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Minoan Civilisation


Linear B tablets
Source: Palace of Knossos

The Minoans were an ancient civilisation on what is now Crete, during the Bronze Age. The civilisation is named after King Minos, who according to Greek mythology was said to be the King of Crete. Major cities of Minoan culture were Knossos, Phaistos and Malia.

Much of our knowledge of Minoan culture comes from 3000 clay tablets dating from two different time periods. The older tablets (written in Linear A) from around 1750 BC have not yet been deciphered. The newer tablets span a period from 1400 BC to 1150 BC and were deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, who identified the language, Linear B, as an early Greek dialect. As these tablets provide our only written accounts, much of what we know about Minoan civilisation is based on the elaborate wall paintings and floor mosaics that have survived.

Check that you understand what these words mean in this document
Ancient: very old.
Tablets: stone or clay pieces used for writing on them.
To decipher: to find what a symbol or unknown word means.
To span a period of time: to cover a period of time.
To identify: to recognise something as.
Elaborate: having a lot of detail.

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Minoan Culture