World History is not necessarily a favorite subject growing up, especially Ancient World History. In America, we typically focus on Greek and Roman history as they were the most advanced civilizations during those eras. We learn about the Greek philosopher Socrates or Roman Emperors like Julius Caesar. But what about the Minoans? You've never heard of them? I hadn't either until we started planning this trip. It turns out the Minoans pre-date the great Greek and Roman periods of history -- by a lot.
We arrived in Crete in time to visit the Archaeoligcal Museum of Heraklion before it closed. It has extensive exhibits of artifacts from the Minoan period that were found throughout Crete. Minoan is derived from Minos, king of Knossos in Crete in Greek mythology. The Minoan world started during the Neolithic period circa 7000 BC, continuing through the Bronze Age, and lasted until about 1100 BC. Knossos is considered to be the oldest city in Europe, older than Athens and Rome, although now it's just a memory.
A few of the ancient artifacts we saw are pictured here:
The Bee Pendant -- famous gold ornament from Malia on the coast of Crete (1800 - 1700 BC)
The Bull-Leaping Fresco from the Palace of Knossos (1600 - 1400 BC)
Portable ovens (4500 - 3000 BC)
Kamares Ware Pottery (1900 - 1700 BC)
Vasiliki Ware -- various wine jugs and tea pots (2400 - 2200 BC)
The ruins of the ancient Palace of Knossos are just a few minutes south of Heraklion and we will visit this site tomorrow. Looking forward to learning more about Minoan history.
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