|
A question facing archaeologists
concerns the origin of the newcomers to Crete--the people that we call
Minoans.. Many believe that
they arrived from Asia Minor. Others maintain that they arrived
from Egypt or Libya.
Place names ending in -nthos, -ssos, -tos and
-as occur on Crete and Asia Minor. Names such as Olympus, Ida, and Tarra
can be found on both countries. Some claim that names ending in -ssos
can be identified as Luvian, and Indo-European tongue found in Southwest
Asia Minor. Sir Arthur Evans believed that some people came from West
Asia and mingled with the Neolithic inhabitants as did other settlers from Libya
and Egypt.
Cretan dead were buried in vaulted circular tombs with corbelled roofing
These tombs are known as tholos or "beehive" tombs which remained in use
from the beginning of the Bronze Age until after the end of the Minoan
period. The tombs are derived from Libyan prototypes. Cretan
paintings and writing are from Egypt or Egyptian influence.
One fact is certain, the Minoans were the conduit
for the transmission of Mediterranean culture to mainland Greece.
It was the first highly sophisticated civilization located in
Europe. The Cretans traded extensively with Egypt, Syria and
Anatolia. |
