Crete-Mycenaean culture: a myth that has become a reality

The Crete-Mycenaean culture was discovered through the study of ancient Greek myths and Homer's immortal poems. Following them, G. Schliemann and A. Evans discovered the world's amazing treasures of the ancient world, which for a long time were considered myths. A special place among the monuments of this ancient culture is occupied by the tombs of Mycenae and Knossos Palace.

The Palace of Minos

The cities of Crete are famous for their ancient palaces. Archaeologists have discovered their ruins in Knossos, Gurnia, Festa, Mali and Kato-Zaro. But the most outstanding monument of Cretan architecture was the palace of Minos, located in Knossos. For many, the Creole-Mycenaean culture is associated precisely with this structure. His story is inextricably linked with the legends of the semi-human half-lobe Minotaur, King Minos and the Greek hero Theseus.

The area of the Palace of Knossos was 16 thousand m². It was a complex heap of various premises, so it seemed to the Greeks a "labyrinth", from which it was impossible to get out. The Palace of Minos was erected in the 2nd millennium BC. It was built for several centuries. In the center of the building was a vast courtyard, which had a cult purpose. Numerous rooms with verandas, colonnades, galleries, staircases and swimming pools adjoin to it.

The main rooms included large and small "throne" rooms and rooms of religious purpose. In the female part there was a treasury, a reception room, bathrooms and many other rooms. In the palace there was a sewer network serving bathrooms, swimming pools and latrines. As far as the original Crete-Mycenaean culture was concerned, one can understand it by studying the details of the Palace of Knossos. In particular, here you can see amazing "irrational" columns. In most of the buildings of the ancient peoples, the columns expanded to the bottom, and in the Minos Palace, on the contrary, narrowed. In addition, they were decorated with a zigzag pattern. Inside the palace walls were covered with colorful images and ornament in the form of flexible spiral curls or waves.

Tombs of Mycenae

Mycenaean culture is distinguished by its funerary art. So, not far from the Mycenaean palace there is a royal necropolis, built in the 16th century BC. E. It consists of several shaft tombs, in which members of the royal family were buried. Most of the tombs have a rectangular shape. They found stylized golden masks, conveying the traits of the rulers of Mycenae. World renown has acquired the mask of Agamemnon, one of the main characters of the Iliad. Women's diadems with a wide ribbon and high beams were also found. Their ornament testified to the connection of the Mycenaean queens with the luminous gods.

In Mycenaean tombs archeologists found bronze daggers with handles inlaid with various drawings. In particular, scenes of hunting, waterfowl, running lions, starry sky. In addition, gold rings were sealed. It is also worth remembering the vessels of gold, electr and silver. The Achaeans considered such vessels as a pledge of the future revival of the deceased. Some of them are made in the form of an animal or bovine horn.

Despite enormous achievements in various fields, the culture of the Crete-Mycenae, like many others, has become a victim of degradation. Modern scientists attribute its weakening to the unknown catastrophe that occurred between 1250 and 1190. BC. E.