This is a beautifully illustrated Mycenaean Linear B tablet on 5 carpenters who owe the tax collector:The illustrations at the top are (left) several designs for Minoan houses (Knossos). Notice that many of them are 3 stories high, which is unusual for the ancient world, except for Rome, with its shabby multi-storied insulae (islands) or apartment buildings, which frequently collapsed. Such can scarcely be said of the Minoan houses, which were built to withstand earthquakes. You can see this for yourself from the top left picture, where the windows in the last 2 houses on the bottom display the heavy wooden beams, both vertical and horizontal, used to reinforce the windows. A cute clay model of a Minoan house at Knossos appears at the top right. The Minoans at Knossos were just as fussy about their typical beautifully fluted Minoan columns and sturdily reinforced doors, as can clearly be seen in these two photos I took when I was in Knossos on May 2, 2012:
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I am particularly impressed by the text in Mycenaean Greek, which is easily rendered into Archaic Greek.
Tag Archive: Late Minoan III
Stunning frescoes from Knossos, Third Palace, Late Minoan III b (ca. 1450 BCE) Post 1 of 2
More photos from Knossos (stairs and foundations): Post 1 of 2
Columns from the Late Minoan IIIb Palace (ca 1450 BCE) Post 2 of 2:![]()
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Columns from the Late Minoan IIIb Palace (ca 1450 BCE) Post 1 of 2:
Windows from the Late Minoan IIIb Palace (ca 1450 BCE):
Doors from the Late Minoan IIIb Palace (ca 1450 BCE):
Knossos building with perfect circular rosettes on its frieze!![]()
This building is remarkable for the typically Greek (or if you prefer, Minoan) simplicity of its architecture. What really struck me while I was visiting Knossos on the afternoon of May 2 2012 was that the circular rosettes on its frieze are perfectly circular, each one exactly identical to the next. It seems the Greeks inherited the mania for geometric simplicity fro their forbears, the Minoans.
More photos follow in the next post.
CONTEST QUIZ & LOVELY BOOK PRIZES! Are these statuettes of the Mistress of the Hunt, Zeus & the Priestess of the Winds? Click to ENLARGE:NOTE that this POST is classified under the heading MEDIA at the top of this blog. If you click on MEDIA, you will find it much faster than if you simply try scrolling through the hundreds of posts on our blog. It is quite possible that these 3 statuettes are, from left to right, (a) Potnia Theron (Mistress of the Hunt), (b) DIWO (in Mycenaean Greek) or ZEUS & (c) ANEMOIYEREA (The Minoan Mycenaean Priestess of the Winds). For more on the Priestess of the Winds, click on this BANNER:
But they may not be. Who is to say, if not you yourself? So why not tell us, and we will let you know if you are right. Moreover, if you get the answer EXACTLY right, you will win FIRST PRIZE of a fine edition of W. Ceram’s Gods, Graves and Scholars, and if you get the closest answer to the FIRST PRIZE winning answer, your SECOND PRIZE is another fine book on The Minoans. See below for details. HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST: It is simple. Answer any of questions (a) to (d) below as you see fit. To reply with your answer, you may either: (a) leave your reply in the Comments section for this post; or (b) send me your answer to either of my e-mail accounts: vallance22@gmail.com OR vallance22@gmx.com (Since I must protect myself from spammers, these e-mail links are not live in this post. You must add my e-mail address to your address book.) THIS CONTEST QUIZ IS OPEN UNTIL JULY 1 2015. Good luck! HOW I FOUND THESE AMAZING STATUETTES! While watching a truly fascinating TV program this morning, I happened to see these three statuettes, which I instantly recognized as quite possibly being dated anywhere from the late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age (ca. 1300-800 BCE). Just one look at them, and you can see for yourselves that they could easily date from within these five centuries. But the question is, do they, and if they do not, what are they? Do not kid yourself, this is an extremely tricky quiz question, because, unless you have actually seen the program yourself and you recognized them flash across the screen, then you cannot possibly know the answer. However, to be fair, I shall give everyone out there, whether or not you are an expert in ancient Greek archaeology, an historian of ancient Greece, or an aficionado of all things ancient, more than an even break to guess the right answer... and there is only one. THIS QUIZ IS SO DIFFICULT IT IS OPEN TO EVERYONE, EVEN MY CO-RESIDENT BLOGGER, RITA ROBERTS. Answer these questions as you see fit: (a) Are these statuettes genuine ancient Greek artifacts, Minoan, Mycenaean or early Iron Age? OR (b) If not, are statuettes from another ancient civilization, and if, so, which one? OR (c) Are these statuettes fake? AND (d) If they are fake, precisely what are they? If you believe (c) to be true, then you must answer (d) precisely, i.e. you must identify exactly what these statuettes are and the actual name of the program from which they are derived. The only way anyone can get this last option (d) correct is if you have actually seen the program in question, and even then, I my be leading you astray. In other words, either (a) or (b) may be the right answer, or on the other hand (c) and (d). YOU DECIDE. There are two beautiful prizes to be won: FIRST PRIZE: for the person who tells me precisely what they are, down to the very last detail, providing the actual names of each statute in turn, AND the name of the TV program where I found them, this magnificent volume: Ceram, C.W. Gods, Graves, and Scholars: the Story of Archaeology. London: the Folio Society, © 1999. xxx, 528 pp. Illustrated with full colour and black & white plates. Bound in full buckram, printed on Inveresk Wove paper by the Bath Press. Approximate Value: $80
SECOND PRIZE: for the person who tells me gets the closest to the answer for the first PRIZE, down to the very last detail, providing the actual names of each statute in turn, but missing out on only one or two details, this splendid book: Fitton, J. Lesley. The Minoans. London: the Folio Society, © 2004. xix, 392 pp. Illustrated with full colour and black & white plates. Bound in full cloth, printed on Abbey Wove paper by Cambridge University Press. Approximate Value: $65
NOTE: IF YOU STILL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR ARE IN ANY WAY UNSURE HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME IN COMMENTS HERE ON THE BLOG OR BY E-MAIL. Richard
2 Collages of Minoan Goddess, her worshippers, Saffron Gatherers & other beauties (Click to ENLARGE):
The Minoan Snake Goddess and her Worshippers
1. Minoan Priestess (modern representation) 2. Minoan Snake Goddess 3. Minoan worshipper with incense box 4. Procession of Mycenaean women (Pylos)
Saffron Gatherers and Minoan Beauties:
1. detail from the fresco, Knossos, Les Parisiennes 2. Saffron gatherer: notice her open bodice, in the same style as that of the Minoan Priestess & Snake Goddess in the first collage. 3. Minoan Princess with a feather crown (Heraklaion Museum) 4. elegant fresco of a saffron gatherer
Knossos: the magnificent Queen’s Megaron (Late Minoan III) [Click to ENLARGE]:
In Linear B, WANAKATERO literally means “the house of the King or Queen” and in this case, the Linear B title refers to “the new palace of the Queen”, which is, I can assure you, a masterpiece of Minoan architecture at its zenith. This is the only building which has been completely restored from the ruins of the Last Palace (Late Minoan III ca. 1450 BCE).