, but somewhere around
based on the Cretan Linear-A script, but1400 BC Cnossus got destroyed. The
it eventually became a script on itsdestructions were so spread out over the
own. Linear-B is a syllable-script, andisland that it seems most likely that
the language was Greek. The linear-BCrete was not attached by a foreign
tablets which were found do not tell usforce, but that a revolt against the
much about life in the palaces as it wasMycenaean rules had taken place.
just like Linear-A only used forWhatever the reason might have been,
accountancy. Of course there were alsothis was the end of the Minoic culture.



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