MGFN+Events+and+leaders

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 ·  During this late period there is evidence in tablets inscribed in Linear B language that the Mycenaeans (emerging power from mainland Greece) controlled the entire island, while many Minoan sites were abandoned for a long time.  ·  We cannot be certain of the causes for this sudden interruption of the Minoan civilization. However scholars have pointed to invasion of outside forces, or to the colossal eruption of the Thera volcano as likely causes.  ·  Professor Marinatos was the first to suggest in 1939 that the eruption of Thera, along with the associated effects, was the cause for the catastrophe.  ·  The theory argues that the earthquakes destroyed the palaces, tsunamis obliterated the fleet and peers of the Minoans, and the volcanic ash of Thera covered the whole island destroying crops and suffocating animals.  ·  Another factor that might have contributed to the end of Minoan civilization is the invasion and occupation of Crete by the Mycenaeans. Their documented invasion took place around 1400, and in combination with the effects of the Thera eruption present a likely scenario for the final destruction of the Minoan civilization.  ·  In this theory, the Minoan fleet and ports were destroyed by the 50 foot waves and were never rebuilt.  ·  Possible climatic changes affected crops for many years, which in turn could have led to economic downfall and social upheaval. In this background, the foreign invaders from Mycenae provided the conclusion to a splendid culture which flourished for 1600 years.  __History of Minoan Crete __. Ancient Greece. 13 April 2009 < [|http://www.ancient-] greece.org/history/minoan.html>. __Minoan Civilizations __. About Crete. 14 April 2009 < [] civilization.html>.  __Minoan Civilization __<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">. Phantis. 14 April 2009 < [] >. __<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The Minoan Civilization __<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">. Around Greece. 14 April 2009 < [] greece-history/minoan-civilization-greece.php>.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Thera is the largest island of Santorini, a collapsed caldera about 100 km distant from Crete.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The Thera eruption has been identified by ash fallout in eastern Crete, and in cores from the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean seafloors.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The cataclysmic eruption of Thera led to the volcano's collapse into a submarine caldera, causing tsunamis which may have damaged naval installations and settlements near the coasts. The level of impact of the Thera eruption on the Minoan civilization is debated.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Claims were made that the ash falling on the eastern half of Crete may have choked off plant life, causing starvation.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">It was alleged that 7-11 cm of ash fell on Kato Zakro, while 0.5 cm fell on Knossos. However, when field examinations were carried out, this theory was dropped, as no more than 5 mm had fallen anywhere in Crete.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Earlier historians and archaeologists appear to have been deceived by the depth of pumice found on the sea floor. It has now been established that the pumice oozed from a lateral crack in the volcano below sea level.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">A huge earthquake in around 1700 BC destroyed many palaces including Knossos, though these were all rebuilt by the Minoans. In fact these palaces were not only rebuilt but also became complex multi storey living quarters with facilities such as drainage. They were also beautifully decorated with Minoan fredcoes.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">There is evidence that the trade networks collapsed, and that Minoan cities perished by famine. The Minoans' grain supply is believed to have come from farms on the shore of the Black Sea.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Many scholars believe that ancient trading empires were in constant danger from uneconomic trade, that is, food and staple goods were improperly valued relative to luxury goods, because accounting was undeveloped.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The result could be famine and decline in population.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">One theory of Minoan collapse is that increasing use of iron tools impoverished the Minoan traders.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">When the trade networks ceased, regional famines could no longer be mitigated by trade.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Another theory is that Minoan naval capabilities were damaged in some fashion by the explosion of Thera.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This may have led to a conquest by the Myceneans. The Myceneans probably lacked the skills to manage a large trading empire.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The impact of the Thera eruption on the Minoan civilization is still controversial. Since the Thera eruption is thought to have been one of the most powerful in the past 10,000 years, archaeologists and geologists have been arguing over why there is such a big gap between the radiocarbon date of the eruption (1628 BC by bristlecone pines and 1645 BC by the Greenland ice sheets) and the date of the fall of the Minoans (c. 1450 BC).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This gap has sparked the interest of experts all over the world and there are now increasing amounts of evidence and theories as to why and how the Minoan civilization of Crete collapsed.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">These theories all revolve around the Theran eruption, estimated now to have reached a reading of VEI-7, which would have devastated the island of Crete only 70 miles (100km) or so away.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">An eruption of this magnitude is thought to have pushed tsunamis towards the island, destroying its ports and fleets. Being a trade centre Crete relied on its seafaring capabilities for the stability of its economy.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The next major theory is that the volcanic ash blocking out the Sun would have resulted in a famine for a number of years.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Some experts believe that in these moments of vulnerability the Mycaneans took advantage and conquered the island.

<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">media type="custom" key="3785947" <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Chadwick, John. "Minoan Civilization." //Encyclopedia Americana//. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">2009. Grolier Online. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">18 Apr. 2009 <http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0272080-00>. Hammond, N. G. L. "Crete." //Encyclopedia Americana//. 2009. Grolier Online. 18 Apr. 2009 <http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0113220-00>. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Hooker, Richards. //Ancient Greek Civilizations//. 1996. 14 April 2009 < [] >.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Two events lead to the end of the Minoan civilization.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">First event that weakened the Minoan Civilization was the volcanic eruption on the Aegean island of Thera (end of the 15th century B.C.) (Hammond, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The eruption generated a devastating tsunami on the north coast of Crete, as well as a fallout of ash (Chadwick, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Chadwick (2009) hypothesised that the natural disaster weakened the Minoan kingdom where they were unable to resist the invasion by the Mycenaean civilization
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The final decline occurred about 12th century B.C (Hammond, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The second event was the rise of the Mycenaean civilization upon Crete, where they seized the capitol (Hammond, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Leadership for the Minoan civilization was based on bureaucratic monarchies (Hooker, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Beneath the monarchy was a large administration of bureaucrats (Hooker, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">A great area of interest was trade and mercantilism with neighbouring countries (e.g. Egypt) (Hooker, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Crete was associated with “thalossocracy” or sea power (Hooker, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Crete built warships to trade and to protect themselves from pirates (Hooker, 2009).

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 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The palace of Knossos was only destroyed twice in its history, once from fire (roughly in 1700 BC) and a wall collapse, the second and later destruction from a major earthquake which ravaged Crete.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">The later earthquake not only brought destruction to Knossos, but to both Kato Sakro and Mallia as well. These events, however, were not to end Minoan civilization.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Not until 1450 BC was the end of Minoan Civilization realized. The final collapse of the Minoan state remains a half-solved mystery.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Two factors are thought to have contributed to the end of the Minoan: the possible eruption of the volcano Thera and the rise of the Mycenaean civilization upon Crete.

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 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">All archaeological evidence suggests that the Cretan states of the first half of the second millenium BC were bureaucratic monarchies . <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">While the government was dominated by priests and while the monarch seemed to have some religious functions, the principle role of the monarch seemed to be that of "chief entrepreneur," or better yet, CEO of the Cretan state. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">For the Cretans operated their state as a business, and entrepreneurship seemed to be the order of the day. While the bulk of the population enjoyed the wealth of international trading, the circumstances of that trade was tightly controlled from the palace. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Beneath the king was a large administration of scribes and bureaucrats who carefully regulated production and distribution both within the state and without. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">This administration kept incredibly detailed records, which implies that they exercised a great deal of control over the economy. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">In order to facilitate trade, the Cretans and their Aegean relatives developed the most advanced navy that had ever been seen. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">While scholars earlier believed that Crete must have been a "thalossocracy," that is, a "sea power," that view has been seriously challenged. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Cretans probably did not develop a military navy, as did the Egyptians, but concentrated solely on trade and mercantilism. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">They did build what looks like warships, but it seems that these warships were most likely mercantile ships with the capability of defense against pirates. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">

Chadwick, John. "Minoan Civilization." //Encyclopedia Americana//. 2009. Grolier Online. 18 Apr. 2009 <http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0272080-00>. Hammond, N. G. L. "Crete." //Encyclopedia Americana//. 2009. Grolier Online. 18 Apr. 2009 <http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0113220-00>. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">Hooker, Richard. //<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Ancient Greek Civilizations //<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">. 1996. 14 April 2009 < [] >. Hooker, Richard. //The History of the Minoans//. 14 April 2009 <http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MINOA/HISTORY.HTM>.



Utah Education Network. __King Minos’ Labyrinth.__ 10 May 2009 <http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/tourElement.cgi?element_id=43363&tour_id=20341&category_id=34014>.

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