Category Archives: minoans

Funeral Rites in Minoan Crete

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Let me begin by saying that, although there are plenty of theories about burial practices, there are very few facts we know for certain. However, I gleaned what I could and imagined the rest. Since I write murder mysteries, I have to include something about funeral and burial practices.

Excavations have found human remains put in jars and secreted in caves but treatment of human remains began to transition to tombs. When Martis’s sister is interred In the Shadow of the Bull

I describe what I imagined the scene to look like: the giant stone covering the entrance and the remains of many family members in one tomb.

I also include in both the Crete books, the above and also On the Horns of Death

some other descriptions that might or might not be true.

A fresco from Crete show a musician playing a flute in front of what looks like a funeral cortege so I added that to my description. Martis carries gifts to add to the caskets: a small ship for her sister and a small clay figure of a bull for her friend. We know grave goods were included and during the Classical period, small ships were added to carry the departed over the River Styx. I theorized that this was a practice that began in the Bronze Age.

The professional mourners were also a feature in Classical Greece so I thought it was possible they were important before that era. I described them, in groups of a few to many depending on the wealth of the family, in both books.

Finally, I include a meal, a funeral dinner, if you will, connected to the services. I thought this was a reasonable supposition since, even now, food is offered to the mourners after a service. Descriptions of such meals are also part of Homer’s works so a decision to include them seemed safe.

Women in Minoan Crete

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Since March is Women’s History month, I thought I would discuss the women of Bronze Age Crete. In my series, I chose to write about this advanced society from about 2600 to approximately 1100 B.C.E. where women played pivotal roles in religion, culture and possibly even the governing of the cities. (In my previous series, I had a male protagonist, a traveling weaver, because women had a much inferior role in the United States of the late 1700s. They couldn’t own property or vote and if their husbands died, their sons took on the responsibility for their care. I wrote about the Shakers extensively, however, since in that society, women were equal and shared equal power in governance of the community.)

Frescoes and artifacts unearthed portray women in positions of reverence and power, suggesting a society where gender roles were viewed differently from contemporaneous civilizations.

Religion was female-centric, with goddess worship at its core. The male figures were always pictured as smaller than a central and large female figure. Women – or priestesses – were often depicted with open arms in a gesture of divine power. I imagined them as influential figures, managing religious ceremonies and advising on state affairs.

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Although the myths about Minos and the Minotaur are what we know today, one has to remember they were told by the Classical Greeks, a very patriarchal society. On Crete, real women likely held sway in the Minoan court. Administrative records and luxurious goods designed for female use display their influence, hinting at the wealth and status women enjoyed. I previously blogged about textiles and the elaborate clothing women wore.

Archaeological findings suggest that queens may have ruled alongside kings or even independently. The opulent grave goods of priestess-queens, often buried with symbols of power, reveal the respect and reverence these women commanded. I imagined a male consort who managed administrative details, under the Queen who was also the High Priestess.

The archeology suggests women’s influence extended beyond the spiritual realm into economics and craftsmanship. The intricately designed pottery, seal stones, and frescoes feature women in prominent roles. We know the intricate textiles, woven by the women, were traded all over the Aegean.

Emerging evidence further suggests that women in Minoan society received an education. In my books, I talk about the agoge, an initiation into society. I based it on what we know of the ancient Spartans who also educated their women. They spent a year minimum in a dorm with other women before marriage and children. (Boys, we think, went into a dorm at the age of seven.)

These ancient Minoans were a progressive culture ahead of its time.

Linear A and B

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I am fascinated by words and language. I’m not sure if that is because I’m a big reader or I became a reader and eventually an author because of it.

In any event, when I began researching the Minoans for my latest series, (In the shadow of the Bull and On the Horns of Death),

I quickly ran into the question of these old, probably the oldest, written languages. Unlike the hieroglyphics, which were finally deciphered thanks to the Rosetta Stone, Linear A and B resisted decoding.

Linear A, which was used by the Minoans, still has not been deciphered. And Linear B was not deciphered until the 1950s. An Englishman from Hertfordshire, Michael Ventris, finally succeeded, using a multi-disciplinary approach.

Tablets with this writing have been found in Knossos and Pylos, as well as other places, and was very early on recognized as the earliest form of Greek. Deciphering changed the way we understand the Aegean Bronze Age, especially the complex societal structures and the far flung trade networks. Linear B has been determined to be a very early form of Greek

I suspect when Linear A is deciphered, it will include primarily trade information but we can hope it will open a window into this exotic and still mysterious culture.

Artemis

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As I’ve discussed in earlier posts, Artemis is one of the Gods who, it is believed, was a goddess in Bronze Age Crete and was adopted by the mainland Greeks. She remained virtually unchanged, unlike Hera who diminished from a goddess in her own right to the jealous wife of Zeus in Classical Greece.

Artemis was a virgin goddess and a goddess of the hunt, of vegetation, and of birth. Women in labor prayed to her.

In the myths of Classical Greece, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. (Daughter of Leto by Zeus.) And since those myths all seemed to be dark and full of cruelty, Artemis too could be cruel. She turned a young hunter, Acteon, who accidentally saw her bathing, into a stag and his own hunting dogs took him down.

In my Ancient Crete mystery series, Martis, my protagonist, is a follower of Artemis.

Coming April 24, 2024

As a devotee of Artemis, Martis plans to remain a virgin her whole life.

As part of my research, I hope to visit Ephesus where the ruins of a temple to Artemis still stand. Enormous in scale, the temple boasted a double row of columns that became a model for other Greek temples. Besides honoring Artemis, the temple also served as a place of sanctuary. Recent excavations have shown the stalls, where refuge seekers slept.

Historical note: Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoe was double-crossed and murdered on the temple steps before she could reach the safety of the temple.

Ancient medicine

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We know the Ancient Greeks had medicine. Examples of the diseases that afflict us now, such as cancer and TB, and diseases we have managed to conquer such as smallpox, are found in their writings.

What do we know of medicine in Bronze Age Crete? Not very much. We know they used herbal remedies. An examination of Egyptian dynasties contemporary with Crete suggest other possible medical treatments. Papyri and scenes inscribed on walls depict medical instruments. The purpose of some of them, however, are still a mystery. Instruments from later dynasties have been found as well.

Papyri, and clay tablets from Mesopotamia, show that a huge feature in medicine was divine intervention. Prayer and animal sacrifice, which we know were also employed in Bronze Age Crete, were important features. Amulets, to keep demons and bad outcomes at bay, were commonly used. Astral medicine, i.e. using the stars to predict the best time for the best outcomes, was also very important. The zodiacal calendar was used to predict the most propitious times for medical treatments.

I want to add that seers were used to predict the best times for all important activities. The flights of birds was one method. The sacrifice of a sheep and the reading of the organs was another.

Our current medical system certainly has flaws. I am very glad, though, that a surgery appointment does not depend on how a flock of birds fly through the sky!

Curetes (Kouretes)

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One of the challenges of writing historical fiction, especially historical fiction that takes place as long ago as Bronze Age Crete, is the difficulty of sorting through the various myths – and the various iterations of the myths. I’ve already discussed the conflation of Zeus and Dionysus in that they share an origin story. When the tribes of mainland Greece swept over Crete after the Santorini volcanic eruption, they adopted much of the Cretan culture. Then they adapted what they’d taken to suit themselves.

Since we are familiar with the Classical Greek myths, so familiar in some case we have internalized them, we think of them as the ‘correct’ stories. Dionysus’s origin story, which became Zeus’s, is one such.

The outlines of Zeus’s story are this. Since it was predicted that one of Cronus’ children would kill him and take his position, he swallowed all of his children as soon as they were born. To protect Zeus, his mother Rhea wrapped a stone in a swaddling cloth (which Cronus swallowed) and the baby was hidden in a cave in Mt. Ida.

In the Cretan myth, it is Dionysus that is hidden in the cave. Each was described as suckled by either a nanny goat or a sow. To hide the baby’s cries, Kouretes made noise.

Who are the Kouretes? If you google the name, they are described as crested, armored warriors who clash their shields together so Cronus can’t hear the baby crying.

But this is not the whole story. According to an earlier myth, the Curetes were the first inhabitants of the Greek island of Crete. They were mythical creatures, specifically legendary benign deities who lived prior to the Minoans. According to an early Greek myth, the Kouretes were not born. They sprang out of the earth of Crete when the infant Zeus wept and his tears fell on the ground.

In this version, they made a hanging cradle for Zeus so he was not of the Earth, the sky, or the sea. He was therefore well protected from Cronus.

Because these are myths, and all things are possible, the Kouretes are supposed to have invented hunting, the first bow, dance, and even the Olympic Games.

What did people do all day in Bronze Age Crete?

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Women, as expected, took care of children. And they were famous as spinners, weavers and dyers, as the previous posts demonstrate.

But what did the men do?

Well, farming was certainly a profession. Even many of the people who lived in Knossos owned farms. Besides goats and sheep and cattle, the farms grew grains and vegetables as well as the very important olives and grapes.

There were other professions, such as gold smith, jewelry maker, mosaic maker, but the primary job for men involved the sea. Minoan Crete had the best navy in the ancient world at this time. It was so superior that an Egyptian Pharaoh (one of the Ramses) sent a request to Crete for help pushing back the Sea Peoples. These people were sailing from Anatolia and attacking the rich cities of Egypt.

Besides the Navy, the men roamed far and wide, exploring the Mediterranean Sea and trading. (This was certainly a factor in the importance of women. The wives provided the woven goods for trade. As well, the women left behind ran the businesses while their husbands and other male family members were gone.)

Minoan fishing boat

Finally, fishing was an important part of this culture. The people who lived on the island ate from the sea. The mosaics show octopi, dolphins, and a variety of sea creatures. Fish bones, sheep bones and beef bones have been found during archaeological excavations.

Atlantis – and Minoan Crete

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I would guess just about everyone has heard of Atlantis. Plato was the first to write about this great naval empire that fell out of favor with the deities and was destroyed. (Plato was writing about hubris and criticizing Crete for opposing Plato’s native Athens.) Since Plato’s time, Atlantis has been used as a springboard for all kinds of fantastic suggestions.

Did you know that there may be a connection between Atlantis and Minoan Crete?

During the Bronze Age, Crete was THE Naval power, to the point that Ramses II in Egypt asked for help fighting the pirates attacking his country. Plato gives dimensions for Atlantis which are a factor of 10 for Crete. Plato also describes a highly sophisticated society – probably the first to have hot and cold running water and indoor toilets. He talks about a palace and a shrine to Poseidon. We know Poteidon was worshipped as a God in Crete and also that bulls, sacred to this God, were worshipped with many rituals including bull leaping.

One of the issues with this theory is the location of Atlantis, supposedly placed beyond the pillars of Hercules in the Atlantic Ocean. Some ancient historians have theorized that, before the sixth century BC, the “Pillars of Hercules” may have applied to mountains on either side of the Gulf of Laconia. The mountains stood at either side of the southernmost gulf in Greece, that opens onto the Mediterranean Sea. This would have placed Atlantis in the Mediterranean, lending credence to many details in Plato’s discussion.

For me, the most compelling argument for believing Minoan Crete was the seed of the Atlantis myth is the destruction. In Plato’s telling, earthquakes and floods swept over Atlantis and the island sank into the sea. Crete did not sink. But the volcano at Santorini/Thera erupted in approximately 1450 B.C.E., ripping out the center of the island and leaving an enormous caldera. Crete was nearby and would have been affected by earthquakes, tsunamis and ash. A nearby city, Akrotiri, was completely covered and is being excavated from the hardened ash now. The ash reached Turkey. This volcano, by the way, is still active and has built up an island of hardened lava. An island, by the way, you can travel to and walk on. Vulcanologists expect it to erupt again someday.

The explosion did not destroy Crete. Evidence of rebuilding has been found in and around Knossos. However, it severely weakened the Minoans and evidence of the Mycenaeans show up in the archaeological record right about then. Many believe that the Mycenaeans took the opportunity to conquer a rich and powerful, but severely damaged, neighbor.

What did they speak in Bronze Age Crete?

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I received wonderful news: both In the Shadow of the Bull and On the Horns of Death have been picked up by a publisher in Greece and translated. So excited!

This got me thinking about the language in Ancient Crete. What did they speak? Greek? It is hard to know since we, of course, have no examples of the spoken language. We do have sample of what there was of the written language, however.

There are several examples of ancient writings but the only one that has been deciphered is Linear B. That was finally deciphered in 1952 and was used primarily for administrative texts. Tablets have been found in Knossos, Kydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae. When the Mycenaean civilization collapsed, this style of writing disappeared.

Linear A, which some believe was a precursor of Linear B, (others posit they were used simultaneously), Cypro-Minoan and Cretan hieroglyphics remain undeciphered.

Linear B is believed to be a early form of Greek. Knowing how English spoken in the age of Chaucer sounded, I would guess a Greek speaker now would not be able to understand this early form.

Gods and Goddesses of Bronze Age Crete

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From the preponderance of female figures on seals and in frescoes, archaeologists believe Crete worshipped a Supreme Goddess, probably a fertility Goddess from Neolithic times. (Similar to Astarte.)There is some dispute whether the statuary depicting women with snakes in their hands are representations of the Goddess or Priestesses engaged in a ritual.

note the tiered skirt, the short-sleeved jacket and the tight belt around the waist.

Besides the Supreme Goddess, there was a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. Poseidon, the God of the Oceans and Earthquakes, is one. (He was adopted by the mainland Greeks with almost no change.) Dionysus is another God, a very old one. A vegetation God, he is the God of wine as well as the Master of Animals. Unlike the Gods and Goddess of Classical Greece, Dionysus is not immortal. He is born each spring, grows to manhood throughout the year, and dies in winter.

One particularly interesting feature of Dionysus is his birth, in a cave and nourished by nanny goats. Sound familiar? The Cretan Zeus, a relative latecomer to the pantheon, is ascribed the same birth story. In Classical times, the same tale is told of Zeus’ birth, (although with a myth about the Titans surrounding it.) Zeus, of course, was elevated to the major God for the Classical Greeks.

The Goddesses are more complicated. Were they individuals or aspects of the Supreme Goddesses? Maybe a mix of the two? Aphrodite is connected to the Bronze Age and her name is pre-Greek. Artemis was a virgin, and the hunt was sacred to her, just as the Classical Greeks believed. Hera was another important Goddess. Shrines to her have been found in Crete. She was responsible for childbirth, a task she shared with Artemis. In the Classical Greek pantheon, she was reduced from being an important Goddess in her own right to Zeus’s jealous wife.

Britomartis meaning Sweet Virgin or Sweet Maiden, was worshipped by the fishermen. Her other name is Diktynna for the nets the fishermen used. I took her name and used the second half, Martis as the name of the protagonist in In the Shadow of the Bull and the sequels.

What about the Minotaur? Was the bull-headed man a God?We know that bulls were very very important in Ancient Crete. The statuary and frescos of bull leapers and the many representations of bulls is proof of that. But, was the Minotaur sacred? I choose to believe that the Minotaur was a creation of the Mainland Greeks, representing something they did not understand – rituals involving masked priests.

As excavations and study of this amazing culture continues, I’m sure we discover more about their religion.