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what made the minoans successful

by Prof. Aurelia McCullough MD Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

The Minoans owed their prosperity and sophistication to their success as a great maritime civilization, delpendent on the sea for trade and food. They traded with Egypt, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Greece and Spain.

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What are some Minoan accomplishments?

What were Athens achievements?

  • The temples on the acropolis in Athens were examples of the Greek talent for architecture. …
  • Athenians enjoyed dramas staged in large open-air theaters. …
  • The Greeks competed in athletic events at the Panathenaic Games and the Olympics.

What were some of the achievements of the Minoans?

Minoan Timeline

  • Late Minoan IIIC 1200-1150 B.C.E.
  • Late Minoan II through Late Minoan IIIA/B 1450-1200 B.C.E. ...
  • Neo-Palatial (LM IA-LM IB) 1600-1450 B.C.E. ...
  • Neo-Palatial (MMIIIB) 1700-1600 B.C.E. ...
  • Proto-Palatial (MM IIA-MM IIIA) 1900-1700 B.C.E. ...
  • Pre-Palatial (EM III/MM IA) 2300-1900 B.C.E. ...
  • Early Minoan IIB 2550-2300 B.C.E.
  • Early Minoan IIA 2900-2550 B.C.E.

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What made Minoan civilization so prosperous?

There are two essential factors that make a civilization: cities (complex social organization) and writing. Most probably Minoans created social complex organization and being good traders, got in contact with Egypt and Phoenicia.

What did the Minoans accomplished?

The Minoans have an important place in world history, as building the first civilization to appear on European soil. Minoan civilization emerged around 2000 BCE, and lasted until 1400 BCE. The Minoans were famous for the magnificent palaces they built, above all at Knossos.

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How did Minoans achieve success?

They developed aqueducts, wells, and cisterns as a way of ensuring the growth of the city and that agricultural lands had enough potable water. Because of this, they were also able to bathe more often, which resulted in the Minoan people being extremely clean for their time.

Why were the Minoans a successful civilization?

Reaching its peak about 1600 bce and the later 15th century, Minoan civilization was remarkable for its great cities and palaces, its extended trade throughout the Levant and beyond, and its use of writing.

How did the Minoans become so wealthy?

The Minoans were a wealthy society. The earned their wealth through trade. They built ships and traded with Egypt and Syria.

What is the Minoan civilization best known for?

The Minoan civilization is known for its Bronze Age cities on Crete which had large palace-like structures. Knossos was the largest city and location of the labyrinth and minotaur of Greek mythology.

How was the Minoan civilization developed?

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from c. 3500 BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000 BC, and then declining from c. 1450 BC until it ended around 1100 BC, during the early Greek Dark Ages.

What trade good did the Minoans export?

The Minoans exported and imported an immense variety of objects. They exported textiles, such as fine clothing and shoes, and most likely exported general cloth and wool as well. They may have exported silk, which was found on the Aegean island of Kos directly after the Minoan collapse.

How did the Mycenaeans gain wealth and power?

The many established trade routes throughout the Mediterranean also helped the Mycenaeans gain wealth and power. They gained power from trade, waging war, and conquering land.

What goods did the Minoans trade?

Cretan exports consisted of timber, foodstuffs, cloth, and, most likely, olive oil, as well as finely crafted luxury goods. In exchange, the Minoans imported tin, copper, gold, silver, emery, fine stones, ivory, and some manufactured objects. For their basic needs, however, the Minoans on Crete were self-sufficient.

Did the Minoans have advanced technology?

In the Minoan Crete various fundamental technologies such as aqueducts, wells, cisterns, and closed water distribution systems for water supply to the “palaces”, cities and villages were very well developed, as did techniques relevant to the recreational use of water.

How did the Minoan civilization end?

The Minoan civilization ended with one of the greatest volcanic eruptions in European history that took place around 1500 BC. The eruption of Thera...

What is the Minoan civilization known for?

The Minoan civilization, which reached its peak around 1600 BC, is most well-known for its remarkable palaces and great cities. Additionally, it is...

How did Minoan civilization start?

DNA evidence has unearthed findings of Minoan culture and its beginnings; it has shown that Minoan people likely came from an ancestry of Neolithic...

How did the Minoans influence ancient Greece?

Minoans were a civilization that benefitted from trade, and hence for it to have a significant impact on the Mycenaean civilization, trade was the main solution. During the Second palace period, Minoans traded to the islands of Thera, Melos and Kea towards mainland Greece.

How did Minoans and Mycenaeans affect Greek civilization?

The Minoans were sea traders who lived on Crete. Their success was based on trade not conquest and they set up outposts throughout the Aegean world. The Mycenaeans conquered the Greek mainland before overrunning the island of Crete. They dominated the Aegean world from 1400-1200 BC.

What did the Minoan civilization contribute to Greek economy?

The Minoan economy was based in the maritime trade of agricultural products like wine, olives, and figs in exchange for minerals and other resources like copper and ivory.

How did mycenaeans influence early Greece?

The Mycenaeans first built their trade networks within Greece by constructing the first roads in Europe to bring wheat from Thessaly and oil from Attica to the primary Mycenaean cities of Mycenae, Pylos, and Tiryns on the Peloponnese peninsula.

What race were Minoans?

Analysis of DNA from ancient remains on the Greek island of Crete suggests the Minoans were indigenous Europeans, shedding new light on a debate over the provenance of this ancient culture. Scholars have variously argued the Bronze Age civilisation arrived from Africa, Anatolia or the Middle East.

What were the Minoans known for?

The Minoans have an important place in world history, as building the first civilization to appear on European soil. The Minoans were famous for the magnificent palaces they built, above all at Knossos. There was, if fact, never a people who called themselves the “ Minoans ”.

Were the Minoans a powerful and successful civilization?

The Minoans built a large civilization on the island of Crete that flourished from around 2600 BC to 1400 BC. They built a powerful and long lasting civilization based on a strong navy and trade throughout the Mediterranean Sea.

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Overview

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from c. 3500 BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000 BC, and then declining from c. 1450 BC until it ended around 1100 BC, during the early Greek Dark Ages. It represents the first advanced civilization in Europe, leaving behin…

Etymology

The term "Minoan" refers to the mythical King Minos of Knossos, a figure in Greek mythology associated with Theseus, the labyrinth and the Minotaur. It is purely a modern term with a 19th-century origin. It is commonly attributed to the British archaeologist Arthur Evans, who established it as the accepted term in both archaeology and popular usage. But Karl Hoeck had already used the title Das …

Chronology and history

Instead of dating the Minoan period, archaeologists use two systems of relative chronology. The first, created by Evans and modified by later archaeologists, is based on pottery styles and imported Egyptian artifacts (which can be correlated with the Egyptian chronology). Evans' system divides the Minoan period into three major eras: early (EM), middle (MM) and late (LM). These eras are subdi…

Geography

Crete is a mountainous island with natural harbors. There are signs of earthquake damage at many Minoan sites, and clear signs of land uplifting and submersion of coastal sites due to tectonic processes along its coast.
According to Homer, Crete had 90 cities. Judging by the palace sites, the island was probably divided into at least eight political units at the height of the Mino…

Agriculture and cuisine

The Minoans raised cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, and grew wheat, barley, vetch and chickpeas. They also cultivated grapes, figs and olives, grew poppies for seed and perhaps opium. The Minoans also domesticated bees.
Vegetables, including lettuce, celery, asparagus and carrots, grew wild on Crete. Pear, quince, and olive trees were also native. Date palm trees and cats (for hun…

Women

As Linear A Minoan writing has not been decoded yet, most information available about Minoan women is from various art forms and Linear B tablets, and scholarship about Minoan women remains limited.
Minoan society was a highly gendered and divided society separating men from women in art illustration, clothing, and societal duties. For example, document…

Society and culture

Apart from the abundant local agriculture, the Minoans were also a mercantile people who engaged significantly in overseas trade, and at their peak may well have had a dominant position in international trade over much of the Mediterranean. After 1700 BC, their culture indicates a high degree of organization. Minoan-manufactured goods suggest a network of trade with m…

Collapse

Between 1935 and 1939, Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos posited the Minoan eruption theory. An eruption on the island of Thera (present-day Santorini), about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Crete, occurred during the LM IA period (1550–1500 BC). One of the largest volcanic explosions in recorded history, it ejected about 60 to 100 cubic kilometres (14 to 24 cu mi) of material and was …

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